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Reviewer: IndiePages (www.indiepages.com)
It's funny - if I had just seen this compilation's tracklisting, I would've told you it was from the mid to late 90s, and
probably a cassette comp from England or Germany, at that. The list contains names that I haven't heard in ages, like Barbara
Manning, the Bartlebees, the Television Personalities, Amanda By Night and Rockformation Diskokugel (the latter two of which
I didn't know even existed anymore!). Of course, I would've also noticed current bands like the Baskervilles, the Long Decline
and Angel Racing Food, but there are so many names I've never even heard of, that I bet I could've been easily tricked. This
is one of those comps that is simply a collection of the compiler's favorite bands, and it's pretty obvious to see that he's
a very big fan of the Television Personalities and the many bands and labels that the band has influenced from classics like
the Bartlebees and Little Teddy to newer bands like the Big Empty, Milton Fisher and, well, most of the other bands from around
the world that appear on this disc. In fact, I'm quite surprised to not see any of the Perfect Pop crew represented here!
Highlights include the tracks from Woog Riots, Sixtynine And The Continuous People, Katze (imagine A Boy Named Thor as a full
band), Container Drivers and Rockformation Diskokugel, though there are many more. A must for fans of offbeat European pop!
Reviewer: IndiePop.it (http://www.indiepop.it/bands/windlessair.htm)
Like a Jigsaw whose scattered pieces on the table will inevitably fit together, "Falling Uphill" (Windless Air's debut) reveals
its mystery piece after piece. A first look at the track list will baffle even the most expert: few familiar names in the
middle of a contingent of
unknown american and european bands, drawn near without any apparent reason. But to start to compose the puzzle you'll just
have to start from the best known name: the Television Personalities.
A quick search will confirm that this compilation was born under the sign of Dan Treacy's band: Darrell Whitbeck, windless
air's boss, mantains a website dedicated to the cult of TVPs, a cult to which, Baskervilles, Sixtynine and The Continuous
People and Bartlebees never made secret of being part. Then add Jowe Head who was TVPs bss player
up to the mid 90's, germans Woog Riots who have a song titled "Television Personalities" in their repertoire and you'll then
understand that "Falling Uphill" is halfway between a silent homage to Treacy and an attempt to draw the map of his musical
legacy in 2004.
Mr. Whitbeck does things in small, but well done: he chooses an unreleased TVPs track of the caliber of "Virgin and a Whore",
a perfect quintessence of the bittersweet energy of the english band, and builds around it a well balanced collection of songs,
starting from the outstanding contribution of Barbara Manning, US indie rock icon who,
despite being on the scene since the 80's, is still able to express at her best her biting acoustic vein in the beautiful
jangle pop of "Dreaming", characterized with an intense melodic footprint and an unexpressed rage which keeps on tenterhooks
the entire track.
Despite the heterogeneous provenience, the quality of the tracks settles on a medium-high level and we like to remember, besides
the already known "John Riley and The Housewives Who Love Him" which in these parts has already reached the status of a classic,
the contribution of the
always excellent Sixtynine and The Continuous People, whose "Sadness in Disguise" is a delicious exercise of psychedelic pop
which replaces clubs with flowers, Jowe Head with the murky and raucous coils of "Serpentine", the nonsense melancholy of
germans Katze with the killer
refrain of "People Jumping" and the surprising "Your Old Volvo" by The Big Empty, with the singer Simone Felice wearing the
shoes of an apocryphal Richard Buckner with his voluptuous abandon to remembrance.
An excellent chance to discover several unknown bands from both sides of the ocean (UK participation is in minority) and some
sort of tasty appetizer to the forthcoming TVPs tribute.
Reviewer: Runnin' Feart 'zine
This New York Label have pulled off something of a coup with an unreleased Television Personalities track! (Now That Dan Treacy
is outta jail we can hopefully expect some new stuff!!). The TVPs song itself is very 60's influenced - a big nod to Freddie
and the Dreamers!! Other tracks include Jowe Head, The Container Drivers, Woog Riots, and loads more. Katze from Germany have
an excellant track.
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