Bakesale

This article is about the Sebadoh album. For the fund raising event, see Bake sale.
Bakesale
Studio album by Sebadoh
Released August 23, 1994
Recorded 1994
Genre Indie rock
Length 41:51
Label Sub Pop Records (USA)
Domino Records (UK)
City Slang Records (Germany)
Producer Tim O'Heir
Sebadoh chronology
Bubble and Scrape
(1993)		 Bakesale
(1994)		 Harmacy
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The A.V. ClubA−[2]
Robert ChristgauA[3]
Consequence of Sound[4]
Drowned in Sound(8/10)[5]
musicOMH[6]
Pitchfork Media(8.5/10)[7]
Prefix(9/10)[8]
Spin(7/10)[9]
Sputnikmusic[10]
Rolling Stone[11]

Bakesale is the fifth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Sub Pop in 1994.

Bakesale was the first Sebadoh album released following the departure of founding member, Eric Gaffney, though he did drum on four of the album's tracks from a session engineered by Bob Weston. Tara Jane O'Neil also contributed drums to three tracks on the album. Bob Fay, who had previously filled in for the unreliable Gaffney, officially joined the band for this record.

The album cover is a photograph of a one-year-old Lou Barlow, taken by his mother.

Recording

Initial sessions for the album were done at Steve Albini's home in Chicago, Illinois with Bob Weston, though the band didn't work with Albini. Four songs were recorded with Gaffney, which became his final recordings with the band. Further sessions were done at Fort Apache Studios in Boston, Massachusetts after Gaffney had quit and been replaced by Fay. [12]

Music

As a result of Gaffney's departure, the songwriting on Bakesale was handled primarily by Barlow and Loewenstein, with Fay contributing the lone track, "Temptation Tide." The album continues the band's departure from the largely acoustic, lo-fi sound and shorter song structures that characterized their first three albums, and boasts a more polished production value than previous Sebadoh albums. This helped the band not only expand its underground following but flirt with mainstream success,[13] and several singles and even a few music videos were released from the album.

Reception

Bakesale was initially well-received by critics. It was included in a number of year-end lists in 1994, including Spin's "20 Best Albums of '94" (#16), the Village Voice's "1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll" (#20), the NME's "25 Best Albums of 1994" (#27), and Mojo's "25 Best Albums of 1994" (unranked).

In the years since its release, Bakesale has come to be regarded as Sebadoh's most accessible album, with a more polished production than previous Sebadoh albums, and consistent songwriting from Barlow and Loewenstein.[14] Upon its re-release in 2011, Jess Harvell of Pitchfork called it "their most focused and purely pleasurable record," and "a strong and lovable essay on 90s indie's charms." [15] Zachary Houle of PopMatters called it "a totemic touchstone of a record, one that is arguably as important to the development of indie-rock as a form as Guided by Voices’ Bee Thousand and Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." [16] In 2014, John Everhart of Stereogum wrote that the album "doesn’t have the highs of Bubble & Scrape, nor the epochal status of Sebadoh III, but Bakesale is the [Sebadoh] record you’ll find yourself captivated by most immediately, listening to from start to finish." [17]

Barlow himself wrote that Bakesale seems to be "the most fondly remembered and the most highly regarded" Sebadoh album, though he doesn't consider it the band's best, calling it less interesting than Sebadoh III, Bubble and Scrape and The Sebadoh. [18]

In July 2008, it was listed by Pitchfork as one of the publication's 20 favorite Sub Pop albums, with Stuart Berman writing that it represented "a long overdue document of the band's pop prowess" for many longtime fans.[19] In July 2014, Guitar World placed Bakesale at number 37 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[20]

Singles

"Rebound" was released as the album's first single in 1994, as a 7" vinyl record in the U.K.. The second single was for the song "Skull," released in 1994 as a 7" in the U.S. and as a CD in the U.K., both versions featuring the same three b-sides, but the U.S. version featuring a remixed of "Skull." The U.K. releases were handled by Domino, while the U.S. release was put out by Sub Pop.

The following singles, both on CD, were for the songs "Careful," released in 1994 in Germany by City Slang, and "Magnet's Coil," released in 1995 in Australia by Shock. The final single was for the song "Not Too Amused," released in 1995 as a CD and 7" in the U.K. by Domino. A "Rebound" EP was released by Sub Pop in 1995, featuring different b-sides and cover art from the 1994 U.K. 7".[21]

Music videos

Music videos were released for the songs "Rebound" and "Skull."

Reissue

The album was reissued in 2011, featuring a second disc of bonus material and new liner notes.

Track listing

  1. "License to Confuse" (Barlow) - 1:45
  2. "Careful" (Loewenstein) - 2:44
  3. "Magnet's Coil" (Barlow) - 2:27
  4. "Not a Friend" (Barlow) - 3:40
  5. "Not Too Amused" (Loewenstein) - 4:15
  6. "Dreams" (Barlow) - 2:39
  7. "Skull" (Barlow) - 2:24
  8. "Got It" (Loewenstein) - 2:16
  9. "S. Soup" (Loewenstein) - 3:16
    • Short for "Shit Soup"
  10. "Give Up" (Barlow) - 2:27
  11. "Rebound" (Barlow) - 2:12
  12. "Mystery Man" (Barlow) - 3:08
  13. "Temptation Tide" (Fay) - 1:53
  14. "Drama Mine" (Loewenstein) - 2:42
  15. "Together or Alone" (Barlow) - 4:03

Extra disc (2011 reissue)

  1. "MOR Backlash"
  2. "Not a Friend" (4-track)
  3. "Foreground"
  4. "40203"
  5. "Mystery Man" (4-track)
  6. "Drumstick Jumble"
  7. "Lime Kiln"
  8. "Fancy-ass / Destitute"
  9. "Perfect Way" (4-track)
  10. "Give the Drummer Some"
  11. "Cementville"
  12. "Social Medicine"
  13. "On Fire" (acoustic)
  14. "Magnet's Coil" (acoustic)
  15. "Rebound" (acoustic)
  16. "Punching Myself in the Face Repeatedly, Publicly"
  17. "Sing Something / Plate of Hatred"
  18. "III Screams"
  19. "Monsoon"
  20. "Rainbow Farm"
  21. "Hank Williams"
  22. "Careful"
  23. "Dramamine"
  24. "Not Too Amused"
  25. "Shit Soup"

Personnel

Additional personnel

Album charts

Year Album Chart Position
1994 Bakesale Official UK Albums Chart No. 40

Charting singles

Year Song Chart Position
1994 Skull UK Singles Chart No. 94

References

  1. ↑ Deming, Mark (1994-08-23). "Bakesale - Sebadoh". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  2. ↑ Hawthorne, Marc (2011-06-14). "Sebadoh: Bakesale: Deluxe Edition | Music | Music Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  3. ↑ "CG: sebadoh/". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  4. ↑ Stefan (2011-05-03). "Album Review: Sebadoh – Bakesale [Reissue] « Consequence of Sound". Consequenceofsound.net. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  5. ↑ J.R. Moores (2011-04-01). "Sebadoh - Bakesale (reissue) / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  6. ↑ "Sebadoh - Bakesale (reissue) | album reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  7. ↑ Harvell, Jess (2011-06-14). "Sebadoh: Bakesale [Deluxe Edition] | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  8. ↑ "Sebadoh: Bakesale: Deluxe Edition". Prefixmag. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  9. ↑ Hultkrans, Andrew (2011-06-14). "Sebadoh, 'Bakesale' (Sub Pop)". SPIN.com. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  10. ↑ "Sebadoh - Bakesale (album review)". Sputnikmusic. 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  11. ↑ Jenny Eliscu (2011-06-21). "Bakesale Reissue | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  12. ↑ http://www.wonderingsound.com/interview/the-making-of-sebadohs-bakesale/
  13. ↑ "Sebadoh". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  14. ↑ "Bakesale". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  15. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15522-bakesale-deluxe-edition/
  16. ↑ http://www.popmatters.com/review/142334-sebadoh-bakesale-deluxe-edition/
  17. ↑ http://www.stereogum.com/1700531/bakesale-turns-20/franchises/the-anniversary/
  18. ↑ http://www.sandiego.com/articles/2011-06-27/sub-pop-reissues-sebadohs-1994-classic-bakesale
  19. ↑ Staff, Pitchfork (2008-07-11). "Staff Lists: Sub Pop 20 | Features". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  20. ↑ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  21. ↑ "sebadoh - singles and eps". sebadoh and suchlike. Retrieved 2011-09-30.

External links

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