Alice In A Nightmare - Alice In A Nightmare - LP (1988), Greece

I love surprises, especially the ones that shift my desolate frown into a grand smile instantly! This new gem I recently discovered comes from the small country of Greece, the birth place of Democracy, the Olympic games and the mighty Greek gods, just to name a few. Lately there's been some misconceptions surrounding the small, yet highly influential country both politically and economically. Greece has an interesting history, but I won't delve into these subjects and bore you all. I'd much rather talk about Alice In A Nightmare instead!

Obviously inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland, Alice In A Nightmare emerged a few years a little late into the Greek New Wave/Post-Punk scene, but being first doesn't matter. What matters is the music these guys did was good! It's diverse and a bit quirky with many shades of genres mixed in together such as post-punk, synth pop, folk and a little funk (I can hear that slapping bass!).
The collaborators behind the music were Eli Aslanoglou (vocals), Nick Yeorgoulis (guitar and bass), Dimitris Carastamatis (electric piano, keyboards and synths) and Theodore Vlachakis (drums and synths). This was yet another band who should've gained some prominence outside of their home country, but didn't. After their first and only self titled LP (released by Virgin), the group disbanded mysteriously.

Details:

Alice In A Nightmare - Alice In A Nightmare - LP (1988), Greece

Side One
1. Under The Shadows
2. Shelter In My Dreams
3. Brother Night (Tonight)
4. Magic
5. I Walk Alone

Side Two
6. Tell Me Something
7. Alice In A Nightmare
8. My Love Is Calling
9. Yesterday

Review

More Information:
Discography

The Smashing Pumpkins - Live At The Cabaret Metro - CD-R (1988), U.S.A.

For today's post, I have an unexpected and pleasant surprise for everyone. Coming from Chicago, IL "The City by the Lake" The Smashing Pumpkins! They are a very well known grunge/metal/prog rock band in the music world of course, but I won't post anything here that everyone has already heard. Instead, I'll stick to the original intent of this blog and share a very rare side of the band.
Led by the megalomaniacal Billy Corgan (voice and guitar), James Iha (backing vocals and guitar), D'arcy Wretsky (bass) and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums and percussion) the Smashing Pumpkins were a group that was just starting out in the late eighties and still just years away from making it big with their grunge hit album Siamese Dream.
The live bootleg I'm about to present, was taped on October 5, 1988 at the Cabaret Metro and was distributed (in limited quantities on CD-R) at what was supposed to be the last performance of the band on December 2, 2000. Upon listening to the live performance, you'll notice the band exhibits a late post-punk sound with touches of dream-pop and neo-psychedelia (minus the nauseating whiney singing from Corgan!). They would've fit in nicely alongside bands such as Abecedarians and For Against!

Details:

The Smashing Pumpkins - Live At The Cabaret Metro - CD-R (1988), U.S.A.

1. There It Goes
2. She
3. My Eternity
4. Under Your Spell
5. Bleed
6. Spite Face
7. Nothing And Everything

Review

More Information:
Official Myspace
Official Website
Band History