SKELETON KEY Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon 1997

                                                                          

Discogs

 

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

The junk-rock quartet Skeleton Key began to take shape in 1994 when guitarist/vocalist Chris Maxwell and former Lounge Lizards bassist Erik Sanko met at the downtown New York Club the Knitting Factory, where Maxwell worked as a booking agent. After enlisting drummer Steve Calhoon, the trio announced they wanted to play "garbage; " they were soon directed to Rick Lee, a performer who already owned a "junk kit" consisting of an old table, propane tanks, chairs, film reels, a red wagon, and pots and pans. In mid-1996, Skeleton Key issued their self-titled debut EP on Motel Records; their full-length debut Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon followed on Capitol in 1997. They earned a Grammy nomination that same year thanks to the brilliant packaging of that album. By the new millennium, guitarist Colin Brooks was added to the group. Obtainium appeared in summer 2002.

 

Tracklist

1	Watch The Fat Man Swing	3:27
2	Wide Open	2:36
3	Nod Off	3:19
4	All The Things I've Lost	2:55
5	The Only Useful Word	3:57
6	The World's Most Famous Undertaker	3:05
7	Vomit Ascot	1:53
8	Dear Reader	3:16
9	Scratch	2:37
10	Big Teeth	3:36
11	The Needle Never Ends	3:56

 

ENON Long Play 1998

 

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Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger

Enon is the trio of John Schmersal (who was involved with Brainiac and John Stuart Mill) and Rick Lee and Steve Calhoon (both of Skeleton Key). Like groups such as Olivia Tremor Control, they're interested in exploring that wide territory between pop/rock songs and noise, employing a wealth of samples, industrial sound processing, and percussion that veers toward crockery-smashing murkiness. Not as inclined toward melodies of the 1960s and '70s as groups like Olivia Tremor Control are, there are nonetheless often pensive, oddball pop tunes lurking in their swathe of sound. Enon, originally the project of Schmersal alone, put out a couple of indie singles before Schmersal moved to New York to link up with Calhoon and Lee. Calhoon left the band and was replaced by Toko Yasuda; the addition of Matt Schulz made the group a quartet. Their debut album, Believo!, was released in 2000, and proved that the lineup was a successful one. High Society followed in 2002, with the same players but a more poppy, uptempo sound. The following year, the group issued the In This City EP, went on tour with the Faint, and also released Hocus Pocus, which found the band moving in an electronic pop direction. The B-sides collection Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence arrived in early 2005. In 2007, Enon returned with their first new album in four years, Grass Geysers, Carbon Clouds, which blended the band's electronic, pop, and rock elements even more seamlessly. The group called it a day in 2011, with Schmersal reuniting with Lee to form Crooks on Tape around that time. 

Tracklist

1	Refreshment Pavillion Theme
2	The Hatching
3	Inches
4	Rougher 'N Hell
5	Rubber Car
6	In The Bay
7	Much Sorrow
8	Tender Villains
9	Return To The Planet Of The Apes
10	Bear Bear
11	Detective Goono Czech Theme
12	Tile Basin
13	Midnight Rambler