| The Nature of Sap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 11, 1997 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Label | Merge [1] | |||
| Producer | Mac McCaughan | |||
| Portastatic chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [4] |
The Nature of Sap is Portastatic's third studio album. [5] It was released on Merge Records on March 11, 1997.
The album was recorded at Duck Kee Studios in Mebane, North Carolina, during the summer of 1996, except tracks 4, 7-9, and 11, which were recorded on 4-track cassette on "Old NC 86."[ citation needed ] Matt McCaughan plays drums on many of the album's tracks. [6]
The Tucson Weekly wrote that "Portastatic seems to be what happens when an aging punk rocker and his ambitious musical vision 'mature': passivity, depression and terminal boredom." [7] Phoenix New Times called the album "a multilayered opus of pop precocity." [8] Paste deemed it the band's most underrated album, calling it "a downcast jazzy pop record that dabbles with electronic minimalism and features some of [Mac] McCaughan’s best song writing." [9] SF Weekly wrote that The Nature of Sap "finds the normally manic Superchunk frontman in an extended soporific spelunk through the caves of his waking dreams." [10]
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and do-it-yourself ethic is influenced by punk rock.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second and final studio album by American rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records. The music is predominantly indie rock and psychedelic folk, and is characterized by an intentionally low-quality sound. Traditional instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments such as a singing saw, uilleann pipes, and zanzithophone. The lyrics are surrealistic and opaque, with themes ranging from nostalgia to love, and were partially inspired by The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world, with records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts.
On Avery Island is the debut studio album by Neutral Milk Hotel, released on March 26, 1996, by Merge Records. At the time, Neutral Milk Hotel was a solo project of American musician Jeff Mangum, who recorded the album with producer Robert Schneider from February to May 1995. On Avery Island is an indie rock and psychedelic folk album, with a lo-fi sound.
The TASCAM Portastudio was the first four-track recorder based on a standard compact audio cassette tape. The term portastudio is exclusive to TASCAM, though it is generally used to describe all self-contained cassette-based multitrack recorders dedicated to music production. The Portastudio, and particularly its first iteration, the Teac 144, is credited with launching the home-recording wave, which allowed musicians to cheaply record and produce music at home, and is cited as one of the most significant innovations in music production technology.
Ghost Stories is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2000 by Asian Man Records. It was the band's second full-length album. With this release the band moved away from the political nature of some of their previous songs in favor of more introspective lyrics. Also, while singer/bassist Brendan Kelly had handled the majority of lead vocals on their previous album A Guided Tour of Chicago, on this album he and singer/guitarist Chris McCaughan split vocal duties almost equally. This singing style would continue throughout their next several albums, and eventually the two would begin to share lead vocals in an almost duet style on Oh Calcutta! It also features the only Lawrence Arms song written and sung by drummer Neil Hennessy, "106 South". The album was recorded at Scientific Studios in December 1999 by Mike Giampa. All of the drums were triggered, and the bass was recorded through a SansAmp. Accompanied by a heavily distorted guitar, this resulted in a very raw sounding album. It's loved by hardcore fans for its dark tones and lyrical themes. Brendan Kelly has stated that this is his second least favorite Lawrence Arms album, but called the cover his favorite. The album was released on vinyl for the first time in 2009 on Asian Man Records, with all new artwork.
Cheap Trick, commonly referred to as Cheap Trick '97, is the second eponymous album, and thirteenth studio album, by the American rock band Cheap Trick, produced by the band and Ian Taylor and released on Red Ant Records and Alliance Entertainment. The album is referred to as "Cheap Trick II" when it is referenced on the promotional DVD that was released with the band's Special One album in 2003. Ian Taylor had previously engineered the One On One LP in 1982 and produced a handful of other tracks from 1983's Next Position Please LP, as well as the title track for the 1983 Sean S. Cunningham comedy film Spring Break.
Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan is an American musician and record label owner, based in North Carolina. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and Portastatic since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the independent record label Merge Records with Superchunk bandmate Laura Ballance.
Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s as a solo project of Mac McCaughan, singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. The project has since expanded into a full band, sometimes including Superchunk guitarist Jim Wilbur and McCaughan's brother Matthew.
Severe Exposure is the second album by Six Finger Satellite, released in 1995 through Sub Pop. It was marked by the extensive use of synthesizers, which augmented the jittery, post-punk sound of the band's earlier releases.
I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle is Portastatic's first studio album. It was released on Merge Records in 1993.
Slow Note from a Sinking Ship is Portastatic's second studio album. It was released on Merge Records on June 20, 1995.
Flat Tracker is the second studio album by the Seattle hardcore punk band Zeke. It was released on Scooch Pooch Records in 1996 and re-released on Relapse Records in 2008.
Summer of the Shark is Portastatic's fourth studio album. It was released on Merge Records on April 8, 2003.
Some Small History is a collection of "rarities, collecting B-sides, compilation tracks, EPs, fanzine vinyl, and previously unreleased material recorded between 1990 and 2007" from the band Portastatic. It was released on Merge Records on September 9, 2008.
Hello CD of the Month EP: February 1994 is a CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Hello label in 1994.
Scrapbook EP is a double 7-inch single and CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Merge Records label in 1995.
The Perfect Little Door is CD EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Merge Records label in 2001.
Autumn Was a Lark is an EP by the band Portastatic. It was released on the Merge Records label in 2003.
Bricks were an indie rock band founded in New York City in the late 1980s. The group was formed by Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan while he was studying at Columbia University, along with Nashville-born singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell, plus classmates Andrew Webster and Josh Phillips. The foursome recorded at least 18 lo-fi songs between 1988 and 1990, which they released on a cassette and two 7" singles before disbanding. Their first single, "Girl With The Carrot Skin", enjoyed college radio airplay and was also made into a music video. Shot on super-8 film, the video featured the band eating and playing with copious amounts of carrots.
