Shelflife is proud to present a special compilation celebrating its 50th release. "You're Still Young At Heart" features nineteen bands paying tribute to the first 49 Shelflife releases by performing songs written by other Shelflife bands. You will hear some of your favorite classic Shelflife tracks performed and reinterpreted by both old and new label acts. Bands from all over the world contributed to this historic cd, resulting in a truly global Shelflife celebration! This is a must buy for fans of the Shelflife label.



"Shelflife Records and Matinee Recordings, two of the best independent labels devoted to pop songcraft in this fair nation, both hit their 50th release this summer, and to celebrate both released albums with musicians from the label covering songs by other musicians from the label. Matinee 50 , reviewed last issue, was a splendid collection of snazzy, pretty, and well-crafted pop songs; so is the Shelflife celebration, You're Still Young at Heart , though the music is stylistically a bit different. You're Still Young at Heart is the perfect title for a Shelflife compilation, as the label sometimes feels like a tribute to the characteristics of imagination, generosity and sweetness that all-too-many adults are ready to forget about. The 19 bands represented here-generally speaking, a grab-bag of "in love with the 80s for the sake of songwriting, not nostalgia" synth-pop groups and delicate folk-pop groups-all are pros at writing melodic songs that are pretty yet not just surfaces. Song after song, from Daydream Cycle's drop-dead-beautiful cover of The Shermans' "Lousy Judge of Character" to River's late-night, lonely take on The Arrogants' melancholy "Lovesick," is filled with genuine emotion. These are songs that are truthful enough about heartbreak and infatuation and so on to make the hairs on your arms stand at attention, yet they're also as stylish and infectious as you want pop songs to be. The songs range from some of the earliest Shelflife releases (by people like One Night Suzan, The Crooner, Johnny Dee, and Club 8) to the most recent (Charming, Phoebe Quest, The Shermans). In the cases where I'm familiar with the original songs, the covers are reverential but too much so, finding the right balance between the personalities of the original musicians and the interpreters. And above all else, You're Still Young at Heart is as fun as a celebration should be. Happy anniversary Shelflife, may you last forever. " - Dave Heaton (Erasing Clouds) "Shelflife Records celebrates its 50th release with a compilation CD that showcases many of its talented bands paying tribute to their label mates by performing and reinterpreting 19 songs from the first 49 Shelflife releases. From its opening track "This Way and That", originally done by Acid House Kings, but reinterpreted here by the Maybellines, to the final notes of "Lovesick" by the Arrogants, as done this time around by River, "You're Still Young At Heart" is a TRIBUTE album in every sense of the word. Each track reflects the true admiration with which it was recorded. Given the sheer quantity of talent assembled on this CD, it seems inconceivable that it would be anything but astounding. Some of its shining moments include: California Snow Story's interpretation of Brittle Stars' "This Trip," an already outstanding song that is given new life in this new scaled down, somewhat lo-fi version and Laura Watling's "My Fondest Wish" which is both sweet and infectious as reinterpreted by Sometimes I Wonder. Equally satisfying are The Sherman's take on Tara Emelye Needham's "Plastic Bouquet" and The Sweetlings vision of "You Went In Phases," another Brittle Stars' song revisited on this CD. For fans of Shelflife records, this release offers a wonderful opportunity to hear some of their favorite songs transformed into something that is at once familiar and excitingly new. New Shelflife listeners, on the other hand, will be treated to more than just good music on this release. Rather, "You're Still Young At Heart" represents not only the best of what Shelflife offers musically, but also the best of what Shelflife Records is all about." - Jennifer Jones (Losing Today) "Also known as "Shelflife 50", this is a compilation of bands associated with the label (though not all of the bands, like Calories or Sometimes I Wonder, have actually released a record yet), covering songs that have been released on one of the previous 49 Shelflife records. I hesitated to say Shelflife bands, as some folks cheated and did songs associated only through comps (like the Shermans covering Tara Emelye Needham and Majestic covering Club 8). Regardless of that fact, though, this comp is a lot of fun all the way through! Many of the bands made the songs they covered their own; for example, if I hadn't previously heard the originals, I would totally believe that the Majestic cover by Charming and the Crooner cover from Brideshead were their own! Other high points on this cd include the Maybellines, Free Loan Investments, Laura Watling, Carnival Park, the Shermans, California Snow Story, and Den Baron. A couple songs I didn't love on here, but otherwise it's a fantastic tribute to one of the best pop labels around! (MTQ=16/19)" - Chris (Indiepages) "With both Shelflife and Matinee celebrating their 50th releases, it's a great time to be a pop fan because both of them have released commemorable albums, made up of some of the finest of the international pop underground. And so, I'm not gonna go through this track by track, because you probably own some of these gems anyway, but on this fantastic album you'll find hits by the excellent Free Loan Investments, Souvenir, Brideshead, Majestic and California Snow Story. What else could you possibly want? Go seek out now. Now I say!" - Sam Metcalf (Tasty fanzine) "if there's one thing this crazy interweb has done, it's provided a seam for the international pop underground to collate the best bands from all over, and a great crop of labels, many but not all from the 'states, to reach out and soothe indie kids in six continents. in a country like the uk, where liking indie-pop has merited fully-fledged pariah status for over a decade now, an alternative place to get your fix is vital. hot on the heels, then, of matinée 's 50th release celebration comes shelflife's turn: the principle, which you will by now be familiar with, is that they phone up or e-mail or carrier pigeon all their top acts and invite them to submit a cover version of, um, another of their top acts. (in our day, you celebrated your 50th release with a rudimentary board game, but times change). the dividend for you the listener is that, like matinée 50, "you're still young at heart" aka shelflife 50 is a no-brainer purchase if you have but shaken a leg to a single one of the forty-nine preceding discs.

more specifically, cracking songs included within these walls include the maybellines doing the acid house kings ' "this and that" (it's as helplessly and decadently addictive as pimm's no1 on a warm day in binsey meadow), soft pillow kisses applying the stereolab template to the crooner 's "over the rainbow", carnival kings having a good if slightly brave stab at the autocollants ' "candy coated kisses", a matchwinningÊ and futuristically fey "the first phase at high noon" by calories (originally by phoebe quest ), the crossbreeding of loungecore and shoegaze by majestic in doing club 8 's "before i came" (let's call the resulting invention "loungegaze") and a superb "lousy judge of character", originally by the shermans but now all glitter, sparkle and ribbons by daydream cycle . we have also recently become hopelessly taken with california snow story oh-so tentatively taking the brittle stars ' "this trip", the slow chords tingling throughout like the light touch of your favourite one's soft fingers tracing lines on your skin. oh, and simp‡tico has the honour of being the artist who lands a tune in both the matinee and shelflife comp camps: this time, it's charming 's "downtown" which sees jason sweeney honouring the science of the discotheque.

so we suspect it is merely an upshot of our relative lack of familiarity with shelflife (as compared to matinée) that this is an album that took a couple of listens, rather than enticing us fully on the first. however, from that second,Êthe result was never really in doubt." - In Love With These Times In Spite Of These Times Fin idé att låta artisterna på ett skivbolag tolka varandras låtar. En klassisk samhörighetsteknik som bäddar för att fans av artisterna eller etikettens estetik får lite oväntade vinklingar på sina favoritlåtar eller att sånger som annars glidit undan medvetandet får nytt liv.

Shelflife är en indie-etikett i San Francisco som firar sin femtionde utgåva med att låta nitton av sina akter tolka varandras låtar. Lite twee-pop, lite C86 fast sjutton år senare. Trådar från Orange Juice, The Pastels och Sarah Records plockas upp av nu aktiva band och artister.

Laura Watling gör Emmaboda-jangle av The Castaway Stones "Sunday came and went". Den Baron rotar till panda-söt pop av One Night Suzans "Alcohol future beat" (det allra första släppet på Shelflife), med textrader som "I'm a loser but I don't care" och en sodabubblig orgel. Charming får till lite vithyad disco-krydda på Majestics "I was wrong", på det där viset som Orange Juice eller Haircut 100 gjorde back in the day.

På denna internationella pophylla ryms också svenska Free Loan Investments som tar sig an The Shermans "Rush hour". Först på hyllan står därtill av en cover på Acid House Kings. Det är The Maybellines som gör "This and that" med den äran. Och Club 8 får se sin "Before I Came" tacklad av Majestic.

The Radio Dept., vars debutalbum "Lesser matters" gavs ut av Shelflife tidigare i år, saknas dock totalt här. Synd, då de kunnat tuillhöra höjdpunkterna.

Många akter har kvinnliga vokalister och det är ju kul. Men ibland blir det hela väl fumlande och gulligt. Jovisst, det är en sorts revolt det också Ð att inte låta stor , macho och muskelbyggande. Digipackens färgsprakande utvik med allsköns Shelflife-utgåvor och parafernalia väcker verkligen aptiten på dessa attraktivt designade artefakter. Snygga saker att ha i skivhyllan. - Timo Kangas (La Musik mag) Attenzione: in questa recensione potrebbero comparire alcune frasi usate per recensire la raccolta gemella Matinée , ma vi assicuriamo che si tratta di due scritti diversi.

Sentire diciannove artisti Shelflife che coverizzano diciannove canzoni Shelflife é una cosa strana, e in fondo nemmeno troppo particolare data l'affinità stilistica dei gruppi approdati alla label di San Francisco. Ma se nomino Brideshead, Free Loan Investments, Souvenir, Shermans, California Snow Story, Majestic, qualcuno di voi é in grado di resistere? Nei solchi di "You're still young at heart", raccolta celebrativa per la cinquantesima pubblicazione Shelflife, si susseguono senza sosta 19 meraviglie pescate da un catalogo ricchissimo che dal 1996 ad oggi ha riservato innumerevoli delizie agli appassionati, e che festeggia nel migliore dei modi l'incondizionato amore di Ed Shelflife (lo chiamano tutti così) per l'indiepop. Se volete saperne di più l'intervista é qui, per intanto eccovi dieci ragioni dieci per amare "You're still young at heart".

1. Per sentire Laura Watling che con una chitarra e un tamburello rifà i Castaway Stones e suona esattamente come i primissimi Lush (meno il feedback).

2. Per la bellissima copertina che allinea le coste di buona parte delle prime 49 pubblicazioni Shelflife, anche se accorgendovi di non averne nemmeno la metà vi vergognerete un po'.

3. Per ritrovare dopo tanto tempo Den Baron che si scatena con chitarre e tastierine su un oscuro pezzo degli One Night Suzan (dal primo album Shelflife, nientemeno).

4. Perché non lo diciamo mai, ma gli ateniesi Crooner sono proprio un bel gruppo, qui coverizzato ben due volte e tutte e due alla perfezione: dai Brideshead in versione trombettara con "Love makes the sun shine bright" e dai meravigliosi Soft Pillow Kisses che ricoprono di soffici meraviglie vocali "Over The Rainbow".

5. Perché é sempre bello sentir rivivere i Brittle Stars, una delle band che chi scrive rimpiange di più, nelle note dei California Snow Story (una dolcissima, magica riedizione di "This Trip") e degli sconosciuti Sweetling che arpeggiano delicatamente su "you went in phases".

6. Perché ogni pretesto é buono per ascoltare un nuovo pezzo del gruppo tweepop più magnifico del mondo: i Free Loan Investments che qui riprendono gli Shermans, con Amanda che assottiglia all'inverosimile la voce e quasi la nasconde nel mix.

7. Per sentire i Majestic tornare finalmente quelli di una volta e condire di straordinari violini in fiore "Before I Came" dei Club 8.

8. Perché anche se i Souvenir non fanno un gran lavoro con la versione strumentale di "Rollerskate" ( Call & Response ), potete sempre consolarvi con l'originale e accorgervi che proprio non c'era verso di avvicinarlo.

9. Perché oltre alle dolcezze assortite, le indiepop bands possono fare disco-soul (!) come i Charming su "I was wrong dei Majestic" e soul-disco(!) come i Simpàtico su "Downtown" dei... beh, dei Charming, ovvio.

10. Perché l'indiepop é uno stile di vita. Ed ogni singolo disco Shelflife lo ribadisce, ma nessuno lo fa bene come questo. E perché al prezzo di un EP non troverete davvero nulla di meglio quest'anno.

Non ho altro da aggiungere, ma forse il mio stereo sì: da quando ha assaggiato "You're still young at heart" é come se sorridesse." - Salvatore (Indiepop.it)