Use With Headphones Late At Night: The Best Of Tadpoles 1990-2000 CD

Tadpoles, based in Hoboken, NJ, disbanded in 2000 after releasing 4 critically acclaimed studio albums, 1 live album and 1 E.P. all on their own Bakery Records label (except for their last studio album, Whirlaway, which was released on Australia's Camera Obscura Records.) The group was formed by vocalist/guitarist, Todd Parker and original drummer, Michael Kite Audino in New York City in 1990.Members of the New York group, HIT, bassist David Max & guitarist/vocalist Nick Kramer joined in 1992 and Adam Boyette became the full time drummer in 1996.Career highlights include a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine (May 1996) for their second studio album, Far Out, which like all of their studio albums (except Whirlaway) was produced by Shimmy Disc/Bongwater mogul, Kramer.The group was also featured in the first Terrastock festival in Providence, Rhode Island in 1997 and their performance was captured on their live album "Destroy Terrastock-Live." Although Tadpoles rarely performed live, their shows were always a multi-media sensory overload experience with films, videos, strobe lights, and other homemade visual effects.The band toured the West Coast in 1997 with Boston's Cul de Sac and Windy & Carl (as well as the late legendary John Fahey on one date.) Since Tadpoles disbanded, David, Nick & Adam have reformed HIT and Todd Parker continues to operate Bakery Records in Hoboken.For complete bio, reviews and more information, check out the Tadpoles web site at www.tadpoles.com.USE WITH HEADPHONES LATE AT NIGHT (Best of 1990-2000)is a perfect starting point into the world of the Tadpoles.It contains four tracks from each of the studio album (in remastered or remixed form)and one from the E.P.Tadpoles Discography 1994 He Fell Into The Sky (Bakery) 1996 Far Out (Bakery) 1997 Know Your Ghosts E.P.(Bakery) 1998 Smoke Ghost (Bakery) 1998 Destroy Terrastock Live (Bakery) 1999 Whirlaway (Camera Obscura/Bakery) 2001 Use With Headphones Late At Night-Best of 1990-2000 (Bakery)

A career-spanning compilation that came out about a year after Hoboken space-rockers Tadpoles split up, Use With Headphones Late at Night: The Best of Tadpoles 1990-2000 is a fine overview of an underrated group of neo-psychedelicists. It's of limited use for established fans of the group -- it's simply four tracks from each of the band's four albums, plus the trippy instrumental "Judas, This Is Jesus" from 1997's Know Your Ghosts EP, with no unreleased or rare tracks -- but newcomers to the band will find it a well-chosen introduction to the group, from the Spacemen 3-derived psych-drones of 1994's He Fell Into the Sky through the poppier experiments of Far Out and Smoke Ghost (featuring, respectively, the vaguely Pink Floyd-ish "At Least I'm Not Like Jonathan Carver" and the gloriously fuzzy dream pop of "Jaded Jean," perhaps the band's two best works) to the band's career high point, 1999's masterful and varied Whirlaway, one of the finest psych-pop albums of the decade. While this is both an enjoyable listen and a good potted history, fans of the Bevis Frond/Spacemen 3 axis of bands and My Bloody Valentine should probably try one of the proper Tadpoles albums first; if you like one, you'll like them all, and picking the others up will obviate the need for this compilation. ~ Stewart Mason