POLYROCK

Genre:
Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Art Rock, Power Pop, Synth-pop, Experimental

Members:
LENNY AARON -- keyboards
CURT COSENTINO -- bass machine, synthesizer
CATHERINE OBLASNEY -- vocals, percussion
BILLY ROBERTSON -- guitar, vocals
TOMMY ROBERTSON -- guitars, electronics, violin
JOSEPH YANNECE -- drums, percussion, backing vocals





















POLYROCK (1980)

Credits:
Philip Glass -- piano, additional keyboards
Kurt Munkacsi -- engineer
Dominick Maita -- engineer
Hugo Dwyer -- engineer
Nick Sangiamo -- photos
J.J. Stelmach -- art director

Producer - Kurt Munkacsi,Philip Glass

Tracklist :

01 Romantic Me (3:09)
02 Green For Go (3:40)
03 This Song (2:15)
04 Go West (3:22)
05 Your Dragging Feet (5:00)
06 No Love Lost (2:55)
07 Body Me (2:41)
08 Sound Alarm (3:01)
09 Bucket Rider (2:55)
10 Shut Your Face (2:13)
11 #7 (2:57)

Link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/26336937/polyrock_-_1980.rar.html

First time on CD for this brilliant debut by the New York new wave band. Produced by Phillip Glass, this eclectic 1980 effort garnered the band excellent reviews and plenty of airplay on Alternative and College Radio as well as fledgling video shows (pre-MTV). The double A-side single 'Your Dragging Feet’ and ‘Romantic Me’ reached #69 on the Billboard Club Play Singles charts

"Polyrock could be pitched as Talking Heads under the tutelage of Philip Glass. Their music owes as much of a debt to Television and Brian Eno (specifically “Third Uncle”), but the Heads/Eno parallel seems to hold up the best. Yet by the time Polyrock arrived at the party (1980), the best hats were already taken, and somehow they got swept into the second wave of new wave artists like Suburban Lawns and Flying Lizards. Polyrock deserved better, but timing is everything in music. Led by brothers Billy and Tommy Robertson, this sextet made intelligent, agitated music that threw giddy melodies into the boiling stew of atonal angst and restless rhythms. Equally at home with instrumentals that sound like Peter Gunn on speed (“Bucket Rider”) and songs that suggest Ric Ocasek having a very bad day (“Romantic Me”), it’s still not a very big home. The eleven songs are driven by the same engine, loopy but never silly, as if in an alternate universe somewhere The B-52’s took themselves seriously. With all the name dropping I’m doing, you may be tempted to pick this up, and I sure wouldn’t stop you. Just a caveat: For me, Polyrock’s music has never come from musicians, and without a recognizable brand behind the band, this becomes principled and intelligent but ultimately faceless product. It’s not their fault, but if the band ever did any marketing (videos, radio singles, tours) it missed me, and I was paying attention to this sort of thing in 1980. Maybe it won’t trouble you this long after the fact, but I’ve always felt unsure about according them a high place in the heavens, maybe because sometimes the brightest stars aren’t the biggest, just the closest. If Philip Glass’ tight organ patterns push some of your buttons, however, Polyrock might push all of them." (http://www.connollyco.com/discography/polyrock/polyrock.html)

"A better class of jangling jerking new wave. The surging hypnosis of "Your Dragging Feet" stands out & needs to be heard."

"Contains "Cries and Whispers" and "Love Song". Another great album by a talented band. Their stuff is hard to find but when you do find it, get it. You won't be disappointed."

"this is just as relevant as anything that came out of NYC in the late 70's - early 80's... why this band got treated so badly with time is one of music's great mysteries... excellent stuff from a band that is long overdue on getting the recognition it deserves."

More: http://scenestars.net/2004/12/polyrock-bucket-rider.php


















RCA RADIO SPECIAL SERIES Vol.3 (1980)

Tracklist :

01 Intro
02 Green For Go
03 Interview
04 Shut Your Face
05 #7
06 Interview
07 Romantic Me
08 Go West
09 Interview
10 Sound Alarm
11 Station Identification Break
12 Return From Station ID
13 No Love Lost
14 Your Dragging Feet & Interview
15 Body Me
16 This Song
17 Philip Glass Interview 1
18 Philip Glass Interview 2
19 Bucket Rider
20 Outro

Link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/26333558/polyrock_-_rca_special_radio_series_vol._iii__192_kbs.rar.html

This is a collection of radio specials featuring the Interview with Philip Glass and his co-producer and Music

CHANGING HEARTS (1981)

Credits:
Philip Glass -- additional keyboards/Jill Jaffe -- violin/Maxine Newman -- cello/Kurt Munkacsi -- engineer/Mike Getlin -- engineer/Joaquin J. Lopes -- engineer/Dominick Maita (RPM) -- engineer

Producer - Kurt Munkacsi , Philip Glass

Notes:

All songs written by Billy & Tommy Robertson unless noted

Tracklist :

01 Changing Hearts (2:55)
02 Love Song (4:46)
03 Quiet Spot (1:26)
04 Cries & Whispers (3:31)
05 Mean Cow (2:29)
06 In Full Circle (3:43)
07 Like Papers on A Rack (3:29)
08 The New U.S. (3:54)
09 Slow Dogs (3:46)
10 Hallways (2:24)
11 Rain (4:00)
Written By - John Lennon , Paul McCartney

Link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/26342098/polyrock_-_changing_hearts__1981___192_kbs.rar.html

First time on CD for this brilliant sophomore album by the New York new wave band. Produced by Phillip Glass, this 1981 release continued in the same vein as the debut, although it contains more musical textures and a maturity in songwriting.

"this is one of the best albums of its time, a great listen from begin to fin, and a killer cover of "Rain" by the Beatles... In 2007, post-punk is alive and well, and perhaps now these guys will get the attention they rightly deserved all these years."

"Changing Hearts improves slightly on the band’s debut by opening the sound up with guitars to breathe a little freer. The compact arrangements, fast rhythms and repetitive melodies remain, but the end result is more varied and more fun. “Like Papers on a Rock” and a cover of The Beatles’ “Rain” are two of the album’s better tracks, and both show the band’s willingness to try something different. In trying to find a parallel for this music, I still struggle to get unstuck from Polyrock’s idiosyncratic sound; Wall of Voodoo mostly comes to mind. As with their debut, roughly half of the songs are instrumentals. That doesn’t cost the record the momentum you might think, though trying to distinguish between a “Slow Dogs” and “Hallways” could hurt your brain. In the field of alternative rock circa 1981, Polyrock fell on the artistic side of the fence. Their melodies are actually meticulous textures, crafted to achieve correct angles like a sonic sculpture. Presumably, that was the Glass influence at work, though the pop market was never going to accept a Glass factory the way they did Warhol’s tenants. The Heads’ success, which Polyrock might have shared, was predicated on the band’s energy as much as their strangeness. Watching David Byrne sing was like watching James Brown; you kept waiting for the guy to hit the wall and collapse. Polyrock never generated that kind of energy; perhaps they were too rigid. It’s the same reason why Utilitarianism never caught on, I suppose; it just wasn’t “sexy” enough. Changing Hearts may not be a sexy record, but it’s fundamentally sound as an amalgam of art and rock, perhaps reason enough to place Polyrock on a tiny pedestal of their own."

"I suppose I could gripe that both "Polyrock" and "Changing Hearts" could easily have fit onto one compact disc; but frankly I'm so delighted that both of these titles are finally available in the digital format that I'm not going to complain. Having worn out vinyl copies of both of these albums years ago, I can testify to the utter brilliance of this music. Still sounding as modern today as it did 25+ years ago, fans of Philip Glass, minimalism (God, I hate that word) and dance music will find much to adore here. That neither of these albums set the music world on fire shouldn't surprise anyone. Commercial, it's not. Intelligent, well-played and spectacularly-produced, it is. Open your ears, buy these discs and hear what you've been missing."



















ABOVE THE FRUITED PLAIN EP (1982)

Credits:
Bass [Electric] - Robert Belzer/Engineer - Bobby Nathan/Marimba - Bobby Nathan/Producer - Billy Robertson

Tracklist :

01 Working On My Love
02 Call Of The Wild
03 Chains Of Iron
04 Broken China
05 Indian Song

Link to download :
http://rapidshare.com/files/26335091/above_the_fruite_plain_ep_192_kbs.rar.html

"Sometimes disappointments come from the other side. Polyrock went kaput far too soon. Or maybe they were just a half step from breakthrough... Finally, after about 20 years without, I've got me some Polyrock again, and I feel all the dumber for letting them escape my direct attention for all these years. If you've heard and liked Cowboys International, you'd like Polyrock."















NO LOVE LOST (1986)

Tracklist :

01 La So La Me (home demo)
02 Warm And dry (live Irving plaza)
03 Ever (demo)
04 Sounds Of Love (demo)
05 Me O My (demo)
06 Broken China (demo)
07 Toy Soldiers (demo)
08 #7 (Live at Hurrah)
09 Body Me (Live at Hurrah)
10 Lion's Share (Live at Irving Plaza)
11 Green For Go (Live at Hurrah)
12 Go West (Live at Hurrah)
13 Romantic Me (Live at Hurrah)
14 Indian Song (Live at Irving Plaza
15 No Love Lost (Live at Hurrah)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/26340672/polyrock_-_1986_-_no_love_lost_192_kbs.rar.html

"No Love Lost" is a posthumous collection of 1980 and 1983 live performances, plus unreleased studio demos dating up to 1984

More :
http://www.scenestars.net/2004/12/polyrock-warm-and-dry-live-at-irving.php

Biography:
Formed in 1978, Polyrock was one of the first New York groups to explore post-disco/new-sensibility dance music. The sextet led by ex-Model Citizens singer/guitarist Billy Robertson gained unquestionable artistic credibility through the patronage of Philip Glass, who (with his producer, Kurt Munkacsi) produced and played on their two original albums. Polyrock combines minimalist repetition (the Glass influence) with electro-pop and smart, aware songs, then strips it all down to skin and bone for extremely singleminded dance music. Fascinating in its extremity.
Changing Hearts follows the same basic pattern but loosens up the sound, occasionally breaking away from austere dance music for a taste of straightforward pop, including a reworking of the Beatles' "Rain." Otherwise, Billy and Tommy Robertson write some of the most vulnerable songs this side of David Byrne, with solid (if lean) performances and production.
Following Tommy's departure (which left Polyrock a notably improved five-piece), his brother produced Above the Fruited Plain, five tracks with more character and melody than any of the group's previous releases. No Love Lost is a posthumous collection of 1980 and 1983 live performances, plus unreleased studio demos dating up to 1984.
Billy Robertson and backing vocalist Catherine Oblasney returned in 1990 with the band Nine Ways to Sunday, largely abandoning electronics in favor of acoustic instruments, though Robertson’s songwriting and vocals remain a case-study in caffeinated nervous energy. The opening track, "Midnight Train" is the album's best, but the rest is also enjoyable, a not-spectacular collection not far removed from the Woodentops or early James. For trainspotters, the lineup of Nine Ways to Sunday also included future Nine Inch Nails percussionist Charlie Clouser and cellist Enrique Tiru-Velel, who would flash in the '90s pan with the band Psychotica.[Steven Grant / Ira Robbins / Brad Reno]

From wikipedia.org:
Polyrock was an American post-punk/new wave band formed in New York City in 1978 and active until the mid-1980s. Strongly influenced by minimalism, the group was produced by the composer Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi. The band, led by singer/guitarist Billy Robertson (formerly of the group Model Citizen), had a keyboard-heavy, pattern-based sound strongly reminiscent of Glass's work; in fact, Glass performed on their first two albums.Polyrock's lineup also included vocalist Catherine Oblasney, guitarist Tommy Robertson, drummer Joseph Yannece, and keyboard player Lenny Aaron. The group signed with RCA by 1980, and delivered their debut album that same year. Two albums followed in 1981 (Changing Hearts and Electro-Romantic), but Polyrock disbanded in 1982.They were often compared by critics to Talking Heads, another band of the same era, though they never approached that band's fame

"Hi my name is Lenny Aaron, one of the original members of Polyrock. I'm not sure why I'm writing to you except to thank you for your interest in our long deceased band. I do believe it was a great time for music. I will give you a quickview of the band members. Me & Tommy Robertson and still very good friends and see each other often. Billy Robertson is living in Europe. Curt Cosentino died a few years back. I was very close with him and it was incredibly sad. I haven't heard from Joey Yanecce in years but he was living in New Jersey and doing well. Cathey Oblasney I believe is living in Brklyn. I was so surprised a few years ago when a friend downloaded all our music from [a well-known P2P service] and gave it to me on cd. Also I recently took the cassette tape ROIR released and burned it to cd. I don't know if you know but we were never happy with the production of our albums. We were much better live. BTW, I saw Philip [Glass] recently and he lives near me in the East Village and just had another child which he was glowing about. Saying something like, Wow, look at me 63 and still going. Anyway, thanks for your interest and kind words about our band. It really felt good to me and Tommy when we discovered it together surfing the net. Regards,Lenny I want to say thank you to everyone who has written to me about Polyrock over the last several months and I apologize for not responding to all of you personally. The offers of money to create CD's, requests for any copies of the music, and just thank you notes are being forwarded to the band in small increments. I know that they appreciate your kind words as well. In order to keep the music being heard, a MySpace page has been created for the band at http://myspace.com/polyrock where you can stream some of the tracks that were previously hosted here.
(http://scenestars.net/2005/05/catching-up-with-polyrock.php)

More info:
http://www.myspace.com/polyrock with 2 VIDEO

http://www.littlehits.com/2006/08/polyrock-romantic-me-from-lp-polyrock.html

http://www.nwoutpost.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=11406

NINE WAYS TO SUNDAY (1990)

Genre:
Rock
Styles:
Alternative Pop/ Rock

Credits:
William Robertson -Acoustic Guitar/Vocals
Charles Clouser - Drums/Percussion/Vocals/Electronic Sounds
Catherine Oblasney - Background Vocals
Dave Dale - Guitar/Vocals/Producer
Brian Stover - Background Vocals/Engineer
Sacha Frey - Harmonica/Keyboards/Vocals
Kenny Boyd -Vocals/Acoustic Bass
David Kloss, John Mrvos - Producer/Mixing
Henri Tirú-Vélez - Cello/Vocals
B.J. Ziemmerman - Background Vocals
Kari Steinert - Background Vocals
Amanda - Background Vocals

Tracklist :

01 Midnight Train
02 Get Back Home
03 Restless
04 Love and Money
05 Come Tell Me Now
06 Dance for Me
07 Only the Innocent
08 The Means Becomes the End
09 Fire and Rain
10 I Survive

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/27507800/nine_ways_to_sunday__192_kbs_.rar.html

"Billy Robertson and backing vocalist Catherine Oblasney returned in 1990 with the band Nine Ways to Sunday, largely abandoning electronics in favor of acoustic instruments, though Robertson’s songwriting and vocals remain a case-study in caffeinated nervous energy. The opening track, "Midnight Train" is the album's best, but the rest is also enjoyable, a not-spectacular collection not far removed from the Woodentops or early James. For trainspotters, the lineup of Nine Ways to Sunday also included future Nine Inch Nails percussionist Charlie Clouser and cellist Enrique Tiru-Velel, who would flash in the '90s pan with the band Psychotica."

"Nine Ways to Sunday enter the ‘90s with an undying affection for the decade that preceded it. The band's self-titled debut from 1990 is almost like an essay on mid-‘80s college-radio sounds: crooned vocals; jangling guitars; shimmering keyboards; and hyperactive, propulsive drums. Like the Ocean Blue, Nine Ways to Sunday is an American group with an English crush. However, their sound is more stripped down than the Ocean Blue's. Nine Ways to Sunday could be seen as predecessors to Jars of Clay, at least in spirit. As with Jars of Clay Nine Ways to Sunday perform acoustic rock that transcends the limitations of the genre. "Midnight Train", the opening track, has toe-tapping percussion which quickly snag the ears. "Get Back Home" is as pretty and moody as the British artists -- probably The The or Echo & the Bunnymen -- that most likely inspired it. The lyrics aren't deep or weird like much of the songs from the band's ‘80s new wave heroes, but they're sung nicely. "The Means Become the End" is a dead ringer for Lloyd Cole and the synthesizer-laden "I Survive" could easily be mistaken for a New Order rarity. Released a year before grunge kicked new wave and most English music off of alternative radio, 9 Ways to Sunday is a fond farewell to the crystal days of ‘80s post-punk." ~ Michael Sutton, All Music Guide

"I am not sure why I am writing this review but maybe it is because there are no other reviews for this title. I own the CD and have for several years. It was bought on a whim at a local pawn shop and it was a very pleasant surprise. I like the sincerity of the music as well as the vocals. If you like rock fused with rockabilly and a touch of banjo, you will like this effort. They do a great job of carrying you from one song to the next and making you feel as if you are going through the same issues as they are. It is very real and very pleasing. "

REPOSTED

Perfect Zebras -Zebra (1983)

http://rapidshare.com/files/27520281/perfect_zebras-_zebra_1983_.rar.html

Next time : Model Citizens and related (Model Citizens was the band of Billy Robertson before went on Polyrock) as The Dance