Weed Forestin'
Encyclopedia
Weed Forestin is an album by the American
indie rock
band, Sebadoh
. It was self-released by Lou Barlow
on cassette
in 1987, under the guise Sentridoh, and sold at record stores in his native Massachusetts
. It was officially released by Homestead
on vinyl in 1990.
The album was re-released on CD in 1990 on the Homestead compilation album The Freed Weed
, which also contains a number of songs from the band's debut album, The Freed Man
.
Weed Forestin was recorded on a 4-track
in 1986 and 1987, when Barlow was the bassist
of the American indie rock
band, Dinosaur Jr. Sebadoh, which Barlow co-founded with Eric Gaffney
, started as a songwriting outlet for Barlow outside of Dinosaur Jr, whose lead singer and guitarist, J. Mascis, Barlow would later publicly clash with.
The album was named after a lyric in the Barlow song "Lose," which was not included in Weed Forestin but reworked into a Dinosaur Jr. song on their 1987 album, You're Living All Over Me
. In his July 2011 newsletter, Barlow explained that "i was -not- high on marijuana when i recorded this.. 'weed forestin' meant making the most out of what i had, foresting weeds instead of trees."
scene of the early 1990s, with their landmark album Sebadoh III
(1991). However, the recording quality of these two albums is lower than any subsequent Sebadoh albums.
The songs feature Barlow on a Stella
acoustic guitar
, an acoustic baritone ukulele
, and vocals. Gaffney plays percussion on the songs "New Worship," "More Simple," "Ride the Darker Wave" and "I Can't See." Several tracks are linked together by tape samples and collages.
Weed Forestin is the most Barlow-centric of any Sebadoh album - more so than The Freed Man, which was recorded in 1988 and features a number of Gaffney's songs. The band became a three-piece in 1989 with the arrival of Jason Loewenstein
, and all future Sebadoh albums feature songwriting contributions from Barlow, Loewenstein and other members, including Gaffney until his departure in 1994.
Following Sebadoh's evolution into a traditional band in the early 1990s, Barlow continued to record at home under the Sentridoh name.
However, in a 2004 interview with The Onion
, Barlow said that he "really worked on" his early home recordings, citing Weed Forestin and his Sentridoh material in particular, but "realized that in the end, because it was [recorded] on four-track cassette, a large group of people weren't going to take it seriously. But that was all I had, you know? If we'd had Pro Tools
when I was 21? With that kind of energy, and those kind of ideas just fuckin' rushing at me? I could've made something that didn't have tape hiss on it, so people would think it was "legitimate." http://www.avclub.com/articles/lou-barlow,13866/
These recordings gained Barlow support from Sonic Youth
. Sonic Youth's drummer, Steve Shelley
, released the Sentridoh single "Losercore" on his Smells Like Records
label in 1990.
Three songs from the album - "It's So Hard to Fall in Love," "Brand New Love" and "I Believe in Fate" - were covered by the American
indie rock
band Superchunk
on their 1991 EP
, The Freed Seed.
British
artist Daryl Waller
made stop-motion films named after and based on the songs "It's So Hard to Fall in Love" and "Brand New Love" in the early 2000's.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band, Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
. It was self-released by Lou Barlow
Lou Barlow
Louis Knox Barlow is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion. Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
on cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
in 1987, under the guise Sentridoh, and sold at record stores in his native Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It was officially released by Homestead
Homestead Records
Homestead Records was a Long Island, NY based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading. It was founded in 1984 by Sam Berger, who was the American Independent buyer for Dutch East India Trading. Berger was finding that many bands who had perhaps released their own first 45 were...
on vinyl in 1990.
The album was re-released on CD in 1990 on the Homestead compilation album The Freed Weed
The Freed Weed
The Freed Weed is a compilation album by the American indie rock band, Sebadoh. It was released by Homestead Records in 1990.It contains the band's second album, Weed Forestin, in full, followed by the majority of their first album, The Freed Man...
, which also contains a number of songs from the band's debut album, The Freed Man
The Freed Man
The Freed Man was the debut album by Sebadoh. The title refers to the Friedman Complex apartments at Smith College where Lou Barlow was living with his then-girlfriend Kathleen Billus. As Barlow says in the liner notes, ".....
.
Weed Forestin was recorded on a 4-track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
in 1986 and 1987, when Barlow was the bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
of the American indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band, Dinosaur Jr. Sebadoh, which Barlow co-founded with Eric Gaffney
Eric Gaffney
Eric Gaffney is a songwriter and recording artist. In 1989, he co-founded the indie rock band Sebadoh, and since 1998 has been performing and recording with his own project Fields of Gaffney. In 2007 a reformed Sebadoh began touring again.-External links:...
, started as a songwriting outlet for Barlow outside of Dinosaur Jr, whose lead singer and guitarist, J. Mascis, Barlow would later publicly clash with.
The album was named after a lyric in the Barlow song "Lose," which was not included in Weed Forestin but reworked into a Dinosaur Jr. song on their 1987 album, You're Living All Over Me
You're Living All Over Me
You're Living All Over Me is the second album by the American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in 1987 on SST Records. The album was named after a line uttered by frontman J Mascis while on tour with the band....
. In his July 2011 newsletter, Barlow explained that "i was -not- high on marijuana when i recorded this.. 'weed forestin' meant making the most out of what i had, foresting weeds instead of trees."
Music
Weed Forestin, like The Freed Man, epitomizes the lo-fi aesthetic that Sebadoh helped popularize in the indie rockIndie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
scene of the early 1990s, with their landmark album Sebadoh III
Sebadoh III
III is the third album by the American indie rock band, Sebadoh. It was released by Homestead Records in 1991.III was the first full length Sebadoh album to feature Jason Loewenstein, who joined the band's two founding members Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney in 1989, and debuted on the "Gimme Indie...
(1991). However, the recording quality of these two albums is lower than any subsequent Sebadoh albums.
The songs feature Barlow on a Stella
Stella (guitar)
Stella was a brand of guitars. The Stella brand was owned by the Oscar Schmidt Company and was founded around 1899. Stella produced low-mid level stringed instruments. Stella guitars were played by several notable artists including Leadbelly and Charlie Patton. Doc Watson began playing on a Stella...
acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, an acoustic baritone ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, and vocals. Gaffney plays percussion on the songs "New Worship," "More Simple," "Ride the Darker Wave" and "I Can't See." Several tracks are linked together by tape samples and collages.
Weed Forestin is the most Barlow-centric of any Sebadoh album - more so than The Freed Man, which was recorded in 1988 and features a number of Gaffney's songs. The band became a three-piece in 1989 with the arrival of Jason Loewenstein
Jason Loewenstein
Jason Loewenstein is an American alternative rock singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and a member of the indie-rock bands Sebadoh and The Fiery Furnaces...
, and all future Sebadoh albums feature songwriting contributions from Barlow, Loewenstein and other members, including Gaffney until his departure in 1994.
Following Sebadoh's evolution into a traditional band in the early 1990s, Barlow continued to record at home under the Sentridoh name.
Reception
Allmusic's Richie Unterberger praised the album for Barlow's "appealing voice, sensitive wit, and knack for affected burned-out acid-folk," but wrote "the merits are often buried beneath hiss and tomfoolery, as if [Barlow] wasn't convinced his music was any good on its own terms, and so tried to pretend it was all a joke."However, in a 2004 interview with The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, Barlow said that he "really worked on" his early home recordings, citing Weed Forestin and his Sentridoh material in particular, but "realized that in the end, because it was [recorded] on four-track cassette, a large group of people weren't going to take it seriously. But that was all I had, you know? If we'd had Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
when I was 21? With that kind of energy, and those kind of ideas just fuckin' rushing at me? I could've made something that didn't have tape hiss on it, so people would think it was "legitimate." http://www.avclub.com/articles/lou-barlow,13866/
These recordings gained Barlow support from Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. Sonic Youth's drummer, Steve Shelley
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
, released the Sentridoh single "Losercore" on his Smells Like Records
Smells Like Records
Smells Like Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey formed by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley in 1993. Groups that have recorded under the label include Sonic Youth, Blonde Redhead, Cat Power, The Raincoats, Fuck, and The Rondelles....
label in 1990.
Three songs from the album - "It's So Hard to Fall in Love," "Brand New Love" and "I Believe in Fate" - were covered by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 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...
on their 1991 EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, The Freed Seed.
British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
artist Daryl Waller
Daryl Waller
Daryl Waller is an artist based in London, England. He was born in Cornwall, England in 1978. Waller studied at the Royal College of Art, London, 2001-2003. He won the Sheila Robinson Drawing Prize in 2003...
made stop-motion films named after and based on the songs "It's So Hard to Fall in Love" and "Brand New Love" in the early 2000's.
Reissue
In his July 2011 newsletter, Barlow wrote that he had started work on a proper Weed Forestin reissue, and that it would be self-released on vinyl and digitally.Track listing
- "Temporary Dream"
- "New Worship"
- "Subtle Holy Gift"
- "My Own Religion"
- "Ride the Darker Wave"
- "More Simple"
- "Jealous of Jesus"
- "Mr. Genius Eyes"
- "Perfect Power"
- "Feeding Evil"
- "Sexual Confusion"
- "Three Times a Day"
- "Gate to Hell"
- "Broken"
- "Whitey Peach"
- "I Can't See"
- "Take My Hand"
- "Pound My Skinny Head"
- "I Believe in Fate"
- "Waited Forever"
- "Slightest Suggestion"
- "It's So Hard to Fall in Love"
- "Brand New Love"