cath carroll / miaow
ltm catalogue

Writer and musician Cath Carroll began her recording career in indiepop contenders Miaow, then embarking on a solo career with Factory Records before relocating to Chicago. Her best known solo albums remain England Made Me and True Crime Motel. To read Cath Carroll biography click here. To buy Cath Carroll and Miaow CDs click here.


ENGLAND MADE ME (LTMCD 2348) £10
Recorded in Sheffield, London, Chicago and Sao Paulo, England Made Me was first released by Factory Records in 1991 (Fact 210) and adds up to a smooth yet sometimes sinister collection of moody dance, sensuous daydreams and warped bossa nova. Remastered and re-sequenced in 2002 by Cath and Kerry Kelekovich, the CD now runs for 71 minutes and includes four bonus tracks. Full tracklist: Moves Like You, Unforgettable, Beast on the Streets, Train You're On, Send me Over, Subtitled, Watching You, Next Time (He's Mine), To Close Your Eyes Forever, Too Good to Live, Moves Like You (single mix), Send Me Over (alternate mix), Beast Remix, England Made Me.

Reviews: "Over a decade on it still sounds classy, an amalgam of Latin beat and European machine grooves, like New Order accosting Sade on a jazz cruise. The title track may sound like a joyous salsa ride, but lyrically it's a vehicle for Carroll to express her disillusionment with her homeland. This combination of salsa and sadness is a compelling one" (Q Magazine, 9/02); "Just about flawless" (Time Out New York, 12/02); "Gentle grooves and a voice to melt your heart" (Chicago Sun-Times, 9/02); "A cunning work of slinky, sinister pop and ghostly electronics - prefigures the sort of female-fronted dance pop popularized by groups like St Etienne" (All Music Guide, 10/02); "Add together some punchy remixes and we have a forgotten gem of an album" (Leonard's Lair, 8/02); "Hey - ten years ago I really did miss out on a great record. Stand-out tracks are the more dance-orientated tracks like Send Me Over, Subtitled and the fabulous opener Moves Like You. It's really that good" (Tangents, 7/02); "Her music is a farrago of curious influences - Brazilian dance pop, the Manhattan Transfer, Herb Alpert maybe, and (mostly because of her potent low-volume vocalizing) Sade. She found a genuinely new frontier - underground MOR" (The Chicago Reader, 1993); "An album worthy of obsession - a rainy-day afternoon pop-lite affair that is really rather enjoyable" (mundanesounds.com, 2002)


THE GONDOLIERS OF GHOST LAKE (LTMCD 2350) £10
Written and produced with collaborator Kerry Kelekovich, the 14 songs which make up Gondoliers were recorded by Cath in her adopted home town of Chicago between January and July 2002. Standout tracks include The Divine Miss A (Morrissey meets the Kinks in tribute to transgendered Mancunian), Free (post 60s mystical rock), Man Goes Down the Highway (rarified folk-dub, on the same continuum as Luscious Jackson and Pulsillama) and the infectious Mystified (romping dance-pop with a latin underpin). Full tracklist: All Our Lives, The Divine Miss A, Free, Mystified, In Your Own Way, Man Goes Down the Highway, 7/7, Average and Unsaved, Dunvant Junior Prayers, Blood Roar, Leaving Song, The Boy From Islamorada, Falling Over Tomorrow, All Our Lives (Epilogue).

Reviews: "Moody guitar textures and flat electronic beats discreetly light her diaphanous waft of a voice, which slip along reality's edge. Think Twin Peaks, even the Blair Witch Project" (Q Magazine, 1/03); "Cath Carroll possesses an extraordinary voice, sensuous and dreamy and capable of uniting diverse influences with a cool grace, here acid-folk, Smiths-esque pop, hippie rock and Latino club romps are blessed with her hypnotic understatement and literate guile. This is grown-up pop resounding with heartfelt warmth and steely seriousness" (Uncut, 1/03); "The album is Carroll's best since her Factory days, and her most musically adventurous. There's a rich palette of shuffling electro loops, spooky atmospherics and funhouse psychedelia dappled with bright acoustic guitar" (Time Out New York, 12/02); "Proudly defiant... flows seamlessly and beautifully from beginning to end, uncompromising in its quality and beauty" (mundanesounds.com, 2/03); "Seductively ethereal" (Glasgow Herald, 12/02); "What a fine touch she has for effortlessly merging and blending styles and influences into something that sounds both contemporary and timeless all at once" (Careless Talk Costs Lives, 1/03); "The latin influences continue to appear, while In Your Own Way is an unsettling ballad par excellence, and Leaving Song a model of refined understatement. Full credit also for the alt.country of The Divine Miss A and Falling Over Tomorrow" (Leonard's Lair, 11/02)


MIAOW WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN (LTMCD 2346) £10
Formed by Cath with drummer Chris Fenner and bassist Steve Macguire in 1984, indiepop contenders Miaow released their debut single Belle Vue the following year, and in 1986 contributed to the celebrated C86 compilation. Alerted to their talents, Tony Wilson brought the group to Factory Records, which lead to a brace of unabashed pop singles in 1987: When It All Comes Down, and Break the Code. Miaow also recorded two Peel Sessions, and left behind demos for an aborted Factory album. This definitive CD collection rounds up all their studio recordings. Full tracklist: Belle Vue, Fate, Grocer's Devil Daughter, Sport Most Royal, Did She?, Following Through, Three Quarters of the Way to Paradise, Coockery Casualty, When It All Comes Down, Did She?, When It All Comes Down 12", Just Keep Walking, Thames At High Water, The Dreamer's Death, Fate, Break the Code, Stolen Ears, Fear of the Sun (demo), Carnal Drag (demo), King Creole.

Reviews: "The title track is jangle-tastic, with its blissful Tyrolean yodel and glam hand claps" (Uncut, 4/03); "Sounds so impossibly fresh, it's difficult to believe they aren't 21st Century recordings from Slumber Party or Belle & Sebastian. Four stars" (All Music Guide, 7/03); "The two John Peel Sessions brought out the best in Miaow and the eight Maida Vale recorded songs are sublime. This CD acts as both a testament to a fine band, and an important signpost on the road to Cath Carroll's solo career" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 2/03); "Between 1985 and 1987 they shimmered and shivered, brittle and muted funk guitars invade your head" (Tangents, 1/03); "The second Peel session is fantastic... Miaow never once sounded like they weren't having fun. One neat compact collection" (mundanesounds.com, 2/03)

Return to Cath Carroll biography
Go to shopping/mailorder
Go to Miaow chronology
Return to LTM homepage