Wisenheimer
“Wisenheimer” stands as the third studio album by Custard. Unveiled on November 6th, 1995, it climbed to its pinnacle, securing the 55th position in September 1996. Notably, the album features the track “Apartment”, which ascended to an impressive #7 ranking in the renowned third Hottest 100.[1]
The album name came rather randomly from EDF’s Apple PowerBook dictionary. With the band members struggling to reach a unanimous decision, various ideas were pondered. From “working man blues” with album art consisting of each band member’s father on the cover, to “The Stalker” accompanied by an image of an owl. Yet, it was after an evening marked by copious amount of weed, where Danny and Matt had already gone home, that Paul and Dave had the idea to look within the EDF dictionary until they found a name.[2]
Additionally, this album serves as the grand debut for the iconic Custard font and logo, characterized by its distinctive squashed D and horseshoe magnet. David came up with the logo as at the time he was listening to a lot of hip hop and rap and always liked the “vibe” at the time. He was fond of the squashed D in particular because “it looks like someone ran out of space and moved it whilst it was being photocopied”. The magnet was born trying to emulate the simplicity of the superman logo, The magnet was specifically chosen due to its resemblance to the letter “C.”[3]
Reception
4.0 / 5 via Discogs (12/05/2024)
Rolling Stone Australia said, “Songs like ‘Apartment’ and ‘Sunset Strip’ have been fashioned with melody, imagination and undeniable craft and Eric Drew Feldman’s production comes close to capturing the skill and energy of Custard live. Custard aren’t about to stop making you smile, but that doesn’t mean they’re not serious.” [4]
REAR COVER TRANSCRIPT
Produced by Eric Drew Feldman
Recorded by Tom Doty
Assisted by Martin Main
Recorded and mixed at Hyde St. Studios San Francisco, July 1995
Mastered by Evren Goknar at Tower Mastering, Hollywood
Thanks to Charles Thompson, Lyle Workman, Tres Cool, Joe Gore,
Michael Ward and Guy Carson for letting us use their stuff
A&R Todd Wagstaff
Art by Mr Alderson from an original concept by Mr Mcormack and Mr Medew
The Wisenheimer GT cover shot courtesy Mr. John Webber
Band photos by Jay Blakesberg Photo this page by E.D.F.
Management: Sarah Longhurst for Longshot Artist Management
PO Box 1217, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia, 2089
e-mail: [email protected]
Custard Webpage: http://www.powerup.com.au/~custard
artists
- David McCormack
- Paul Medew
- Matthew Strong
- Danny Plant
Additional artists
- David Phillips: Pedal steel on Track 4 “LEISUREMASTER” & Track 14 “GAZEBO”
- Ralph Carney: Saxophone on Track 6 “CUT LUNCH” & Horn on Track 16 “DO IT AGAIN”
- Lyle Workman: Guitar on Track 9 “VENUS FLYTRAP AND LIGHTNING BUG” & Track 12 “DREAMER”
- Mr Feldman: Serge Modular Synthesizer on Track 11 “THE SYNTHESIZER IS RAPIDLY OVERTAKING THE GUITAR AS THE MOST POPULAR INSTRUMENT IN THE WORLD”
- E.D.F: Organ On Track 5 “LOVE MEASURER”, Track 13 “LUCKY STAR” & Track 16 “DO IT AGAIN”
Recording details
- Produced by Eric Drew Feldman
- Recorded by Tom Doty with assistance of Martin Main
- Mastered by Evren Goknar at Tower Mastering, Hollywood
- Recorded and mixed at Hyde St. Studios San Francisco, July 1995
track List
- GOOFINDER
- THE GOLDEN AGE OF NICOTINE
- SUNSET STRIP
- LEISUREMASTER
- LOVE MEASURER
- CUT LUNCH
- APARTMENT
- I LOVE THE TELEVISION
- VENUS FLYTRAP AND LIGHTNING BUG
- A JOB IN ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
- THE SYNTHESIZER IS RAPIDLY OVERTAKING THE GUITAR AS THE MOST POPULAR INSTRUMENT IN THE WORLD
- DREAMER
- LUCKY STAR
- GAZEBO
- COLUMBUS
- DO IT AGAIN
Sources
(Some info aggregated from Wikipedia)
[1] “History: hottest 100 1995”. Triple J Hottest 100. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
[2] Internet Archive Website (will find exact link at a later date)
[3] Internet Archive Website (will find exact link at a later date)
[4] Dwyer, Michael (December 1995). “The Year in Recordings”. Australian Rolling Stone Yearbook. Tilmond. p. 123.
[5] Tyler Jenke. “200 Greatest Australian Albums of All Time”. Rolling Stone Australia.
