On most days, my favorite Wilco album is Summerteeth (maybe on most warm days like today, or perhaps it would always be my favorite if I lived in California full time).
TO WIN: Let’s talk about your favorite Wilco _______ (seemingly nonsensical but somehow profound song lyric, live concert moment, etc). You pick what to write about, and the responses will be enjoyable for me to read in these coming days of travel and services. I’ll pick a winner when I get home on Sunday night.
In the swirling curling storm of desire
unuttered words hold fast
with reptile tongue the lightning lashes
towers built to last
Darkness creeps in like a thief
and offers no relief
why are you shaking like a leaf?
come on, come talk to me
I got the split 7″ of Peter Gabriel and Bon Iver covering each other, and it’s been repeatedly blowing my mind ever since. For something so small with only 2 songs on it, it is astounding the amount of enjoyment I am getting from this pressing. Where Peter Gabriel’s original is sweeping and epic like a rippling African grassland and a thousand drums, Bon Iver’s version builds slow and haunting, and the plucking banjo sounds for all the world to me like rain on a roof. As the rain howls outside tonight and patters against my skylight, I’m reminded how that has always been one of my favorite sounds.
I also picked up an armful of other vinyl treats that made me all giddy:
a John Lennon Singles Bag (limited edition, 1765 of 7000) pack of three 45s with original artwork (Mother b/w Yoko Ono – Why, Imagine b/w It’s So Hard, and Watching The Wheels b/w Yoko Ono – Yes, I’m Your Angel), a 24×36 poster, 3 postcards and a custom plastic adaptor hub. Yeah. Rad.
That and the Bon Iver/Peter Gabriel split, and I’m $45 lighter and 145% happier. Oh, and free Great Divide beer too? The mood in the store was jovial and festive; a music-lover’s Christmas, Halloween, birthday and Hanukkah all in one. Saturday was one of the best days of my year – and I’m not the only one who thought so. Record Store Day 2010 underscored an increasing and surprising revitalization of the independent record store and the niche it plays in our lives. Paul, the owner of Denver’s famed Twist & Shout Records on Colfax wrote the following musings about Record Store Day. They make me very, very happy.
“I stayed on the floor the entire day and I did not hear one cross word. I didn’t hear one complaint or demand. As the customers clustered around the bins I would hear people call out ‘Here’s the Black Keys 12” – who needs it?’ They were actually helping each other. I saw at least 20 ex-employees. Nothing makes me happier than that. I was also gratified by the number of customers just wishing the store well in a general sense; long time customers, first-timers, a surprising number of out-of-staters who traveled for the event, people of all types just happy to be there and happy to see a real record store still in existence.
What can I say? It was the biggest day we’ve have ever had. Last year in the depths of despair I remember saying to Jill, ‘We will never say those words – ‘best day ever’ ever again.’ I believed the business was on the big downhill slide that would never be reversed. I’m not sure it will be reversed, but we can still do some honkin’ big numbers when the conditions are right. As I mentioned before, it was that same old demographic that always bought records still showing up. This is the generation that was supposed to be lost for good. And yet, there they were buying with gusto. Not just the RSD stuff – they were staying and shopping for everything. We sold so much new and used vinyl it was shocking. I don’t know what the future holds, but I for one, am going to wait for the fat lady to sing before I say ‘never’ ever again.”
Brian Wilson returned last month with a new album, the sunny citrus-bedecked That Lucky Old Sun. In the 4-star Rolling Stone review, David Fricke refers to the music of Wilson and the Beach Boys as “healing.”
I paused over that word and rolled it around several times in my head. I’ve decided that Fricke’s simple summation is one of the best descriptors of Brian Wilson projects that I’ve ever read, and one of the reasons for Wilson’s perennial popularity. The sun-dappled melodies, the luminous harmonies — I’ll never grow tired of letting them wash over me, and never realized before how they do heal a little bit of the brutality of life.
NEW CONTEST: We’ve got three sweet prizes to give to three readers: * One limited-edition 180 gram vinyl copy of the new record * One 7″ vinyl single of “Midnight’s Another Day” * One copy of the new album on CD, for the turntable-less
So if you want to enter, please leave me a comment specifying which of the three you’d want (vinyl, 45 single, or CD), and I’d love to hear about your favorite moment in a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson song. Contest will end Wednesday.
On August 5th, Nebraska dance-punk band The Faint will return with a new self-released album, Fasciinatiion(on their own blank.wav label). They’ll be kicking off a tour in support of it, and I’m looking forward to catching them towards the opening end at Denver’s Ogden Theatre on Tuesday night, for what is sure to be a rad show.
I’ve not seen The Faint in concert before but friends who’ve gone cite the live action as simultaneously a huge amount of fun with perhaps a thread of dark fear running through it (stay out of the daylight!). This is not a bad combination, but hopefully the ratio of fun to fear will be proportionately higher than that time I saw Marilyn Manson in 1995 at now-defunct Edge nightclub in Palo Alto — still scarred from that one. Anyways . . . I woefully digress.
NEW CONTEST! Thanks to the folks at blank.wav, I have one double gatefold 180-gram vinyl of the new album Fasciinatiion to give away to one lucky winner. Please leave a comment if you’d like to win — and if you’ve seen ‘em live, tell me what I have in store for me. Posed to death!
Fasciinatiion Track List: 1) Get Seduced 2) The Geeks Were Right 3) Machine in the Ghost 4) Fulcrum and Lever 5) Psycho 6) Mirror Error 7) I Treat You Wrong 8) Forever Growing Centipedes 9) Fish in a Womb 10) A Battle Hymn for Children
And the tour starts tomorrow night, rocking Des Moines:
THE FAINT TOUR DATES July 27 Des Moines, IA – Peoples Court July 28 Sioux Falls, SD – Ramkota Annex July 29 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre July 30 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue July 31 Boise, ID – Big Easy Boise Aug 01 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Aug 02 Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market Aug 03 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom Aug 04 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore Aug 05 San Francisco, CA – Grand Ballroom Aug 07 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre Aug 08 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre Aug 09 San Diego, CA – Soma Aug 11 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa Aug 12 Dallas, TX – Palladium Aug 14 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse Aug 15 Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle Aug 16 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club Aug 17 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero Aug 18 New York, NY – Terminal 5 Aug 20 Worcester, MA – Palladium Aug 21 Toronto, Ontario – Opera House Aug 22 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre Aug 23 Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
M. Ward is also playing a few solo tour dates later this summer, in addition to the She & Him tour. And speaking of She & Him, if you’re totally hanging out in your basement tonight to watch Pete Wentz on MTV, their video for “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” will premiere tonight at 8pm on FNMTV.
“Back then it was beautiful The boys were sweet and musical The laser lights looked mystical . . . Messed up still felt magical“
The more I listen to The Hold Steady, the more I think they might have what it takes to save rock & roll from crushing heartlessness, unoriginal pallor, and detached apathy. You might have noticed that people tend to fall diametrically on one side or the other of the Hold Steady spectrum. My friend Barber once described lead singer Craig Finn as “a crazy inebriated prophet, ear tuned to the roar, shouting out real-life scripture over the ocean of noise of society or a really loud bar band.” Yet I have other friends who violently object to the whole concept whenever I broach it. The Hold Steady must be something you either get –and get hard– or don’t. On this new album especially, I find it difficult to understand the latter.
On their fourth studio album Stay Positive (which drops in physical form July 15th) these five guys from Minneapolis stretch their songwriting out down new roads, and as always everything feels pretty epic and massive. Pressed up against gorgeously grand and subversively hopeful songs, Finn weaves complex stories of lust and confusion, of cutting and car crashes, of oracles and angels.
You can get an accurate impression of the feelings contained on Stay Positive from the cover and superb inner album art. Despite the muddy ground and the nauseatingly yellow sky with all the color bled out, there is always the potential for something exciting to happen tonight, for some urgency to swoop down and make you feel alive for forty-five minutes. The feeling of continuity that connects all of the Hold Steady’s albums is present here, through serial characters like Holly –who has been in the hospital, shaky but still trying to shake it, and now the girl who won’t say hi to him– and also through recurrent themes that perennially crop up to make a Hold Steady song what it is. The landscape is desolate, but the kids in the songs still yearn.
Stay Positive is also their album of bleeding and miracles — a fitting dichotomy for a band that plumbs both the gritty violent parts of our psyche as well as the redemption. On one of the album’s strongest tracks, Finn calls a girl named Sapphire (who possesses some hallucinogenic visionary abilities) and begs, “I know you said don’t call until I’m clean . . . but I’m not drunk, I’m cut. I’m gushing blood, and I need someone to come and pick me up.” I find something in the desperation of how Finn wrenches and pleads out that line that reverberates throughout the album. There’s talk of crucifixion, visions, and miracles, and later he sings “Don’t mention bloodshed, don’t tell them it hurts, don’t say we saw angels, they’ll take us straight to the church.” Make no mistake, this is an album of the mud and the blood and the beer, but along with that comes some old-fashioned revival-style hallelujah.
Musically, Stay Positive is as richly dense as anything they’ve done. I always find a sort of deliverance in the crashing piano cadences and expansive guitar solos of the Hold Steady, even as the lyrics detail another sad night, another desperate move. J Mascis guests stars (playing banjo on “Both Crosses”), as do Ben Nichols of Lucero and Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers (on backing vocals in a few songs). This is an album I am obviously enjoying immensely through the throes of this sweltering summer.
NEW CONTEST: Thanks to the good folks at Vagrant, I have Hold Steady largess to scatter upon ye lucky masses like manna from the heavens.
Three lucky winners will win the Stay Positive CD (with the 3 bonus tracks on it, I think) and two of you will be spinning the black circle with the vinyl LP. The vinyl is 160 gram (black color), gatefold, and will feature one bonus track “Ask Her For The Adderall.”
Please leave me a comment indicating which format you are entering for, and since there are so many good ones to choose from, let’s talk about favorite Hold Steady lyrics.
Walk away with these lines from the new album — they leave you with that ache:
“Girls didn’t seem so difficult Boys didn’t seem so typical It was all warm and white and wonderful We were all invincible
We were wasps with new wings Now we’re bugs in the jar We were hot soft and pure Now we’re scratched up in scars.“
POSTSCRIPT OF OLD CONTEST BUSINESS: The Joe Strummer prize pack garnered some of the very best comments yet left on Fuel/Friends. From lighting Joe’s cigarette (a tale I verified with the cool commenter – oh, to have a lighter just when Joe Strummer fumbles for one outside a Vegas hotel) to talking to him backstage, wracked with nervous anticipation, you gotta go read all the great tales. Because I’m soft, I went with a randomly-selected winner: James from Brooklyn. Congrats! Let me know where to send it.
British musician Neil Halstead has produced some lovely, starry-night music in his years of tunes; with Slowdive, with Mojave 3, and solo. The first time I probably heard him was on a surf movie soundtrack, or something that conjures up a sparkling ocean in my mind. It’s gorgeous, melancholy, sleepwalking music with a strong support of melody holding it up from slogging around in the dreamland.
This song is the first listen from his forthcoming Oh! Mighty Engine album (out July 29th on Brushfire). He sings, “I just want to live somewhere where the air is sweet and clear,” and this sounds like it will be the perfect accompaniment when he does get there.
This song is also the lead-off track on the newest contest item I have for your winning: Brushfire has supplied me with two 12″ vinyl samplers left from the festivities of Record Store Day. It features eight songs from their artist roster –
12″ TRACKLISTING Neil Halstead – Paint A Face Mason Jennings – Something About Your Love Jack Johnson – What You Thought You Need Matt Costa – Never Looking Back Money Mark – Summer Blue G. Love and Special Sauce – Crumble (from the new album Superhero Brother, out yesterday) Zach Gill (of ALO) – Beautiful Reason (from unreleased new album Stuff, out July 29) Christians In Black – Rogue Wave
Not a bad selection, there. I’ve got two to give away, leave me a comment if you would like to be entered for one of ‘em. You can also buy the vinyl here if you don’t win it. Neil Halstead will be the opening act for labelmate Jack Johnson in August from Toronto to Salt Lake, and then will be announcing a West Coast headlining tour soon.
Any reason is a good reason to comb the stacks and while away the hours in any independent record store. I’ve always managed to find a way to duck into the corner music store, from Florence to Vancouver, New York to San Diego — nothing beats the thrill of finding some small musical gem, or even the promise of that possibility.
Saturday is Record Store Day across the country, where your local independent retailers have joined forces to encourage you to stop by and say hello. They miss your smiling face. Really. Even if you’ve been seduced by the sleek and sexy mistress of iTunes (or its outlaw cousins at Pirate Bay), they’ll take you back and love you. Promise.
Locally here in Denver our excellent Twist & Shout is celebrating its 20th anniversary this very weekend, in addition to the Record Store Day festivities.
So Denverites, stop by Twist & Shout this weekend –they have cake! and champagne! and have posted a list of just a few of the cool indie vinyls they’ll have in stock for the weekend:
Josh Ritter Live at the 9:30 club Jason Isbell Live at Twist & Shout Breeders We’re Gonna Rise 7″ Vampire Weekend A-Punk 7″ Stephen Malkmus Cold Son 10″ R.E.M. Supernatural Superserious 7″ Black Keys Strange Times 7″ Built to Spill Don’t Cry 7″ Death Cab for Cutie I WIll Possess Your Heart 7″
Plus many labels are giving away special comps and samplers just for Record Store Day: a Brushfire vinyl sampler, Merge 7″ vinyl, Sub Pop sampler CD, Matador comp, etc. Check with your local store for what they have lined up. It seems like everyone’s got something cool going on.
Let’s head out and support local independent music retailers. Each one that shutters and falls by the wayside is a blow to the unique, passionate, knowledgeable music-buying experience.
Ah, the last day of 2007. We have about four different options for this evening and no one can decide anything. Both my brother and sister are still in town, which adds to the fun myriad of possibilities. Right now I think the frontrunners are either going to Heidi’s to drink hot German wine (she just got back from a trip to the Paterland), doing something in Denver with my little brother, or perhaps just the usual NYE tradition of sitting on my porch with that bottle of vodka and a shotgun.
Also, in related holiday news, my sister is the best present buyer ever — look what finally arrived:Courtesy of Uncommon Goods. Now I just have to figure out what to put in a bowl with a hole in the center (it was, after all, a real record in its past life).
My last five offerings of 2007!
My Own Worst Enemy George Stanford With a crisp piano melody that sticks in your head like a Billy Joel or Ben Folds tune, this song just feels like cold January and fresh starts. A couple of trusted ears recommended that I check out this artist from Philadelphia (George Stanford is formerly of the band Townhall). This first track I listened to is rumored to have a dual-meaning about either a girl or his love/hate relationship with his music and songwriting. Either way, it’s charming and heartfelt and I’ve found myself humming it all day. Stanford has an EP currently out on Smash Records.
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa Vampire Weekend I’ve mentioned before that I worked in a rad international education job for five years, and during that time I got to help dozens of students study abroad in African countries. Two students that I remember took the time to share some African music when they came back, feeding a primal love that runs hot in my veins for the ebullient, earthy percussion common to much of their music. So it’s a bit inexplicable that I’ve resisted listening to hot blog-buzz band Vampire Weekend, which has an oft-cited African undercurrent reminiscent of both Graceland-era Paul Simon (an album I unabashedly love) and mid-80s Peter Gabriel. I finally took a spin, and of course, I find their album absolutely delightful.
Electric Bird Sia With swankily gorgeous vocals that boast a hint of ’40s glamour mixed with Fiona Apple’s dramatic range, Sia is an Australian artist that I have heard a a few scattered places and always enjoyed. This track is from her forthcoming January release, Some People Have Real Problems. I have no idea what is going on with the U.S. album cover so I just close my eyes and listen to the sultry brassiness of this tune instead of pondering the magic marker on the face. It could be the hot trend of 2008.
Baltimore Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Old pal rbally blog is sneakily back after taking too many months on hiatus, and this elates me. Jenning’s fifth or sixth post since returning is a screaming live show from former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus, with his new band The Jicks (causing me to wonder what a jick is). Rbally also points me to this new mp3 from the Matador website, a first listen off of Malkmus’ forthcoming album Real Emotional Trash, due in March. Still all crunch and fuzz but with elegant melodies and flourishes throughout, and laced with Malkmus’ literate lyrics and endearing warble.
Number One Miss Fairchild Finally, if you have no idea what to play tonight for your New Year’s festivites, and don’t have time to make up a mix (like moi), then the fine trio of gents from New England funk/soul band Miss Fairchild still have that 2-part mixtape up for free download on their website. Their mix blends together a wide range of old-school and modern songs (funk, hip hop, soul) with a few get-up-shake-it tracks of their own making, like this dancetastic groove from the Ooh La La Sha Sha EP. Their MySpace says they sound “like Sly Stone remixed by Beck” — it is thoroughly fresh and modern, but also a lot like something Prince would put on a mix for you. It’s a free party in 2 clicks, just waiting to happen. And a bonus for those who snag it: In January when you hit the gym with all the other resolvers, you’ll have the best soundtrack on Treadmill Row.
Oh, and this image ran in the paper today in their retrospective article on 2007. It’s still my favorite picture of the year, and when I am old, I will think back on the pure joy of The Rockies’ amazing 2007 run, and smile.
Since my record player doesn’t leave the living room, this is the closest thing to portability that 45s have ever achieved. Norton Records is an independent NYC label run by two musicians (Miriam Linna, one-time drummer for The Cramps, and her husband Billy Miller). They specialize in unearthing raw & authentic music — like retro punk, rockabilly, garage rock and old R&B — and releasing it on vinyl.
They’ve just assembled forty-five 45s from their rad collection, available for the first time ever as a digital release. The quality of this rare, elusive collection of songs is out-of-this world. If you’ve ever walked into a dusty old record store and wanted to listen to everything in the stacks of obscure 45s to discover a few groups that history forgot, this is your dream.
In addition to groups we know (like an alternate version of the bittersweet perfection in Big Star‘s “September Gurls” or the original 1975 demo of The Ramones‘ “I Want To Be Your Boyfriend”) there are dozens of songs to explore that you’ve probably never heard before. My ears loved digging deeper into formats like surf music, rockabilly, ’60s teenage doo-wop, and soul-tinged ballads in this fresh and unsullied collection.
The opening notes give us The Dictators wondering, “Who Will Save Rock and Roll?” — eh, maybe Norton Records will.
Stop It Baby – Roy Loney and The A-Bones They just don’t name bands like that anymore. From the ebullient cool of the opening riff to the “just stop it, baby” groans, this amazing tune makes me want to dance . . . or even go walking down the street for Roy Loney and his A-Bones.
All Kindsa Girls – Real Kids Like the Ramones but fresher because I’ve never heard em before.
Hey Mrs. Jones – Long John Hunter A “down on the corner” skiffle, plaintively asking Mrs. Jones if he can come on, if he can come in. If you know what I mean.
Listen to the kitschy “radio spot” preview they put together which includes tastes of tracks from Herbie Duncan, Incredible Kings, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Shades of Night, and the original 1975 demo of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” by The Ramones
I Hate CDs: Norton Records 45 RPM Singles Collection, Vol. 1 TRACKLIST
01. DICTATORS – WHO WILL SAVE ROCK AND ROLL? 02. READYMEN – SHORTNIN’ BREAD 03. LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY – I HATE CD’s 04. BUNKER HILL – THE GIRL CAN’T DANCE 05. HERBIE DUNCAN – HOT LIPS BABY 06. ANDRE WILLIAMS – THE MONKEY SPEAKS HIS MIND 07. INCREDIBLE KINGS – THE LIMP 08. SCREAMING JOE NEAL – ROCK AND ROLL DEACON 09. DALE HAWKINS – NUMBER NINE TRAIN 10. RAMONES – I WANT TO BE YOUR BOYFRIEND 11. DON “PRETTY BOY” COVAY – SWITCHEN IN THE KITCHEN 12. 5.6.7.8′s – HARLEM SHUFFLE 13. DARYL BRITT AND THE BLUE JEANS – LOVER LOVER 14. JACK STARR – CHICKEN 15. MARY WEISS – A CERTAIN GUY 16. SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS – I HEAR VOICES 17. WADE CURTISS AND THE RHYTHM ROCKERS – PUDDY CAT 18. KID THOMAS – ROCKIN’ THIS JOINT TO-NITE 19. SHADES OF NIGHT – FLUCTUATION 20. BIG STAR – SEPTEMBER GURLS 21. TRIUMPHS – SURFSIDE DATE 22. JOHNNY CLARK AND THE FOUR PLAYBOYS – JUNGLE STOMP 23. DOUG SAHM AND THE PHAROAHS – SLOW DOWN 24. REIGN – ZIPPERED UP HEART 25. ESQUERITA – ROCKIN’ THE JOINT 26. HASIL ADKINS – CHICKEN SHAKE 27. SONICS – BUSY BODY 28. DANNY ZELLA AND THE ZELL ROCKS – SAPPHIRE 29. JOHNNY POWERS AND THE A-BONES – NEW SPARK 30. MONACLES – I CAN’T WIN 31. LONG JOHN HUNTER – HEY MRS. JONES 32. REAL KIDS – ALL KINDSA GIRLS 33. RAMONES – JUDY IS A PUNK 34. SCOTTY McKAY – BAD TIMES 35. QUESTION MARK AND THE MYSTERIANS – ARE YOU FOR REAL? 36. ROY LONEY AND THE A-BONES – STOP IT BABY 37. STUD COLE – THE WITCH 38. ALARM CLOCKS – MARIE 39. CREATIONS – BETTER WATCH OUT 40. SABRES – MY HOT MAMA 41. HENTCHMEN – HOT ROD MILLIE 42. JERRY McCAIN AND HIS UPSTARTS – A CUTIE NAMED JUDY 43. UNKNOWN GROUP – I’VE HAD ENOUGH 44. NEANDERTHALS – TWINKLE TOES 45. LINK WRAY AND THE RAYMEN – VENDETTA
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
TO WIN: Let’s talk about your favorite Wilco _______ (seemingly nonsensical but somehow profound song lyric, live concert moment, etc). You pick what to write about, and the responses will be enjoyable for me to read in these coming days of travel and services. I’ll pick a winner when I get home on Sunday night.
Courtesy of 
Name: Heather Browne
