Messages

1666

Music Shit / Re: What is everybody listening to? Part II

« on: January 23, 2008, 08:48:16 AM »

Pretty much every Pink Floyd record from around that same era is better than Dark Side of the Moon. I've never been able to understand that record's crazy mass appeal. Even tried getting in to it on acid & all I remember from it was how scared I got when those bells or alarms or whatever they are go off. Meddle & Obscured By Clouds are both way better.

1667

Music Shit / Re: Crazy recent eBays

« on: January 23, 2008, 08:39:10 AM »

i know that record is limited to 300, but why is it commanding so much dough when a lot of other limited sic alps records were available forever (like the skulltones 7", which i think was also pressed in an edition of 300)?  it can't just be the music.

oh i guess this question has already been asked

I think it might be the music. Well, also the hype but the hype in this case is a result of the songs. I'm pretty ambivalent about their other releases but I love Description of the Harbor. They need to just reissue this already.

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Music Shit / Re: Loner Folk?

« on: January 22, 2008, 11:01:24 AM »

Some others that I don't think have been mentioned:

Michael Angelo - The Guinn Album. Pretty cool loner-ish sounding stuff from 1977, resissued on LP recently. Forced Exposure has it:

http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/angelo.michael.html

And Moonlight Farm by Jakob Olaussen on De Stijl is new but has a great loner vibe. It's on LP too - FE has that as well.

http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/olaussen.jacob.html

1669

Music Shit / Re: What is everybody listening to? Part II

« on: January 15, 2008, 09:53:41 AM »

I decided I wanted to make an epic John Fahey comp so I've been immersed in the 15 or so records of his that I have. Fahey is so damn amazing & I'm pretty much always in the mood to listen to him but also it's easy to throw a record of his on & do other things & it had been a while since I really sat down with them. I feel like I'm finding all sorts of new things I hadn't appreciated before. Never realized what a great record Days Have Gone By is. My copy of The Yellow Princess is super thrashed - Soriano, do you have one at the bookstore?

Other than that, still totally digging Sic Alps - Description of the Harbor. This HAS to be getting reissued right?

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Music Shit / Re: 7" singles review column...tyvek, jacuzzi boys, gaye blades, goodnight lovin etc

« on: January 10, 2008, 01:01:35 PM »

When you get columns like that, that say almost nothing of use, it seems like it's more for the paper's benefit than for the readers or the bands. It makes the paper look like they've got a finger on the pulse without doing much. I guess it doesn't hurt but I don't think it does much of anything really. If a paper wants good independent music coverage, they should hire someone who's mad for the music & let them do whatever the hell they want within the parameters of the space. Long ago I got in a drunken music conversation outside a bar/club in Sacramento with a guy who was an editor for Pulse (Tower's old mag) & on the spot he said, "write a column for us about singles - do whatever you want" cuz he could tell I was in to music. He looked at it as something he no longer had to worry about & he barely edited anything. Did it for a year & until I got burnt out. I got three or four really nice responses from bands thanking me for actually saying something informative about their 7" including one from Mayo Thompson who said it was one of his favorite Red Krayola reviews ever! My mind is still blown on that one - I didn't even really say much, I just didn't call it a fucking "psychedelic stew that fills yer guts with goo - get it" or some shit like that.

1671

Music Shit / Re: Record sales "lowest ever recorded" in 2007

« on: January 08, 2008, 10:24:59 AM »

I totaly agree that shows should be more. $5 is outdated with gas prices as high as they are. And if a show is a donation setup, get a girl to go around collecting money. You'll double the take.

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Music Shit / Re: Brazil 70: After Tropicalia comp

« on: January 07, 2008, 04:50:50 PM »

Honest Jon's is a great label. I understand they've lost their US distribution though - at least for now. There are a couple things on that label I've been wanting to get but have been putting off because they're pretty expensive at the moment.

1673

Music Shit / Re: Brazil 70: After Tropicalia comp

« on: January 07, 2008, 01:35:24 PM »

I'd say that the Soul Jazz Tropicalia comp is pretty spot on as far as the people on it. I would've maybe picked some different tracks - mainly a different Gilberto Gil track as he has a ton of songs better than Bat Macumba & same for the Jorge Ben track. Mainly though I thought it was odd timing. It would've had a bigger impact if it had come out a year or two earlier when Brazilian stuff was super popular. Those "...% Dynamite" reggae comps they did were so successful because they had perfect timing - a lot of people were ready to get in to reggae. By the time their Tropicalia comp came out, I think a lot of people who were interested in Brazilian stuff had already dug deeper than that comp. But I wish it was around when I first got in to that shit - there's killer stuff on there for sure. Arguably better than the original "Tropicalia" comp that came out in 1968.

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Music Shit / Re: Brazil 70: After Tropicalia comp

« on: January 07, 2008, 01:09:59 PM »

I went to one of the Black Betty nights when I was visiting New York a few years ago & I loved it. My friend Josh (who I got in to Brazilian shit with) took me & was like "you'll recognize maybe 2 songs all night!". I just sat there at the bar digging all this awesome shit I'd never heard before. The DJs were both really cool about showing me what they were playing & a lot of it was stuff from records that were like 80% mediocre but they'd found the gems in between the crap. I pretty much left thinking "man I thought I knew about Brazilian shit".

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Music Shit / Re: What is everybody listening to? Part II

« on: January 07, 2008, 10:54:53 AM »

I saw the Marychain at the Stone in SF on the Psychocandy tour - 1987 I think? I was 16 & they were my favorite band so who knows how accurate this is - but my memory is that they were punk as fuck. Everything was knocked down by the end of each song. They were super late & it was an all ages show that had to end early so the Stone tried to cut off their set after 15 or 20 minutes by closing the curtain. Jim Reid walked out in front of it & the band started playing behind the curtain. Everyone went nuts & they opened it back up & let them play a little more. They played a few of those rad drugged out b-sides - they probably played longer than usual just because the club wanted them to stop. Saw the a year or so later on Darklands tour & they were pretty boring & subdued. Opal opened that show so at least that was cool.

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Music Shit / Re: Brazil 70: After Tropicalia comp

« on: January 07, 2008, 10:45:34 AM »

Shit went in a bunch of different direction post-Tropicalia so it's difficult to make a comp with that theme that retains any real focus. There are some incredible records from that period that are worth tracking down but as far as comps go, I think you'd be better off getting the Brazilian Beats Brooklyn comp instead. The dudes that put that together really know their shit. It supposedly has a "funky" theme but with Brazil in the 70s, that also means REALLY deep & not just dancefloor listening. It came out on LP as well as CD. Dusty Groove has them.

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Music Shit / Re: Female Vocals in Punk/DIY/etc Rock

« on: December 31, 2007, 08:49:24 AM »

Even though they sound flat as hell, I've always thought that Kim & Lulu from the Fastbacks were the perfect pop foils for Kurt's rockin' songwriting. I can't imagine that band with any other singers. Or at least I can't imagine liking them with anybody else.

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Music Shit / Re: velvet underground

« on: December 26, 2007, 10:14:57 AM »

A few years ago I found Squeeze for $3 misfiled in a Squeeze (the band) section. I'm glad I picked it up. It actually benefited from how bad I thought it gonna be since yeah, it's a decent record in it's own right. Too bad it wasn't a Doug Yule solo record cuz it might've had a chance to get a little respect. Stupid that it's a VU record.

Anyone else with me on the first Lou Reed record? The one just called "Lou Reed" with the Faberge egg & the wave on the cover? I love that record! I don't think it came out in the US but it's not that hard to find the UK version on RCA. It's mostly VU songs that were, at the time, unreleased (Ride In To The Sun, I Can't Stand It, Ocean, Lisa Says). It has a nice casual, loose sound. The versions aren't as "classic" as the Velvets versions on VU/Another View - the Lou Reed solo versions sound lazier like he was tired of the melodies so he's fucking with them - but it's definitely worth hearing. Overall though, I find him frustrating as a solo artist. Can't even really get in to Berlin, though Street Hassle rules.

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Music Shit / Re: winehouse

« on: December 03, 2007, 02:07:15 PM »

Oh...um...yeah. I was kidding too. No, come on guys, really.

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Music Shit / Re: winehouse

« on: December 03, 2007, 12:49:50 PM »

Her newest record ('Back to Black' with Rehab on it) is suprisingly not that bad. Rehab seems like the most radio-ready song & the rest is pretty cool soul-pop that doesn't sound particularly modern. I think after so much of her public antics in my face, I didn't expect the record to be so restrained & tasteful. The Dap Kings back her up & they're really solid & her voice is pretty timeless.