Been a great year so far; to think of all the loved ones I've seen and spent time with in this concentrated period of family fun makes me feel good, and not to mention I've been enjoying the musical climate around here in NYC these days. There's gonna be lots of good fucked up pop in '09. Some local groups who are making just that - Real Estate and The Tony Castles. The former are joining my band on a bill in early March and the latter practice across the hall from us. Sure, it's not like all of the old stuff that I listen to because it's... new. Just feel like it's important to pay attention to acts in and around town since it's good to try and be in touch with the new jamz.
This weekend was pretty crazy with Gary War, Kurt Vile, and Sore Eros in town, which definitely was somewhat of a convention for the Weirdo Pop Contingency that is arguably a result of Ariel Pink's im pact. Sure it's a bit stupid to lump them all together under one person's influence, but why would it be refuted? Speaking of which, I bought a copy of out-of-print the Doldrums LP for $10 thanks to Mr. Hugpatch. This is how much they usually go for: http://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext=ariel+pink&x=0&y=0
Enough boasting, I'm here to give out some music. I'll be posting some niceties over the next few days hopefully because I don't wanna put this space to waste. First up, the Associates' debut album The Affectionate Punch. Really great 80's flam wave group from Edinburgh, Scotland who don't need an introduction because where most bands that sound this mental would try and capitalize off of their strangeness in weird publicity stunts or striking appearances, these guys just channeled it all into the music. And at the end of the day, that's what really matters right? Although to be fair, some of them were involved in cabaret acts or something before this (which shows in the singing), but thankfully they substituted the theatrics with solid musicianship. I found a gritty vinyl rip of this record which I'll be sharing below; kind of fitting since I only own it on vinyl as well, thanks to my rad boss who served it up as an Xmas present.
I think this record should be heard because I never saw it being discussed when I was first looking into these guys and it's becoming such a treat to listen to. Before the core songwriting duo of Alan Rankine and Billy Mackenzie (Rankine left after the second LP) got weirder, colder, and electricker, so their scope is a bit more focused. I definitely appreciate the later shit, for sure seeing as that's what I first heard, but >>>this is a really cool starting point.<<<
Been another little while. Suppose I've been too busy scouring other blogs n such to even tend to mine, not that I ever thought I would. Sure, in a way, this is really just a bulletin board for me to put things up for friends n family, but in me there is a desire to put something up that would benefit the greater internet community. Hence, my refraining from doing the already did.
Anyway, coinciding with my ever-growing addiction to eBay and affiliated auction sites, I came across a cheap copy of Bobby Brown's 3rd LP "Prayers Of A One Man Band" from 1978. The title of the record sums it up nicely though, seeing as this guy was a real deal one man band street performer from the west coast. A mystic and all around new age'r, his first album was a highly conceptual and very meditative record whereas his 2nd was just a live album. This one is more quirky, dance-y, and sort of lovable. One standout track is "Hawaii Nei I'll Miss you", which I came across in Tim Koh's Flying & Falling mix. A great mix which you can find yet again at lovefingers.org.
Making a mix, I swear. If you've been within ten feet of me over the past few months, you've probably heard me talking about one of my favorite groups, Further.
Comprising of mainly two rad bros, Darren and Brent Rademaker, and one Josh Schwartz, these guys are so fun to listen to. I initially found out about them through Beachwood Sparks, whose Brent is the radster that I mentioned just a second ago. I was in my high school library, scrounging YouTube for any Beachwood material that I could find and came across this video for Further's California Bummer and nearly flipped a shit. The energy, the twang, and the shots of double Rickenbackers clearly jangling out on the beach. Who the fuck takes their Rickenbackers to the beach? These guys clearly do, or at least did back then before they gave up stripes for stirrups. Speaking of which, if you haven't heard Beachwood Sparks or the Tyde, you should check them out. Both of them provided some really good vibes towards the end of high school and still do now; the former having just played a great set at Bowery Ballroom last month (which I caught with Sezbo) and the latter borrowing heavily from awesome indie group Felt, who are a whooole different story.
Anyhow, th' Tube offered cuts from three separate albums of theirs, so I was lucky enough to have a taste of three crucial releases from their catalog, Griptape LP, Sometimes Chimes LP, and the Grimes Golden EP. The first two I got my hands on in Brussels and have yet to wrap my head around completely. Don't get me wrong, quite a few of the tracks on these albums are some of my favorite songs ever, but if they weren't entirely copping the sounds of Dino Jr, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Guided By Voices, and literally covering an Unrest tune, they were making a shitload of noise. Too much maybe. But the fact that I dropped all of those names is an essential element in this band's story. They took all of these groups' sounds and added their very personable touch to them. My most current statement on the matter is that in a parallel world, none of those bands would exist, and Further would be the lone substitute. Ha!
Sure, it's hard to imagine a world where there's no Kracked, Summer Babe, or Richard Edson on drums, but sometimes I feel like I am one of the few people in this world who even knows of Further. I hope for that to change. Over the course of these next few days I'll be uploading what I do have of theirs, but right now I offer you the Grimes Golden EP.
This EP sees (hears) the group getting it just right. Unlike the 26-track Sometimes Chimes LP that preceded it, this album originally had 9 wonderfully noisy pop tunes to its name. The slice at Wilfully Obscure offered this EP as well, but not with the 4 I-talian bonus trax that I've got. If I'm not mistaken, I think I downloaded this off of Oink before it got busted (I was a member for one glorious month), or my friend Chris hooked it up. Altogether, this is one of the most expressive, noisy pop records I have ever had the privilege to hear and it is forever a part of my lexicon. I kinda feel like a chump, what with offering this superior record first, but I feel like if you receive this immediate treatment from the group, you'll be more inclined to explore the other records.
01. california bummer 02. inert pieces 03. quiet riot grrrl 04. summer shorts 05. artificial freedom 06. 20 pages 07. this time around 08. teenage soul 09. ...v.s. (livingston seagull) 10. badgers 1 (extra track on italian release) 11. don't know how long (extra track on italian release) 12. 6 gun territory (extra track on italian release) 13. j.o. eleven (extra track on italian release)
