I happened to be in NY this last weekend, which also happened to be the weekend of Record Store Day. This had an upside and a downside. The upside was that I was able to go to Other Music to celebrate, which is awesome because it’s one of my favorite record stores. The downside was that I had to go to Other Music where everyone else in NY was going to go. I showed up about an hour and a half after they opened and I still had to wait in line for about 10 minutes just to get in the doors. It also meant that they were pretty picked over, although I still managed to find most of the stuff I was looking for. Here’s what I picked up:
1. Pavement – Live in Köln
SM’s vocals on this album kinda remind me of Keith Moon’s drumming. And by that I mean that they’re kinda sloppy and all over the place, but they still totally work.
2. Sonic Youth/Beck Split 7in
Sonic Youth covers Beck, Beck covers Sonic Youth and both do really interesting things for each others songs.
3. Jay Reatard/Sonic Youth Split 7in
Two demos from their upcoming Matador Records releases.
4. Grizzly Bear – Live on KCRW 7in
I recently became slightly obsessed with this band after a long time of not liking them even a little. And then things got worse when I discovered that they had previously covered the girl group classic “He Hit Me”. This 7in includes a live version of that song.
5. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
Better than their first album. Better than their last album. Not as good as the one before that.
Other things:
What I really wanted to pick up at record store day was the limited edition Breeders ep that was released that day in a pressing of 1000. I’m told Other Music only got one copy. I later picked it up digitally on itunes. It’s quirky and weird. Track one sounds like typical Breeders. Track two has Mark Lanegan singing lead vocals (and he’s never sounded so good as he does here). Track three is a stripped down Bob Marley cover which is fantastic and beautiful. Track four is just kinda strange. But not bad. Lets hope we don’t have to wait another 7 years for the next full length.
Also I was lucky enough to be in town during the New Music Bake Sale that was put on in a joint effort from Newspeak and Ensemble de Sade and got to catch just about everyone who plays new music in NY. Opening the show was itsnotyouitsme, the duo made up of violinist caleb burhans and guitarist greg mcmurray. They were sort of there playing pre-show music, which is a shame because they were awesome and not too many people were listening. But I was, and I thought they sounded beautiful, so I picked up their album walled gardens.
I’ve been listening to it pretty constantly since I got it. I”m not tired of it yet. My only real criticism is that it’s too short and it appears to be their only release. Although they do have some other stuff up on their myspace page. Lets hope they put out more stuff soon.
