AKRON/FAMILY Love Is Simple (Young God)
#09 Mojo Magazine top ten underground albums of 2007
#15 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#18 "Ed is a Portal" - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#80 Paste top 100 albums of 2007
NPR.org Top Ten Genre-Busting Records for 2007
ANGELS OF LIGHT We Are Him (Young God)
#21 Tiny Mix Tapes best album covers of 2007
#49 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
BEIRUT Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)
#01 The Mac Weekly 2007: the year in music
#01 Blog Beat top 5 albums of 2007
#02 Reformissionary best albums of 2007
#02 Muzzle Of Bees.com best albums of 2007
#02 BWANK! Blog top ten of 2007
#04 "The Penalty" - Coffeesnorter Blog best videos of the year
#04 Superb Live Blog best albums of 2007
#04 MP7 Blogas top albums of 2007
#05 Criminal Records Blog / Lillian bakers dozen for 2007
#06 Deaf Indie Elephants.com top 20 albums of 2007
#07 Lawrence.com
#07 March on Electric Children Blog top 15 albums of 2007
#09 Pitchfork guest list best of 2007: Rodrigo Gorky
#10 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#11 “Flying Club Cup” - It Covers The Hillsides Blog top songs of 2007
#12 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#12 Anyones Guess Blog 14 best favorite recommended albums of 2007
#14 “Guyamas Sonora” How's The Pie? Blog top 25 songs of 2007
#16 Chinese Restaurant In The Forest top 27 of 2007
#17 “The Penalty” - Gorilla Vs. Bear songs fo the year
#17 Musecology Blog the 30 albums - best of 2007
#19 MetaMusic top 50 albums of 2007
#20 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
#20 My Old Kentucky Blog: Dodge's favorite 50 albums of 2007
#22 NPR Listeners Pick the Year's Best CDs, From All Songs Considered
#25 Hate Something Beautiful. Com Best of 2007: Best Full-Length Albums
#26 Idolator.com top 50 albums of 2007
#26 Q Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#26 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
#29 Lines Through Lines Blog top 30 albums of 2007
#36 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#37 Uncut Magazine You Rate Uncut's 50 favourite albums of the year
#37 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#40 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
#40 “Nates” - Propeller music mayhem: Considering the top albums of 2007
#44 Harp Magazine top 50 CDs of 2007
#48 “Nates” - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#49 How's The Pie? Blog top 50 albums of 2007
#50 NME Year-End Critics' Polls '07
#58 PopMatters.com best albums of 2007
#65 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
#74 Paste top 100 albums of 2007
Best of 2007 - I'm Just Sayin Is All
The Essential Albums of 2007 - To Die By Your Side Blog
Daily Collegian - Collegian music critics present top albums of 2007
I Was Told There Would Be Bacon Blog top 20 albums of the year
Piccadilly Records top 30 albums of the year
Honorable mention top 25 albums of 2005 Otchster.com
Honorable mention Best of 2007 - AlphabeticalORDER
Honorable mention for top 7 albums of 2007 - MP3Wox.com
Honorable mention top albums of 2007 Sound on the Sound.com
Honorable mention favorite 20 albums of 2007 - Almostcool.org
Runner Up Favorite Albums of 2007 Extravaganza! - MusicWarship.com
“In The Mausoluem” You Set The scene Blog 2007 top ten songs
VASHTI BUNYAN Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (DiCristina)
#05 Other Music top 25 reissues of the year
PATRICK CLEANDENIM Baby Come Home (Ba Da Bing!)
#17 Almostcool.org favorite 20 albums of 2007
COLLEEN Les Ondes Silenciuese (Leaf)
#21 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007
#41 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#44 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#50 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
NPR.org Top Ten Genre-Busting Records for 2007
DEERHUNTER Cryptograms (Kranky)
#01 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#03 Sam Fogarino of Interpol (via Filter)
#04 Mike McGonigal (yeti magazine)
#04 Paul Banks of Interpol (via Filter)
#04 Cole Alexander of Black Lips (via Filter)
#05 Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2007
#11 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#11 Criminal Records Blog / Lillian bakers dozen for 2007
#14 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
#19 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#21 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#27 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
#31 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#46 "Wash Off" - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of the Year Revealed
THE DRAGONS B.F.I. (Ninja Tune)
#29 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
EFTERKLANG Parades (Leaf)
#23 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#24 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
FIELD MUSIC Tones of Town (Memphis Industries)
#02 Lines Through Lines Blog top 30 albums of 2007
#17 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#29 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#38 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
#40 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#40 Q Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#40 Idolator.com top 50 albums of 2007
#66 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
DANIEL HIGGS Ancestral Songs (Holy Mountain)
#03 Mojo Magazine top ten underground albums of 2007
JANA HUNTER There's No Home (Gnomonsong)
#34 “Babies” - Gorilla vs. Bear songs of 2007
#38 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
#98 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
ESSIE JANE We Made This Ourselves (Ba Da Bing!)
#12 “Glory” - Little Boy's Choir Blog 2007 Opinion List: Favorite Tracks
KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW What Is? (In The Red)
#33 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver (DFA)
#01 Uncut Magazine You Rate Uncut's 50 favourite albums of the year
#01 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#01 Drowned In Sound top 50 of 2007
#01 Piccadilly Records top 30 albums of the year
#01 "All My Friends" - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of the Year Revealed
#01 Guardian picks of the year 2007's best albums
#02 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
#02 Amazon.com Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks
#02 Exclaim! Magazine Frequencies: Year in Review 2007
#02 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#02 Rhapsody Blog Best of 2007: Electronic/Dance
#02 “All My Friends” - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#03 How's The Pie? Blog top 50 albums of 2007
#03 PopMatters.com best albums of 2007
#03 PopMatters.com 10 best Electronic albums of 2007
#03 “Us Vs Them” PROPELLER - Music mayhem: Considering the top albums of 2007
#03 "Someone Great” - Treblezine.com top 50 songs of 2007
#03 Fact Magazine the 20 best albums of 2007
#04 Chinese Restaurant In The Forest top 27 of 2007
#04 "Someone Great” - Clash Magazine top 20 tracks of 2007
#04 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#05 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#05 Rough Trade Shops top 10 albums of 2007
#05 Time Magazine top 10 albums
#05 Musecology Blog the 30 albums - best of 2007
#05 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#06 Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2007
#06 Stereogum.com Gummy Awards - best album of 2007
#07 You Set The scene Blog 2007 top ten albums
#07 "Someone Great" - Pitchfork Top 100 Tracks of the Year Revealed
#07 Entertainment Weekly.com best albums of the year
#08 Los Angels Times / Ann Powers top ten albums of 2007
#09 Muzzle Of Bees.com best albums of 2007
#09 Almostcool.org favorite 20 albums of 2007
#10 "Someone Great” - Delusions of Adequacy10 favorite songs from the year
#11 NME Year-End Critics' Polls '07
#12 Hate Something Beautiful. Com Best of 2007: Best Full-Length Albums
#13 NPR Listeners Pick the Year's Best CDs, From All Songs Considered
#13 "Someone Great” - Gorilla vs. Bear songs of 2007
#15 Reformissionary best albums of 2007
#18 Idolator.com top 50 albums of 2007
#18 Q Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#22 Paste Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#33 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
THE LODGER Grown-Ups (Slumberland Records)
#62 Amazon.com Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks
MAMMATUS The Coast Explodes (Holy Mountain)
#8 Casey Rae-Hunter -Dusted Magazine
MATTHEW DEAR Deserter (Ghostly International)
#07 Fact Magazine the 20 best albums of 2007
#08 Clash Magazine Top 10 Leftfield Albums of The Year
#10 CMJ RPM charts
#35 Treblezine.com top 50 albums of 2007
#38 "Deserter " - Pitchfork Top 100 tracks of the year revealed
#45 Mojo Magazine Class of 2007
#48 How's The Pie? Blog top 50 albums of 2007
#77 Amazon.com Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks
"Elementary Lover" - Entertainment Weekly best songs of the year list
Nominated for a Plug Award - Electronic Album of The Year
Pitchfork - Named on multiple staff members Individual Track lists with "Deserter" and "Asa Breed"
MELT BANANA Bambi's Dilemma (A-Zap)
#17 Decibel Magazine top 40 for 2007
MURCOF Cosmos (Leaf)
#05 The Wire Magazine Electronica genre of the year
Honorable mention favorite 20 albums of 2007 - Almostcool.org
NEUROSIS Given To The Rising (Neurot Recordings)
#03 Pitchfork guest list best of 2007: Bruce Lamont, Yakuza
#05 Allmusic Blog favorite metal albums of 2007
#06 Revolver Magazine Top 20 for 2007
#06 Decibel Magazine Top 40 for 2007
#09 PopMatters.com 20 best metal albums of 2007
Nominated for a PLUG Award for Best Metal Album of 2007
PAPERCUTS Can't Go Back (Gnomonsong)
#05 BWANK! Blog top ten of 2007
#05 Pitchfork guest list best of 2007: Beach House
#44 My Old Kentucky Blog: Dodge's favorite 50 albums of 2007
#75 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
PINK REASON Cleaning the Mirror (Siltbreeze)
#15 Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2007
POP LEVI Return To Form Black Magick Party (Ninja Tune)
#15 March on Electric Children Blog top 15 albums of 2007
PYLON Gyrate (DFA)
#03 Other Music top 25 reissues of the year
JAY REATARD Blood Visions (In The Red)
#9 Other Music's Top 25 albums of the year
RIO EN MEDIO Bride of Dynamite (Gnomonsong)
NPR.org Top Ten Genre-Busting Records for 2007
SONIC YOUTH Daydream Nation 4XLP box set (Smells Like Records)
#05 Popmatters.com best reissues of 2007
#05 Mojo Magazine top ten reissues of the year
STARS OF LID And Their Refinement Of The Decline (Kranky)
#10 Cokemachineglow.com top 50 albums of 2007
#12 Almostcool.org favorite 20 albums of 2007
#33 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
#43 Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2007
STRATEGY Future Rock (Kranky)
#14 The Wire Magazine Top 50 Albums of the year
#45 Stylus Magazine top 50 albums of 2007
MARK SULTAN Sultanic Verses (In The Red)
#89 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
THEE MORE SHALLOWS Book of Bad Breaks (Anticon)
#5 Beth Lisick's 2007 Pick for the SF Weekly
TIMES NEW VIKING Present the Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze)
#53 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
#96 "Teenage Lust!" - Pitchfork Top 100 tracks of the year revealed
TORCHE In Return (Robotic Empire)
#09 Exclaim! Magazine Aggressive Tendencies: Year in Review 2007
#34 Decibel Magazine Top 40 for 2007
VALET Blood Is Clean (Kranky)
#01 Mike McGonigal (yeti magazine)
#08 Boston Citypaper
VENETIAN SNARES My Downfall (Original Soundtrack) (Planet Mu)
#30 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
LUKE VIBERT & JEAN-JACQUES PERREY Moog Acid (Planet Mu)
#36 Bleep.com top 50 albums of 2007
WHITE WILLIAMS Smoke (Tigerbeat6)
#11 Chinese Restaurant In The Forest top 27 of 2007
#49 “Violator” - Gorilla vs. Bear songs of 2007
#49 The Sky Report best of 2007 - album of the year
#71 Poptarts Suck Toasted Blog top 100 albums of '07
WHY? The Hollows EP (Anticon)
#13 Daniel Levin Becker Dusted Magazine
WOODEN SHJIPS Shjips S/t (Holy Mountain)
#03 David Frick / Rolling Stone top 5 albums of 2007
#04 Piccadilly Records top 30 albums of the year
#07 Rough Trade Shops Top 10 Albums of 2007
#43 The WIRE Magazine 50 Best albums of 2007
WOODS At Rear House (Shrimper)
#94 Boomkat our favourite 100 albums for 2007!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Revolver Employee Year End Top Tens
Paul Ashby
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Shit. dunno. buncha 7" singles when I was about 7 years old, but... Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young "Deja Vu" LP is probably the only thing I'd go on record about. It was some tiny record store in Sepulveda, CA. Don't remember the name. "
* Shulman - "Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart" CD (Aleph Zero)
* Kiln - "Dusker" CD (Ghostly International)
* Robert Wyatt - 2xLP/CD "Comicopera" (Domino)
* Terry Riley - "Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan" CD (Elision Fields)
* Terry Riley - "Reed Streams" CD (Elision Fields)
* Lisa Germano - "Lullabye for Liquid Pig" CD (Young God)
* Harry Shearer - "Dropping Anchors" CD / Le Show (Courgette/Syndicated)
* Angels of Light - "We Are Him" CD (Young God)
* Biosphere - Live at Recombinant SF, 9/15/07
* Matmos/Zeena Parkins - Live at Henry Miller Library, Big Sur, 9/8/07
Potsie U. Belcher
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The mighty Huey Lewis and The News Sports on cassette from The Record Works in downtown Eureka, CA. "
* Michio Kurihara - "Sunset Notes" CD (20/20/20)
* Andre Ethier - "On Blue Fog" LP/CD (Blue Fog)
* Harry Nilsson - "Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)" Documentary (LSL Productions)
* Emperor Machine - "Vertical Tones & Horizontal Noise" CD (DC Recordings)
* The Mantles - "Burden + 3" 7-inch (Dulc-i-Tone Records)
* Dragons - "B.F.I." CD (Ninja Tune)
* Burning Star Core - s/t LP (Ultra Eczema)
* Bad Trips - s/t LP (Rocketship Records)
* Murcof - "Cosmos" 3xLP/CD (Leaf)
* Giant Skyflower Band - "Blood of the Sunworm" CD (Soft Abuse)
Cameron Blackwell
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Kiss Rock and Roll Over LP from The Rcord Bar In Raleigh, NC. "
1. My wife!
2. "King of Kong" - Top documentary since a long time. See it!
3. Better Beatles - "Mercy Beat" LP (Hook or Crook) The better men and women have spoken!
4. George Coleman - "This Old World Is in a Terrible Condition" 7-inch (Mississippi) Heavy, bang-on-a-can crazy-man gospel!
5. V/A - "Life Is a Problem" LP (Mississippi) I like exclamation points!!
6. V/A - "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Any More" LP (Mississippi) These Mississippi comps kill. This one most!
7. "No Country for Old Men" - New Cohen brothers masterplan. See it!
8. King Khan & BBQ - s/t 2xLP (In The Red) My precious pig!
9. Paula Frazer - "Now It's True" CD (Birdman) The saddest!
10. Pylon - "Gyrate+" CD (DFA) Go Georgia!
Cristian Ceia
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Abba, "Arrival" vinyl LP (PGP RTB/Yugoslavian pressing), downtown Timisoara, Romania, on the street, just in front of the pastry shop, from a Serbian "black market" record seller. "
1. Robert Wyatt - "Comicopera" 2xLP/CD (Domino)
2. Burial - "Untrue" CD (Hyperdub)
3. Von Sudenfed - "Tromatic Reflexxions" CD (Domino)
4. Butcher Boy - "Profit In Your Poetry" CD (How Does It Feel To Be Loved?)
5. Distance - "My Demons" 2xLP/CD (Planet Mu)
6. V/A - "I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore" LP (Mississippi)
7. Efterklang - "Parades" 2xLP/CD (Leaf)
8. Dominik Eulberg - "Heimische Gefilde" CD (Traum Schallplatten)
9. Melt Banana - "Bambi's Dilemma" CD (AZAP)
10. Ergo Phizmiz - "Things To Do And Make" (Ergo Phizmiz)
Jerry Connolly
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" kiss Destroyer LP purchased from the Gitfiddler in Northville, Michigan. On the way to buy the record I stopped at the local Burger Chef for lunch and watched Bob Seger scarf down a Super Shef. "
* Fucked Up - "Year of the Pig" 12-inch (What's Your Rupture)
* Tyvek - "Summer Burns" 2x7-inch (What's Your Rupture)
* Deerhunter - "Cryptograms" CD (Kranky)
* White/Lichens - s/t CD (Holy Mountain)
* The Ponys - "Turn The Lights Out" LP/CD (Matador)
* Weasel Walter Quartet - "Revolt Music" CD (UgExplode)
* White Savage - live
* Words Fail Me - Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
* Hot for Teacher - Nog Gallery, London
* Foccacia di Recco - Farina Focaccia and Cucina Italiana
Thee Mike Doyle
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Michael Jackson "Off the Wall" cassette, Wherehouse, Redwood City. "
* White Magic "Dark Stars" 12-inch (Drag City)
* Diplo & Tripledouble "AEIOU 2" CD-R (Money Studies)
* Terry Riley "Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan" CD (Elision Fields)
* Factums "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
* LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" 2xLP (DFA)
* Sarolta Zolatnay "s/t" LP/CD (B-Music)
* Jay Reatard "I Know A Place" 7-inch (Goner)
* Earth "Hibernaculum" LP/CD (Southern Lord)
* Panda Bear "Bros." 12-inch (Fat Cat)
* Glass Candy "I Always Say Yes" 12-inch (Troubleman)
Rachel Drozdowicz
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The Pogues Hell's Ditch on cassette from a bargain bin of some record store in Washington DC. "
1. V/A - "I Don't Feel at Home in This World" LP (Mississippi)
2. White Magic - "Dark Stars" 12-inch (Drag City)
3. Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" 2xCD (Smooch)
4. Dog-Faced Hermans - "Mental Blocks for All Ages" LP (Mississippi)
5. V/A - "Bold Beginnings" CD (Noise Pollution)
6. Pylon - "Gyrate+" CD (DFA)
7. Roky Erickson - "You're Gonna Miss Me" DVD
8. Legends - "Public Radio" 2xCD (Luna)
9. Digital Leather - "Blow Machine" LP (FDH)
10. Mika Miko - "666" 12-inch (Post Present Media)
Uli Elser
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" It was a live Neil Young album in the late 70's - just checked the discography and couldn't find the name of it. It may have been CSNY... Tower Records, Campbell CA (next to Taco Bravo). I don't have the receipt
anymore. "
* Tocotronic - "Kapitulation" CD (Vertigo)
* Spider Bags - "A Celebration Of Hunger" CD (Birdman)
* A-Trak - "Dirty South Dance" (50-second mix)
* Erik Enocksson - "Farväl Falkenberg" CD (Kning Disk)
* Panda Bear - "Person Pitch" 2xLP/CD (Paw Tracks)
* Diplo - pitchfork mix AUGUST final (1:08 mix)
* Beirut - "The Flying Club Cup" CD (Ba Da Bing)
* Octopus Project - "Hello Avalanche" CD (Peek-a-Boo)
* Port O'Brien - "The Wind And The Swell" CD (American Dust)
* Bracken - Bracken's Autumn Podcast (mix)
Thurston Graham
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Kiss "Destroyer" 8-track tape mail ordered from Columbia House Record & Tape Club. "
* Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival - October 4-6, 2007 (Speedway/Marx Meadows, Golden Gate Park, SF CA)
* Waking up!
* Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" CD (Smooch)
* Espresso Grande - Four shots! (Cafe Trieste, North Beach, SF CA)
* Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! These Songs Are Doors!" LP (Not Not Fun)
* Panda Bear - "Person Pitch" CD (Paw Tracks)
* Distance - "My Demons" LP/CD (Planet Mu)
* V/A - "After Dark" CD (Italians Do It Better)
* A Place to Bury Strangers - s/t CD (Killer Pimp)
* LCD Soundsystem - "45:33" 2xLP/CD (DFA)
Dave Gulbis
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" My first record I bought was Nirvana "Nevermind" on CD from Zia records in Tucson. My mom had to approve of it before I could buy it so I covered the baby's penis with my thumb when I showed her the cover. SNEAKY! "
1. A Sunny Day in Glascow - "Scribble Mural Comic Journal" LP (Notenuf)
2. Pumice - "Pebbles" CD (Soft Abuse)
3. Alex Delivery - "Star Destroyer" LP/CD (Jagjaguwar)
4. Angels of Light - "We Are Him" CD (Young God)
5. Soft Location - "Diamonds and Gems" LP (Senseless Empire)
6. Whitehorse - s/t 2xCD (20 Buck Spin)
7. Times New Viking - "Paisley Reich" LP/CD (Siltbreeze)
8. Finches - "Human Like a House" CD (Dulc-i-tone)
9. Basalt Fingers - s/t LP+CD (Three Lobed Recordings)
10. Life Without Buildings - "Live at Annandale Hotel" CD (Absolutely Kosher)
Reissue of the Year: Slits - "Return of the Giant Slits" 2xCD CD (Blast First Petite)
Hubbs
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Guns 'n' Roses - "Use Your Illusion 2" on tape, most likely purchased at Tower Records in the Burlington Mall, Burlington, Massachusetts, circa 1991. "
1. Totalitär - "Vi Är Eliten" LP (Prank)
2. Sex Vid - "Tania" EP (Dom America)
3. Tranzmitors - "We're All Alone With You/Between Planets" 7-inch (Seeing Eye)
4. Pylon - "Gyrate+" CD (DFA)
5. Complications - "Blindness/Coffin" 7-inch (Feral Ward)
6. Numbskull - "Final Days of Torture" LP (My Mind's Eye)
7. Giant Kawai (Sandwich Place)
8. V/A - "Last Kind Words" LP (Mississippi)
9. The Gits - LP reissues (Broken)
10. Wire - "Live at the Roxy" 2xCD (Pink Flag)
Kyle Kramer
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" First musical purchase with my own chore money... It was most certainly a cassette. Can't quite recall if it was Aerosmith "Draw the Line" or Men At Work "Business as Usual". Either way it's pretty boss.
Things that make me hate myself for leaving out the first time... "
Things that make me hate myself for leaving out the first time (print version)...
Nordvargr + Drakh - The Betrayal of Light CD (tUMULt)
The Besnard Lakes - ...are The Dark Horse LP/CD (Jagjaguar)
Profanatica - Profanatitas De Domonatia LPs (Hell's Headbangers)
Emma Pollock - Watch the Fireworks (4AD) ...still geeked that I got to open for her last month.
10. Buried at Sea - "Ghost" (Neurot) I've done drugs that would blow your mind tonight
9. Winterblut - "Das Aas Aller Dinge" CD (End All Life) Going outta my mind tonight
8. The Vaticans - "Guardia Svizzera Pontificia" CD (Pure Filth) Blow you blind tonight
7. Cloudland Canyon/Lichens - "Exterminating Angel" (Holy Mountain) Where you going, man?
6. Lifelover - "Erotik" CD (Total Holocaust) Out of the mist, there's a pimp
5. Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Dandelion Gum" CD (Graveface) How could I miss you with your druggy ways?
4. Deerhunter - live and "Cryptograms/Flourescent Grey" LP (Kranky) Out of the mist, there's a hooker
3. The Octopus Project - "Hello Avalanche" CD (Peek-a-Boo) Would you like to come along?
2. Inquisition - "Nefarious Dismal Orations" CD (No Colours) Where's your pimp friend and your priest?
1. The Raveonettes - "Lust Lust Lust" CD (Fierce Panda) I kissed your lovely drug-filled lips
Event of the year: Yankees vs. Giants, first time since '62.
Earl Kuck
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Ray Stevens "The Streak" 7-inch @ Ben Franklin Five 'n' Dime Madison, Connecticut. "
* Factums - "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
* Klangmutationen - "Wiesse Messe" LP (Holy Mountain)
* Sunroof - "Panzer Division Lou Reed" CD (VHF)
* Graham Lambkin - "Salmon Run" CD (Kye)
* Jason Lescalleet - "Pilgrim" LP+CD (Glistening Examples)
* Hair Police - "Blind Kingdom" LP (Ultra Eczema)
* xNo BBQx - s/t picLP (Pulled Out)
* Naked on the Vague - "Blood Pressure Sessions" CD (Dual Plover)
* MB - "Evidences" 5xLP (Vinyl on Demand)
* Sun of the Seventh Sister - "Farben Raum" CD (Heard Worse)
Matthew G. Lammikins Jr.
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Shit, I can't remember! It was one of these three I think: UTFO's "Real Roxanne" 12", Prince's 'Erotic City' 12" single or that JFA live LP where they're all sitting on top of the bus on the front. I only really ever listen to the live version of the their 'Charlie Brown' cover."
* Tyvek - live and "Summer Burns" 2x7-inch (What's Your Rupture)
* Caribou - "Andorra" LP/CD (Merge)
* Home Blitz - s/t CD (Gulcher)
* Vashti Bunyan - "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" 2xLP/2xCD (DiCristina)
* Factums - "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
* Miss Alex White - "Space & Time" LP/CD (In The Red)
* Pumice - "Pebbles" CD (Soft Abuse)
* Eat Skull - s/t 7-inch (Meds)
* Mantles - "Burden + 3" 7-inch (Dulc-i-Tone)
* Circle - "Katapult" LP/CD (No Quarter) But really, the whole live staged wrestling act must be seen
Matt Likens
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Easy-E Eazy-Duz-It on cassette from Tower Records in Fremont, CA. "
1. Storm Bugs - "Supplementary Benefit" LP (Vinyl on Demand)
2. Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! Those Songs Are Doors" LP (Not Not Fun)
3. Absolute Body Control - "Complete ABC Tape Recordings" 5xLP (Vinyl on Demand)
4. Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" 2xCD (Smooch)
5. Rhythm and Sound - "The Versions" CD reissue (Asphodel)
6. Weakling - "Dead as Dreams" 2xLP/CD (Tumult Laboratories)
7. John Maus - "Songs" LP/CD (Upset the Rhythm)
8. Mythical Beast/Pocahaunted - split LP (Not Not Fun)
9. Factums - "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
10. Odd Nosdam - "Level Live Wires" CD (Anticon)
Murph
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Too $hort "Raw, Uncut & X-Rated" on cassette from Sundance Records in San Marcos, TX. "
1. Common Eider, Greater Eider - "How to Build a Cabin" CD (Yik Yak)
2. Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" 2xCD (Smooch)
3. Denver Gentlemen - "Introducing" CD (Smooch)
4. Jay Munly - "Galvanized Yankee" CD (Smooch)
5. Current 93 - "Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre" CD (Durtro/Jnana)
6. Omar Souleyman - "Highway to Hassake" CD (Sublime Frequencies)
7. Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! These Songs Are Doors!" LP/CD (Not Not Fun)
8. Death in June - "The World That Summer" 2xCD reissue box set (NER)
9. Faust - s/t LP reissue (Lilith)
10. Pantaleimon - "Mercy Oceans" CD (Durtro/Jnana)
Ken Olsen
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The first record I ever bought was "Fox on the Run" 7" by Sweet. I bought it at a stoner record store in Portland, OR called Crystal Ship Records - it's true! "
1. Soul Merchants - "1985-87" 2xCD (Smooch)
2. Bags - "All Bagged Up" LP (Artifix)
3. Stormbugs - "Supplementary Benefit" LP (Vinyl on Demand)
4. Heart Attack - "God Is Dead" EP (Broken Rekids)
5. Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! Those Songs Are Doors" LP (Not Not Fun)
6. Absolute Body Control - "Complete Tapes" 5xLP (Vinyl on Demand)
7. Demons - "Frozen Fog" LP/CD (Aryan Asshole)
8. Sex Vid - "Tania" EP (Dom America) / Surrender "Last White Flag" EP (self-released)
9. V/A - "Northwest Passage: Portland Punk History" DVD / Dead Moon - "Unknown Passage" DVD
10. Factums- "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
Jacob Peña
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Mötley Crüe "Dr. Feelgood" on cassette from Sam Goody in Lakewood, CA. "
1. Ice Cream Man visits Revolver!
2. V/A - "Columbia" 2xLP/CD (Soundway)
3. Caetano Veloso - "Irene" LP/CD (Lilith)
4. Colleen - "Les Ondes Silencieuses" LP/CD (Leaf)
5. V/A - "Motel Lovers" CD (Trikont)
6. Deerhunter - "Cryptograms" CD (Kranky)
7. White Rainbow - "Prism of Eternal Now" CD (Kranky)
8. Vashti Bunyan - "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" 2xLP/2xCD" (DiCristina)
9. Pylon - "Gyrate+" (DFA)
10. Sunburned Hand of the Man feat. Four Tet - "Fire Escape" LP/CD (Smalltown Supersound)
Tim Soete
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Billy Joel "Glass Houses" LP at Tower Records - Spots Arena San Diego, CA. "
* Harmonia - "Deluxe" LP (Lilith)
* Mark Fry - "Dreaming With Alice" CD (Sunbeam)
* Ariel Pink - "Scared Famous" CD (Human Ear Music)
* Cadence Weapon - "Breaking Kayfabe" LP/CD (Upper Class)
* Digital Leather - "Blow Machine" LP/CD (FDH)
* Chromatics - "Night Drive" CD (Italians Do It Better)
* LCD Soundsystem - "45:33" 2xLP/CD (DFA)
* Buried at Sea - "Ghost" CD (Neurot)
* Mammatus - "Coast Explodes" LP/CD (Holy Mountain)
Toppe
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The first peice of music I purchased was the 7" "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. at Shopko. "
* Panda Bear - "Person Pitch" 2xLP/CD (Paw Tracks)
* Lamps - "Lamps" LP/CD (In The Red)
* Eluvium - "Copia" CD (Temporary Residence)
* Matthew Dear - "Asa Breed" 2xLP/CD (Ghostly International)
* Battles - "Mirrored" 2xLP/CD (Mirrored)
* Ratatat - "Classics" CD (XL Recordings)
* White Williams - "Smoke" CD (Tigerbeat6)
* Milanese - "Barry Dub 2007" 12-inch (Planet Mu)
* Chris Garneau - "Music for Tourists" CD (Absolutely Kosher)
* Fiery Furnaces - "Widow City" 2xLP/CD (Thrill Jockey)
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Shit. dunno. buncha 7" singles when I was about 7 years old, but... Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young "Deja Vu" LP is probably the only thing I'd go on record about. It was some tiny record store in Sepulveda, CA. Don't remember the name. "
* Shulman - "Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart" CD (Aleph Zero)
* Kiln - "Dusker" CD (Ghostly International)
* Robert Wyatt - 2xLP/CD "Comicopera" (Domino)
* Terry Riley - "Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan" CD (Elision Fields)
* Terry Riley - "Reed Streams" CD (Elision Fields)
* Lisa Germano - "Lullabye for Liquid Pig" CD (Young God)
* Harry Shearer - "Dropping Anchors" CD / Le Show (Courgette/Syndicated)
* Angels of Light - "We Are Him" CD (Young God)
* Biosphere - Live at Recombinant SF, 9/15/07
* Matmos/Zeena Parkins - Live at Henry Miller Library, Big Sur, 9/8/07
Potsie U. Belcher
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The mighty Huey Lewis and The News Sports on cassette from The Record Works in downtown Eureka, CA. "
* Michio Kurihara - "Sunset Notes" CD (20/20/20)
* Andre Ethier - "On Blue Fog" LP/CD (Blue Fog)
* Harry Nilsson - "Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)" Documentary (LSL Productions)
* Emperor Machine - "Vertical Tones & Horizontal Noise" CD (DC Recordings)
* The Mantles - "Burden + 3" 7-inch (Dulc-i-Tone Records)
* Dragons - "B.F.I." CD (Ninja Tune)
* Burning Star Core - s/t LP (Ultra Eczema)
* Bad Trips - s/t LP (Rocketship Records)
* Murcof - "Cosmos" 3xLP/CD (Leaf)
* Giant Skyflower Band - "Blood of the Sunworm" CD (Soft Abuse)
Cameron Blackwell
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Kiss Rock and Roll Over LP from The Rcord Bar In Raleigh, NC. "
1. My wife!
2. "King of Kong" - Top documentary since a long time. See it!
3. Better Beatles - "Mercy Beat" LP (Hook or Crook) The better men and women have spoken!
4. George Coleman - "This Old World Is in a Terrible Condition" 7-inch (Mississippi) Heavy, bang-on-a-can crazy-man gospel!
5. V/A - "Life Is a Problem" LP (Mississippi) I like exclamation points!!
6. V/A - "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Any More" LP (Mississippi) These Mississippi comps kill. This one most!
7. "No Country for Old Men" - New Cohen brothers masterplan. See it!
8. King Khan & BBQ - s/t 2xLP (In The Red) My precious pig!
9. Paula Frazer - "Now It's True" CD (Birdman) The saddest!
10. Pylon - "Gyrate+" CD (DFA) Go Georgia!
Cristian Ceia
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Abba, "Arrival" vinyl LP (PGP RTB/Yugoslavian pressing), downtown Timisoara, Romania, on the street, just in front of the pastry shop, from a Serbian "black market" record seller. "
1. Robert Wyatt - "Comicopera" 2xLP/CD (Domino)
2. Burial - "Untrue" CD (Hyperdub)
3. Von Sudenfed - "Tromatic Reflexxions" CD (Domino)
4. Butcher Boy - "Profit In Your Poetry" CD (How Does It Feel To Be Loved?)
5. Distance - "My Demons" 2xLP/CD (Planet Mu)
6. V/A - "I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore" LP (Mississippi)
7. Efterklang - "Parades" 2xLP/CD (Leaf)
8. Dominik Eulberg - "Heimische Gefilde" CD (Traum Schallplatten)
9. Melt Banana - "Bambi's Dilemma" CD (AZAP)
10. Ergo Phizmiz - "Things To Do And Make" (Ergo Phizmiz)
Jerry Connolly
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" kiss Destroyer LP purchased from the Gitfiddler in Northville, Michigan. On the way to buy the record I stopped at the local Burger Chef for lunch and watched Bob Seger scarf down a Super Shef. "
* Fucked Up - "Year of the Pig" 12-inch (What's Your Rupture)
* Tyvek - "Summer Burns" 2x7-inch (What's Your Rupture)
* Deerhunter - "Cryptograms" CD (Kranky)
* White/Lichens - s/t CD (Holy Mountain)
* The Ponys - "Turn The Lights Out" LP/CD (Matador)
* Weasel Walter Quartet - "Revolt Music" CD (UgExplode)
* White Savage - live
* Words Fail Me - Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
* Hot for Teacher - Nog Gallery, London
* Foccacia di Recco - Farina Focaccia and Cucina Italiana
Thee Mike Doyle
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Michael Jackson "Off the Wall" cassette, Wherehouse, Redwood City. "
* White Magic "Dark Stars" 12-inch (Drag City)
* Diplo & Tripledouble "AEIOU 2" CD-R (Money Studies)
* Terry Riley "Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan" CD (Elision Fields)
* Factums "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
* LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" 2xLP (DFA)
* Sarolta Zolatnay "s/t" LP/CD (B-Music)
* Jay Reatard "I Know A Place" 7-inch (Goner)
* Earth "Hibernaculum" LP/CD (Southern Lord)
* Panda Bear "Bros." 12-inch (Fat Cat)
* Glass Candy "I Always Say Yes" 12-inch (Troubleman)
Rachel Drozdowicz
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The Pogues Hell's Ditch on cassette from a bargain bin of some record store in Washington DC. "
1. V/A - "I Don't Feel at Home in This World" LP (Mississippi)
2. White Magic - "Dark Stars" 12-inch (Drag City)
3. Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" 2xCD (Smooch)
4. Dog-Faced Hermans - "Mental Blocks for All Ages" LP (Mississippi)
5. V/A - "Bold Beginnings" CD (Noise Pollution)
6. Pylon - "Gyrate+" CD (DFA)
7. Roky Erickson - "You're Gonna Miss Me" DVD
8. Legends - "Public Radio" 2xCD (Luna)
9. Digital Leather - "Blow Machine" LP (FDH)
10. Mika Miko - "666" 12-inch (Post Present Media)
Uli Elser
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" It was a live Neil Young album in the late 70's - just checked the discography and couldn't find the name of it. It may have been CSNY... Tower Records, Campbell CA (next to Taco Bravo). I don't have the receipt
anymore. "
* Tocotronic - "Kapitulation" CD (Vertigo)
* Spider Bags - "A Celebration Of Hunger" CD (Birdman)
* A-Trak - "Dirty South Dance" (50-second mix)
* Erik Enocksson - "Farväl Falkenberg" CD (Kning Disk)
* Panda Bear - "Person Pitch" 2xLP/CD (Paw Tracks)
* Diplo - pitchfork mix AUGUST final (1:08 mix)
* Beirut - "The Flying Club Cup" CD (Ba Da Bing)
* Octopus Project - "Hello Avalanche" CD (Peek-a-Boo)
* Port O'Brien - "The Wind And The Swell" CD (American Dust)
* Bracken - Bracken's Autumn Podcast (mix)
Thurston Graham
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Kiss "Destroyer" 8-track tape mail ordered from Columbia House Record & Tape Club. "
* Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival - October 4-6, 2007 (Speedway/Marx Meadows, Golden Gate Park, SF CA)
* Waking up!
* Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" CD (Smooch)
* Espresso Grande - Four shots! (Cafe Trieste, North Beach, SF CA)
* Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! These Songs Are Doors!" LP (Not Not Fun)
* Panda Bear - "Person Pitch" CD (Paw Tracks)
* Distance - "My Demons" LP/CD (Planet Mu)
* V/A - "After Dark" CD (Italians Do It Better)
* A Place to Bury Strangers - s/t CD (Killer Pimp)
* LCD Soundsystem - "45:33" 2xLP/CD (DFA)
Dave Gulbis
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" My first record I bought was Nirvana "Nevermind" on CD from Zia records in Tucson. My mom had to approve of it before I could buy it so I covered the baby's penis with my thumb when I showed her the cover. SNEAKY! "
1. A Sunny Day in Glascow - "Scribble Mural Comic Journal" LP (Notenuf)
2. Pumice - "Pebbles" CD (Soft Abuse)
3. Alex Delivery - "Star Destroyer" LP/CD (Jagjaguwar)
4. Angels of Light - "We Are Him" CD (Young God)
5. Soft Location - "Diamonds and Gems" LP (Senseless Empire)
6. Whitehorse - s/t 2xCD (20 Buck Spin)
7. Times New Viking - "Paisley Reich" LP/CD (Siltbreeze)
8. Finches - "Human Like a House" CD (Dulc-i-tone)
9. Basalt Fingers - s/t LP+CD (Three Lobed Recordings)
10. Life Without Buildings - "Live at Annandale Hotel" CD (Absolutely Kosher)
Reissue of the Year: Slits - "Return of the Giant Slits" 2xCD CD (Blast First Petite)
Hubbs
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Guns 'n' Roses - "Use Your Illusion 2" on tape, most likely purchased at Tower Records in the Burlington Mall, Burlington, Massachusetts, circa 1991. "
1. Totalitär - "Vi Är Eliten" LP (Prank)
2. Sex Vid - "Tania" EP (Dom America)
3. Tranzmitors - "We're All Alone With You/Between Planets" 7-inch (Seeing Eye)
4. Pylon - "Gyrate+" CD (DFA)
5. Complications - "Blindness/Coffin" 7-inch (Feral Ward)
6. Numbskull - "Final Days of Torture" LP (My Mind's Eye)
7. Giant Kawai (Sandwich Place)
8. V/A - "Last Kind Words" LP (Mississippi)
9. The Gits - LP reissues (Broken)
10. Wire - "Live at the Roxy" 2xCD (Pink Flag)
Kyle Kramer
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" First musical purchase with my own chore money... It was most certainly a cassette. Can't quite recall if it was Aerosmith "Draw the Line" or Men At Work "Business as Usual". Either way it's pretty boss.
Things that make me hate myself for leaving out the first time... "
Things that make me hate myself for leaving out the first time (print version)...
Nordvargr + Drakh - The Betrayal of Light CD (tUMULt)
The Besnard Lakes - ...are The Dark Horse LP/CD (Jagjaguar)
Profanatica - Profanatitas De Domonatia LPs (Hell's Headbangers)
Emma Pollock - Watch the Fireworks (4AD) ...still geeked that I got to open for her last month.
10. Buried at Sea - "Ghost" (Neurot) I've done drugs that would blow your mind tonight
9. Winterblut - "Das Aas Aller Dinge" CD (End All Life) Going outta my mind tonight
8. The Vaticans - "Guardia Svizzera Pontificia" CD (Pure Filth) Blow you blind tonight
7. Cloudland Canyon/Lichens - "Exterminating Angel" (Holy Mountain) Where you going, man?
6. Lifelover - "Erotik" CD (Total Holocaust) Out of the mist, there's a pimp
5. Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Dandelion Gum" CD (Graveface) How could I miss you with your druggy ways?
4. Deerhunter - live and "Cryptograms/Flourescent Grey" LP (Kranky) Out of the mist, there's a hooker
3. The Octopus Project - "Hello Avalanche" CD (Peek-a-Boo) Would you like to come along?
2. Inquisition - "Nefarious Dismal Orations" CD (No Colours) Where's your pimp friend and your priest?
1. The Raveonettes - "Lust Lust Lust" CD (Fierce Panda) I kissed your lovely drug-filled lips
Event of the year: Yankees vs. Giants, first time since '62.
Earl Kuck
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Ray Stevens "The Streak" 7-inch @ Ben Franklin Five 'n' Dime Madison, Connecticut. "
* Factums - "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
* Klangmutationen - "Wiesse Messe" LP (Holy Mountain)
* Sunroof - "Panzer Division Lou Reed" CD (VHF)
* Graham Lambkin - "Salmon Run" CD (Kye)
* Jason Lescalleet - "Pilgrim" LP+CD (Glistening Examples)
* Hair Police - "Blind Kingdom" LP (Ultra Eczema)
* xNo BBQx - s/t picLP (Pulled Out)
* Naked on the Vague - "Blood Pressure Sessions" CD (Dual Plover)
* MB - "Evidences" 5xLP (Vinyl on Demand)
* Sun of the Seventh Sister - "Farben Raum" CD (Heard Worse)
Matthew G. Lammikins Jr.
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Shit, I can't remember! It was one of these three I think: UTFO's "Real Roxanne" 12", Prince's 'Erotic City' 12" single or that JFA live LP where they're all sitting on top of the bus on the front. I only really ever listen to the live version of the their 'Charlie Brown' cover."
* Tyvek - live and "Summer Burns" 2x7-inch (What's Your Rupture)
* Caribou - "Andorra" LP/CD (Merge)
* Home Blitz - s/t CD (Gulcher)
* Vashti Bunyan - "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" 2xLP/2xCD (DiCristina)
* Factums - "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
* Miss Alex White - "Space & Time" LP/CD (In The Red)
* Pumice - "Pebbles" CD (Soft Abuse)
* Eat Skull - s/t 7-inch (Meds)
* Mantles - "Burden + 3" 7-inch (Dulc-i-Tone)
* Circle - "Katapult" LP/CD (No Quarter) But really, the whole live staged wrestling act must be seen
Matt Likens
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Easy-E Eazy-Duz-It on cassette from Tower Records in Fremont, CA. "
1. Storm Bugs - "Supplementary Benefit" LP (Vinyl on Demand)
2. Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! Those Songs Are Doors" LP (Not Not Fun)
3. Absolute Body Control - "Complete ABC Tape Recordings" 5xLP (Vinyl on Demand)
4. Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" 2xCD (Smooch)
5. Rhythm and Sound - "The Versions" CD reissue (Asphodel)
6. Weakling - "Dead as Dreams" 2xLP/CD (Tumult Laboratories)
7. John Maus - "Songs" LP/CD (Upset the Rhythm)
8. Mythical Beast/Pocahaunted - split LP (Not Not Fun)
9. Factums - "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
10. Odd Nosdam - "Level Live Wires" CD (Anticon)
Murph
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Too $hort "Raw, Uncut & X-Rated" on cassette from Sundance Records in San Marcos, TX. "
1. Common Eider, Greater Eider - "How to Build a Cabin" CD (Yik Yak)
2. Soul Merchants - "1985-1987" 2xCD (Smooch)
3. Denver Gentlemen - "Introducing" CD (Smooch)
4. Jay Munly - "Galvanized Yankee" CD (Smooch)
5. Current 93 - "Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre" CD (Durtro/Jnana)
6. Omar Souleyman - "Highway to Hassake" CD (Sublime Frequencies)
7. Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! These Songs Are Doors!" LP/CD (Not Not Fun)
8. Death in June - "The World That Summer" 2xCD reissue box set (NER)
9. Faust - s/t LP reissue (Lilith)
10. Pantaleimon - "Mercy Oceans" CD (Durtro/Jnana)
Ken Olsen
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The first record I ever bought was "Fox on the Run" 7" by Sweet. I bought it at a stoner record store in Portland, OR called Crystal Ship Records - it's true! "
1. Soul Merchants - "1985-87" 2xCD (Smooch)
2. Bags - "All Bagged Up" LP (Artifix)
3. Stormbugs - "Supplementary Benefit" LP (Vinyl on Demand)
4. Heart Attack - "God Is Dead" EP (Broken Rekids)
5. Mudboy - "Hungry Ghosts! Those Songs Are Doors" LP (Not Not Fun)
6. Absolute Body Control - "Complete Tapes" 5xLP (Vinyl on Demand)
7. Demons - "Frozen Fog" LP/CD (Aryan Asshole)
8. Sex Vid - "Tania" EP (Dom America) / Surrender "Last White Flag" EP (self-released)
9. V/A - "Northwest Passage: Portland Punk History" DVD / Dead Moon - "Unknown Passage" DVD
10. Factums- "Alien Native" LP (Siltbreeze)
Jacob Peña
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Mötley Crüe "Dr. Feelgood" on cassette from Sam Goody in Lakewood, CA. "
1. Ice Cream Man visits Revolver!
2. V/A - "Columbia" 2xLP/CD (Soundway)
3. Caetano Veloso - "Irene" LP/CD (Lilith)
4. Colleen - "Les Ondes Silencieuses" LP/CD (Leaf)
5. V/A - "Motel Lovers" CD (Trikont)
6. Deerhunter - "Cryptograms" CD (Kranky)
7. White Rainbow - "Prism of Eternal Now" CD (Kranky)
8. Vashti Bunyan - "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" 2xLP/2xCD" (DiCristina)
9. Pylon - "Gyrate+" (DFA)
10. Sunburned Hand of the Man feat. Four Tet - "Fire Escape" LP/CD (Smalltown Supersound)
Tim Soete
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" Billy Joel "Glass Houses" LP at Tower Records - Spots Arena San Diego, CA. "
* Harmonia - "Deluxe" LP (Lilith)
* Mark Fry - "Dreaming With Alice" CD (Sunbeam)
* Ariel Pink - "Scared Famous" CD (Human Ear Music)
* Cadence Weapon - "Breaking Kayfabe" LP/CD (Upper Class)
* Digital Leather - "Blow Machine" LP/CD (FDH)
* Chromatics - "Night Drive" CD (Italians Do It Better)
* LCD Soundsystem - "45:33" 2xLP/CD (DFA)
* Buried at Sea - "Ghost" CD (Neurot)
* Mammatus - "Coast Explodes" LP/CD (Holy Mountain)
Toppe
What was the first piece of music you purchased with your own money?
" The first peice of music I purchased was the 7" "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. at Shopko. "
* Panda Bear - "Person Pitch" 2xLP/CD (Paw Tracks)
* Lamps - "Lamps" LP/CD (In The Red)
* Eluvium - "Copia" CD (Temporary Residence)
* Matthew Dear - "Asa Breed" 2xLP/CD (Ghostly International)
* Battles - "Mirrored" 2xLP/CD (Mirrored)
* Ratatat - "Classics" CD (XL Recordings)
* White Williams - "Smoke" CD (Tigerbeat6)
* Milanese - "Barry Dub 2007" 12-inch (Planet Mu)
* Chris Garneau - "Music for Tourists" CD (Absolutely Kosher)
* Fiery Furnaces - "Widow City" 2xLP/CD (Thrill Jockey)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Revolver Releases Mention On NPR's Top Ten Genre-Busting Records For The Year.
Bride of Dynamite
Artist: Rio en Medio
This dangerously tuneful record displays the virtues of Danielle Stech-Homsy's Rio En Medio: imaginative, compelling use of melodies, words and sounds. Danielle's voice and baritone ukulele are always at the center, but they can be surrounded by a colorful swirl of electronics and recorded spoken phrases. As spontaneous and dreamy as it sounds, the same effect is achieved in live performance, and seems quite magical.
Love Is Simple
Artist: Akron/Family
Go see Akron/Family perform live. That's the best way to experience its scope and power, and it's the best way to participate in the communal joy the band generates. "Crickets" represents just a little, quiet corner in the huge, dynamic musical world of Akron/Family. On this song, drummer Dana plays banjo, guitarist Seth plays piano, bassist Miles is the featured vocalist and guitarist Ryan displays his skill if not his instrumental variability.
Ondes Silencieuses
Artist: Colleen
One of the loveliest albums of chamber music this year is probably unknown to classical-music listeners, and comes from French composer and multi-instrumentalist Cecile Schott, who records as Colleen. Having used electronics and samplers in the past, Colleen's music has gradually grown more acoustic, and on "Sun Against My Eyes," she uses classical guitar and clarinets. Elsewhere on the album, viola da gamba, a Renaissance relative of the cello, is prominent.
Artist: Rio en Medio
This dangerously tuneful record displays the virtues of Danielle Stech-Homsy's Rio En Medio: imaginative, compelling use of melodies, words and sounds. Danielle's voice and baritone ukulele are always at the center, but they can be surrounded by a colorful swirl of electronics and recorded spoken phrases. As spontaneous and dreamy as it sounds, the same effect is achieved in live performance, and seems quite magical.
Love Is Simple
Artist: Akron/Family
Go see Akron/Family perform live. That's the best way to experience its scope and power, and it's the best way to participate in the communal joy the band generates. "Crickets" represents just a little, quiet corner in the huge, dynamic musical world of Akron/Family. On this song, drummer Dana plays banjo, guitarist Seth plays piano, bassist Miles is the featured vocalist and guitarist Ryan displays his skill if not his instrumental variability.
Ondes Silencieuses
Artist: Colleen
One of the loveliest albums of chamber music this year is probably unknown to classical-music listeners, and comes from French composer and multi-instrumentalist Cecile Schott, who records as Colleen. Having used electronics and samplers in the past, Colleen's music has gradually grown more acoustic, and on "Sun Against My Eyes," she uses classical guitar and clarinets. Elsewhere on the album, viola da gamba, a Renaissance relative of the cello, is prominent.
Friday, December 14, 2007
White Williams Review & Mini Interview on Exclaim.com
White WilliamsSmoke
By Cam Lindsay
Original review
Cultivated in Ohio’s DIY noise community, Joe Williams has blossomed into an extraordinary songwriter teeming with vivid concepts and unbridled elasticity. Dropping his first name to assume the much snappier moniker of White Williams, this 23-year-old NYC-based wunderkind has prefab-ed an imposing collection of transmittable melodies, which he’s shaped with a multitude of influences. Constructed using a laptop and various analog gear, Williams taps into the 21st century’s glut of nostalgia to mess with the concept of modern music and find a unique niche for himself. Loaded to the ceiling with deviant synths and rhythmic programming, he turns the notion of new wave or glam upside down and inside out, exposing the possibilities of producing something new with a little radical tinkering. His airy revitalisation of Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” reminds us of how dead cool that retro classic is, while he nicks Neu!’s algorithmic drum patterns for some titillation in the soaring glam of hook-crammed single “New Violence.” What will get people talking (and moving) though is the slack polyrhythm of “Going Down,” which recalls Remain in Light’s volatile cadence. Smoke introduces a wonky world with a series of striking songwriting examples that manages to surpass any notions of the past, present and future of music to somehow remain a timeless treasure.
You’ve gone through many changes as an artist, originally coming up through the Cleveland noise scene. How did you find your sound for Smoke?
A lot of hitting my head against the wall and learning about microphones, recording and software. I started experimenting with my parents’ computer when I was about 17 in high school and I had no one to help me research music. Continually hitting my head against the wall, I slowly found myself toying around with sounds. From their I got better at teaching myself, and picking up microphones and learning guitar for this project.
Your real name is Joe Williams. What’s up with the honky first name?
The only reason the name is the way it is is because there’s a jazz singer named Joe Williams already, and I just appreciate the alliteration. There are no connotations or characters or anything. There’s nothing in music that’s so preferential. I wouldn’t want to be anonymous but it wouldn’t change the way I do anything. That’s why when you lift the CD out of the case there’s a picture of my friend. It’s not a big concern for me to be any kind of personality. (Tigerbeat6)
Upcoming 2008 tour dates:
01/12 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
01/13 New Haven, CT @ BAR Nightclub
01/14 Providence, RI @ The Living Room
01/15 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
01/16 Toronto, Ontario @ Horseshoe Tavern
01/17 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
01/18 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
01/19 Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern (Tomorrow Never Knows fest)
01/20 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Club
01/23 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
01/24 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
01/25 Portland, OR @ Holocene
01/26 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord
01/27 Los Angeles, CA @ Echo
01/29 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
01/31 Austin, TX @ Emo's
02/01 Denton, TX @ Hailey's
02/02 Houston, TX @ Walter's on Washington
02/04 Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder (FSU)
02/05 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn (MJQ Concourse)
02/07 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
02/08 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
02/09 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
Monday, December 10, 2007
Almostcool Explores the Cosmos
MurcofCosmos
(Leaf)
Original review
I remembered listening to tracks from Cosmos as far back as last year on Fernando Corona's website. That work seemed a bit different than his other music to date, and at the time it was going to be released as an EP of some sort. Time passed, though, and Corona (aka Murcof) expanded upon the pieces he had created, eventually coming up with enough work for a new full-length album. Those newer pieces continued in this more expansive vein, and although there are still hints of his earlier micro-sound movements in this massive six-song release, Cosmos truly finds him moving someplace new entirely.
There are a lot of comparisons that one could draw when listening to this newest release from Murcof. Everything from the massive orchestral and electronic compositions of Johann Johannsson to the classical stylings of György Ligeti and even the deep slabs of ambience by Stars Of The Lid. The micro-programmed beats are still there in places, but they've been toned back and refined to fit within the slightly different sound. "Cuerpo Celeste" opens the release, and makes it pretty apparent that things aren't going to be the same. Unfolding over nine minutes, it sets some quiet string pulses over deep-space drones and a couple dots of chimes. As it progresses, the string flourishes build over the expansive space, eventually expanding with melodic swells that incorporate organ, low-bass rumbles, timpani crashes and ghostly choruses.
Tracks like "Cielo" and "Cometa" are a lot closer to work on Remembraza and Utopia, but both of them grown with a sort of slow-burning intensity that wasn't quite as apparent on past efforts. The latter is particularly effective, with crackling waves of feedback that slither through the string and piano touched track, always keeping it on edge as it unfurls with gorgeous melodic swells. The two-part album-titled tracks are where the album really separates itself, though. "Cosmos I" opens with just a flickering of deep space radio wave chatter, but by halfway through has turned into a monolith of a song, blending filtered strings, organ, vocals, and other elements into something almost doom-worthy. "Cosmos II" uses many of the same building blocks, and without being a complete reprise manages to keep the crushing mood going.
It should come as a relief, then, that album closer "Oort" is probably the more sparse pieces on the album, running almost thirteen minutes while shifting through several mini-suites, with a couple dying string moans that give the sound of a last-gasp attempt at contact with human life. Among his best work to date, Cosmos finds Corona expanding his boundaries even more and in the process creating something more timeless. As with all his releases, it's absolutely immaculately produced, and with upcoming colder temperatures, I imagine it will be in even more heavy rotation.
rating: 8
Rejoice and Howl - Ronnie Wood Is A Beirut Fan!
The below gossip piece about Ron Wood being a Beirut fan was posted on NME.com last week. Original articleRolling Stones man reveals new musical obsession
One of the rockers nabbed an autograph from a new band... 05.Dec.07 5:06pm
The Rolling Stones' guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed himself to be a massive fan of acclaimed stars Beirut - and even chased the band for their autographs when he found himself in the same TV studio as them recently.
When Wood attended the filming for 'Later... With Jools Holland' yesterday (December 4) and found out that Beirut were performing, he made a beeline for the band to meet them.
Later in the evening Wood sent a member of the production crew over to the band again in order to get all their autographs.
Wood got on well with Band Of Horses who were also appearing on the show, and apparently promised to perform live with the band at some point next year.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Damon & Naomi Noteworthy Press
From the recent issue of Arthur (Dec 2007), "Bull Tongue" rant-column by Byron Coley and Thurston Moore:
Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang have slowly, steadily, stealthily made themselves into one of the most consistently interesting cultural juggernauts on the contemporary scene. As musicians, their work has been carefully progressing for two decades, and their new album, Within These Walls (20/20/20) is thus far, their masterpiece. Recorded with the help of brilliant electric guitarist Michio Kurihara, and arrangements by Bhob Rainey, Within These Walls has the feel of an early '70s lost-folk classic, although it is only the mood and elements of the vocals that hearken back to that time. The session has a true lightness of spirit that makes the album a blast of pure joy. It's a bravura performance, commended to everyone out there with ears. At the same time, D&N's label, 20/20/20 has been involved in issuing some superb stuff-Kurihara's Sunset Notes album and the first in a series of compilations, called International Sad Hits, which allows Damon to promote the blubbering of underground Sinatras in all known languages. The first volume was massive and we look forward to more. Also, extraordinary is the press the pair run, Exact Change. They have issued some amazing books over the years-check out their backlist for a real kick in the teeth-but none have been thoroughly fascinating as Joseph Cornell's Dreams edited by Catherine Corman. The book draws from the journals of the America's premier surrealist, and they are an exquisite addition to his canon. Naomi's design work on this book (and the new CD, too) is particularly striking. Beautiful evocations of dream time in all its states. Congratulations all around.
Boston Globe Review
You have to hear it to believe it
December 4, 2007
Damon And Naomi
Within These Walls (20/20/20)
Original review
Damon and Naomi have certainly made no secret of their love of Tim Buckley, going so far as to name their 2002 live album "Song to the Siren: Live in San Sebastian" after his most famous song. But "Within These Walls," the duo's seventh album, inches ever closer in the direction of the jazz-folk swell and disconnected slowness of the late troubadour. The opening "Lilac Land" is as cold and watery (and forbidding) as a deep lake, sounding as though the instruments are just out of reach of one another but keep trying to make contact. The horns on "The Well," "On the Aventine" and others, meanwhile, take the crisp cool of 1960s Burt Bacharach and turn it upside down, while guitarist Michio Kurihara offers lyrical leads both fragile ("The Well") and aggressive ("Stars Never Fade"). But even though there's a soothing calmness to the sounds themselves, it's hard not to feel that with the exception of "Cruel Queen," the songs hit their marks and simply stay there. On "Within These Walls," what you hear seems to be all there is. [Marc Hirsh]
ESSENTIAL "Cruel Queen"
Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang have slowly, steadily, stealthily made themselves into one of the most consistently interesting cultural juggernauts on the contemporary scene. As musicians, their work has been carefully progressing for two decades, and their new album, Within These Walls (20/20/20) is thus far, their masterpiece. Recorded with the help of brilliant electric guitarist Michio Kurihara, and arrangements by Bhob Rainey, Within These Walls has the feel of an early '70s lost-folk classic, although it is only the mood and elements of the vocals that hearken back to that time. The session has a true lightness of spirit that makes the album a blast of pure joy. It's a bravura performance, commended to everyone out there with ears. At the same time, D&N's label, 20/20/20 has been involved in issuing some superb stuff-Kurihara's Sunset Notes album and the first in a series of compilations, called International Sad Hits, which allows Damon to promote the blubbering of underground Sinatras in all known languages. The first volume was massive and we look forward to more. Also, extraordinary is the press the pair run, Exact Change. They have issued some amazing books over the years-check out their backlist for a real kick in the teeth-but none have been thoroughly fascinating as Joseph Cornell's Dreams edited by Catherine Corman. The book draws from the journals of the America's premier surrealist, and they are an exquisite addition to his canon. Naomi's design work on this book (and the new CD, too) is particularly striking. Beautiful evocations of dream time in all its states. Congratulations all around.
Boston Globe Review
You have to hear it to believe it
December 4, 2007
Damon And Naomi
Within These Walls (20/20/20)
Original review
Damon and Naomi have certainly made no secret of their love of Tim Buckley, going so far as to name their 2002 live album "Song to the Siren: Live in San Sebastian" after his most famous song. But "Within These Walls," the duo's seventh album, inches ever closer in the direction of the jazz-folk swell and disconnected slowness of the late troubadour. The opening "Lilac Land" is as cold and watery (and forbidding) as a deep lake, sounding as though the instruments are just out of reach of one another but keep trying to make contact. The horns on "The Well," "On the Aventine" and others, meanwhile, take the crisp cool of 1960s Burt Bacharach and turn it upside down, while guitarist Michio Kurihara offers lyrical leads both fragile ("The Well") and aggressive ("Stars Never Fade"). But even though there's a soothing calmness to the sounds themselves, it's hard not to feel that with the exception of "Cruel Queen," the songs hit their marks and simply stay there. On "Within These Walls," what you hear seems to be all there is. [Marc Hirsh]
ESSENTIAL "Cruel Queen"
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Dusted Allies With Sunroof's Monument To Stochasticism.
Dustedmagazine.com ReviewsArtist: Sunroof!
Album: Panzer Division Lou Reed
Label: VHF
Review date: Nov. 30, 2007
Online review
On what is at least the 16th release under the Sunroof! moniker, Matthew Bower turns in one of his most brutal, primitive performances to date. Tapped in to that diamond point of amphetamine rush where the energy spikes, Bower and his cohorts eradicate any concept of what is forward or what is backward. The music endlessly seeks plateaus, and once it arrives at a new one, it pulls up the ropes that helped get it there, levitating you ever higher and ever more precariously, posing a koan to you in the process: Is it the crest of the wave or its crash?
The evolution of Bower’s sound is one of degree, not kind. He’s tried chirping, flickering soundstreams (Bliss), rickety rhythmic thrust (Cloudz), even writhing digital-induced mayhem (Silver Bear Mist, yet on each release, Bower is essentially sharpening the same knife he’s had for years: a total abandonment to the craggy extremes of feedback, static and other musical detritus. He knows music can be a tactile experience, and he exploits that possibility to the fullest.
His music has long been compared to Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, so Bower now makes the comparison explicit in the strained syntax of the title. It is half-tribute, half-invocation, the reference to the German WWII tank adding attack imagery to the mix. But where Reed birthed his monument to stochasticism and then orphaned it, Bower has nurtured the idea, doing what Lou Reed didn’t have the will — or the balls — to do: He’s made a career of slaying our eardrums and synapses.
What’s most impressive about Bower’s work is that it suggests a kind of music that lies outside of improvisation and composition. It almost literally forces one into heaps of metaphors and analogies for description, so thoroughly does Bower obscure most of his sound sources and avoid traditional musical grammar. The crush and swirl of “Stairways and terraces descending one beyond another in a stupefying state of exhaustion” is like gazing into the billowing turbulence at the bottom of Niagara Falls. “Etoile Sauvage” seemingly taps into a raw feed of static from the ether, making for an aggressive, burrowing drone. Pieces like these don’t so much erase your thoughts as sweep them aside with an irresistible shove.
Under these conditions, dialogue, interaction, balance, and teamwork are all unnecessary notions. And yet, the two parts of “Slew Plateaus” (“#1” with Mick Flower on guitar and John Moloney on drums; “#2” with noise provocateur Mattin) burn with the most energy and intrigue here. Perhaps this is due to the live recording, or perhaps it is how, with collaborators, the inevitable, elemental movement of the music becomes apparent. It becomes clear that what keeps Bower’s gales of electronic chaos and guitar feedback from pulling themselves apart — what makes it listenable — is not any notion of structure or form; there’s an intangible force, a kind of audio gravity lashing them down long enough for a listener to jump on, strap in and lift off.
By Matthew Wuethrich
Shjips Feature On Drown In Sound.com
DiScover: Wooden ShjipsBy Him Tall
Artists: Wooden Shjips
Online feature
San Francisco will probably always struggle to shrug off the 40-year-old 'Summer of Love' weight of history that hangs over one the most beautiful and chilled of US cities. We've had punk, Bay Area thrash metal and hardcore since, but the love and peace era personified by the Haight-Ashbury hippie revolution and the Golden Gate Park 'Be-Ins' of 1967 continue to fascinate.
Recently a handful of bands loosely based in and around the city have taken the free experimental spirit of '60s bands such as the United States of America, the Velvet Underground, Silver Apples, and the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and filtered their sound through the motorik shuffle of krautrock and the discordance of obscure minimalist composers. I spoke to Wooden Shjips guitarist/vocalist and founder member Ripley Johnson via the magic of e-mail and asked him to explain a few things about their retro-futurist sound.
When I listened to the recent Wooden Shjips track on last month’s Mojo cover-mounted CD I got the track listing mixed up and initially thought I was listening to the early Soft Machine demos when in fact it was your track! Anyway, it piqued my interest being one of only two contemporary tracks on the CD. Is it possible to explain how the band came to be and how its original improvisational style mutated into the band’s sound today?
“Ha ha! I don’t really know much about Soft Machine either, though I’ve read good things. The original plan was to integrate elements of different genres of music: the minimalist movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s, especially the music of Angus MacLise, Terry Riley and John Cale; primitive rock, a la the Velvet Underground, Link Wray, the Seeds; and the improvisation of jazz and psychedelic rock. Originally we just jammed together and felt our way forward. No real songs. We did that for about nine months before playing our first show.”
From an admittedly unseasonably warm autumnal London it's easy to romanticise a San Francisco/West Coast scene in which you're swapping riffs with Howling Rain, Earthless and Assembled Head in Sunburst Sound. Is there any reality to this at all?
“Ha! Unfortunately, no. We opened a Roky Erickson show with Howlin’ Rain earlier in the year, and we have a show with Earthless coming up. That’s about the extent of it so far.”
Whilst referencing some classic ‘60s and ‘70s psych/kraut and experimental bands, your music (to me anyway) seems equally informed by a more ‘80s aesthetic of taking these influences and spinning them (I’m thinking Loop, Spacemen 3, Scientists etc here). Does my shoddy theory have any relevance? I'm not saying you're stuck in the ‘80s!
“Actually, no. We’ve gotten those comparisons before. Obviously, we need to go record shopping. I really like Loop, but it’s a relatively new discovery. I don’t think the other guys have heard any of those bands. I suspect that they were influenced by the same music as us: Velvet Underground, Stooges, 13th Floor Elevators, etc. I think it’s just natural for bands to want to beat a riff into the ground over and over. It’s always been that way. Whether krautrock, or the electric Miles Davis bands, or ? and the Mysterians.”
In this age of blogs and MySpace sites I was, after hearing your track on the Mojo cover mount, able to track down a lot of info about you very quickly. Do you think this loss of any intended or accidental mystique is a good or bad thing?
“It’s just different. I grew up deciphering album covers for little clues about a band, and referencing the Harmony Encyclopaedia of Rock for discographies. Hunting for records used to be more of a sport. If someone really wanted to remain a mystery today, I think they could. It would take a profound commitment. The flipside is that you can be relatively obscure and have a substantial audience. That’s good for everyone.”
You've released some hard to find, over here anyway, singles: is the plan to keep releasing odd singles with various labels?
“Absolutely. How we’ll release them, I don’t know. In some ways it’s easier to do it ourselves because we can keep the overhead low and the turnaround quick. We just co-released one with Holy Mountain to benefit Food Not Bombs. The first pressing proceeds will go to them, the second pressing will go towards our rent. We like that model and are thinking of doing a holiday record in a similar way.”
Could you describe the Wooden Shjips live experience and are there any plans to bring the Wooden Shjips over to Europe/UK to play in the foreseeable future?
“From my perspective on stage, I would describe it as loud and loose. We would love to come to the UK. We’re hoping sometime next year!”
Let’s hope they do! Wooden Shjips’ debut album is released on the mighty Holy Mountain label and is in the shops now.
Words: Him Tall
A Brief Review Of Pylon In The Dec. Issue of Paste
Pylon
Gyrate Plus
DFA
R.E.M. and B-52’s dance-punk neighbors finally get heard
In the liner notes to R.E.M.’s Dead Letter Office, Peter Buck recalls how hearing the debut of fellow Athenians Pylon (released around the same time as R.E.M.’s Chronic Town) made him “suddenly depressed by how much better it was than our record.” And yet few heard the feisty quartet, even when Pylon opened for both R.E.M. and The B-52’s back in the day. The 21st century post-punk reissue craze passed them by too, at least until longtime fan James Murphy and The DFA got their hands on Pylon’s first single, EP and LP, compiled now as Gyrate Plus. Comprised of four University of Georgia art students, Pylon made jangly, danceable pop much like its neighbors did, yet with Vanessa Briscoe's yelps and growls, they were prickly and punk, too. Testimony from the above bands, and Gang of Four (who share a similar jaggedness), in the liners recounts how Pylon emphasized grooves (see “Danger,” “Cool” and “Precaution”), all the while sounding completely unique.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tony Joe White Is Auctioning Off More Unusual Collectibles.
Tony Joe White is unloading more of his personal belongings on "the bay". This time he's parting with an autographed 4th place horse show trophy.Ebay description: Tony Joe White is moving studios, and in the process, many exclusive items have been uncovered. He will be auctioning off these items, many of which will be autographed, over the next few weeks.
In 1972, a 29-year old Tony Joe White entered a mare into the West Tennessee Appaloosa Association horse show. Of the '71 mares, TJW's took the 4th place prize, and this trophy recaptures the crowning moment. The trophy stands approximately 17" tall and was crafted out of fine Italian marble by Champion Trophy Company in Memphis, TN. Although the horse refused to sign autographs, the trophy is autographed by Tony Joe White himself. This piece would make a fine addition to any eclectic music memorabilia collection.
We are happy to ship anywhere in the world. Feel free to email us if you have any questions. Happy bidding!
David Fricke Reviews Vashti Bunyan For Rolling Stone.
Vashti Bunyan
Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (Singles And Demos 1964 To 1967)
DiCristina
Online review
This set's title song is most notable not for the singer but the composers: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who gave the song - more folk-pop sweetness than "Brown Sugar" - to their producer Andrew Loog Oldham, who made it the debut release by his protégée, Vashti Bunyan. Today, Bunyan is a goddess to the freak-folk community, due to the sturdy beauty of her 1970 album, Just Another Diamond Day. But at the time of these rarities, Bunyan was part Joan Baez, part Marianne Faithfull, with a virginal alto floating through Pet Sounds-like madrigals. The unreleased singles "Winter Is Blue" and "Coldest Night of the Year" and the loping daydream "17 Pink Sugar Elephants," from a '66 home tape, have the exotic-minstrel flair of '66 Donovan, while a CD of 1964 demos - Banyan alone, plucking guitar on her originals - is warm juvenilia. The diamonds came later.
DAVID FRICKE
Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (Singles And Demos 1964 To 1967)
DiCristina
Online review
This set's title song is most notable not for the singer but the composers: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who gave the song - more folk-pop sweetness than "Brown Sugar" - to their producer Andrew Loog Oldham, who made it the debut release by his protégée, Vashti Bunyan. Today, Bunyan is a goddess to the freak-folk community, due to the sturdy beauty of her 1970 album, Just Another Diamond Day. But at the time of these rarities, Bunyan was part Joan Baez, part Marianne Faithfull, with a virginal alto floating through Pet Sounds-like madrigals. The unreleased singles "Winter Is Blue" and "Coldest Night of the Year" and the loping daydream "17 Pink Sugar Elephants," from a '66 home tape, have the exotic-minstrel flair of '66 Donovan, while a CD of 1964 demos - Banyan alone, plucking guitar on her originals - is warm juvenilia. The diamonds came later.
DAVID FRICKE
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
A Whopper 8.8 Pylon Review on Pitchfork Today!
Pylon Gyrate Plus
[Db/ Armageddon; 1980; r: DFA; 2007]
Rating: 8.8
Online review
…on which the beloved Gyrate gets its remastered, expanded, completist, contextualized due. Even with liner notes by principals from R.E.M., the B-52's, and Gang of Four, this reissue from the dependable vinyl-miner James Murphy at long last permits the appreciation of Pylon to stop being hipster homework; DFA's generation-later vouch frees the listener, finally, to enjoy the assaultive relationship of Michael Lachowski's often ominous boing-boing-bass and Curtis Crowe's hot-pursuit whackamole drumming. The 10 songs from every copy of this seminal Athens band's debut are here, as well as both of the alternating "11th" tracks. Also included: The "Jamaican" version of "Danger" ("Danger!!") from the Pylon!! EP, the confident first single, and a previously unreleased track whose title is also, less than incidentally, Gyrate's defining preoccupation: "Functionality".
declares everything cool, baiting dissidents. "Dub" brags angrily of devouring dub at the start of each day, lest any white British acts think themselves superior The original three musicians had a self-assignment. Their aim: To get NYC ink and then press kaboom. They weren't yet traditionally proficient with their instruments, and thusly seemed to approach their technological implements with a "How can I use this tool?" ethos, resulting in a kind of primitive precision, each member locking into a groove hardly ever intuitively related to that of another member. Before they found Vanessa Hay (née Vanessa Briscoe), they came close to using a recording about teaching parrots to talk as "vocals." Hay's eventual Situationist bark often reduced musicality to Pavlovian stimulus-responses via a joyless-sounding (but, ironically, joy-producing) series of reports or demands: "Cool" fascisticallydigesters of the mode. Whereas Joy Division demanded "Dance, dance, dance to the radio"; Pylon grunts the tad-more-individualistic "Dance, dance, dance if you want to," even though the invitation is parsed like a warning with harsh consequences. "Volume" instructs its audience to "forget the picture" and "turn up the volume." "Gravity", obviously about the physics of the nightclub, taunts listeners by telling them that they both "cannot resist the urge" and "cannot dance," framing the insanely danceable track as an incitement to rebel against its mouthpiece. "Read a Book" is some seriously infectious Maoist literacy-advocating combat-rock.
Other tracks seek to provoke proletariat detournement: "Precaution" is about anything but risk minimization. "Human Body" juxtaposes bottom-rung job skills ("I can sweep/ I can mop") against enlightened capabilities ("I can think") while espousing "safety glasses" and "safety shoes" for the sake of a vessel that can "function/ without going to school." "Working Is No Problem" pretends to establish boundaries between the brain and the body, but the knowledge that Hay was a nurse, factory worker, and Kinko's manager makes it even more literally functional: Lyrics such as "Everything's in boxes" and "I'm not a racecar driver" obtain a kind of not-neurotypical discipline. "Stop It" raises the faux-dictatrix stakes, as the listener is instructed first to not rock-n-roll, and then to rock-n-roll on cue. "Driving School" merely catalogs, unromantically, the common nouns of public schools' instructing folks to use the dominant/subsidized means of transportation. The song insists that for certain industries, the government is a willing propagandistic babysitter, and even the stereo is implicated. Yet: all of these cuts are pogo-able, full-on jams, every scraped string ahead of (the mainstream version of) its time.
Did Hay adopt such a dry tone in order to defuse gender-based responses to her band's art, to become a sexless object instead of a sex object? (I, for one, am intimidated by the orgyhole-shorthand-versus-radio-signal agenda of her current project, FFFM.) Many a female-led band since (Numbers, Controller.Controller, Love of Diagrams, Glass Candy) has adopted her iced-ham, standoffish tone. Maybe, like her fellow Georgian artist Flannery O'Connor, Hay "refused to do pretty." Meanwhile, her bandmates were busy wondering how minimalist, how non-"human," analog dance music could get without ceasing to be fun. The result: a kind of militaristic disco. No, wait, I meant: android reggae. No, wait, I meant: postpunk without the melodrama. Of course Pylon didn't blow up like their fellow Athens luminaries; they were too fucking Spartan.
-William Bowers, November 28, 2007
A snippet of Pylon performing live and fantastic Vanessa Hay & Randall Bewley interviews.
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