Monthly Archives: December 2006

B-Sides in the Bins – #5 – Tower Records in San Jose, CA

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If you’ve been reading any of the bigger blog sites like Stereogum or Idolator, you are probably aware that the Tower Records chain of music stores is closing and the end is in sight. In these last days the locations are having progressive sales. In the beginning, the sale prices weren’t that great since most of the titles at Tower were $15.99 and higher! I was in San Jose last week for business and I made it a point to hit a Tower while I was there. I visited the Tower Blossom Hill off Highway 85. According to the website, this location is infamous for a “surprise” appearance of Metallica in June of 1996.

I made it to the store some time after 8 PM on Thursday, December 14th. All CD’s in the store were at 70% off and DVD’s were at 60% off! Rap titles were $1.99 apiece. The store was very picked over, while there was some organization left in the original bins, there were additional bins scattered throughout the store that weren’t organized in any fashion– so it was cratedigging through those. The in-store audio was playing David and David’s Welcome to the Boomtown album which was appropriate in a kind of ironic way. One of my justifications for this run was to get some Christmas gifts, so I’ll be leaving a couple of things off in case the recipients are reading, however unlikely that might be.

Everything All The Time – Band of Horses (CD SubPop SPCD 690, 2006) (List $14.99, Paid $4.00) There were a bunch of copies of this one in the bins. Band of Horses was a big deal earlier this year, and I liked what I’d heard, so I picked this up.

‘Sno Angel Like You – Howe Gelb (CD Thrill Jockey Thrill 167, 2006) (List $15.99, Paid $4.80) The only copy of this in the bin. I reviewed this CD last spring glowingly. I had borrowed this to review it and wanted to get a copy for myself.

Around – Tom Verlaine (CD Thrill Jockey Thril 174, 2006) (List $15.99, Paid $4.80) I haven’t had a chance to hear this, yet. This is the instrumental album he released this year which is considered to be the follow up to Warm and Cool, which Thrill Jockey re-released this year.

Megaforce – 707 (CD MTM Classix 0681-99, 2004 – Italian Import) (List $31.99, Paid $9.60) This is a guilty pleasure, I guess and a surprise find. Megaforce was 707’s third album and included the theme song to the 1982 movie of the same name starring a very blonde Barry Bostwick. I was at some party my Sophomore year of high school with some Seniors who were playing this tape. I went to Musicland in Dubuque shortly afterwords and bought a cassette for myself. This was a tape that got a lot of play while riding around in my ’74 Firebird. 707 sounds like a cross between Journey and REO Speedwagon, which might be due to the fact that Kevin Cronin was a fan and got them signed to a label and Jonathan Cain helped write the song “Megaforce.” I’d been wanting to get this on CD for a while, but it quickly fell out of print. This is an Italian import and contains bonus tracks of additional “incidental” music from the movie. Recommended if you like motorcycles that fly.

…until we felt red – Kaki King (CD Velour Recordings VEL 0604, 2006) (List $15.99, Paid $4.80) This was a CD that I had forgotten about until I saw the very distinctive cover. Kaki King is mostly known as an instrumental guitarist, but on this album she does some singing and adds a band. This album is produced by John McEntire who is from Tortoise and the Sea & Cake. As a result, this album sounds a lot like those bands. It also seems to have moments of shoegazing similar to the Pale Saints. Pitchfork gave this album a damning 4.7, somewhat unfairly. This sounds like an album from an artist trying to expand her sound. Very listenable.

Son – Juana Molina (CD Domino Recordings WIG176, 2006) (List: $16.99, Paid $5.10) I first read about Juana Molina in the July 2006 issue of “The Believer,” which was their annual music issue and came with a CD. In the magazine was a very interesting interview. The album is an eclectic mix of Argentinian pop and electronica according to the sticker on the sleeve. Juana says in the interview that she is very influenced by sounds around her. She evidently imitates birds and other animals in her music. I can’t wait to hear this one!

All-in-all a good haul. I could have left with much more, though. Other titles I saw but didn’t pick up included: Don Dixon’s new The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room, an SACD of The Black Orpheus by Vince Guaraldi (still kicking myself), the 2 CD Deluxe edition of Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend (multiple copies), Grant Green’s Greene Street, the expanded reissue of Spoon’s Telephono, *many* copies of the Flaming Lips’ At War With the Mystics, Japanese import slipcase edtions of Springsteen’s The River, and The Clash’s Sandinista, and many copies of the MSTRKRFT album.

If you get a chance to, you should hit a store. I read someplace that when a location closes, they have a 90% sale!

B-Sides in the Bins – #4 The Mugs US Tour by Brett Tieman

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This week we have a special guest digger contributing to “B-Sides in the Bins!” Brett Tieman is the bass and guitarist for a four-piece band out of Brooklyn called The Mugs whose music can be described as coming from the same sonic place as and often draws comparisons to college rock bands like REM, The Smiths, and The Stone Roses. Brett contacted me before the Mugs departed on their first US Tour asking for advice on Midwestern record stores to visit. Brett sent me a copy of their first full-length album Paper Scissors Rock in 2005 on their own SkinnyFat Records. It’s been a part of my regular rotation of CD’s since I got it and it is a good change of pace from the regular diet of indie rock. The Mugs are going back into the studio shortly to record the follow up. Visit their MySpace page to sample songs from Paper Scissors Rock.

Special Coorespondent Brett, The Mugs (of Brooklyn, NY)

In July, the four of us Mugs decided that after four years of playing almost solely inside NYC, it was time to treat ourselves to a little tour of the States. Since we all juggle the band with our day jobs, we were only able to allot 3 weeks (9/28-10/22) for the journey. And, since we are our own label, we had minimal resources to commit to the project (ie: no booking agent, no publicist). While Ryan (drums) set about booking the tour (it took a month to set 15 dates), I decided to surf the web and find some folks along our path to invite out to the shows. After perusing (literally) hundreds of indie rock blogs touting the next big thing (though I do love live show writeups), I came across Mike’s account of his shopping trip to Spaceboy Music in Philadelphia. I loved it. Being a record junky myself, it was a very enjoyable read; something I understood and could relate to. I spend my hard-earned dollars on very few things: rent, food, booze, my wife, the band, and records. Despite the fact that I was (am) broke, I knew these things would not change on the trip so I decided to take inspiration from Mike and organize a record store tour along side the serious business of delivering rock and roll.

Basically, I gave myself a $100 music budget for the tour. This fit well with my shopping style; I typically hit bargain bins. Random vinyl is so cheap it worked out pretty well. You can get a vague sense of my tastes here. I have a pretty large rock collection on disc so I’m not necessarily a strict jazz head- I just find that jazz is more fun to buy on record. I definitely make my selections based on the cover art.

Stop #1 – Bart’s CD Cellar & Record Shop (Boulder, CO)
www.bartscdcellar.com/vinyl.html

This is the perfect college/small town shop. Great inventory. It’s located in the heart of Boulder’s shopping commons. The ground floor is predominately CD’s. I scanned their ample selection and the prices (~$14.99 for new though I think they had cheaper used discs) and decided to head directly upstairs to the vinyl “attic.”

It was early on a Wednesday so it was just me and the clerk. As I picked through their very excellent and well-organized selection (there is a photo in the link above), he lazily played some Zappa on the house stereo. I spent an hour sifting through the different sections (they have a very large and intriguing soundtrack section), sampled a few tracks on the test turntables, and picked up the following:

Grace Jones – Nightclubbing
McCoy Tyner – Atlantis
Dollar Brand – Capetown Fringe [#3, I buy this record every time I see a copy]
Dollar Brand – Memories
Donald Byrd & 125th St. NYC – Donald Byrd & 125th St. NYC
Total: $30

Last minute decision: Since this was the first stop, I put back B-52’s self-titled debut and Eddy Grant’s Killer on the Rampage to keep costs below $30.

Hindsight: After visiting a few more stores, I realized that they had a very reasonably-priced reggae section. I find most record stores really inflate their reggae prices. Should have put back the Donald Byrd album; not so good despite it being a collaboration with Isaac Hayes.

AMEX? Yes. This place is all convenience.

Stop #2 Amoeba (Haight/Ashbury – San Fran, CA)
http://www.amoebamusic.com/

This is a pretty famous store so I won’t describe it in too much detail. I spent about an hour and half combing through trying to find the right combination of selection and value.

Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts (conducted by Lalo Schifrin)
Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining (CD)
Gary Burton/Steve Swallow – Hello Hotel
Gary Burton – A Genuine Tong
Leonard Feather Presents Encyclopedia of Jazz on Records Vol. 1 (20’s) & 2 (30’s)
George Lewis – Memorial Album
Total: $20

Last minute decision: I opted against getting the entire Dire Straits collection on vinyl despite it being one of the few record shopping missions with which I began the tour. I guess I expected their albums to be cheaper.

Hindsight: The Burton albums were definitely inspired by the artwork and album titles. They’re solid, but probably won’t get too much playing time at home. The Jazz Suite, however, is a great Sunday morning record. I saw it a few times at the other stores I visited, and it always seems to be cheap. Recommended.

AMEX? No. Probably for the best.

Stop #3 – Bop Street Records (Ballard – Seattle, WA)

http://www.wahmee.com/bopstreet.html
http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/articles/2006/05/17/news/local_news/news01.prt

This place is a trip. I found it on a blog (forget which) and knew I had to visit. Why? Radiohead dubbed it the greatest record store on the planet. One of the features to the place is the wall of fame on which noteworthy patrons sign their names. Thom Yorke wrote “My credit card got ill here.” Colin wrote “Radiohead got very dirty here.” So, is it the greatest record store on the planet? It very well might be: it’s huge and has a massive selection (over 700,000 records). We asked, Dave, the owner if he organized it himself. He laughed and said that he has about 3-4 people whose job it is to put everything in its right place.

Ryan’s father Joe used our gigs as an excuse to visit Seattle. He is a garrulous lover of rock and immediately engaged Dave in conversation. I missed the majority of the conversation, but I heard a lot of laughter. Apparently after they covered a mutual love for classic rock, Joe informed Dave that we were in a band. I’m generally shy about that fact in record stores, but I’m glad Joe was there to break the ice. Long story short, Dave eventually turned off ‘Eat a Peach’ and began playing our album over the store. He had it nice and loud too. I think I would describe the experience of hearing our music blasting at an international record mecca as “fucking awesome.” It went well. He decided to check out our show later that night at Sunset Tavern which was a very short walk from the store. Oh yeah, we got to sign the wall (but not next to Radiohead).

Meanwhile, before he played our album: I had a hard time shopping at Bop Street because of the sheer volume of choices. In record shopping, I don’t do well so many options. My eyes started to glaze over and my credit card started tapping on my shoulder: DON’T DO IT. I only had $50 left in my budget and a week of tour to go. After a time-foldingly short hour, I took my stack of records and decided to find out how much I was about to spend (none of the records have price tags). Dave flipped through the selection while providing assessments and commentary. Bop Street is not the cheapest store. Deflated by the appraisal, I retreated to the listening booth to sharpen up the selections. After separating the wheat from the chafe, I proceeded to check out fairly exhausted from searching. This is great home-town record store, but a difficult one to pass through. I could easily spend a full day rifling through the bins and shelves. When I returned to the check out, Dave observed good naturedly that I “put back the expensive ones.”

I paid and went to the basement to check on Ryan. The basement is just ridiculous (photo in the links above). Ryan had a huge stack picked out. The moral: the more you buy at Bop Street, the better the per record value. Dave will definitely discount bulk purchases. In fact, I should mention he gave me Bohannon for free since it’s not a very coveted or rare record.

Now, onto the best part: Dave came to the show and hung out all night practically since one of his employees played a few bands after us in the excellent Iceage Cobra. He enjoyed our set well enough and was very kind and congratulatory. He even bought me a drink. But the best part, and one of the highlights of the whole tour, he went back to the store and returned bearing gifts for Ryan and myself: two records (“the expensive ones”) which we had opted against at the last minute: a mint Grateful Dead Europe ’72 (one of my top 10 favorites) for Ryan and a mint Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street. I was absolutely floored and had my faith in the benevolence of mankind restored. Such a simple, but grand gesture.

Bohannon – Too Hot to Hold
Upchurch & Tennyson – Upchurch/Tennyson
Phil Woods & his European Rhythm Machine – Live at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival
Charles Tolliver (w/Gary Bartz, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers) – Paper Man
Total: $40 (all vinyl)

Bonus: Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street

Last minute decision:Returning Exile on Main Street

Hindsight: Ballard kicks ass. Seattle kicks ass. KEXP kicks ass. Bop Street Records kicks ass. Sunset Tavern kicks ass. Dave kicks ass. Exile on Main Street kicks ass. Touring kicks ass.

AMEX? No (thank god).

Stop #4 – Jazz Mart (Chicago, IL)
http://jazzmart.com/

Chicago was the last stop on our tour so I was feeling pretty broke when we rolled into town. We did have a full day off so I felt compelled to hit up at least one store. I went with Mike’s suggestion and set out for Jazz Mart. It’s a nice, large well-organized store. Since I was questing for vinyl, I skipped through the pricier CD section. Ryan’s budget was a little more resilient so he set about perusing the discs. Their vinyl section is interesting: They have a decent-sized used record section and a large new vinyl reissue section (organized both by label and by artist). Brand new factory-sealed jazz vinyl reissues are great, but they didn’t fit my $10 budget. I was pretty shopped out after the 3 weeks, so I was fine digging up some randoms in the used bin. Meanwhile, Ryan kept chiming in and how amazing the selection is. So:

Joanne Brackeen – Snooze
Claude Goaty w/Gerard Calvi – Chansons de Paris
The Buddy Tate Celebrity Club Orchestra – Unbroken
Total: $10 (all vinyl)

Last minute decision: Deciding the get a drink at the pub we passed on the way to the store.

Hindsight: Jazz Mart advertises itself as the world’s largest jazz & blues store and delivers (though I didn’t see hardly any blues on vinyl). It is a great resource for people looking to fill in the gaps in their collections. Nice vibe, clean, friendly place. Good recommendation by Mike.

AMEX? Not sure. I tendered genuine US currency.

So, start a band, go on tour, support the independent record stores of America. Hope you enjoyed.

What’s Missing from the Taxon?

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One of the great releases this year is the Tortoise boxset of singles and other non-album releases called A Lazarus Taxon. I’ve been a fan of Tortoise since just before TNT came out in 1998. A guy I used to work with was into a lot of the same bands I was, and recommended that I listen to Tortoise and The Sea and Cake. He lent me Tortoise’s eponymous debut CD. It was that CD and TNT that would be released later that summer that clinched Tortoise as a band that I wanted to follow. At the time, I hadn’t heard anything like them and the bookish progressive nature of the instrumentals opened the world of what is sometimes called Post Rock to me. It was exciting to discover what seemed to be a new genre of rock, and I spent a lot of time that summer looking into the bands that fell into that category– The Sea and Cake, Fridge, Couch, To Rococo Rot, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and others.

One of the difficulties I encountered was that by the time I wanted to start getting all of their releases a bunch of non-album stuff went out of print. Over time I managed to pick up some of the older releases and made sure that I bought anything new that came out.

So, when I heard that Tortoise was going to have a box set with the rare and import-only tracks I was really happy! The first rumor about this release was that Tortoise was going to re-release the impossibly rare Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters. Then it was announced that this would be the centerpiece to a larger boxset.

Pitchfork gave this release a glowing 9.2. Some of the other reviews I read at the time of the release said that this was a good primer for people who wanted to know about Tortoise. This release is kind of the sibling to the Stereolab box set Oscillations from the Anti-Sun, which is also an odds ‘n’ sods collection with a DVD. While this release is a blessing for anyone who wants to collect Tortoise– it is missing some tracks. For those completists out there, I’m going to do a rundown of the missing tracks. I’ve been keeping track as I’m going to make a CD of these “outtakes” for myself. This is somewhat inspired by a posting of mp3’s that showed up in Usenet News called “An Unofficial Lazarus Companion” that also wasn’t complete!

“Mosquito” (US 7″ Torsion Music, B17-003-7″, 1993) The first release from Tortoise. Tortoise’s original moniker was “Mosquito” which is where this track gets its name. This track is now a bonus track on the Japanese re-release of their eponymous debut.

“Gooseneck” (US 7″ Torsion Music, B17-003-7″, 1993) One of the other tracks on the debut single. Today this shows up on the Japanese A Digest Compendium of the Tortoise’s World. “Onions Wrapped In Rubber” from this single was eventually released on the first album.

“Lonesome Sound” (US 7″ Thrill Jockey, thrill 006, 1993) The first release on Thrill Jockey. This is a cover of a Freakwater song. Tortoise vocals grace this song. This song also showed up on something called “Brainblo” which was evidently a collection of three 7″ singles. This record was briefly back in print during the 1998 TNT tour.

“Reservoir” (US 7″ Thrill Jockey, thrill 006, 1993) Also on the “Lonesome Sound” 7″. Available on the Japanese Digest release.

“Sheets” (US 7″ Thrill Jockey, thrill 006, 1993) Also on the “Lonesome Sound” 7″. Not available anywhere else.

“Madison Ave.” (US 7″ Thrill Jockey, thrill 057, 1998) The single this is from is also referred to as “Tour 1998.” The flipside of this single is remix of this song “Madison Area” and shows up on the Taxon box.

“D’s Winter Crazy Dub” (US 12″ Thrill Jockey, 12.10, 1998) This was yet another release from 1998– sort of a companion release to the Autechre remixes of “Ten-Day Interval” from TNT. Derrick Carter remixes “In Sarah, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Women and Men.” Possibly this was left off because in retrospect it isn’t as good as the prior remixes.

“D’s Winter Outtake” (US 12″ Thrill Jockey, 12.10, 1998) The flipside to the Derrick Carter remix.

“In A Thimble” (Hefty014, Hefty Records, 1999) This song was recorded for the soundtrack to “Reach the Rock” which is an album of mostly songs from John McEntire as well as Sea and Cake and Bundy K. Brown.

“Beautiful Love” (US CD Hollywood 2061-62471, 2004) This was a song recorded for the documentary about the late Bob Moog titled “Moog.” An interesting song– sounds very different from other Tortoise releases.

Remixed (US CD Thrill Jockey, 12.9, 1998) Originally a Japanese release in 1996, this is a compilation of the 4 12″ releases of tracks from Millions. In 1998 the rest of the world was treated to a limited tour-only release. At that time the Japanese version was re-released with the Autechre remix “Adverse Camber” added as a bonus. These tracks were possibly not included as they were released as one album? Tracks:

“Djed (Bruise Blood mix by U.N.K.L.E.)”, “Tjed (remix by John McEntire)”, “Bubble Economy (remix by Marcus Popp)”, “Learning Curve (remix by Marcus Popp)”, “Galapagos [version one] (remix by Springheel Jack)“, “Reference Resistance Gate (remix by Jim O’Rourke)”, “Taut & Tame (remix by Luke Vibert)”, “Find the One (remix by Bundy K. Brown)”

“Omnichord” (unreleased) I include this song on the list since it has been played on tour since the release of It’s All Around You. Evidently an outtake song. According to reports on the trts.com board at the time, this song may show up later as a b-side or bonus track. Tortoise recorded this on their “Morning Becomes Eclectic” set back in November of 2005.

Quite a list of songs– enough to have made another CD or two for the set! But, what fun would that have been?

Omnichord Live on KCRW


Tortoise - A Lazarus Taxon Get The Lazarus Taxon from iTunes

Sources:

My collection of Tortoise releases

The Brainwashed Tortoise Page– the most complete discography out there for Tortoise.

Official Tortoise Page