Monthly Archives: March 2009

New Tortoise on Record Store Day Special Release

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Cover by Crosshair

Cover by Posttypography

Cover by Posttypography

In celebration of National Record Store Day, Thrill Jockey is getting in on the action by releasing a very limited edition (900 copies) LP (really more of an EP) called Records Toreism which will be blessed with catalog number Thrill 12.30. [Note: Thrill 12.29 was the Thrill Jockey 15th Anniversary Trey Told ‘Em MegaMix]

Thrill Jockey is using the occasion to showcase some of their newest acts as well as include a new track from Tortoise’s upcoming release (now pushed to June) and a Trans Am track. Here are the tracks as Thrill Jockey calls them:

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1. Mountains “Windows”
This is a new song that does not appear any place else. It was recorded with love for the record store.

2. Tortoise “High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In”
This is a new song. It will also appear on their new album in June. Released early with love for the record store.

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1. Double Dagger “Stagger Lee”
This is a new song that does not appear any place else. It was recorded with love for the record store.

2. White Hills “Eye to Eye”
“Eye To Eye” was previously released on Abstractions & Mutations, a limited edition CD-R release put together for a tour in September of 2007. Released for the first time on LP with love for the record store.

3. Trans Am Featuring Tim Soete “Wounded Monkey”
This is an unreleased song recorded and mixed March 28, 2005 at MAINZ in Auckland, New Zealand. Tim Soete (from The Fucking Champs) on lead guitar and lead vocals. Released with love for the record store.

The covers (shown above) are meant to portray the alternate possible futures of record stores– one is if we don’t continue to shop the local indie store, and the other is the optimistic future afforded us from spending money not at Best Buy, but at our favorite Indie store. The covers will be handmade, and hand printed by Crosshair.

Of course, yours truly is drooling over this release. The trick is going to be to figure out which stores will carry this. Neither indie store in Iowa City is participating in Record Store Day on April 18th. However, two stores in Dubuque are, so maybe a trip to my old stomping grounds and the store that I spent many a Tuesday over lunch Moondog Records (known as Co-Op Records back then…)

Click Here for Record Store Day Information

Click Here for the post on the Thrill Jockey boards about Records Toreism

This is Why My Next Camera is the Canon 5D MkII

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If you’ve been following my blog for any amount of time you’ve seen the live shooting I’ve been doing for three years now. In 2006 I was shooting a Canon Rebel 300D, I upgraded to the XTi soon after, and last year I moved to the Canon 450D aka XSi. Each of these moves gave me more features and resolution (of course) while allowing me to maintain my lenses. The XSi also gave me live view, which has been very handy in crowd situations as my 6’1″ body plus my arm gives me about 7 foot of reach, and I was very happy with the pictures I have taken so far. Of course, late last year Canon announced the upgrade to the already-amazing and amazingly-priced Canon 5D. With a full-frame sensor like its big brother 1D and new mind-boggling resolution of 21.1 Megapixel and much-improved low-light abilities provided by the DiGiC 4 CCD and processor it is the next move I’d like to make for all of my shooting needs. The full-frame sensor will help me take full advantage of the lenses I have and really open up some possibilities, I think.

But it is the High Definition video capability that really knocks it out of the park. I don’t have a video camera today– much to the chagrin of anyone who knows me and my gadgets– and I shouldn’t justify buying a $2700 camera by saying I’m going to use it for video, but one look at the video below is enough to make it compelling!

My friend Chad forwarded me this today, and I felt I needed to post on it. This is footage shot on 2/25 in Melbourne, Australia of Nine Inch Nails. NIN might not be everyone’s cup o’ tea, but damn, look at how absolutely GORGEOUS this footage is!


NIN: Burn Live from on stage, Melbourne 2.25.09 [HD] from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

And, in case you’re feeling *very* giving:

Free Download: Phish Live at Hampton 2009

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In celebration of Phish’s reunion shows– Phish is generously offering 256Kbps mixed, soundboard recordings of their upcoming three-night run at the legendary Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA for free download. From their press release:

In celebration of Phish’s first shows in over four years, we’re thrilled to be able to offer fans free, high-quality downloads of the band’s sold-out March 6th, 7th and 8th concerts at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia at LivePhish.com.

Each show will be professionally multi-tracked and mixed onsite and within 24 hours, 256kbps MP3s will be made available for free for a limited time at LivePhish.com. Fans who wish to download higher quality versions may purchase FLAC downloads. The shows will also be available on CD. Both are available for pre-order now. Register at LivePhish.com to receive an email when the free MP3s are available.
“We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they’ve had to these shows. It’s going to be an amazing celebration and we only wish everybody could be there,” said Trey Anastasio.

Hampton Coliseum is notable in Phish’s history as being the location for the shows on November 20 & 21, 1998 that was the basis for the six-disc box set Hampton Comes Alive. Hampton Coliseum has been a favorite stop for Phish and these upcoming shows on March 6th, 7th, and 8th mark the 13th, 14th, and 15th time Phish will have played there.

These upcoming shows are also where Phish is looking to legally block the sale of bootleg products like unauthorized “lot shirts” and other paraphernalia with Phish tie-ins. An interesting move considering how ingrained in the jamband scene the lot scene sales have become. Certainly Phish is entitled to defend their very valuable trademark and image– especially since the future of the band seems unclear, and licensing of products in addition to the sale of recordings would be the only way the band could continue to profit if they don’t continue to tour.

Update: Apparently Phish is in it for the long haul and have plans to record a new album with a focus on their proggy side!

Click Here to pre-order the three shows in mp3 format.

Free Download: Pontiak at Daytrotter

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Last week was a good week for show postings at Daytrotter.com– our Internet-music fan-buddy to the Southeast of here. We got the 2008 recording of Nelly McKay, and we got the Pontiak session! Pontiak and Wye Oak were touring together last year on a shared bill and were scheduled to stop at the Mill in Iowa City on June 15th. However, the Floods of 2008 prevented them from performing their show. However, they managed to stop in at Daytrotter on the 16th and record four songs.

Pontiak’s sludgy psychedelia translated well to Daytrotter’s retro facility and in four songs provided a good snapshot of the ride that is Pontiak.

They recorded a song apiece from their previous efforts, “How Tall Are You?” from their debut Valley of Cats, and the waltzing title track from Sun on Sun. They also recorded the title track to their upcoming Thrill Jockey release Maker, due to drop on April 7th. They also dropped a campfire rendition of a recently-learned Warren Zevon cover “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.”

Have a helping of Pontiak at Daytrotter.

Treat yourself to some Wye Oak from the same sessions.