My wife and I were back down in Iowa City for a doctor’s appointment, so I got to visit the Record Collector. Here’s what I picked up.
Meadow – Richard Buckner (CD Merge Records MRG279, 2006) ($12.00) I wanted to pick this up so I could become acquainted with his music before the Monday night show at the Picador that– if the blizzard subsides– Sherry and I are planning to go to with some other friends that are Six Parts Seven fans. I’m planning to review that show. This album is apparently one of two that Buckner has recorded in a more rock vein. This album employs members of Guided by Voices, Cobra Verde, and the Mekons as the backing band. The album is boozy rocking affair sounding like equal parts Replacements and Wilco.
I finally bought the 1996 12″ Tortoise remix series. I had been bidding on incomplete sets on eBay that were getting up over $10 apiece. I’d seen some of these in the bins at the Collector previously. This particular set was dropped from $8.00 to $6.00 apiece in January so I was pretty happy to get a deal on these. I already have all of these remixes on the 1998 US release of Remixes, but it is cool to get the vinyl. I guess I’m going to collect all of the vinyl I can. You may notice that although these were released as a set, there is a missing “12.2” apparently Thrill Jockey snuck a 12″ in the middle called “Beware Soul Snatchers” from a short-lived band called Rome.
Djed – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.1, 1996) ($6.00) This is the second pairing of Mo’Wax and Tortoise as this has an UNKLE remix of Djed “Bruise Blood Mix”– the other being the inclusion of a “A Source of Uncertainty” on the Mo’Wax compilation Headz 2 which is a remix of “Why We Fight.” I’ve never been able to ascertain whether this was a DJ Shadow or Tim Goldsworthy remix as they were both part of Lavelle’s project UNKLE. Shadow certainly did the UNKLE remix of “Where It’s At” by Beck, and he joined in 1995 so its possible. The flipside of the UNKLE remix is “Tjed” a remix by John McEntire from Tortoise. The McEntire track is much more of a deconstruction than the UNKLE version is.
Music for Workgroups, the Oval Remixes – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.3, 1996) ($6.00) The two tracks on this release are “Bubble Economy” and “Learning Curve” and are alternately credited as remixes by Markus Popp who does work under the monikers of Oval and Microstoria. According to this interview with Popp, these tracks are not remixes of particular tracks like the other Millions 12″ releases. He said that he doesn’t treat his works as particular tracks but as “data.” So he asked Tortoise to give him as much sound data as possible and they sent him two CD’s worth! It was from this material that he created the two tracks here. I gather from the interview that this is inaccurately credited as an Oval track as it doesn’t have Sebastian Oschatz on it.
Rivers – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.4, 1996) ($6.00) The first remix of “Along the Banks of Rivers” is “Galapagos (Version One)” from Drum ‘n’ Bass/Jungle producer duo Springheel Jack. I really like this track. I always assumed they called this track “Galapagos” due to the giant tortoises (get it?). However, there seems to be two more versions of “Galapagos” on other releases from Springheel Jack that don’t to my ear sound like they are related in any way. The flip is “Reference Resistence Gate” by the frighteningly prolific Jim O’Rourke. His take on the track takes some of the lighter chiming parts of “Rivers” and delivers a stuttering drum beat over the atmospherics.
The Taut and Tame – Tortoise (12″ Thrill Jockey 12.5, 1996) ($6.00) The first remix is of “The Taut and Tame” by Warp artist Luke Vibert. The flipside is a remix of “Wait” which was a song that Jeff Parker brought to Tortoise. The remix is done by former Tortoise member Bundy K. Brown.
Until next time…
UNKLE remix of Djed was by Goldsworthy. The ‘where its at’ remix was by KUDO and Goldsworthy. The only appearence of Shadow on an UNKLE remix was the scratching on Massive Attacks ‘karma coma’. So now you know.