Tag Archives: “thrill jockey”

More Tortoise Vinyl Back in Print!

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While I was in Madison, WI yesterday for the Snake on the Lake Festival at UW Madison I stopped at a couple of record stores– Mad City Music and B-Side Records. I’ll be providing a B-Sides in the Bins article soon, but while I was in these stores I was shocked to find NEW, SEALED copies of Tortoise’s TNT and It’s All Around You! Notably they had the new red sticker that says that there is a coupon for free mp3 downloads inside– which wouldn’t have been on them originally. They also had copies of the new red-vinyl version of Standards previously reported on here as well.

TNT was $16.99 for a 2-LP at Mad City, and It’s All Around You was $12.99 at B-Side. If you go to Thrill Jockey’s page for It’s All Around You, sure enough there are copies of it on vinyl available for purchase for $11.00. On the TNT page, they mention that there are a limited supply of these back in print, however at this moment, there isn’t a working link to order one.

I’m happy to see that these are available, I’m hoping that it will help lend some sanity to the current used pricing for OOP Tortoise vinyl. It will be interesting to see if Millions Now Living and the first album get re-pressed.

B-Sides in the Bins #30 – Chicago – 9/12/08

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Jazz Record Mart, Chicago

My wife and a friend of hers wanted to go to Chicago for a Gluten-Free Cooking Conference. This left her friend Sharon’s husband Bob and I with lots of time on our hands. Bob Najouks is one of the Sunday morning jocks on Kirkwood College’s Jazz and Blues station KCCK, so I thought a trip to the infamous Jazz Record Mart was in order. I hadn’t been to JRM in over two years so it was time for me to come back and Bob had never been there!

This weekend was wet. Lots of rain dumping on Chicagoland from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ike pulled out of the Gulf of Mexico. Friday was blessed with small spots of light-to-no rain so hoofing it around downtown was an okay proposition. Our plans after breakfast was to hit Jazz Record Mart, lunch, and then to hit the Art Institute of Chicago then call it a day.

Bob teaches sketching classes at Kirkwood currently, but– in addition to his radio gig– also is a freelance artist. In the early 60’s he did some cover art for Franz Jackson who passed away in May. JRM had a number of still-sealed copies of Good Old Days by Franz Jackson and the Original Jass All-Stars (Pinnacle Recordings: PLP 109) that Bob did the cover art for, which was a neat dose of kismet. Bob picked up a copy to play– he still had the original 1965 pressing of the album at home.

Gorilla – Deal With It (CD, Thrill Jockey, Thrill 003-2, 1993)($5.99) Interesting find. Not Jazz-related at all. The third release on Thrill Jockey from back in the day. The mailing address was New York, so this is before Bettina moved to her current Chicago digs. Seattle Grunge band, I guess. Sounds very early-Nineties. Kind of punk, kind of retro 60’s sound with organ. Not great, but not horrible, really. Mostly a collector piece for me. It would appear that while the CD for this is very much out-of-print, the LP is still available?

George Freeman – Birth Sign (CD, Delmark, DD-424, 1993)($13.99) My first non-Thrill Jockey related Delmark purchase. This was playing on the stereo in the store while I was checking out and I impulse-purchased. George Freeman is the guitar-playing brother of tenor sax player Von Freeman (apparently the more famous of the two). Birth Sign is his debut album. Great album of Hammond-B3 fueled jazz typical of the late 60’s.

John Coltrane – Blue Train (LP, Blue Note, BST-91577, 1993)($11.99) This is the CEMA/Capitol Special Products pressing of the seminal Blue Note release. I own this on CD as well. In fact, my CD pressing of this is on 24-karat gold UltraDisc II from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. This is the album that broke open the gates of jazz for me.

Jeff Parker – The Relatives (LP, Thrill Jockey, Thrill 129, 2005) ($12.99) Wow, a really cool and rare find! The vinyl for this release has been out-of-print for a while, as is usually the case from Thrill Jockey vinyl. According to the price sticker, this has been in the bin since its release. Jazz Record Mart carries most of the Thrill Jockey releases, but it seems that a lot of the clientèle there don’t follow this label, which accounts for the fact that this release is still in the bins. I saw a couple of other rare TJ releases as well. Maybe I’ll come for them later.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Jazz: Red Hot and Cool (LP, Columbia, CL 699, 1954) ($3.99) This is an upgrade for me. My first copy was in pretty good shape, but this one is in much better shape and comes with the original Columbia paper inner-sleeve! The record is in immaculate shape and the cover is also very beautiful. I had never noticed before today that the vivid photograph of a young Brubeck entertaining a young, smoking (literally) woman leaning on his piano was taken by none other than Richard Avedon! Avedon, who died in 2004, took some famous shots of the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe as well as the well-known picture of Nastassja Kinski with a python.

All-in-all a good trip and it was cool to be there with a jazz afficianado. Bob and I will be back, I think.

High Places – 03/07 – 09/07 (Review) & Upcoming Show

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The High Places’ first release on Thrill Jockey is a collection of singles and hard-to-find tracks leading up to their signing. This release stands as an introduction to the collaboration of Robert Barber and Mary Pearson. Barber provides a babbling brook of cut-and-paste drum circle riddims propelling the paper boats of Pearson’s innocent iko-ikoish jumprope chants. Daycare psychedelica for the Thomas the Tank Engine set, if you will.

At times the at once atmospheric and Caribbean feel of the songs reminds me of my favorite parts of Adventures in the Ultraworld by the Orb.

The cover art used in this release is exactly the same as the band’s 2007 High Places EP 7″ (only 300 made) on Ancient Almanac that earned an impressive 8.2 at Pitchfork. All four songs from that EP are represented here along with some harder to find tracks including “Jump In” which was a song commissioned for an elementary school music program. It seems to me that this band isn’t entirely inappropriate to play for the little ones, in fact, and certainly a bit more interesting that some of the kid fodder dolled out today.

The band is currently on tour gearing up for their self-titled release on 9/23. You can hear two songs– “Golden” and “From Stardust to Sentience” from that release if you visit the band’s MySpace page. They also have some downloads available, too.They will be stopping in Grinnell College at Bob’s Underground Cafe on Thursday, 9/25 and at The Mill in Iowa City on Friday, 9/26 where they will be with Ponytail and Wet Hair.

Sep 6 2008 8:00P
FREE! East Village Radio Music Festival at South St. Seaport New York, New York
Sep 11 2008 8:00P
Le Poisson Rouge w/ Crystal Slits, Breathe Owl Breathe, Deastro New York, New York
Sep 16 2008 9:00P
Brillobox Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sep 17 2008 8:00P
Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio
Sep 18 2008 8:00P
The DAAC Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sep 19 2008 8:00P
Forward Festival w/ Dan Deacon Madison, Wisconsin
Sep 20 2008 8:00P
Pygmalion Fest @ Krannert Center w/ Yo La Tengo Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Sep 23 2008 8:00P
Record Release Show at AV-aerie Chicago, Illinois
Sep 24 2008 8:00P
Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 25 2008 8:00P
Grinnell College w/ Ponytail, Wet Hair Grinnell, Iowa
Sep 26 2008 8:00P
The Mill w/ Ponytail, Wet Hair, Peaking Lights Iowa City, Iowa
Sep 27 2008 8:00P
Rhinoceropolis w/ Ponytail Denver, Colorado
Sep 29 2008 8:00P
Kilby Court w/ Ponytail Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 30 2008 8:00P
Badlander w/ Ponytail Missoula, Montana
Oct 2 2008 8:00P
Nectar w/ Ponytail Seattle, Washington
Oct 3 2008 8:00P
Department of Safety Anacortes, Washington
Oct 4 2008 8:00P
Richards on Richards w/ Ponytail Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 6 2008 8:00P
Backspace w/ Ponytail Portland, Oregon
Oct 8 2008 8:00P
Bottom of the Hill w/ Ponytail San Francisco, California
Oct 10 2008 8:00P
The Smell w/ Ponytail Los Angeles, California
Oct 12 2008 8:00P
Modified Arts w/ Ponytail Phoenix, Arizona
Oct 15 2008 8:00P
Emo’s Austin, Texas

Listen to Head Spins

High Places MySpace Page

High Places Blog

Upcoming Show: Tortoise at UW Madison Memorial Terrace 9/27/08

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Tortoise recently announced some upcoming dates to their slowly-building tour. One date of particular interest to us here at playbsides is the September 27th show at the University of Madison’s Memorial Terrace.

When I inquired about the availability of tickets the Student Union said that the show is part of the “Snake on the Lake Festival” which runs from 3PM to Midnight. The event is free but is intended for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff and Union members and their guests. This festival is put on by the Union and WSUM.

So, if you aren’t any of those or know anyone who is, you can join the UW Union as a member for 1 year for $50. You’ll need to bring your membership card to the show and you can bring guests. So, I’m thinking of joining and splitting the fee with a couple of friends who are big Tortoise fans.

According to Muzzle of Bees, other acts that have confirmed are Damien Jurado, Awesome Color, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, El Valiente, and Pistols at Dawn.

Tortoise has been playing three new songs in their setlists which appear to be the same songs they debuted at the Thrill Jockey 15 show last December. The titles are “Korg”, “Glow,” and “Coffin.” It remains to be seen whether these will be the actual titles when these are released or if they are just what they’re calling them on the setlists.

B-Sides in the Bins #29 – Boston – Newbury Comics 7/31/08

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My last business trip to Boston was happily full of music between seeing Sheryl Crow and getting to run to Newbury Comics before dinner the next night. Thankfully, the restaurant we were going to was just down the street from Newbury Comics. I had hit their website before we went out and they had listed in their Top 100 Vinyl Records sale that Beck’s new album Modern Guilt was on sale as was Endtroducing by DJ Shadow. I was disappointed to find out that these were apparently on-line only, and not in-store. I still picked up a couple of records, though.

Beck – Modern Guilt (LP, DGC Records B0011630-01, 2008) ($14.99) This album just begged to be released on vinyl– from its retro Blue Note-looking sleeve, to the production by Danger Mouse– so I was happy when they announced its release. The record is a hefty 180g slab, and there is a sheet included with lyrics and credits. In addition there is a code to download 320Kbps mp3’s of the album that were ripped from vinyl! I downloaded them promptly and compared them to my other 320Kbps rip from CD. Before the first track “Orphans” you get a needle drop sound and after the last track of side one “Youthless” sound of the needle lifting again. This is repeated for “Walls” and “Volcano” on side two. Cute. The coupon says “This higher quality sound has been taken directly from the vinyl playback — offering a broader sound spectrum to enhance your audio experience.” Well, I don’t know about that. It’s a pretty good rip, but even 320Kbps is compressed. They should have offered .wav’s if they wanted to maintain the fidelity. I read a lot of reviewers complaining about Modern Guilt dismissing it as Beck fronting Gnarls Barkley and other really clever criticisms. This is probably my favorite Beck album next to Sea Change which was another misunderstood Beck album.

Arbouretum/Pontiak – Kale (LP, Thrill Jockey Thrill 201, 2008) ($12.99) This is an interesting release in that the only physical media will be vinyl. Thrill Jockey, consistant with all of their vinyl releases in the last year also includes a coupon for a free mp3 download which is great. BTW: all of the mp3 downloads from the Thrill Jockey store are 320Kbps, so there is someone there who gets it. This is a split release between Arbouretum and Pontiak. This is the third release for both bands. I saw Arbouretum at the Thrill Jockey 15 shows last December and was floored by their live performance and their 2007 release Rites of Uncovering is in regular rotation for me. Both bands try their hand at covering John Cale songs in amongst original songs. Arobouretum tackles “Buffalo Ballet” from Cales very influential and groundbreaking 1974 album Fear. “Buffalo Ballet” is a beautiful song and Arbouretum’s take on it leaves it pretty much in tact other than adding some sludgy distortion goodness to it. (Note to self: go buy Fear) Pontiak takes on two songs “The Endless Plain of Fortune” from Cale’s brilliant Paris 1919 album from 1973 and “Mr. Wilson” from the 1975 follow up to Fear, Slow Dazzle. The original tracks for both bands are great and stand up well against their recent releases. I especially dig the track “Green Pool” from Pontiak in which the slapback echo vocals ride the wave of a circular guitar line and slinky bass to a crest that fits nicely next to their very delicate take on “Mr. Wilson.” “Green Pool” ends waaaay too soon. I hope they jam a bit more than the 3:27 lets them do in a live setting.

I’m still bummed that Pontiak didn’t make their show in Iowa City due to the floods. I’m hoping they’ll be back soon.

Tortoise Standards Reissued on Limited Edition Colored Vinyl

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If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I recently completed my search for Tortoise vinyl over the last couple of years. One of the first LP’s I got was Standards, Tortoise’s 2001 release.

Yesterday, Thrill Jockey announced that due to popular demand they have run a second pressing of Standards in RED vinyl! The first pressing is in black. Like the first pressing the LP and cover art will be encased in a silk-screened clear vinyl sleeve. In the picture of my copy to the left the words “Tortoise” and “Standards” are the silk-screened part.

This will be– of course– in a very limited pressing of 1000 and available through the website at $13.99 plus shipping. This will include for the first time a coupon for free downloads of the mp3’s too. Typically these mp3’s are a lush 320Kbps.

I think that next to TNT, Standards is probably Tortoise’s most popular release with the two live performance staples of “Seneca” with it’s epic guitar distortion intro and recent development of audience clapping the beat at the end, and the vocoder-and-synth electro love of “Monica.” Standards is a must-have and, of course the audible meal of Tortoise is best served on vinyl.

Does this mean we will see other reissues of the Tortoise catalog? With the promise of a new Tortoise album– they’re already playing some great new songs live– there will likely be a renewed interest in the back catalog.

Click Here to order Standards

New Sea and Cake Car Alarm Set for October 21st

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Car AlarmThe Sea and Cake, while considered one of the key bands on Thrill Jockey, is also a side project for most of its members, which is why last week’s announcement of a NEW album on the heels of last year’s brilliant Everybody is such a surprise. The gap between 2003’s One Bedroom and the Glass EP and Everybody was four years. In between we got a new Tortoise, new solo Sam Prekop, and new solo Archer Prewitt.

This time for their seventh full-length album Car Alarm, the band wanted to continue the momentum and, I assume tightness gained while the band did its extensive touring following Everybody. In fact, it was likely this condition of the band that allowed them to write and record this album in a record-setting (for the band) three months.

I still find myself listening to Everybody regularly, and my wife likes it as well, so I’m pretty excited to hear what the band delivers for this release given the unique approach. After seeing the band for the first time during the Thrill Jockey 15th Anniversary shows, I’ve committed to seeing the band on tour again, so I hope we get another extensive tour.

Tracklist:

01. Aerial
02. a Fuller Moon
03. on a Letter
04. CMS Sequence
05. Car Alarm
06. Weekend
07. New Schools
08. Window Sills
09. Down in the City
10. Pages
11. the Staircase
12. Mirrors

Free Downloads: Some Baltimore-related Live Downloads

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As I mentioned earlier, Baltimore’s Arbouretum is releasing a split album with new Thrill Jockey signees Pontiak called Kale. The two bands played one show together in Baltimore on June 4th at The Talking Head. I knew about the show, but I didn’t know that the show was taped and available for download via Aural States which is a blog/site dedicated to happenings in the music scene of Baltimore.

Arbouretum headlined and played a set of mostly tracks from Rites, but also included one of the covers from Kale “Buffalo Ballet.” A great set, in my opinion.” Pontiak’s set was also very good and included “Dome Under Sky” from Kale.

The opening act was another side project of Dave Heumann from Arbouretum called Television Hill. Television Hill is more of a throwback folk/blues outfit, but still very good. This set is available from Beatbots which also covers the Baltimore scene.

Big thanks to Jeff the Taper who made these recordings available.

Click Here to stream or download Arbouretum’s set.

Click Here to stream or download Pontiak’s set.

Click Here to stream or download Television Hill’s set.

Aural States is also hosting a live set from Wye Oak from March along with an interview. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to catch the show next weekend with Pontiak and Wye Oak in Iowa City!

B-Sides in the Bins #25 – eBay

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Lots of Thrill Jockey-related purchases on eBay. Last month I finally finished my Tortoise LP collection! I found a guy who was selling Thrill 013 aka the first Tortoise album who had “TNT” as well. He runs a small record shop in Washington and apparently gets Tortoise vinyl from time-to-time! The only vinyl missing from my Tortoise collection at this point is the “Gamera” 12″ and Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters.

Tortoise – Tortoise (LP, Thrill Jockey thrill 013, 1994) ($20) This is not the first pressing Fireproof Press brown cardboard with brown screening and tab close cover. This is not the 1996 white with green screen sleeve either. This copy is a light grey plain sleeve with orange screening. I have seen this version frequently on eBay, but I don’t know if this is also the second pressing or if it is a third one.

Tortoise – TNT (2 LP, Thrill Jockey thrill 050, 1998) ($30) This release is probably the most popular release from Tortoise, and as such seems to be driving the price of the vinyl up. Expect to pay upwards of $40 without shipping for a copy of this. I can now rest easy having finished this collection!

Tortoise – Universal Buzz presents… Tortoise (CD-R, Universal Buzz Radio / Quantegy, 2001) ($9) This is a CD for a syndicated radio show called Universal Buzz Radio. This seems to be a show from the 1998 tour. Unfortunately, there isn’t any information on the CD or a tracklisting or what venue or city. An interesting piece for my collection.

Chicago Underground Duo – 12 Degrees of Freedom (CD, Thrill Jockey thrill 060, 1998) ($4)

Chicago Underground Duo – Synesthesia (CD, Thrill Jockey thrill 077, 2000) ($4)

Chicago Underground Duo – Axis and Alignment (CD, Thrill Jockey thrill 106, 2002) ($4)

Chicago Underground Duo – In Praise of Shadows (CD, Thrill Jockey thrill 168, 2006) $4) All four of these came from one auction which closed around $17 after shipping. Chicago Underground Duo is the pairing of Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor. These albums range from just the duo to albums with sidemen including Jeff Parker.

Upcoming Show: Wye Oak & Pontiak at The Mill 6/15/08

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While I was out doing some research on the new Thrill Jockey signees Pontiak, I noticed that they are going to be playing at the Mill in Iowa City along with new Merge Records act Wye Oak. I wasn’t familiar with Wye Oak— they looked like a folk act which seemed puzzling to me considering the grungy distortion brought by Pontiak.

Well, a bit more research and listening to the album stream of If Children on Merge’s website revealed a band with its feet in a more shoegazer-y location. At times they sound like Low to me with the layered sounds and the dreamy delivery. Another band from Baltimore– what’s up with the insurgency of Baltimore bands all of a sudden?– Wye Oak is a two piece with Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack playing all instruments on the album and able to deliver this in a live setting.

Pontiak– although NOT from Baltimore– are getting a helpful boost from Baltimore band Arbouretum. Arbouretum and Pontiak are going to release a split LP on 7/22/08 on Thrill Jockey Kale which will be a tribute to John Cale. Vinyl only, thank you! TJ doesn’t have any streaming samples to listen to for Kale, yet, but they do have samples of Pontiak’s 2007 release Sun on Sun, which will be re-released on Thrill Jockey September 9th. You can purchase mp3’s and apparently the 2007 Fireproof Records vinyl before then, though!

Wye Oak and Pontiak will be joined by Ames, Iowa band Poison Control Center, and the surfy good vibrations of The Botticellis for a night of Indie goodness sponsored by Mission Creek— all for a measly $7! I’ve provided enough links below that you should be able to memorize the words to all of these band’s songs so you can sing along.

I’ve included links below to the Daytrotter sessions that both Poison Control Center and The Botticelli’s have done. Not to be upstaged, Wye Oak and Pontiak are scheduled to record a Daytrotter session before the Iowa City show.

Download four songs from If Children by Wye Oak

See a bunch of live videos of Wye Oak on YouTube

Listen to tracks from Sun on Sun and Valley of Cats from Pontiak’s website.

Poison Control Center’s Daytrotter Session

The Botticelli’s Daytrotter Session