Vinyl

Animal Collective

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Fall Be Kind EP

Special Two-Part Coverage of the Most Hipster Thing I’ll Do All Summer
Part 2: There Will Be Merch

I’ve been writing this blog for three and a half months now, and (sigh) it’s time. It’s time I shared with you that… here goes… I have a merch addiction. A raging one. Show me a merch table, and I’ll show you all the cash I have in my wallet. My triggers include concerts, NASCAR races, baseball games, basketball games, political campaigns, SXSW was a t-shirt collecting shit show… it’s bad, OK? So when I walked into Saturday’s Animal Collective concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion, my love for merch and my vinyl habit teamed up, and things got a little out of hand. I snagged a t-shirt, a copy of Animal Collective’s Fall Be Kind EP on vinyl, a 7″ single of Panda Bear’s “Last Night at the Jetty,” and a lime green Merriweather Post Pavilion bag (What? Sometimes a guy needs to tote some stuff around for a few hours). Did I feel a little guilty? Sure. Did that stop me from tweeting about it once I saw that the venue’s giant screens were set to scroll through posts related to the night’s concert? Nope! I informed the entire Merriweather Post Pavilion lawn that I was “All merched up,” and gleefully watched the post scroll by a handful of times. The other tweets were far more entertaining, though. Post after post of hipsters making fun of other hipsters. It was a sight to behold — through thick-rimmed glasses, of course. While I can’t condone my merch-first-ask-questions-later approach to money management, I can wholeheartedly endorse the music I picked up. Panda Bear’s single is fantastic (as is the rest of the album) and Fall Be Kind is one of the best EPs I’ve ever heard. Check out “What Would I Want? Sky,” which is historic, in that it features the first licensed sample of a Grateful Dead song, and grab the album here.

Radiohead

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There There

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Radiohead. The Album: “There There” single. The Store: Plan 9. The Price: $6.

Welcome to the B-side of the discussion of B-sides! After Justin Townes Earle whet my appetite with his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Racing in the Streets,” I poked around online for other fun B-sides. Quick side note – I’m a huge eBay tease. I tend to use my watch list not to monitor items I’d like to win in an online auction, but as a shopping list for the record store. Something about buying vinyl online is less satisfying, less eventful, and makes me feel like I’m cheating on my local record stores. That’s why I was so excited when I noticed a record behind the counter at Plan 9 that I’d seen on eBay the night before: a promotional copy of Radiohead’s “There There” – the first single off their 2003 album, Hail to the Thief. Though I’m a big fan of “There There,” I was even more intrigued by the single’s B-side, a song I’d never heard called “Paperbag Writer.” Turns out it’s a really cool and haunting bass-driven song with an creeping electronic beat and some truly creepy strings. As with a lot of Radiohead throwaways, it could really be the best song off another band’s album (or a fantastic track on a horror movie soundtrack), and the fact that it was discarded is a testament to the band’s greatness. Most of all, I love that I’m still discovering things about Hail to the Thief eight years after the album’s release. Such is the magic of B-sides! You can preview “Paperbag Writer” below, and you can buy it on iTunes as part of the There There EP, which features another B-side, “Where Bluebirds Fly.” And if you’re vinyl-inclined, keep an eye out for an upcoming series of 12″ King of Limbs remixes, with the first arriving in early July.

The Beatles

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White Album

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: The Beatles. The Album: The Beatles (The White Album). The Store: Plan 9. The Price: $9.

My big sister Cary is the coolest person I know. From an early age, she had awesome taste in music, and was always willing to help me see the light. But of all the recommendations she’s given me over the years, I’m thankful for one above all others: the Beatles. Her Beatles obsession began in middle school, and while mine wouldn’t kick in until much later, she passed on an appreciation for their songs as sacred texts, along with a few of the Beatles posters that once covered her bedroom wall-to-wall. My vinyl collection also didn’t start until long after hers, and it was actually a story I heard on All Songs Considered while driving home for Thanksgiving that made me so eager to seek out my own copy of the White Album.

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The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

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Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Various. The Album: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto. The Store: Plan 9. The Price: $10.

This might be the coolest picture ever taken. I came across this album cover while flipping through records at Plan 9. My first thought: “Whatever these dudes are selling, $10 is a bargain!” What they’re selling is The Indestructible Beat of Soweto – a snapshot of the diverse urban pop music scene of early 1980’s Johannesburg. This record is totally infectious. Modern influences like jazz and blues combine with a number of African styles, and the result is a 45-minute head-bobbing, day-brightening, spontaneous-dance-inducing party, with a Ladysmith Black Mambazo cherry on top. Should I have expected anything less from an album with such a great cover? The “Unity” visor? Amazing. The red fedora? Home run. The pointing? On point. Take a listen.

Pretty & Nice, Part I

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Fantastic Artifact

Important Two-Day Coverage, Part I … The Artist: Pretty & Nice.

My friend Kevin is a crazy good drummer. He’s also crazy good at Wii tennis. I’m convinced these are related. I met Kevin in college, and have enjoyed bearing witness to his ass-kicking musical abilities ever since. A few years ago, he started playing with a band called Pretty & Nice. They’re a Boston-based group that makes fast-paced, catchy songs, gracefully combining technical intricacy and casual enjoyability. They recently released a limited-edition 7″ called Fantastic Artifact (get yours while they last!). I highly encourage you to listen to “Yonkers” below and find out what makes P&N so exceptional. More tomorrow …

Simon and Garfunkel

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Bookends

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Simon and Garfunkel. The Album: Bookends. The Store: Deep Groove. The Price: $4.

It’s the summer of 1993. “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors is the bees knees. The fam takes a trip to New Jersey, and while we’re there, my 60’s-music-loving uncle hands me a copy of Bookends. Being 10 years old and painfully unhip, I figure, “Oh, it’s those two princes everyone’s talking about.” Who knows how long I carried this horribly wrong assumption. I still can’t look at the cover of Bookends without thinking of the Spin Doctors. On Sunday, I found a gently worn copy, which filled a hole in my record collection and gave me an excuse to listen again. Each time, I hear something new to love. This time it’s the exhilarating hand-clappin’, foot-stompin’ percussion on “Fakin’ It.” See what I mean?

Johnny Otis

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Rock 'N' Roll Revue

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Johnny Otis. The Album: Rock ‘N’ Roll Revue. The Store: Plan 9 in Richmond, VA. The Price: $5.

My father-in-law recently told me about Johnny Otis, a musician, composer and band leader who was most successful in the 1940’s and 50’s. (he’s also the father of Shuggie Otis). This album is upbeat and fun – part big band, part rhythm and blues, part early rock. Well worth your $5. Johnny Otis fun fact: he once said, “As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black.” Just a Greek dude keeping it real.