The Goods

Last night I promised Kevin I'd at least part way come through on this blog's stated purpose of detailing what goes into opening a record store. In fact, I promised I'd do so before two o'clock this afternoon. Hold onto your hats kids.

This afternoon, Luke and I will be meeting with the bank to talk about loan stuff. The first thing to know about opening a record store is that it is more expensive than, say, shopping at a record store. So we are trying to find a bank that will give us a goodly sum of funds.

Also this week, there's been the raging debate over whether the shelving units being built by my former roommate will be built out of plywood or MDF. "MDF" is kind of a low-rent plywood, which costs half as much but takes a whole bunch of work to finish. If anyone digs huffing polyeurythane, I may have a job for you in late July.

The sign permit has been submitted and we're waiting for approval. Also hoping to get Chi, our contractor guy, into the store to look at walls that might be prime for knockin' down. There will be pictures as soon as that happens. Pictures of destruction. And then later, construction. The discussion of storefront colors has begun, but has not yet reached the "looking at paint samples with overwrought names" stage.

I'm also working on getting furniture for the listening area. My "clever" plan to convince one of the local furniture stores to consign items in the shop has so far yielded no response. If this doesn't come together, I'll be faced with that age old furnishing dilemma: Ikea or Hub's Place?

Told you it'd be exciting. More details as they become available, more songs later this afternoon. If you've got nothing planned tonight, Drag Ball, Lost Dog. At least part of the proceeds go to me, which means they go to the record store, which means in a roundabout way, they benefit you. So come benefit yourself. Also there will be dancing.

For Your Achy Breaky Heart: Sampler #2 Tracks 6-10

What's more exciting than a nightclub downtown? DONUTS! Particularly, Dunkin Donuts. Soon our town will be blessed with the sweet angel's touch of the double D. This little child of the suburbs couldn't be happier. The donut drought has come to an end, we're all going to be so terribly fat.

The teeshirts, which those of you who made it out to the last Twice Shy Tuesday got to see in various sizes, are done and turned out pretty wonderfully. If you'd like one, let me know. They're going fairly fast, but I may do another printing if demand demands.

And what's more exciting than teeshirts, donuts and nightclubs? Tracks six through ten!

She Sees the Good in Everyone (Because She's Not Very Bright)- The Capstan Shafts
Dean Wells is The Capstan Shafts. Before I finish this post, The Capstan Shafts will have released another EP of ultra lo-fi, clever, hypershort pop songs which I think they do every week or so. Guided By Voices comparisons are inevitable, so I’ll let you make them on your own. Like the best GBV stuff, the Capstan Shafts songs leave you waiting for that hook to come around again, but opt for concision over satisfaction. Luckily, the hooks are memorable enough that you can play them back in your head.

Julie- Jens Lekman
I would like to vote for this song as the “Cecilia” of the coming century. At least until something better comes along. Swede (Swede!) Jens Lekman’s collection of EPs, “Oh You’re So Silent, Jens” brings together the best in wuss-rock with samples from Belle and Sebastian, the Left Banke and a Beat Happening singalong! Who wouldn’t want to sing along with Beat Happening? This song has the loose feeling of a pickup band forming itself around Lekman’s sweet vocals and guitar.

I Turn My Camera On- Spoon
Spoon have been turning out solid albums for years, but Gimme Fiction (I'm always tempted to put an exclamation point after every gimme I write) rocks in so many ways, from the spacy first track to tight Stones tributes like "Sister Jack", but this bassline is the funkiest thing I've heard from an indie rock band in a while. Yup, I said funkiest.

Incinerate- Sonic Youth
Pop song and Sonic Youth might not be synonymous, but "Rather Ripped" strips away a whole lot of the standard SY experimentation and noisery in favor of concision. Plus, Kim Gordon is back to actually singing, which can be chalked up in the column of good things. The trippy "Do You Believe in Rapture?" is still my current favorite off the album, but this is the one that jumps out on a first listen and holds your attention after a couple go rounds.

Burn- Pink Nasty
I know I've already voiced my disapproval of hiphop covers by caucasians with acoustic guitars, but I'm giving this one a pass since I heard it before the Usher original. Pink Nasty is the sister of the mildly disturbing Black Nasty and is a backup singer for Will Oldham on his most recent live album. What I like about this song, in addition to Pink Nasty's delivery and phrasing, is that I can't for the life of me figure out the motives of the speaker. The first verse is a send off, but the rest seems to be a get back together plea. Plus, I just wanted to put "Burn" and "Incinerate" back to back, because it brings me amusement to do so.

I'm looking for advice on the upcoming 70s-based incarnation of Twice Shy. Anyone know of any secret geniuses of the 1970s? It would be extra added wonderful if these secret geniuses were something other than guitar based rock.

Confirmed!

The rumors are true! The Masonic Temple on Cayuga St, formerly the Odyssey, will be reopening as Club Euphoria and the Elixir Lounge, indicated by little awnings over the windows on the Seneca St side of the building. Sure, the names aren't too promising, but the idea of a nightclub downtown is a positive thing. I like bars as much as the next heavy drinker, but don't you want at least the option to dance to bad music? It's tragic that the only regular dancing opportunities in town are Willhelm K and Nicky Wood. Let's get those young people down to the Commons. Dance dance revolution!

Since this confirms information received a few days ago from a certain source, does this mean that sources claim of a July opening is also legit?

Nite Club- Old 97s


Nite Klub- The Specials

Can't find my copy of "Clubland" by Elvis Costello. Shame, that.

For Your Achy Breaky Heart: Sampler #2 Tracks 1-5

As we embark on this second mix cd together, I should explain the bifurcated nature of this particular beast. At this point in my life, I've had to start listening to music in a number of different ways. Does it rock? Will it sell? Does it make me intensely happy when I'm sitting on my couch with my cat? Would it be appropriate for a drag ball or 70's rock night?

With that in mind, each of these tracks will include usage directions, like drugs! Incidentally, the drug I am currently hooked on (in addition to standard caffiene and alcohol consumption) is celery. I am convincing myself this is having fantastic health benefits.

Also, many thanks to SS for the cover image. AD just sent me a shot that nearly displaced it, but this shot from a plaque next to a defibrilator in Tennessee won out.

Tracks!!!!

Been So Long- Vetiver
The creek outside is all a rage since it's been raining a bit, so my apartment gets this quiet rushing water sound that's almost indistinguishable from the 60-cycle hum of speakers left on. Sometimes I imagine this song rising out of that creek noise at night. Devendra-protege (has anyone not been mentored by Devendra Banhart?) Andy Cabic and friends have put together songs that are full of so much space you could go walking around in them, and is one of the strongest lyricists on the freakfolk front, writing lyrics that are thrifty and perfectly suited to the instrumentation.

Directions: This track, and all of "To Find Me Gone" should be applied to your porch and backyard. Use with citronella candles.

Ladyflash- The Go! Team
Once the drum locks in over the Midnight Cowboy-style sample and looping strings, there is no way to get out of this song. The Go! Team's "Thunder, Lightning, Strike!" has been compared to "Paul's Boutique" in it's sheer ability to embrace everything this British cheerleader troupe can get their samplin' little fingers on, but this track reminds me mostly of the highpoints on The Avalanches' "Since I Met You", with more of a focus on songs. While The Avalanches sometimes play their samples for a laugh, The Go! Team plays everything, samples, drums, tinkling keyboards and their own vocals, for kicks.

Directions: Take one with pep rally.

And I Was a Boy From School- Hot Chip
The past couple weeks have been so tough for full album listening. Between Vetiver, two settlers albums and the new Sonic Youth, it took me a bit to get around to Hot Chip's "The Warning" even though HAT told me months ago after a live performance in NYC that she had seen the future and it was a bunch of dudes standing behind keyboards. The song starts of with a tense little keyboard part that runs throughout and the band builds and pulls back over the beat to a haunting effect.

Directions: Primarily intended for car stereo use. May be drag ball appropriate (ask me on Saturday).

To Die A Virgin- The Divine Comedy
This song was too much of a blantant Bowie homage for me not to fall madly in love with it. In fact, I just heard it this morning for the first time and said "Hot damn, that's going on the sampler!" I'm trying to decide whether it belongs on "Low" or "Heroes". Throwing every Eno-period Bowie cliche together isn't enough for the Divine Comedy, though. They also amp up Bowie's sense of humor (Bowie had a sense of humor, right? Everyone else thinks TVC 15 is hilarious, right?) vamping on seductive lines like "With all the bombs and the bird flu/we're probably going to be dead soon/and here we are in your bedroom/Did I tell you I love you?"

Directions: Actually I have no idea.

Lollipop- The Hidden Cameras
Anyone who can figure out the lyrics to this song wins my undying love. Or five bucks. If you don't know, the Hidden Cameras are comprised at least in part of semiotics grad students from the University of Toronto. Which leads me to believe they may actually just be making non-signifying noises on this track. The new Cameras album, "Awoo" won't hit the US til September, but the stuff floating around out there has the same rat-tat-tat drumming and rhythm guitar that made "Mississauga Goddam" sound like a gay Canadian version of the Supremes on speed (yes, that's it exactly), but other than this wonderfully frantic rush, sound more unified, with Joel Gibb's voice playing off the xylophones rather that just doubling them, and floating string arrangements.

Directions: Best suited for dancing in apartment alone.

Be sure to come out to Korova this evening for the end of two eras. One is the Era of Twice Shy Tuesdays, which will come to an end, only to rise again as the Era of Twice Shy Thursdays. The other is the Era of Erik in Ithaca, which will come to an end, only to rise again as the Era of Erik in New York Becoming Wildly Famous. Plus, it'll be your first chance to see the thoroughly awesome No Radio teeshirts, designed by the above mentioned Erik. Like the samplers, the teeshirts are part of the Summer of Potlatch, so ask and you shall recieve. All we ask in return is that you ramble to your friends and loved ones about the amazing new record store opening at the end of the summer, at any given opportunity. Which you were probably going to do anyway.

Extr

Holy Swedish Cross-Referencing!

Oh, I fear my swedophile friends have all forsaken me. How else could I be unaware that the Legends and the Acid House Kings (pictured) are both the Scandinavian brain children of one Johan Angerald? I didn't even know the Acid House Kings were Swedish, although now that I look at them, it does seem a bit obvious. In Sweden, the sun only shines two months out of the year. The other ten months, the wily Swedes are forces to bathe in sugary pop music to ward off Seasonal Affective Disorder, which in Sweden is just called Socialism.


Here are pretty little summer songs from a land where summer doesn't really exist.

He Knows the Sun- The Legends
This could be a b-side from the Cure's "Wish" album, but is actually the first single from the Legends second disc, "Public Radio" which hits US shores on Tuesday. Enjoy the underwater bass solo and the "Oh it's pretty/oh so pretty" chorus, but remember that for pallid Swedish people like Johan Angerald and his bandmates, tanning can lead to almost immediate death, and becoming sun-smitten is inevitably fatal. Still, bouncy little song, eh?


I Write Summer Songs for No Reason- Acid House Kings
The Acid House Kings might have the most inappropriate name of any extant band. And I'm not buying the "It's our second language!" excuse. There are zero elements of Acid or House on "Sing Along With Acid House Kings" and the band includes at least one Acid House Queens. At least with Acid Mothers Temple, the band sounds like they might be doing acid. With your mother. The Acid House Kings bop through folk sounds, pop rock that sounds quite a bit like earlier Legends material and disco beats that call to mind recent Belle and Sebastian

Special Bonus Swedish Reference:
Of Montreal is certainly not Swedish, but they make very little sense and it is very possible they've done a lot of acid. Here is a friendly love song to poor little Nietzsche.
What a Strange Day With a Swede- Of Montreal

Dreaming of Canada

Anyone feel like driving to Toronto tomorrow night? It's a nice drive and Toronto is a very clean city. Plus, Jay Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) will be playing with Broken Social Scene (of pretty much every band in Canada). Not opening for, mind you, but playing with. Word is it's a one time thing, but I have faith in the ability of wily Canadian kids to sneak recording equipment in and out of the show. Hopefully, we'll be hearing this stuff by Monday. BSS may say they're dreaming of Pavement, but maybe the kids have a wee little crush on some old Dinosaur Jr stuff, maybe you think?

Ibi Dreams of Pavement- Broken Social Scene


Green Mind- Dinosaur Jr


Of course, no one ever really goes to Toronto. Sure, they talk about it, but no one ever really goes. Those of us who are staying town-bound might be interested in hitting up the Books Through Bars benefit at Castaways tomorrow night. The Settlers, mentioned here just the other day, are playing along with Johnny Dowd, Thousands of One and some other bands I don't know. Show starts at nine and the moneys go to a great charity that sends books to prisoners across New York State.

Keep an eye on the Ithaca Journal this week, there should be a story coming out on the burgeoning record store scene in Ithaca. I don't exactly know what it will say, but I should admit that the interviewer woke me up and started in on the questions, so I might not have been at my peak smartness. No one is at their peak smartness before they put on pants. Pants equals smarts.

Lastly, in the "Yes, I'll agree to anything department', apparently I'm DJing a drag ball at the Lost Dog Lounge next Friday. Last week I was asked to DJ a "fundraiser", and today at lunch I found out that "fundraiser" meant "drag ball". My first wedding and my first drag ball, all in one month. June is a month for pioneering, and has extra long days to provide time for extra pioneering. Pioneer something this week, before it's too late!

Spazzin Out With the Holy Ghost: The Settlers

I had honestly no idea where to start when it came to praising Ithaca bands, so I chose the CDs that happened to be on my couch. Complicated system, that.

The Settlers are fairly new to the Ithaca scene but have already turned out a pair of fantastic albums. Their music is a weird crossbreed of the Silver Jews and the Vaselines and, so yes, perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but they have a cult-like following among the Ithaca cognescenti. Cos seems to be one of those folks who writes more songs than he knows what to do with and Ciele provides simple bang-a-can drums and backing vocals. I'm not even sure the albums are available anywhere other than at shows, but here's two tracks to get started on. They'll be at Grassroots (if you're into that sort of thing) and at Castaways in July.


Driving Nails


On the Bar


Visit The Settlers on MySpace.

Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 18-21

End of the line, folks. Here's what we've had so far:

1.Worms-Beth Orton
2.Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3.Rough Gem- Islands
4.Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
5.Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken- Camera Obscura
6.The Gap- You Say Party! We Say Die!
7.The Big Bang Jump!- Office
8.Honey Child What Can I Do?- Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell
9.Wille- Cat Power
10.Painter in Your Pocket- Destroyer
11.Police Sweater Blood Vow- Fiery Furnaces
12.Thou Shalt Wilt- Loose Fur
13. The W.A.N.D.- The Flaming Lips
14.Make Out Fall Out Make Up- Love Is All
15.LDN- Lily Allen
16.Cowbell- Tapes n Tapes
17.Black Swan- Thom York

...which brings us to...


Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives- Voxtrot
Someone told me the other day that the first Voxtrot EP blows away "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives". He stated in fact, that the latter amounts to only 5% of the quality of the former. But until that shows up in the mail, I can only attest that this Austin act has turned out a handful of tight little pop tracks with songwriter that edges up just short of sentimentality.


At Last is All- I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
Austin can't be that bad, even if it is in the middle of Texas. After all, it's got Voxtrot and I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. Of the crop of post-Interpol bands, ILBICD (I'm not going to keep typing it out) stands out by virtue of their stark songwriting and haunting guitar lines that call up the Psychedelic Furs and other high quality brooders. "Fear is On Our Side" is their first full length, following up 2004's self-titled EP, and the album is steadier than the band's previous efforts, sustaining a cheerfully creepy vibe that few current bands (The Organ springs to mind) can manage.


Star Witness- Neko Case
I'm giving up the dream that Neko Case is going to come and play in our town, or, you know, in my living room, or whatever. Backed by the Calexico guys and Ithaca's own Willie B, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" knocks down everything Case has done previously. Her lyrics are imagistic and intuitive, the vocal harmonies by Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark swirl around Case's vocals, which have never sounded cleaner or more confident than they do here. "Fox Confessor" is tied with the demos for Steve Gollnick's upcoming album for most played album of the year around my little abode.


Stadiums and Shrines II- Sunset Rubdown
It was so difficult to pick a track off "Shut Up I Am Dreaming", the first full-length from this side project of Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug. Every track has at least one moment that is completely brilliant. Amazingly, Krug's songs on this album make his Wolf Parade tracks seem oddly normal. Plinking pianos, carnivorous animals, and swift verbal reversals traipse throughout the album, songs bleeding into one another with a foreign logic that becomes immediately explicable upon listening. Krug is currently working with Dan Bejar and Carey Mercer from Frog Eyes on a project called Swan Lake. You'll hear it as soon as I do.

Tomorrow we'll see the first weekly installment of Musical Reasons to Live in Ithaca, and more on the rumor that Dinosaur, Jr's J. Mascis is fronting Broken Social Scene. How cool is that? Happy monday, people, I'm off to pop my World Cup cherry.

Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 14-17

Yesterday I swung by the record store to pick up the new Sonic Youth, which sounds (so far) pretty damn good. Alas, the only SY represented was a weird Japanese import of "Goo" and I ended up going home with the new Vetiver album instead. If you have a porch, you need to get this album. Because I want to come over some night this summer and listen to this album on your porch. Not that it sounds like it was played on a porch, it's far from foot-stomping. But it's picture perfect cool summer night with a beer music. Porch owners, you've been warned.

I was going to post a couple tracks but my computer is currently cluttered with music for a wedding I'm djing tomorrw and I didn't want to risk a song like, say, Brooks and Dunn's "Boot Scootin Boogie" infecting Andy Cabic's efforts with its phenomenal craptacularness.

Anyway. Here's tracks 14 through 17 which are not craptacular in the least.


Make Out Fall Out Make Up
Some of you may ask, "What are these kids saying? Did they say 'living room' right there? What is this song about?" The answer is, these kids are Swedish and what they're saying is secondary to how they're saying it. And they're saying it by yelling through reverb, with plunking bass and crunchy saxophones (and yes, some handclaps). Love is All embraces the cyclic nature of relationships and throws it a little party. A Swedish makeout party.


LDN- Lily Allen
Lily Allen has more MySpace friends than Jesus. In fact, she has more MySpace friends than several versions of Jesus. So, logically, if the Beatles were bigger than one Jesus, and Lily Allen is bigger than several Jesuses, Lily Allen is bigger than several The Beatles. Follow that? Unfortunately, what the British songwriter/DJ/MySpace heartthrob doesn't have is a CD available in the US. Luckily for all of us, the internet spans the mighty Atlantic and brings Ms. Allen's songs to us here in the colonies. Words like "summer hit", "pop gem" and "first track on road trip mixes" come to mind when I think of this little back and forth tribute to Allen's home city. It's so hard to hate cities in the summer, isn't it? Unless you're the Lovin Spoonful.


Cowbell- Tapes n Tapes
Tapes n Tapes have been at the center of a weird war between bloggers and the print media of late. TnT have been labelled "the type of band bloggers love". WTF? Yes, the lead singer is a graduate of the Frank Black School of Singing All Twitchy Like (FBSoSATL, now accepting applications), but hey, everybody else is doing the David Byrne style neurosis, let's mix it up a bit. The downside is, the song includes no presence of its titular instrument. On the upside, it has a wonderfully hooky singalong chorus. It's all about balance.

Black Swan- Thom Yorke

(sorry folks, word on the street is that Thommy's lawyers are on the warpath, so this track is no longer postable. It is still on the CD, if you happen to have a copy. Please don't tell Thom Yorke's lawyers I gave it to you, okay?)

You may have heard of Thom Yorke. He belongs to an obscure British band called something like Stereoface. If you were to put a butterfly net up in the air, you would probably catch two or three tracks from Thom's forthcoming solo album, since they are bouncing around the internet (which, you probably know, is located up in the air) like the multiball bonus in Arkanoid. Young whippersnapper are claiming "The Eraser" is a bold step forward for Thommy, but those of us who were legitimately mopey when "Creep" first hit the airwaves (and totally miserable by the time "The Bends" was released), might hear it more as a step back to "Kid A/Amnesiac" territory, which was a nice stretch of land. Unlike those albums, here Yorke's misery-loves-melody vocals come through without frustrating effects, gliding smoothly over slick instrumentation. No Radiohead (see how I did that? Slipped the name of our record store into the review?) fan will be disappointed, even if Yorke is just preaching to the converted.

Tomorrow brings the last four tracks and the end of this particular mix cd. But we'll always have the memories. Remember that time I slipped the name of our record store into a Thom Yorke review? Man, those were good times. After that, who knows? For now, I must concentrate on my goal for tomorrow's wedding: make Aunt Sophia dance. Since she's not my Aunt Sophia, I don't know what might cause Aunt Sophia to dance, or if Aunt Sophia is even physically capable of dancing, because I imagine Aunt Sophia is an Italian woman who is roughly 102 years old. Hopefully she likes Outkast.

If you want to buy any of these CDs before August 19th, you can do so here:

...but after August 19th, sister...

Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 10-13

Well, the weather these past two days has not exactly screamed "Hey, sit inside and write journal posts!" Already I've been lured away by a boat and lunch at a certain hippie diner, which it turns out is an afternoon-long undertaking. But duty calls, and for my sins I'll be posting four tracks a day til Sunday. I know you're thrilled.

Have we all noticed people doing work in the old Odyssey building? Tim "Mr. Rochester" confirms two R-city nightclub owners have rented out the joint. To what ends, no one is sure. There's also a rumor going around that Urban Outfitters is looking for a location on the Commons. And we're scaling back to just one head shop. Progress takes many forms.

Tracks ten through thirteen, kids!


Painter in Your Pocket- Destroyer
There are things Destroyer's Dan Bejar likes to sing about. Destruction. Rock music. Girls with names. Other Destroyer songs. Somewhere on the interweb there is a Destroyer drinking game that could more than likely kill a hearty drinker after two albums of Bejar's recurring themes. And yes, sometimes his songs do sound like they were written by high schooler for some grand Canadian musical. But Destroyer is music for people who like really listening to music, and "Rubies" fits right in with "Thief" and "Streethawk" to form a set of three fairly brilliant, lyrically difficult albums worth the time and effort.


Police Sweater Blood Vow- The Fiery Furnaces
It occurs to me that today's songs are all by bands you may have already formed a pretty solid opinion on. I don't know if this track is going to convert anyone to Fiery Furnaces fandom, but a couple listens to the rest of "Bitter Tea" might just. There's always something childish and wonderful about the Furnace's music, like no one ever told them, "No kids, that's not how you do it. That's not how you do it at all." Every Furnace's song sounds like something they found entirely on their own.


Thou Shalt Wilt-Loose Fur
The second album from this sort-of Wilco side project finds Jim O'Rourke still at the helm, but a little more focused than 2003's self titled album. Backed by Jeff Tweedy (who you may have heard of) and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, O'Rourke puts together songs with his warm piano sound and arid wit. Listening to O'Rourke's musical efforts make his producing contributions on albums like Beth Orton's "Comfort of Strangers" and the last two Wilco discs all the more apparent. Plus, the guy is pretty damn funny.


The W.A.N.D.- The Flaming Lips
There's not a heck of a lot left to say about the Flaming Lips. Unlike Jim O'Rourke's work, I've always found it better not to listen too closely to Wayne Coyne's lyrics. I like robots and magicians as much as the next guy, but I'm more interested in listening to the way Coyne plies his strange high tenor against the guitar effects, tight snares and psyched out backing vocals. The Lips never fail to disappoint and ever so slightly confuse.

Four more tomorrow. Enjoy the sun, cats and kittens. More news to come.

Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 7-9

Welcome to the third installment of the first CD with the seventh through ninth tracks! Feel free to do the math on that. I think the answer is 20, or possibly Egypt.

Two things before we talk about songs. One, did you know you need a permit to put up a sign in the city of Ithaca? Indeed. So today is official declared Apply for a Sign Permit Day! I hope you will all celebrate by applying for a sign permit in your district or municipality, or by placing flowers (or a sound image of a flower) on the grave of Ferdinand de Saussure.

Two, the person purporting to be my mother on the comments is, in fact, my mother. The crazy spammy nonsense person on the comments is, I suspect, your mother.

Songs!


Big Bang Jump!- Office
A couple tracks off this Chicago band's self-released debut "Q&A" showed up on a blog called Good Hodgkins a few weeks ago and I was well and mightily impressed. Things to like about this band: they dress up like people in an office, they like dancing, they sing la-la-la's, which is always a good idea. Also, one of their songs gets introduced with a "check, check" as if they were mc's or sound guys instead of a pop band temping at an ad agency.

Since they are impossible to google, you can find Office here:

Reach Office



Honey Child, What Can I Do?- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
I want to say that Isobel and Mark are channeling Lee and Nancy, but as far as I can tell neither Lee nor Nancy is dead (allmusic.com, by the way, refers to Lee Hazlewood as "an irascible genius", which is my new goal in life). Whoever came up with the idea for stealing Isobel Campbell from Belle and Sebastian, removing Mark Lanegan from the cigarette smoke-filled chamber he's been trapped in since the Singles soundtrack and having them record an album of duets together should be given an award for "Greatest Completely Bizarre Idea of the Year". The person who came up with the Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs duets album should have to present the award, thinking to himself, "Maybe next year" and dreaming of Greg Dulli and Joanna Newsome performing cabaret songs together.


Willie- Cat Power
Two separate statements: 1. Chan Marshall is dreamy. 2. Cat Power is dreamy. The first one has really nothing to do with anything, it's just a fact, like "Clouds are puffy-shaped". The second one explains why I can listen to this song over and over, just going all smiley and sleepyheaded. For a long time, I dismissed the bulk of Cat Power songs as sad heroin music, but on "The Greatest" Cat Power's brought things up to a state of lucid dreaming. It doesn't rock, by no means does it rock. It moves along like a hot air balloon, mostly drifting but carefully steered by muted horns and vocal harmonies when needed.

Seven through nine, ladies and gents. You'll start to notice certain themes emerging. Canadians. Pretty girls singing pretty songs. Handclaps. Dancing about scientific and social concepts. Tomorrow, more Canadians, siblings and Bible jokes. See you there!

ps. The Blogger Spellcheck program does not recognize the words "blog" or "google". Way to go, guys!

Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 4-6

Forward, onward! Boldly we go to track four...


Crazy- Gnarls Barkley

I don't know much about the hip hop. I do know that the photo of the Gnarls Barkley kids dressed up Clockwork Orange-style gives me the creeps and that this song has been so quickly embraced by the scene that it has already generated folky acoustic cover versions on NPR, which is of course what all hip hop songs aspire to. Good for summer mixes (assuming summer shows up at some point). Serve with Curtis Mayfield, diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin the scene (with a gangster lean, incidentally).


Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken- Camera Obscura

Man, Scotland must be twee as fuck. Maybe when you arrive at the Glasgow airport, they give you little square glasses, an old Tallulah Gosh album and a very nice sweater. I bet Glasgow makes Olympia, Washington look superpunkrock. These Glaswegians are so excited about getting sad! And being made sad by a guy named Lloyd, which is even worse. If you like Belle and Sebastian, it behooves you to like this band. If you love Belle and Sebastian, you are probably already on the Camera Obscura mailing list. "Let's Get Out of This Country" has lots of pretty songs full of strings and handclaps. Handclaps for sadness!


The Gap- You Say Party! We Say Die!

Just like the band's name, this song has a word-to-exclamation-point ratio of 3:1. I've heard these spunky Canadians compared to Le Tigre, but YSP!WSD! doesn't get all bogged down commenting on social issues, they just yell the name of the social issue at you and move on. YSP!WSD! doesn't even claim the gap between the rich and the poor is a bad thing. There's a gap! Dance!

Tomorrow, tracks 7-9. Tomorrow, the new Sonic Youth and Hot Chip albums hit the streets, along with a new and supposedly improved Best of the Replacements compilation, if you're interested in those types of things. If you're interested enough to buy them, you can do so here:

Listening to Records & Doing Scrapbook: Sampler #1, Tracks 1-3

It's a pretty transparent ploy.

You get handed a CD, or you pick it up in a coffeeshop maybe, or at a show. And perhaps you actually listen to it, because you're an inquiring type of mind. And possibly, you actually like a couple songs. It's possible, a lot of them are quite good. But some difficult little monkey has failed to put track list on the damn thing and has instead sent you here.

Sorry about that. I'm afraid I'm the monkey in question.

This is the first of five sampler CDs that'll be showing up in various spots around town over the next ten weeks (hence the number 5. We're counting down, get it? Work with me people). The central organizing principle behind it was just "Really good music that came out or is coming out this year". Which would have made a terrible title. If you're reading this, don't have a copy of the CD, feel free to download the stuff. If you have one and want to make sure you get the next one, let me know.

In an effort to continue being difficult, I'll be talking a little about three tracks each day this week and posting the full listing next Sunday. Hope you like the music. There's more coming.

Worms- Beth Orton
I've liked Beth Orton's stuff and at the same time been convinced she records all her albums immediately after waking up. "Comfort of Strangers" puts Beth together with producer Jim O'Rourke and manages to keep that warmth while adding a bit of teeth, sounding more fully realized than her previous efforts, or at least more awake. That, and jokes about the Bible are fun (see Track 12).

Go visit Beth Orton



Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
So maybe these aren't all the most obscure of bands, but the new YYYs album is pretty darn hot. Instrumentation a little more laid back than "Fever to Tell" let's Karen O's vocals move forward and come through cleaner on "Show Your Bones". Simple vocal melody perfectly delivered and backed by building guitars and drums. Not to mention handclaps.

Go visit the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.



Rough Gem-Islands
Dudes stole a keyboard line from Prince! Ballsy Canadians. Rising from the ashes of the quirky-nearly-to-the-point-of-annoyance Unicorns, Islands seem to have kept the quirky, lost the annoyance. Luke says it's a new In the Aeroplane...but said so at three in the morning after copious amounts of whiskey, so is not accountable. Might be what the Mates of State would sound like if they were dudes from Canada and let their songs go on for 6+ minutes. Which you can do if you're funded by the Canadian government.

Go visit the Islands.



If you can't wait 10 weeks, you can buy these albums on the computer. Tracks 4-6 will be up tomorrow.

Greetings/Salutations

Welcome welcome. Sometimes a project is just so awful big it starts growing extra limbs, and this is one of them. Call it full disclosure. We want to do everything out in the open. This is a space we're going to fill with every little thing that goes on, each tiny detail of what it takes to get No Radio Records up and running. If you're interested. It's also a space where anyone who wants to offer comments or abuse can do so. We heart comments and abuse.

The story so far: about a year ago, some of us got it in our heads that Ithaca needed a decent music store. Not just needed, but deserved. We set to working at it, and over the course of a couple months, we got a few people on board and got a little momentum going. Finally, a couple weeks ago, we signed a three year lease on the storefront at 312 E Seneca St (formerly Sfumato Tattoo. Next to the Got Beef? store. In the meat district). We've set an opening date and now it's all engines to August 19th when No Radio Records opens its doors.

Ten weeks from today, ladies and gentlemen.

Above is the incredibly talented Dan Knapp's initial sketch for our sign. More parts of the process will be showing up on here as we go along. Keep reading, shout back at us when you feel like it, and we'll see you all in ten weeks. Til then, here's an old Saturday Looks Good to Me song, cause it's always nice to listen to Fred and the Ann Arbor gang.


Record Store- Saturday Looks Good to Me