Category Archives: album

Stereolab: Chemical Chords

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I have no idea how this one passed me by in June, but the new vinyl by Stereolab, Chemical Chords is being hailed as one of their best. The album, MP3 download or CD, your choice. I’m always a bit skeptical of some new music that is recorded digitally then put on vinyl, but Stereolab has always had great analog textures to their music. Much like Chris Joss–a musician who uses recording techniques firmly rooted in the 21st century but still has a dedication to audio fidelity and actual honest-to-god instruments–Stereolab is always going to sound warm, interesting and perfectly suited for vinyl. I don’t have this one as I’ve just now been hipped to it, but it’s being added to the collection with haste.

Boy Eats Drum Machine Fre* E*P

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Earlier, I raved about the Boy Eats Drum Machine BooomBoxxx vinyl due out in a few weeks on Tender Loving Empire. Before you can dig on the album, BEDM wants you to check out this free digital EP featuring selected cuts off the vinyl plus a remix by Portland DJ Main Sequence.

The tracklist for the EP includes:

Planets + Stars
The Crack In The Sea
Demonic With Horns
I’m Alive Don’t Bury Me
Immovably Reunited (remix by Main Sequence)

Download it here and be sure to turn up the volume. Nice work, BEDM, especially on I’m Alive Don’t Bury Me. A current favorite.

Fugazi Seven Songs EP

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Don’t ask me how I discovered this…let’s simply say that I was surprised to learn that Hot Topic is not only still selling vinyl records–I thought they’d give this up ages ago– to kids with daddy’s credit card and a penchant for S&M imagery/mass-marketed faux rebellion, but here they are selling Fugazi records. I was certain this goth-for-trust-fund-kids chain would be knee-deep in the Cookie Monster Metal and Death Cab For Cutie stuff and nothing more. Imagine my shock to find the 7 Songs EP 12-inch vinyl listed on the website for just under eight bucks.

That discovery led to a much better one. I hit paydirt with this excellent blog, Hardcore For Nerds, which features this entry on the aforementioned Fugazi vinyl. I thought I was alone among people who liked Fugazi but felt the earliest stuff was the most interesting. I have not guzzled the kool-aid on all hardcore, but I do love much of the stuff from the first and second waves. Minor Threat, The Descendants, Fear, Black Flag, early NoFX, there’s too much to name. I could never be one of those people who always seemed to populate any zip code I happened to live in–the types who listened to hardcore and little else. How boring indeed. But I digress.

Hardcore For Nerds is a very worthy read and I’m pleased to have found it. Nice work, youze.

Polyvinyl Record Co.

Compilations, EP, Featured, singles, , , ,

Pampelmoose.com does it again. Thanks to that fine blog, I discovered a great indie vinyl label practically in my own back yard. Polyvinyl Record Co. offers CDs, downloads, but more importantly those delicious 180 gram vinyl platters for most of their releases. This Champaign, Illinois-based label is home to 31Knots, ofMontreal, and Rainer Maria, who I first got acquainted with when I was editing material from SxSW for Gearwire.com back in 06.

Currently, I’m a bit obsessed with the ofMontreal track Id Engager which you can hear as an MP3 at Pampelmoose or pre-order on colored vinyl or download from Polyvinyl. Id Engager is a unique modern disco indie track.

I like ofMontreal’s take on the old mirrorball sounds from the late 70s; this collision of ideas sounds like Studio 54 and Andy Warhol thrown into a blender with the modern indie kids mentality with a dash of ginseng and gaurana. Energetic without being abrasively annoying…this is fun whiteboy disco with great bass playing. Did I mention there’s a little bit of Sparks falsetto going on here? When it’s well done (as it is on Id Engager) it’s pretty great. RECOMMENDED.