My friend Gabe and I have been talking about doing a blog/podcast of records we have recently purchased for some time now. When we lived in the same city, the idea of such a podcast/blog was mostly for our friends and other nerdy record collector types. But, now that we live on opposite ends of the country, it can be a way for us to keep up with each others finds as well.
I'll try to work on a podcast so that you may be able to hear some of the records that I'll be posting here, but for now you'll have to settle for pics and descriptions.
Anyway, here is the first installment of what I hope to be a regular thing:
Last weekend I went to the New York Art Book Fair, where you wouldn't expect to find music, but of course I did. Amongst all the book, zine, chapbook publishers and art dealers at the fair, was a table by Fuck It Tapes. They had some cool zines and a whole bunch of rad cassette tapes. I wanted to buy five or six of their tapes, but having a limited amount of cash on hand, I decided on Sunburned Hand of the Man's "The Pegadrift". I just had to get it over the other tapes because I am a huge SHOTM fan and this cassette is a limited edition of 100. I had never seen it before or even knew that it existed.
Side 1 of The Pegadrift is one long droney, blissed out, instrumental mess. It's wonderful. So much better than 2007's "Z" album, which is similar but not nearly as interesting.
Side 2 finds Sunburned in their freaky freakout mode. Clattering drums, guitar scrapes/feedback, strange rambling vocals and shouting. It's filled with angst and tension. It's the kind of stuff that drives my wife crazy, but I think is fun to listen to.
check it out: http://www.fuckittapes.com/fuckittapes.htm
Next up is a group of 7" vinyl that I got at the flea market:
Carole King - One Fine Day b/w Rulers of This World
Badfinger - Come and Get It b/w Rock of All Ages
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin' Out My Back Door b/w Long As I Can See the Light
Frjid Pink - House of the Rising Sun b/w Drivin' Blues
"One Fine Day" is a classic Goffin-King pop gem. I love Carole King's voice. It reminds me of my childhood, even though I don't think my parents listened to her that much. I don't know what it is about her, but every time I hear that voice I'm nine years old again. "Rulers of This World" is a slow, somber song, asking for peace and an end to war. This song doesn't seem to appear on any Carole King albums or compilations. Written by King, Goffin and Goldberg, with string arrangements by Jack Nitzche.
Badfinger's "Come and Get It" is a bouncy Paul McCartney song. Perhaps not Sir Paul's finest song ever, but Badfinger did it really well, making it is easy to see why so many people thought of them as Beatles clones. "Rock of All Ages" may surprise those only familiar with their mellower hit songs like "Day After Day" or "No Matter What". This is a rock 'n roll song by a band that didn't rock out often enough, especially given the excellence of this performance. That's not to say that I don't like their mellower stuff, "Baby Blue" is one of my favorite songs of all time. I just wished they would have recorded more straight up rockers like this, because they were really great at it too. This record is Apple 1815, released in 1970. It was Apple Records' 15th release and the first single by Badfinger for the label.
A little online research dates this CCR record (FANT-645 for you collector types) as a 1970 release, with "Lookin Out My Back Door" as the A side. These are both great songs that everyone knows, or should know.
Frijid Pink had a hit with "House of the Rising Sun". I hate that song, and I hate this version too. The B side, "Drivin' Blues", is bluesy proto-heavy metal akin to Ten Years After or Mountain. Neither track is very impressive, but I picked this 45 up because copies of the Frijid Pink album are expensive and hard to come by and I've always been curious to hear them. Anyway, this record is Parrot-341, released in 1969.
None of these records are earth shattering, but they were definitely worth the three bucks I paid for them. I'm sure I'll be breaking out the Badfinger 45 regularly, as I'm already humming "Come and Get it" after two plays.
No comments:
Post a Comment