So I have this box of out-of-print punk rock 45s, all from the 1990s, mostly Bay Area and Pacific NW bands. They are all in plastic sleeves and in pretty much perfect condition. This morning I was thinking I'd like to display them somehow, maybe on one wall in my office, but I don't want to use frames or anything. Not sure what to do...

Maybe this week I'll pull them out and count/catalogue them. I have some pretty good ones, like the Nirvana/Jesus Lizard split, Slant-6 "What Kind of Monster Are You?" 7", and Unwound's first 7", "Caterpillar."







I need to find me a turntable.

Just now I decided to turn off HGTV and flip over to KUOW public radio instead. The first thing I heard was a man's voice introducing the song he was about to sing. It only took five seconds to recognize John Darnielle once the song began. So happy. New Mountain Goats!

Listen here.

Where I will be the evening of February 23: enjoying a performance at Neumo's by the Mountain Goats of course.

oh boy oh boy oh boy

Should I make those five dozen cookies now? I probably should, huh. Tomorrow morning is the big cookie exchange for my knitting coven.

I'm listening to "Only Shallow". I've loved this My Bloody Valentine record for so long I don't even remember when I first heard it. It had to be sometime in 92, probably when I was working at what was then known as a "CD store" across the street from Alderwood Mall. The funny thing about this place -- apart from the fact that it sold only CDs, packaged in cardboard longboxes -- was that they specialized in "import" and "underground" music while also selling CDs from other genres like pop, country, and rock.

I only worked there for a summer, but I sure owe that place a debt. It's where I first saw records by the Pixies, Fugazi, Blur, Primal Scream, and others. The other funny thing about it was that unlike other small record shops, it was very clean, neat, and well-lit, rather like a place that would now sell cellphones. And it was way out in the stupid suburbs, like I said, across from a very bland mall. Needless to say, it didn't last too much longer at that location.

"Soon" : it goes on for exactly seven minutes and I can easily imagine people taking ecstasy for this song. There was probably a 12" dance remix just for that purpose. Funny thing about this legendary album is that I don't understand a single word of the lyrics. They may as well be Sigur Ros. And it doesn't matter at all.

"Sometimes" : my favorite on this album, okay and I guess I can understand a few of the phrases. This song was famously included in the "Lost in Translation" soundtrack. It's really beautiful, and could easily be performed by one person playing a superfuzzy guitar and singing into a microphone.

god this record is heavy. The early 90s was totally one of the very best eras for British music, without question.

Had 53 emusic downloads just sitting there, about to refresh in ten days, so I grabbed a few things tonight just for the hell of it.


Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha


Arcade Fire, Neon Bible


Arizona, Fameseeker and the Mono
(thank you person on my friends list for the tune)

It has been raining all day, on and off, not really off enough to go outside and take a walk.

So I downloaded some music:

1. Band of Horses: Cease to Begin
2. Belle & Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress
3. Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days

I feel like putting on a couple of sweaters and then either:

1. writing
2. watching "Children of Men" or "Mad Men" season finale
3. reading a book


meh.

I just paid $5.00 for radiohead's new record, which will be launched wednesday as a digital download only.

I could have paid ten cents or nothing, but I figured five bucks was fair.

"We value your custom."

I'm sometimes forgiving when indie bands sell music to companies to be used in advertising. Like when Jaguar used a Spoon song last year in a car commercial. It was pretty cool, and whatever, they probably got enough dough to record their album.

However, when I am laying on the bed with the cats, spacing out, and suddenly hear "Cabezon" by Red House Painters and look up to see a Wal-Mart commercial... well.

Sad now.

Though this is not the first time RHP have sold their recordings for use in an ad. They did it in 1998 or 1999 when "All Mixed Up" (a Cars cover) was sold to Gap for use in a holiday commercial.

And now I can't help wondering about the employees in Wal-Mart's marketing division, and which one brought the Ocean Beach CD into a meeting to pitch it for a TV spot. Weird.

I finally got a look at my 7" collection. It is considerably more valuable than the LPs I have. Especially given that almost everything contained therein is out of print, first edition, and by bands like Nirvana and Green Day and Rancid and AFI and so on. The great thing is that it's almost entirely composed of songs I love and many of the records have special little memories attached.

I really need to own a turntable again. That is going to be a priority.

The show was good. Seemed sparsely attended, maybe medium full down in that dark basement club. It's so small. Hard to fathom Spoon played there last month, conveniently choosing the night when I would be in Chicago. Thanks dudes. Anyway, Patrick Park was pretty great. I'd never seen him before, in fact didn't really know what he looked like. So there he was, all by himself, in his hat. I stood front and center, why not. It's nice to be able to see. And like I said, not crowded at all. It has been a while since I have been to a show like that. It used to be that way a lot, when I was going out every weekend.

I like his voice and the way he plays guitar. I watched his hands. Sometimes he just used his fingernails, no pick. That was pretty cool. Brian was paying attention to that too; he practices a lot more than me.

I was bummed that we didn't get to hear "Nothing's Wrong" -- oh well. Perhaps another time.

After Patrick Park finished, my beer was finished too so we left. We walked down the block to Miyabi and had some sushi and Brian had a bowl of udon. It was nice to be out and about at 11pm, so well past my bedtime. We made our way home and I told Brian I wanted to stay up late. I almost made it to one AM.

This morning I again quavered on going to yoga, but dragged myself there and did my ninety minutes. Now I have had lunch and fooled around online enough, I have a serious to-do list to get through. Time is running out.