Monday, June 04, 2007

Phantom CD Store Syndrome

Medical people speak of "phantom limb syndrome," in which people who have lost a limb still feel it or move to use it after it's gone. I mean no disrespect to those who have suffered such a horrific injury when I say that I have a vague inkling of it - in recent weeks, while driving around doing errands in various neighborhoods in and around northern Virginia/D.C., I've been near the sites of many now-gone Tower Records stores. Each time, I've made a quick mental note to stop in and browse the racks. Then the sad realization hits that they are no more.

I think of the old-skool pleasure of walking into a genuine music store - not a Best Buy or Target hits-heavy secion of a big box outlet - and I worry that those days are numbered. Thankfully, I still have the lovely little local CD trade-in store where I turn my unwanted discs into wanted ones (and sometimes get enough cash to buy lunch on the way home). But that's like visiting a funky deli, and sometimes you'd like the full inventory of a supermarket.

I know, I know - it's not a pain that's gonna kill me (or make me stronger, either); just life in the modern world.

Anyway, at the last visit to said small music emporium, I scored thusly:
1. PANIC! AT THE DISCO - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out deluxe edition (Fueled by Ramen)
I'm a sucker for creative packaging. Back in the fun days of writing promo and ad copy for Elektra Records, the then-pres of the label, Hale Milgrim, was a devotee of innovative ways to promote and box new albums for maximum impact. I do love when artists make the package something special, tho' I can't afford to buy them all. This still-sealed copy of the Panic! CD set came with a mini-poster, an eye-covering carnival mask, a set of B&W band boy photos, a set of colorized tarot-style lyric cards, a spinning wheel optical toy, a mini tour program, bonus DVD and blank diary book, all in a weathered looking cigar box with flocked interior. Grace (I pretend I bought it for her, but I couldn't resist at $20 to see all the goodies myself!) was smitten by it. Listening to the album again on the ride home, I give the band credit for trying. It's not their fault that success made the songs ubiquitously annoying for a while there. Heard again now, some are quite clever, in fact. Or maybe I'm just blinded by the toys?
2. R.E.M. – R.E.M. in the Attic: Alternative Recordings 1985-89 (I.R.S.)
A reminder of how much I loved this band Back In the Day. Maybe it was just a record label cash-in, collecting alternate tracks, live bits and B-sides, but it was a fine season for the Athens boys and fun to recollect now in a CD that must have slipped through the cracks when it first came out.
Cool $1.99 Clearance:
3. SIGUR ROS – Baba/TiKi/DiDo
Starts out quiet and gentle, almost childlike. And then gets noisy and a little weird. Why am I not surprised?
4. The REAL TUESDAY WELD – Lucifer (Six Degrees)
Just the day before , I heard a great song on "Morning Becomes Eclectic," a little ditty with a jaunty Noel Coward air, entitled "The Day Before You Came." I looked it up on emusic and was able to pick it up from a Six Degrees label compilation. I considerd it a sign that I should try a full CD.
5. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Music Is Love: 15 Tracks that Changed the World (Mojo Magazine)
Unusual cover tunes: Robyn Hitchcock doing "Like a Rolling Stone," the Dream Syndicate's version of "Cinnamon Girl," Big Star's take on "Femme Fatale" and a whole bunch of stuff I can't tell about yet.
6. HOLLY RAMOS – Racehorse (Ford to City: Drop Dead Records)
Sometimes you can score new release advances in the clearance bin, especially ones that come in cardboard or generic jewel boxes. This woman is coming to town to open for Jesse Malin, so I grabbed it as a way to preview.
7. CAROLINE RHEA – What Is It That You Can’t Face? (self-released?)
A funny female is a good friend to have.
8.MORCHEEBA - Big Calm (Sire)
Actually, I picked this one up at the thrift store for $1.50, but forgot to include it before.

Some of the new stuff sent recently:
9. ROCKNOCEROS – Dark Side of the Moon Bounce (self-released)
Clever kid rock from a lovely local trio.
10. ELDAR – Re-Imagination (Masterworks Jazz)
I put the CD on after a long morning of mom taxi-ing and promptly fell asleep. And that may not be a bad thing.
11. ARMY OF ME – Citizen (Doghouse)
More local boys making good. Back when these guys were known as Cactus Patch, they were barely out of their teens. Now they've grown into cool hipsters (but no attitude, thanks!) who take a modern swing at classic rock sounds. The CD's first song, called "Perfect," is just about that - a sweet slice of pop/rock heaven. l hope these nice guys can finish first.
12. VARIOUS ARTISTS - Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash (DualTone Records)
A duplicate, the full jewel-box edition of an advance I got earlier.

We Get Out:
Anyone who knows me well or has read more than a few of these bloggings will know that I adore Elvis Costello, so getting tix - and a photo pass! - to see his show last month at the intimate (for him) 930 Club was a thrill and then some. The heartbreak moment came and went quickly - my Big and Important Looking digital camera totally screwed with my head and didn't get a single usable shot. Hell, except for a few of the blank stage before Elvis came out, there weren't any shots that weren't near-solid black! For an oh-so-brief two songs, I was five feet away from my hero, torn between trying to get the %$#@ing camera to work and just basking in his presence as he raced through "Working Week" and "Shabby Doll." Having to leave the pit was hard, but I couldn't pretend anymore. My camera was kaput (at least until I read the damn manual and figured out what I had done wrong). Luckily, I couldn't dwell on this failure for long, since Elvis is celebrating his 30th year in the biz by revisiting his classic early output. Over the course of two hours, a good 85% of the material was from the sterling albums up to and including my favorite, "Imperial Bedroom," so I was in new wave/post-punk/whatever-we-called-it-then hog heaven.

On a trip late last month to NYC, I had the chance to see the British band Fields at Mercury Lounge, a sweet little rock spot that lets you get up close and personal. After a pair of drunk dudes played with my (smaller, cheaper) digital camera to get a shot of Shari and me, I turned the lens to the stage and took these...

The band has a jumpy (in a good way) guitarist/vocalist..


...and a foxy female keyboardist/vocalist...


and with the drummer, other guitarist and bassist, they make a much bigger noise than their studio work would suggest.


YTD: 225

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