Went to the Mall of America, which is certainly big, but not overwhelming so (surprisingly). I was saddened to see that there was only one place to buy music – a rather cluttered Sam Goody, which is as much about electronics gear as it is about CDs. I was looking for a local music section (hah!) and barring that, I had a list of names that had appeared in a newspaper about the city’s best acts. There was a divider card for one of my searches – Cloud Cult – but no CDs.
And then the helpful sales girl took me to a bank of monitors and looked the band up. Two albums appeared, one of which I could have custom burned for me on the spot. Cool idea! She told me that the system is primarily used to make custom mixes – the company itself, based in St. Paul, is called “Mix & Burn” – but that the store could also make copies of CDs that were out of stock and weren’t marked as prohibited (as the one Cloud Cult CD was). You also had the option of having the music downloaded directly into your mp3 device.
One of the wrinkles – some releases didn’t allow a full album purchase price, and my intended purchase being one of them. It would cost almost $25 for the full CD. So I opted for a five-song sampler, grabbing the two songs listed in the paper’s favorable review and a few titles chosen strictly for their appeal, like “The Girl Underground.”
My CD was ready in about five minutes, in generic cover with titles and artist(s) listed for every track, and I picked the name. Second wrinkle – when I loaded it into my iTunes collection, none of the info came through, so I had to type it all in.
1.CLOUD CULT – (sampler from) The Meaning of 8 (Earthology)
And it’s good stuff, too! Reminds me of Flaming Lips and Terry called out a Death Cab influence, too. Wish I could have seen the show they did at 7th Avenue Friday night, but will look for the full CD – online.
Freebies from Sam Goody:
2. THIS WORLD FAIR – 3-track sampler from the S/T release (Rethink)
Stickered with the info that the band was playing the Varsity Theatre – in April.
3. The PHOTO ATLAS – 2-track sampler from (Morning After)
tagged as “the result of unprotected sex between the Faint and At the Drive-In” and “a blazing cross between Fugazi and Gang of Four.”
The power of the press – in this case, an ad for a store with a neat anime graphic T-shirt – brought me to a hipster outlet called Metroland, which was a generally higher-priced fashion outlet, but they had a nice clerance section where I scored a shirt for High School Girl, a vinyl figurine and some very cheap samplers ($1.99):
4.VARIOUS ARTISTS – Destination Lounge: New York City (Revive the Soul)
2 CDs and a DVD. First track: a remix of the Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones, and a full array of acts I’ve never heard of.
5. VARIOUS ARTISTS – more pLUSH (Kriztal Entertainment)
Fifteen tracks: “distinctive downtempo works alongside upbeat and straight out party rockers but all the while maintaining the sexy and sophisticated groove you’ve come to expect.”
And finally, from a previous day’s trip to Borders to get a map of the city:
6. VARIOUS ARTISTS – MUSE: The Supermassive Collection (NME magazine)
The British press is losing its mind over this band and its triumphant Wembley Arena show, so the music paper had the band compile a set of tracks it claims it will be playing before the Big Show. Lord Buckley (bookending the 13-track set), Bjork, Flaming Lips, Cold War Kids and more.
O/CD YTD Total: 561
Anyway, while wondering around the city, it's hard not to fall over the city's star musical attraction. Here's the famous First Avenue Club, where Prince filmed much of "Purple Rain":
And here's the huge Target Center across the street where Prince will play on 7/07/07:
And here's the display for Prince's perfume, in the window of the downtown Macy's store, which pumps music out into the street far into the night:
TODAY'S FREE mp3:
"Eucalyptus" by the Deadly Syndrome.
No comments:
Post a Comment