The daughters and I took a trip to the CD trade-in store. I’ll add theirs in later (since I paid for ‘em and get to copy ‘em). And I just got two:
FRANK SINATRA - The Capitol Collector’s Series (Capitol)
20 tracks for $1.99? Even if I may already have this one (haven’t found it yet), it’s worth it to have a car copy.
The 60’s COLLECTION - Various Artists (Koz Records)
60 tracks over 3 discs (not the cheapie 10-12 per) with a good mix of stuff I know I love/want - Sandi Shaw, Tremeloes, Dave Davies (I've got all the Kinks’ tracks, but it’s always a joy to hear “Waterloo Sunset”), Foundations, and some oddities that I don’t think of as hits - Long John Baldry, Flowerpot Men (?!), Overlanders.
My external hard drive collection will eat ‘em up, yum.
TIME and DISTANCE - Gravity (Not Alone Records)
The PR group sent a second, cardboard-jacket advance copy of the CD, due in July, and I finally got a chance to listen to it. Can’t say that it strikes me as anything special in the getting-to-be-unwieldy glut of pop/punk/emo bands, so I passed it on to College Girl and asked her to get back with her opinion. As someone who can tell New Found Glory from Motion City Soundtrack, she would know if they’ve got stand-out quality.
Catching Up with Some Digital Downloads.
I said it before and I’ll say it again. Zip files are easy to send/receive but easy to forget. Maybe that’s why I never got around to mentioning
The DECEMBERISTS - The Hazards of Love (Capitol)
I was over the moon, as the saying goes, to get a digital advance of this one, as I consider the Decemberists one of the best bands extant. And yet, even after a few listens, one being an all-attention-paid long car ride, I still can’t be sure whether this is Colin Meloy’s masterstroke or major folly. The concept is so audacious, the prog-rock forays so blatant, I can’t be sure what to take seriously and what's intended as giddy irony. And yet, since it has that unmistakable Decemberists sound, I delight whenever a single track comes up in my shuffle mix or on the radio. Just not sure about the Whole Grand Thing. The band is playing at Merriweather Post on July 8, with Andrew Bird and Robyn Hitchcock opening. That's a helluva show. I think I need to be there to make a final call. Whatever the verdict, I still <3 this band. And, as I type this, I am downloading the digital booklet from the band’s artfully antiqued web site. Thanks, guys. I will feel better getting a more tangible hold on this.
(PR photo)The PAINS of BEING PURE at HEART - S/T (Slumberland)
On the band’s myspace page, this NYC-based mixed-gender (one girl) quartet lists its influences as The Pastels, The Ramones (I don’t hear that kind of propulsion), Teenage Fanclub, Black Tambourine, Dear Nora, Rocketship (I confess - I don’t know the last three), Kurt Cobain (they’ve issued a 7” called “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan”) and My Bloody Valentine’s "Paint a Rainbow." To that, I would add Stone Roses and Belle & Sebastian, and I can’t believe they’re not British. I can’t recall now how I got this download (probably emusic) but I’m glad I finally caught up with it. I expect to return soon.
SPRENGJUHOLLIN - Bestu Kveðjur
What do they have bubbling in that hot spring water in Iceland? This Icelandic quintet throws it all in the blender - catchy 60’s style pop hooks, spacey keyboards, brass blares, some over-the-top diva-esque backing vocals. I can’t understand a word they’re saying, but I dig it. When the 8 tracks (out of 15) that I grabbed from from the emusic site ended, the next song that came up in my iTunes set was Dusty Springfield’s “Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This” and it segued just fine, which is a good sign. An emusic feature says the band’s “songs are like novellas, with misbegotten characters stumbling dumbly around empty ideologies and taking long trips with no destination in mind.” How do they know? Whatever, it sounds cool. There are two frontmen - Snorri Helgason and Bergur Ebbi Benediktsson - and I can cut-and-paste their names and titles like “Deus, Bóas Og/eða Kjarninnto” to make me look like smart, but I am clueless. Maybe the lyrics would be totally lame in translation, so I’m just gonna bob my head and enjoy ignorant musical bliss.
Okay. So we've been up late and around the world.
YTD O/CD Tally: 165
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