Farewell, Trusty Harman Kardon T3OC

The old turntable is dead, long live the new turntable.

I’d been procrastinating about dealing with the very old Harman Kardon that ceased to function after I tested an equally old Fleetwood Mac bootleg on it (an editorial comment, perhaps?) but finally fought my way through the cords and wires to do a check on it. Having declared it officially dead and saying a few memorial words of thanks, I connected the new USB-compatible turntable that was my birthday present last year.
Having tested it once, I had it in storage for the days when I might have time to dive into major vinyl-to-digital conversion. And while I still don’t think I can devote myself to loading software and learning the process anytime soon, it was certainly fun to play with the sleek new component. Don’t tell my poor husband, who envisions those groaning shelves of LPs one day disappearing but, even after I convert any/all to mp3s, there will always be vinyl in my life. You can have my favorite records when you pry them from my cold, dead hands!

It seems only appropriate that, when speaking of vinyl, one should honor DJs, even if many are working digitally these days.I’m not sure how DJ Lobsterdust goes about creating his (could it be her?) stuff, but the
LOBSTERDUST VS. MOTOWN - Same Old Song EP(??)
that College Girl’s BF gave me is full of cool stuff. “Call Me Aready,” a mashup of Blondie and the Temptations “Get Ready” is way fun and “Train It Up,” where the Clash’s catchiest song is paired with a Marvin Gaye party groove, is another winner.
CG's BF also gave me a treasure trove of downloads:
ARCADE FIRE - B-sides and Live Tracks (???)
The live tracks come from various performances on KCRW (L.A.'s uber-cool NPR station) and BBC Radio, including a scorching 11+ minute concert finale starting with “Neighborhood #3,” and a cover of a most favorite Talking Heads tune, “Naive Melody.” The vocal here is even more fragile than Byrne’s original, but the steel drum is a nice touch and having a full-length CD-R full of new Fire is sweet, indeed!
And, in other gifties, he gave me:
GRIZZLY BEAR - Veckatimest (Warp)
The band’s myspace page, where you can stream the wonderful track, “Two Weeks,” and get free downloads of other songs, describes its sound as “Indie/Acoustic/Experimental.” That’s a good start, and you can add comparisons to Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills & Nash, thanks to the beautiful harmonies and maybe some Harry Nilsson, due to the occasional faux-naive bright pop. Could be a contender for one of the year’s top ten.

Actually it’s been a brilliant week for new music in our house, including two purchases with My Own Cash Money:
WILCO – Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch)
PHOENIX – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)
When my husband buys flowers, I tease him that he’s not earning Brownie points with me, since I know he loves flowers himself. Likewise, though I bought these two CDs as “gifts” for him, he knows damn well I wanted the music, too. There is some sacrifice on my part, however, because he plays any new album he loves every single day, sometimes twice, and I am unable to escape repeated listening. Thankfully, both albums here show acts at the top of their game, so I'm cool with the repetition.
This Wilco is more straightforward than its previous experimental efforts, although the wonderful guitar work of Nils Cline still offers a bit of quirk factor - and some definite George Harrison homage - to ward off any sense of “same old.” And yes, that’s Feist singing on “You and I.” Still wishin’ and a hopin’ that I might score some tickets for the Wolf Trap show this Wednesday.
As for Phoenix, I was happy to find the band’s two previous albums in the deep files since this new one is so good I want to revisit and explore the sound’s evolution. Hubby and I both hear a happy Beach Boys summer vibe within the dance pop and he keeps talking of a Kings of Leon-style rock twist, but I don’t. We can disagree on the details and still agree that it’s worth hearing again. And again.

In other purchasing news, amazon had a steal of a deal last week -
DAVID BOWIE – Diamond Dogs: 30th Anniversary Edition (Virgin)
19 tracks for $5.oo. Much as I love deluxe editions in physical form (liner notes! photos! fancy slip cases!), I doubt I could afford to spring for this one in full format. And I didn’t realize until I got the confirmation email that it was really only $4.oo since I’d forgotten a one dollar credit, good for any download, thanks to a recent purchase, in physical form, of
IDA MARIA - Fortress ‘Round My Heart (Mercury/Fontana)
Ever since seeing this dynamo rock the house at CMJ two years ago, I’ve been waiting to take her Bjork-meets-Lily Allen music home. “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” has been getting airplay on KCRW, and it’s a cool song, but the hint of novelty act in the title doesn’t tell the whole story. I hope she’ll be coming ‘round again soon as I can only imagine how much fun she'll be to see now that I know the songs.

I’ll finish off today’s CD round-up with a handful of acquisitions from a visit to the trade-in store two weeks ago.
ANNIE LENNOX - Unplugged: Cold 3 CD Single Box (RCA/BMG)
Each CD has the same studio version of “Cold,” and then three additional live tracks. The first, marked “Cold,” features songs from the “Diva” release, including one of my favorite heartbreakers, “Why.” The one marked “Colder” offers Eurythmics cuts like “Here Comes the Rain Again.” And the final one (you guessed it) - “Coldest” - has the single track that sold me on the entire $11.99 package when I heard it on the store’s listening station - a ripping version of “River Deep Mountain High.” The packaging isn’t all that great, and amazon shows the Japanese import version going for $44 and up (this one’s from Holland) so I suspect I will ultimately burn a nice single CD of Lennox live and put the set up for sale.
10,000 MANIACS - Trouble Me CD single (Elektra)
Back in the Day, I used to do promotional writing for Elektra Records. The guy in charge of the marketing department, an old skool industry Class Act (at least in my mind) named Hale Milgrim, oversaw some of the coolest swag and promotional packaging ever. I worked for his associate, a clever woman with a stylist’s eye and they were nice enough to share some of the cool booty with me. I was there when 10,000 Maniacs released the album from which this song came, but I don’t remember this groovy CD single packaging. It was a time when vinyl was still the primary format, so who knows. Anyhoo, this 3-track, 3-inch CD single comes in a die-cut cardboard cutout of an elephant (elephants were a motif of the album) that’s about the size of 7-inch vinyl single and, when you move the elephant’s trunk, it pushes away the cardboard title card that covers the animal’s back like a saddle and the single is exposed. Too damn cool! ($3.99)
The OC MIX 5 - Various Artists (Warner Bros.)
The $1.99 clearance bins are now stacked beneath a table and hard to access, so it appears their days are numbered - although the guy bought every CD I had in my bags, including some that seemed doomed to the cheapie section, so who knows. At any rate, I saw few of the slimline or cardboard covers that indicate possible advance releases and a cursory glance at the big batch showed few reasons to dig in deeper. But I did find this “Harbor School Classbook ‘05-’06” with a few worthwhile tracks, like “Daft Punk is Playing at My House,” and songs by people I want to know better - Rogue Wave, Youth Group, Of Montreal. We listened to it on the long ride upstate and it was just what a compilation should be - like an hour spent with a hip radio station.
WYE OAK - The Knot (Merge)
This one is an advance CD, but I found it in the regular bins for $3.99 and deemed it worthy of the extra two bucks to get a jump on the the July 21 release date. I misplaced it soon after purchase and only recently found it, so no comments yet.

YTD O/CD Tally: 225