Sunday, April 25, 2010

I don't know a sin I haven't found.
Hey! Sorry I blanked on the whole month of March and almost all of April. Hope people are still reading this even though I kind of jumped ship to Tumblr for no reason (other than laziness probably?). I also hope people (you specifically) went out and tore shit up on Record Store Day 2010. I wasn't even excited about it until the day before, when I read the list of decent RSD releases and then had this sudden realization that I still love music and buying records. I mostly buy comics now, it's weird. But I bought a ton of vinyl, more than I thought I would, and felt great about it. The stores I like got a bunch of money and the shelves I like got more things to hold. And I actually managed to find a bunch of this year's RSD-only vinyl releases! Last year I couldn't find any. I had to scour eBay later and pick up some of them for slightly inflated prices. One that I still haven't picked up (at least in physical form) from last year is The Breeders' Fate To Fatal 12". You can download it pretty easy, but last I checked it was around $40 on eBay, limited to 500 copies, hand-screened, I think. But has everyone heard it? It's easier to handle than Mountain Battles, which is great, but takes some patience. Fate To Fatal feels a little fresher, totally unforced. It's not a long journey. It's only four songs. The title track comes direct from the '90s. "The Last Time" isn't a Stones cover, but does feature Mark Lanegan. A guy's voice on a Breeders song! So disorienting. "Chances Are" might break your heart at the right time. "Pinnacle Hollow" sounds like a Neil Young cover, but I'm pretty sure it isn't. It's a big vista and some hard, vague truths, the details never articulated but their presence hovering all around. I can go on and on about The Breeders, but I won't (I already have, sort of). I just didn't know if people had heard this record, and I wonder if people put new Breeders stuff into the "I'll check that out later" pile. You should check this one out now, or at least sooner.

The Breeders - "Fate To Fatal"
The Breeders - "The Last Time"
The Breeders - "Chances Are"
The Breeders - "Pinnacle Hollow"

Meanwhile: I'm going through a big Mississippi Records phase, or really a Mississippi Tape Comp phase. Download most/all of their tapes from the Root Blog. Type the word "mississippi" into the search field and go nuts. My favorites are What Are These Things With Big Black Wings? and Men With Broken Hearts. Oh and War Declaration is great, too. They're all good. Also going through an Everly Brothers phase. "Kentucky" and "Down In The Willow Garden" are good examples. Also obsessed with Stray Bullets. Do you have some of the later issues and do you want to let me borrow them? I take good care of borrowed books. I'd treat Stray Bullets back issues like the Shroud of Turin or the original Constitution. It's the best series I've ever read, at least so far. Also: new Max Morton zine, Mentholated Suburbia, is available now. I'm only telling you this because I already got my copy.

ps--Happy Birthday Leah!! Last night at her party we watched this video, plus the AVNs, which were drastically short, I thought. I got her an issue of a vintage adult mag called Black Silk Stockings, which I bought at the Antique Mall on 332 and had to ask an old lady to fetch for me from behind a glass case. Also got her the "Get Out of My Dreams" 45. Leah, if you're reading this: you still have two more gifts on the way. Barf Town 2: More Barfing!