Some recent music acquisitions:
cerulean, Brighter/Still
Travis, Ode to J. Smith
Asobi Seksu, Hush: Yeah, this album was a letdown, but I still figured I’d pick it up. The best gauge of my disappointment: I bought it digitally off eMusic, instead of buying a physical CD like I originally assumed I would.
Brighter/Still
Ode To J. Smith
Hush
Despite being really into British shoegaze bands back in the early 90′s, I rarely had the money to buy full-length albums back then, and so I missed a lot of stuff that I knew was supposed to be awesome. Case in point: Swervedriver. Although I’d heard a fair amount about them, the only thing I actually owned by them at the time was the four-song US-only Reel To Real
All of which is just backstory to explain why I’m so stoked that Second Motion has reissued Swervedriver’s first two albums, Raise and Mezcal Head
On the other hand, they don’t feel nearly as cerebral or spacey as their contemporaries, and in a way I’m surprised that they were pegged as a shoegaze band at all — sure, there are some sweeping guitarscapes here, but they’re put to an entirely different purpose, and if I was listening to Raise without knowing who it was, I’m not sure I would have initially categorized it as a shoegaze album (a noisy alt-rock record, perhaps?).
Regardless, the album rocks, and is highly recommended. My only actual complaint about the reissue is that, with four bonus tracks tacked on, the CD still only clocks in at about an hour — so why not pad it out with three or four more songs? The band put out a slew of EPs and singles around the time Raise came out, so there’s no shortage of material — and speaking for myself, I would have loved it if they had included the other two tracks off Reel To Real, “Scrawl & Scream” and an excellent cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Jesus”.
Recently I went on a buying spree of songs that I used to have on CD, but got rid of at some point or another (as usual, ruthlessly trimming the CD collection):
Blur, “Tender”
New Order, “Regret” – One of New Order’s poppiest singles, but also a long-time favorite of mine. I always said they should have more guitar in their songs.
New Order, “Ceremony” – Actually I bought both recorded versions of “Ceremony”, because I bought the original version
Kasabian, “L.S.F.”
Underworld, “Born Slippy Nuxx”
Snow Patrol, “Run”
My Bloody Valentine, Glider EP
Swervedriver, “She Weaves A Tender Trap”
13
The Best Of Blur
Singles
Substance
Kasabian
1992-2002
Final Straw
Glider
99th Dream
Some stuff I’ve picked up recently:
Slowdive, Morningrise
My Little Airport, Zoo Is Sad, People Are Cruel – Catchy, delightful indie pop from Hong Kong. Really great.
Longwave, Life of the Party
Morningrise
Zoo Is Sad, People Are Cruel
Life Of The Party
Another rundown on recent music I’ve picked up. This edition is all about shoegaze, old and new. I’ve been listening to a lot of shoegaze lately.
Asobi Seksu, “Me & Mary”
Lush, Gala
Lush, “Monochrome”
Amusement Parks On Fire, s/t
Me & Mary
Gala
Spooky
Amusement Parks On Fire
My first music pickups of the year are all about Shibuya-Kei, the ultra-hip 90′s Japanese music scene that blended lounge, electronica, jazz, and French pop into a bizarre, often manic, but very cool mix. This is all stuff off eMusic from various compilations on Bungalow Records.
From Sushi 3003
Calin with Fantastic Plastic Machine, “Samba de Minha Namorandinho”
Mari, “My Favorite Things”
Havanna Exotica, “Surfin’ On M.O.O.G.”
Hiroshi Takano, “Aikawarazusa
K-Taro, “Sweden, Heaven & Hell”
Chiharu Iwamoto, “Kiss”
From Sushi 4004:
Hi-Posi, “You Are My Music”
Yukari Fresh, “Yukarin’ Disco”
From Escalator Records, Tokyo:
Yukari Fresh, “Paul Scholes”, “Raymond (Erobique Mix)”, “Yukarimpic 1/2/3″, and “Michael Owen” – I’ve never heard any of these tracks before, but “Yukarin’ Disco” was always a favorite off Sushi 4004, so I’m assuming it’ll be more Yukari nuttiness.
I should note that eMusic doesn’t have any of the tracks from the Sushi comps by Pizicatto Five, Cornelius, Takako Minekawa, and Kahimi Karie, the scene’s most visible artists (at least in the States). Too bad, as I’d particularly like to get a copy of P5′s “Nata Di Marzo”, Karie’s “Alcohol”, and especially Minekawa’s “Fantastic Cat”.
Anyway, I went looking for these files because I used to own the two Sushi compilations (I tend to rather mercilessly purge my CD collection from time-to-time),and wanted to put my favorite tracks on my new MP3 player at a higher bitrate than the 128 kbps that I had on my Nomad. I do recommend those two Sushi CD’s for anyone looking to get an overview of Shibuya-Kei, because it provides a great introduction to the scene, and has great liner notes to boot. (I’ve never heard the Escalator comp, beyond the Yukari Fresh tracks, so I can’t comment on that one, but Escalator Records — recently dead, I’m told — was apparently a key label in the scene.)
Sushi 3003
Sushi 4004
Escalator Records, Tokyo
Following up on yesterday’s post, here’s the last of couple things I picked up in ’08:
The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me
cargo, Morning Star – Although this blog has been devoted almost exclusively to guitar pop, I actually have developed a sweet tooth for silly dance pop over the past decade (I blame it entirely on Saint Etienne, my gateway drug). I stumbled onto this Japanese dance pop group on JapanFiles the other night, and while again I haven’t had much of a chance to listen to it, lead track “For The Light”, at least, is great upbeat disco pop.
Pleased To Meet Me
Morning Star
Wrapping up the last of my music purchases from ’08, in two parts to keep things a little more coherent. This post will stick to the indie pop, as the indie pop buying spree that started before Christmas lasted a bit after the holiday. I like my indie pop in small doses, so most of these are singles and EPs:
Bricolage, “Footsteps” b/w “Night Falls With Vertigo” – I know nothing about this band, except that they sound a lot like Orange Juice, and I think they’re from Scotland.
Lorelei, Asleep EP
Heavenly, P.U.N.K. Girl
Marine Research, Sounds from the Gulf Stream
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart EP – Another band I know basically nothing about, but this 2007 EP sounds pretty good. Noisy, jangly guitar pop. So far my favorite thing here.
Footsteps
Asleep EP
P.U.N.K. Girl
Sounds From The Gulf Stream
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart EP
I bought an extra 50 eMusic downloads for the holidays, which is why I’ve been picking up so much music lately. A last couple downloads before Christmas …
Black Tambourine, Complete Recordings
Lilys, The Lilys/Aspera Ad Astra
Complete Recordings
The Lilys / Aspera Ad Astra
After I wrote yesterday’s post, I ended up downloading some more stuff:
The Church, El Momento Descuidado
Popsicle, Template – Not to be confused with Ack Phhht! fave Swinging Popsicle, I was just sort of poking around eMusic looking at 90′s Swedish indie rock bands, and this is what I ended up downloading. I really know nothing about this band, or this 1992 mini-album.
Slowdive, “In Mind” — Off the 5EP. My copy of Souvlaki
Panda Riot, She Dares All Things
El Momento Descuidado
Template
5EP
She Dares All Things
