Martedì 1 Dic 2009, 18:03
60" of musical joy landed on my desk at work today. I really enjoy buying a big batch of records and the ritual of unpacking them when they arrive. Today I opened:
Two Los Campesinos! 7"s
One old and one new There Are Listed Buildings and My Year In Lists. Still my favourite band in the world and I'm excited about the forthcoming album. The new track is good, but not exciting as some of the others i've heard, also no B-side (boo!).
Johnny Foreigner - Eyes Wide Terrified 7"
Another favourite, and another single from an earlier album. The JoFo album was never released on LP so I feel obligated to collect whatever I can on vinyl to support them.
Marmaduke Duke - Silhouettes 7"
Featuring one of the members of Biffy Clyro, but more dancey, proggy and almost a bit funky. Rather fun, need to listen to more.
Gravenhurst - Flashlight Seasons LP
The first of two Gravenhurst albums I bought, and the first they released. This album is seared in to my memory as it was one of the few I had on constant repeat on a Minidisc player (years and years ago). It has strong associations with train rides along the coast.
Gravenhurst - Fires In Distant Buildings LP
While the previous record is more sad, slow and more introspective, this is slightly more up tempo, but still pretty sad in places. See my friends (a Kinks cover) is especially good.
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Slow Riot For New Zero LP
One of my favourite records of all time. I've been slowly collecting GYBE albums on vinyl for a while, trying to complete the set. Listening to this is an utter utter pleasure, the perfect record for a moody evening.
Emmy The Great - Edward EP 12"
I've followed this London anti-folk singer songwriter for a while. I have a signed copy of Secret Circus from a very early show. This is a collection of early songs re-recorded. It's nice to listen to, but also a little sad that the new versions are slightly different from those I fell in love with.
Late Of The Pier - Space And The Woods / Focker 12"
I'm not a huge LOTP fan, they're good and I wouldn't mind seeing them live, but I only grabbed this because it was cheap. I'm curious to see if the remixes are any good on it.
And finally, but by no means least I also received…
Carl Sagan - A Glorious Dawn 7"
Amazing auto-tuned youtube video/remix of the classic Carl Sagan Cosmos TV series, featuring guest vocals from Stephen Hawking. It sounds awful but it's incredibly well put together musically, visually, and manages to maintain the message of the original series (without mocking it).
Although this has been a popular meme it's not too surprising it's had the weight to be taken seriously. Jack White's record label Third Man Records released it as a limited edition 7", with an etching of the Voyager Golden Record on the B-side.
In all honesty, this is a brilliant record. The fact it's found such popularity gives me great faith in remix culture and the power it has. A combination of cheap production/music tools make it easier than it's ever been create music, the internet as a distribution system is unparalleled and it's nice to see a project like this wasn't crushed by aggressive intellectual property protection