A poodle ripped Stephen Malkmus’ face off.
I got a record player for Christmas. This is pretty great, namely because record players are inherently pretty cool and also because now I wont be reduced to being the kind of guy that has a ton of vinyl in the corner of his room without anything to play them on. Also great is that the record store I used to work at just relocated to right underneath my current office. I went in there today to make my first vinyl purchases, found out the owner is getting married, and then had a spirited debate about how piracy might be killing the independant record store (yeesh), but it’s probably really helping the bands more than ever. Felt like kind of a dick move. Anyway—this blog has kind of been gathering the dust that only comes with excessive and bombastic Springsteen homages, so I thought it might be time to update with a list of the vinyl I buy and why I decided to pick them. Complete with excessive and bombastic Springsteen homages.
Funeral by Arcade Fire
I’ve always had a conflicted relationship with this ragtag band of Canucks. I first heard them in the car of a fairly abrasive lesbian who used to shepherd me around town buying me booze when I was underage. She left this cd at my house and I gave it a few listens before I decided it was complete crap. I think I arrived at this decision because I didn’t really want to listen to something this person would like. I just had this terrible image of her sitting around listening to Funeral underneath a Melissa Etheridge poster while reading some obnoxious feminist-lit by Elizabeth Wurtzel. Not exactly an inspiring first impression.
Then the followup Neon Bible came out and John Ashenden played it every hour of every day for 6 months at work. I was basically bombarded with “No Cars Go” once an hour, and that kind of incessant playing tends to neccesitate a relationship of some kind with the songs. Thankfully, it was a good relationship and I’ve been a huge fan of Arcade Fire since, Wayne Coyne be damned.
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
I really just want to put the tracklist on here and ask you, non-existant reader, just how I could refuse to purchase such an opus. It’s my favorite album of all time and it’s a virtual requirement that I own it in every form of media possible.
Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen
When I was 16 I saved up all of my money and bought a 2001 Honda Civic. Affectionately named “Blue Steel”, this fine piece of machinery came with all of the extras, with the startling exception of a cd player. As a result, I was forced to listen to cassettes which at the time seemed like the complete bane of my existence. Luckily for me, I have a father who’s kind of like a non-dickish version of John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity. I asked him if he could make me a Springsteen tape because I’d been enjoying “Thunder Road” on the radio and he obliged. Thus, a 24 track Springsteen cassette was born and overplayed for about 2 years.
I remember really hating the Tunnel of Love material at first. It always seemed just a little too wimpy for me compared to Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. As I got older and started developing what can only be labeled mega-huge crushes on girls, these songs started to resonate a lot more. I can remember driving home from basketball games at the gym and not turning to “Jungleland”, but wanting to hear “Valentine’s Day” over and over again. Half the songs are of the “Gee whiz, ain’t marriage the tops!” ilk, while the other half is basically “oh my god, marriage is the most terrifying thing ever created”.
Plus, the title is probably a metaphor for a vagina and that’s kind of cool.
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement
I always thought of Pavement as one of those bands that is beloved by people who are in love with the aesthetic of indie rock and not the actual sound. Granted, I’d never heard Pavement and was generally just an asshole prone to making rash, uneducated judgements, but that’s still what I think of. To me, Pavement was kind of like X or Dirty Projectors—music I’m supposed to really like as a music fan, but actually just music I’m going to pretend to like to trick people into thinking I’m impressive.
What turned me on Pavement was hearing the song “Unseen Power of the Picket Fence”. It’s a pretty great song about the R.E.M. album “Reckoning”, and I while I disagree with Stephen Malkmus’ opinion on the song “Time After Time (Annelise)” (it was his “least favorite song”)…it sold me. I downloaded the Pavement album “Slanted and Enchanted” and I’ve been cautiously diving into the rest of their catalog ever since.
Rob Sheffield wrote an excellent book called “Love is a Mix Tape” about the mix tapes he used to make for his late wife. There is one part that really struck me, and that was a story he tells about going to see Pavement in the basement of a sushi restaurant with his wife and being completely blown away. The way he wrote about his wife and their mutual relationship with their favorite music was always just kind of encapsulated by the way he described seeing Pavement for the first time. You should read that book.
Plus, it is not lost on me that there is a certain amount of hipster street cred associated with having Pavement on vinyl…which is probably the most pathetic admission I’ve ever tendered. I’ll be giving Stephon Malkmoos a face transplant after a poodle rips off his face.
