4.19.2008

Record Store Day


Bob Burnett: Yesterday (April 19) was Record Store Day, and I celebrated at Jackpot Records in Portland, Oregon. Jackpot Records is just the type of small, indy, downtown shop I love to discover while traveling. I pored through the nice selection and enjoyed the in-store music being played--some sort of electronica mix disc by a friend of the shop type thing.......in fact, while it was playing I recognized strands of an '80s Bill Nelson instrumental from The Love That Whirls, mentioned it to the guy working there and said I hadn't heard it in probably 20 years. How often does that happen at Wal-Mart? For those keeping score at home I also picked up the amazing Pylon compilation, Gyrate+, Matthew Herbert's Score and a DVD of the excellent Luna documentary Tell Me Do You Miss Me. I gigglingly eyed some of the 180 gram vinyl selections they have too----including Gary Numan & the Tubeway Army's Replicas. I did ponder over a vinyl copy on the collectable wall of an Anthony Braxton trio on Arista from the '70s I know to be hopelessly out of print......but......ah.......I'll be back in Portland in a few weeks. Maybe it'll still be there.

I hope you had a bountiful Record Store Day too.

4.06.2008

Grizzly Bear: Horn of Plenty


Bob Burnett: I just got this album.....in fact, I'd never listened to it before about a half-hour ago, which makes this a spontaneous listen-write kind of moment. I don't know if it's because I'm watching an early morning rain with the popping greens, yellows and purples of April surrounding me while listening but I'm finding this gentle, multifaceted listen to be quite interesting. What I've discovered about Grizzly Bear is it's spearheaded by Edward Droste and was intended to be a solo effort, however Christopher Bear was added to the process and between them they created a colorful, quiet Syd Barrett-meets American Analog Set kind of musical moment. I also know that the Grizzly Bear name pops up on Dntel's aforementioned and terrific album Dumb Luck.

A few other recent positive discoveries: a live version of Brian Eno's Music for Airports by Bang On A Can All Stars and Mia Doi Todd's Gea.