sleep eternale...

A Band To Check Out:

Going, Going, ...

The House Of Records is now down to 40% off, with two weeks left to go. The pickings are definitely getting slimmer, but they are working fast to "price" all the CDs they still have piled up in boxes around the store in order to get them on the shelves and move them out again. So believe it or not there were many more finds. I will have to check back one last time before they close their doors.

Today's acquisitions:

Blur -- 13 ..... $6
(special "boxed" edition that includes a poster)

The Subways -- Young For Eternity ...... $4
(I bet you haven't heard about this band unless you've read about them here!)

The Warlocks -- Surgery ...... $1.20
(Not their best album, but for $1.20?)

The Wonder Stuff -- HUP ...... $3.60
(the album with the song "Don't Let Me Down, Gently")

But I won't get to listen to any of these for a while, because I picked up one more thing that trumps it all: in preparation for Morrissey's big tour, I bought a Best Of CD. Put out by Rhino Records, it runs the gamut from Viva Hate to Maladjusted and includes extensive liner notes. I might have all the Smiths albums & early Morrissey albums on record or cassette, but my later Morrissey collection is a bit lacking. So I will be listening to this non-stop for the next week so I can catch up on all the lyrics in time for the show! It was put out in 2001, so there will be a 2 album hole in my knowledge, but that's not so bad...

"Sing Your Life"
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But How Good Are They With Maple Syrup?

My quick trip to Trader Joe's today turned into a sad yet fruitful trip to the record store next door. The House of Records, "L.A.'s oldest record store," on Pico is closing! Right now everything is 30% off (and the prices are cheap to start with). It's a great little store -- they have a huge vinyl collection, lots of CDs under $5, and a listening station that can accommodate as many people as are ever in the store at one time (hmm.. maybe that's not such a good thing?). But their best asset is (presumably) their access to promos. They are just a couple doors down from The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and as one might expect, they have tons of "for promotional use only" CDs and LPs on their racks. It's always fun to look at the extra info the companies provide on those disks -- blurbs to read on the air about how great the band is, suggestions about which songs to play, details on release dates, etc.

Once I saw the huge "closing" sign I knew I had to go in. So today's playlist is a collection of new acquisitions. I didn't notice until I sat down to write this, but I really do seem to stick to themes when I select music, whether I am aware of it or not. Today's theme is Britian (esp. britpop):

The Soft Boys -- Nextdoorland (promo CD -- 2002)
The Charlatans -- Tellin' Stories (1996)
Blur -- The Great Escape (promo CD -- 1995)
Oasis -- Interview Disc & 120 page book (1996)
New Order -- Waiting For The Sirens' Call (2005)(yes, I finally got it)

and the one "local" album:
Marky Ramone and The Intruders -- The Answer To Your Problems (1999)
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Joey's Birthday

Today is Joey Ramone's birthday. See a tribute video here. Visit his website here and a tribute myspace page here. We miss you, Joey.

And The World Is A Little Darker

"i suppose it was the interview with clint boon that started it all off hed asked me for a few words on perry farrells satellite party single dogstar [which he thought was great] so i went on and lo and behold mentioned the N>O> split so i suppose because it was me sayin it it was out at last. im relieved really hated carryin on as normal with an awful secret so lets move on shall we? played the openin of rios in leeds on friday great crowd and considerin theyd been through 5 local bands already had an amazin resilience/ some kid came up and gave me a hug and said "sorry to hear about new order hooky" i was really touched its like your budgie dyin!"

Peter Hook confirms that New Order broke up on his Myspace blog. You can listen to the radio interview that he mentions here (The interview is pretty funny. My favorite part is when he says the project came together when two different Welsh musicians "bumped into each other surfing in Santa Monica, as you do."). You can listen to the song Peter Hook plays on here (it's the first track: Wish Upon A Dog Star).

Thanks to the website NewOrderOnline for letting us all know about the post and the interview.

Today's playlist, then, will be a tribute (dirge?) for one of my favorite bands:

on CD:
Power, Corruption & Lies
Technique
Brotherhood
Republic
(the best of) New Order

on tape:
Low-Life
Substance 1987
(and more -- I just can't find them right now)
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