It’s time for the annual Nerd Holiday season which is always kicked off with Record Store Day! Despite this year’s ambassador(s) being Pearl Jam, or as I call them Led Zeppelin for dumb Gen Xers, I found some great treasures alongside the two key albums I wanted from the get go.
Someone noted how the line gets longer every year. I’m not really sure about the validity of such a statement. I showed up really late because we had a long evening seeing the other Captain Marvel movie (DC/Shazam!). I wasn’t terribly worried. If Waterloo Records sold the stuff I wanted before I got in, I had only myself to blame and I was certain I would find impulse buys to make the effort worthwhile. I lucked out, namely for not being a Ministry fan. They had some set up which was a big deal, concert tickets in certain cities and I think a documentary about Wax Trax Records.
Below are the vinyl pieces I scored and hope to play on our new turntable with USB, sometime before the next presidential election cycle.
Peter Gabriel hasn’t done an original album in over 17 years. Maybe a single or two but PG contains his super-difficult-to-find soundtrack work, not of all it, just the key songs I’ve been wanting to get legal copies of. Namely “Walk Through The Fire” from the movie Against All Odds which is more famous for Phil Collins’ melodramatic hit by the same name. I was a bit annoyed that “In Your Eyes” is present for two reasons: it’s played to death and although the song was used in the film Say Anything (I hope to see it one day), you can easily find this on So or a greatest hits compilation. The vinyl comes with a download code.
This was my other intentional buy. After 1000 episodes with the majority in the garage of his LA home, something his second ex-wife didn’t take away, I’m guessing Marc got all the legal rights worked out to make a pressing of the various performers who’ve interviewed with him. Usually, when a musician is a guest on WTF, they often do at least one song to close the show. The only exception I can think of was Dave Grohl. Still, the artists present were worth it for me: Nick Lowe, Aimee Mann, J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Eels, Dave Alvin and Jason Isbell. Fingers crossed for a volume two.
Impulse Buy #1; When it comes to Dutch Rock/Pop bands, it’s a really short list (maybe someone can enlighten to more), let’s see, there’s Golden Earring…Klangstoff…Front 242…no wait, they’re Belgian. So I picked this up despite it lacking their only international hit, “Venus” to get more familiar with their larger body of work and to find the song Ladytron covered at a concert.
Impulse Buy #2; On the 25th anniversary of Bill’s passing, finally some new preserved material not on his four CDs I own and Austin Public Access. He may have been a “rage” comic from the late Eighties but much like Denis Leary (many said, Denis ripped Bill off), the jokes may be dated yet the points remain relevant. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing he passed away during the Clinton years, his head would’ve exploded during Dubious and spontaneous combustion for the Shitgibbon. Many say those Republican crooks made easy comedy. Bill was more talented and his zingers for this assholes would be more insightful, and funnier.
Impulse Buy #3; Holy Crap! A live Matthew Sweet recording that isn’t a bootleg! Plus it’s from my favorite album of 1997, not my favorite Matthew Sweet record though (In Reverse tied with Girlfriend) but I saw him twice on this tour, an unknown Fastball opened both shows. As an added bonus, the vinyl is pressed in my favorite color and the performance is at Pleasure Island in Orlando back when José lived there. I will have to ask him if he went to the concert. If there’s no digital download (haven’t opened this), it’s the first thing I will digitize.
Impulse Buy #4; Twenty nineteen’s emphasis appeared to be out-of-print soundtracks, I already owned the good ones (bought them near their release dates). I was surprised to see The Crow sold out when Dumb and Dumber was better. The BBC put together a handful of Doctor Who soundtracks. I couldn’t resist Destiny of the Daleks, it may not be as vital to the story as Genesis of the Daleks yet we do have Davros (their creator), an opponent the Daleks are in a stalemate with (a rarity) and the debut of Lalla Ward (sexy grrrrr) playing Romana, plus she would be Tom Baker’s wife for a couple years.