Yeah, and naturally, it’s from another one of those POP-crazy Borders store this one in San Antonio, in the republic of Texas. Borders #186, to be precise. Yeah, they asked us for some posters and we sent them only to receive word that they’d been destroyed in some local riot! We don’t read the newspapers, otherwise we might have heard beforehand, but what we did was, we sent them more. And as you can see, Chris Flores and his staff made sure the second shipment didn’t go to waste. We really have to wonder of those Borders kids have training in the distribution of posters and flats, because they do a uniformly great job all across this country of ours. Now, if only they’d send us some photos of Movietone displays! Haven’t they heard that there’s a tour on?
The message to our faithful retailers is, poster on, dude! With the new High Llamas poster coming out in a variation of four different color schemes, we anticipate a few more great displays in the coming future.
FALL IS FALLING
So, here we are, smack dab in the middle of record-selling season. And if you’re a regular reader of this column, you know already just how many releases we’ve got on tap, in the works, and out in the street! It’s been hectic, but we’re absolutely sure that there’s a little bit of everything we do just about everywhere, including in the can and on the shelf. We came prepared! It all started back in June, with Royal Trux; in July, with David Grubbs, Neil Hamburger, Smog and Mats Gustafsson; in August, featuring Rian Murphy & Will Oldham, Movietone, Kev Hopper and Pita; and September, when we added The Red Krayola and The Fucking Champs to the mix. It just keeps starting over and we’re not prepared to quit now that it’s merely the merry month of October. You see, we’ve got a couple secret weapons we’ve been stockpiling. Ever heard of the High Llamas? Thought so! Their all-new LP and CD is called Buzzle Bee and yes, it’s out on Drag City! Why else would we be talking about it, eh? Other than the fact that they are one of music’s leading lights here in this trans-millenial moment in which we live in, naturally. And if that somehow couldn’t be enough for you, then turn to a special vinyl-only edition of one of the critic’s picks of the year 2000 Damon and Naomi with Ghost! This record was slated by Sub Pop to be a CD only, which is a straight miscarriage of justice, pure and simple. Once we heard the sad news, we became obsessed with a vinyl solution (didn’t see that coming, did you?). And so, on October 23rd, you’ll have the sleek, elegant result – a LP sized Damon and Naomi with Ghost record and the High Llamas eagerly awaited new one, available in both formats, and entitled Buzzle Bee.
AFTER THAT –
Smog, “’Neath the Puke Tree” 12"ep/CDep and Chestnut Station In Your Living Room LP/CD – don’t know where, don’t know when. Rest assured, they’re happening somewhere even as we speak. And after that, a few things on Moikai and Blue Chopsticks, as well as the mind-blowing new release from Appendix Out!
BUT IN THE MEANTIME...
Yeah, during that period where we’re not putting a few awesome records every few weeks, there’ll be bands touring, bringing the experience to all of us in a live setting. At a certain point, one has to put the records aside and get out there! And so, we’re looking at live dates for David Grubbs and the Red Krayola (together again! At last!) in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, coming up on October 12, 13 and 14. After that, David will play some more shows all by himself at the Send+Receive Festival in Winnipeg Manitoba. Then in December, he’ll be in Ireland for a few shows. Also in October, Michio Kurihara (of Ghost) will be on the road with Damon and Naomi – a great chance for fans of great guitar playing to see some great guitar playing. The West Coast dates will also feature Masaki Batoh and Kazuo Ogino, which means there’s gonna be Ghost in the house on those rare, featured dates. Then there’s the Movietone tour in November – we’re still working on that one, but the dates are posted elsewhere on this site. And finally in December, our Mick Turner will be heading down the road with Bonnie Prince Billy, (aka our Will Oldham) for some holiday cheer, as well as some East Coast dates.
Yeah, all these people make more than records – they make good music, live. Catch them when you can!
IN THE WAKE OF THE TOUR
Both Neil Hamburger and The Fucking Champs just came off the road and boy, are their fan-bases expanding! The Fucking Champs blew everyone everywhere away, playing to packed houses in Boston and New York and selling merch like we just couldn’t believe! It was fucking great. And Neil, he’s been getting all sorts of requests to appear on TV shows and has conducted a number of interviews for shows like Fresh Air, that NPR broadcasting program. This too is what we’d call fucking great. Although that doesn’t quite pack the punch that calling The Fucking Champs fucking great tends to have. Oh well – thaaaaat’s his life!
NEWS FLASH!
So, Smog is putting out a new EP in a month or so. Or rather, Drag City is putting out a new Smog EP in a month or so. Smog, he couldn’t be farther away from that action if he tried to be. Yeah, he’s loose in the world somewhere last we heard , he was in Greece, which is like, not the birthplace of the phonograph record or anything like it (unless you count theater, which we don’t)! He’s been over there a little while, traveling incognito, as per usual...and when the news came over the wires about a bunch of Americans going down in a ferry boat accident, we got all excited! Smog sells a lot of records, sure...but death sells more. We thought we might have a two-fer on our hands. So you can imagine our, uh, mixed feelings when a call came through from Greece (collect – how else?). It was our Mr. Smog, calling to say nice try, but he’d missed that particular ferry. How did he know?
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be in Athens in the next week, you can catch an all-Greek Smog show, at the Art House, this Saturday, October 14th.
FROM THE O’ROURKE FILES
Jim is back in town after a long Sonic Youth tour and the inevitable slew of hot Winona Ryder rumors (is there anyone she won’t sleep with?). Yes, he’s back, and so that means we’ve got news:
First off, that Eureka movie by Shinji Aoyama played on October 7 at the New York Film Festival. Not only is it named after the record, it has the title track in it! The reviews were all raves, by the way...
Jim’s back, but not for long! He’s busy, dammit! He’ll be in Paris mixing Brigitte Fontaine’s new LP (in the small world department, Sonic Youth also guest-star). He played his first solo show in over a year October 1st in San Sebastien (Spain, people...) at the Electronic Arts Festival. Could more shows be on the way? Nah – but the rumors start here. Then he’s back in USA in November and December, finishing his collaborative LP with Jeff Tweedy (and anyone who says that it sounds anything like The Basement Tapes produced by Eno is up for a stiff beating!). The word from the studio is that it’s going great, it’s fantastic and a lot of fun, but that it’s doesn’t sound like The Band at all, not even when Todd Rundgren produced them. Jim also plans to squeeze a bit of work in on his own next album, the long-promised Insignificance. In between all this are some Sonic Youth dates in South America and some more next year in Japan (is there anywhere they won’t play?). And elsewhere in the O'Rourke tidbits department, Jim played a few solo tunes at the last Pearl Jam/Sonic Youth show, alone and with Steve and Lee (from Sonic Youth, we’re told) as well as Eddie Vedder (who sings lead vocals for The Pearl Jam). It’s too weird to even consider so think about it instead!
IN THE FAR-AWAY MACHINE
2001 is already our favorite year ever! Why, you might ask? Well, for one, there’s the Neil Hagerty solo LP, Neil Michael Hagerty. It’s fun-loving, fully locomotive, trip to your heart that we just can’t wait for you to hear. But wait you’ll have to – and wait you will.
That’s the only reason we’re looking forward to next year – but we remain confident there will be more reasons later on.
