I forgot to post my favorite song last week, but absolutely buy this album! I couldn’t find a vinyl version online- Wildfire Wildfire has put it out and I bought one at the show for $12. And, of course, there are photos and videos from Saturday’s Mercury Lounge show.

Release: May 22, 2007 / Arts & Crafts

I prefer Final Fantasy’s intricate string arrangement and casual production of “Peach Plum Pear” to the original by Joanna Newsom. However, Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) has been outdone by fellow re-mixers on Do You Trust Your Friends, the remix album of 2004’s Set Yourself On Fire by Stars. For “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” Owen’s remix is blatantly sad, which, to be fair, is problematic only when compared to the assortment of moods the original pulls off. The string arrangement here is more traditional than what we’ve heard before, and Owen’s put work into a fornlorn composition for the piano instead. For the most part, however, I’m of the opinion that trustworthy friends have outdone Stars themselves.

Though the transformation of the originals is more or less subtle throughout the album, some are more so than others. Montag, Young Galaxy and Minotaur Shock have added their own polish without taking away too much; The Most Serene Republic, Camouflage Nights (w/ Kevin Drew), Russian Futurists and The Dears have been inspired by the originals to explore a style not typically their own; Metric and The Stills have used the opportunity to experiment a little; while Junior Boys and Apostle of Hustle have made it their own, Apostle’s version complete with re-singing and a nice selection of sound bites.

It’s difficult to pick a favorite from this collection of quality mixes, but I’ve picked Minotaur Shock’s “The Big Fight” for its classy nuance and smooth horns. The album will also be available in a 2-disc LP set: Pre-order for $17.99 from Insound.

Full tracklist:

your ex-lover is dead (final fantasy)
set yourself on fire (montag)
ageless beauty (the most serene republic)
reunion (jason collett)
the big fight (minotaur shock)
what i’m trying to say pt. 1 (the dears)
what i’m trying to say pt. 2 (the dears)
one more night (apostle of hustle)
sleep tonight (junior boys)
the first five times (the russian futurists)
he lied about death (metric)
celebration guns (camouflage nights with kevin drew)
soft revolution (the stills)
calendar girl (young galaxy)

Previously:

• Apostle of Hustle – NYC dates

Get a new needle and buy one today! So says Sounds Familyre, whose website is sporting a brand new green look. They are re-issuing Sufjan Stevens’ Seven Swans (2004) on 140g vinyl for $15. This will include a 7″ with two songs from the Swans sessions not available in any other format, and the LP cover in matte. Hurray for matte, that’s what we say, and hurray for heavy vinyl. Why I’ll be getting it: “In the Devil’s Territory.” Listen and go buy.

or listen first:
[imeem http://media.imeem.com/m/Cp6CnncRKU/aus=false/]

Much like the sound of Mum, Efterklang’s “Towards the Bare Hill” is filled with forlorn percussive enchantments accompanied by moody accordian moans. Unlike Mum, however, the chorus here is a booming masculine one, like that of sailors. Meanwhile, 1-20 of their numbered 1200 vinyl copies of Under the Trees were stolen during production, so they are offering 10 remaining ones of personal copies on ebay. These will be labeled by the following Danish letters: d, i, j, q, u, w, x, z, ø and å,  and proceeds will be put towards a fund to purchase a piece of an untouched rainforest in order to preserve it. The EP comes out in the US on May 7.

Photo: shannon mcclean

A lot of us who buy vinyl paid about $21 for 5 Joanna Newsom songs, but that’s because the record was a double disc deal and each song averaged at 13 minutes. InSound is selling the three-track 12″ Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band for $13.99 + shipping. Other Music’s got a slightly better deal at $10.99 (+ shipping if you buy online). We’ll have to head to the physical store and investigage the worthiness of this purchase. Speaking of Other Music, it has just fully launched its digital store.

In the meantime, the Sound Fix Records website has been down for a few days now. That must be investigaged too.

or listen:
[imeem http://media.imeem.com/m/QuyVv43MVL/aus=false/]

The Headlights have a new video for their single “TV,” handiwork by j-four. Tristan Wraight’s hidden talent: riding the bicycle with three people on board. Also, the fabulously-titled album is available on vinyl for $12.99 from Insound or $10 from the label.

Watch the video (after the jumper):

[youtube FuLeIjWOwK4]

All tracks from Day Trotter session are up for download.

Morning Edition, April 16, 2007. CD sales are declining, but there has been a resurgence in vinyl. Audiophiles are drawn to records because there aren’t any anti-piracy restrictions and people claim they just sound better than their digital counterparts.

I’m about to listen to NPR’s Putting a New Spin on Vinyl Records, so before I tell you what their spin is, I’ll tell you what’s mine: if it weren’t for mp3s I share with my friends, I would not love so many bands and love them credibly. If we were to make enough money to spend on the amount of music we listen to, both live and in recordings, we’d probably have to sell off our indie souls. So, mp3s should be shared, there should always be a way for fans to get leaked albums in advance, shows should always be affordable, and all that good stuff. And vinyls should be bought. Show tickets should be bought. Other merchandise should be bought. Because, quite frankly, t-shirt I can wear, shows I can enjoy to death, vinyls I can adore, smell, touch and show off, but what the hell am I going to do with a CD?, other than give them as gifts because I want the band to make money.

Between mp3 and vinyl all other formats, except for tapes, but that’s for aesthetic reasons, don’t seem to matter. I didn’t buy music for a long time, but now music’s what I spend most of my money on because someone gifted me a record player, woo (though some of it, I’m sure, has to do with employment!). So I’ve set this site up to allow me to show what I own and what I’d like to own. Pictured above: Múm’s Summer Make Good- I own. Pictured below: Múm’s Finally We Are No One- my friend owns.

Okay, it’s been an entire week since the “secret show” at Union Hall, but the Brooklyn Music Lovers Wanting Their Art Pure was nowhere as severe as this Gawker post makes it sound- there was an assertive keeping-the-music-pure request by the same Lou Dobbs prompter, however, and this one said, “Play more small shows in New York!” to which the whole room applauded and Bird shrugged obediently after finishing to sling his guitar: “Okay.” There was also a spinning, two-faced gramaphone type of a thing, which as it turns out is a gramaphone amp that a man in Chicago makes. Someone asked what that was for, and Bird said it was to throw around the sounds of his violin. Someone asked if there was a pet name for it, Bird welcomed suggestions: one I heard, and thought pretty good, was “Spinderella”.

Bird and Martin Dosh were hanging out by the door when I got there, by the merch table, this merch table happening to feature, in addition to an assortment of t-shirts, a whole 180 gm vinyl for $15, which left me with no excuse to not get it (Other Music has it for $13.99 + shipping, InSound for $14.99 + shipping). Inside it features the back of a bird’s head on the right and the back of Bird’s head on the left, and maybe, maybe, the CD does the same but the vinyl smells better. Anyway, it is a fine healthy-looking record with a nice weight.

Also, going by Gawker and other Andrew Bird Union Hall reviews, it seems the word “hipster” is being cluelessly thrown around these days, at what I consider an increasingly alarming rate! Even if there were hipsters there, what is the joy in repeatedly mentioning the obvious except to condescend? Gawker quotes its source: “Last night [H]ipsters pressed Bird to explain how CNN anchor Lou Dobb’s made it into one of his new songs…” I was standing right next to the guy who brought up Dobbs, and neither his clothes nor his hair prompted anything worth mentioning.

And now that the truth is out, here are some more photos I managed to salvage from the dark depths of Union Hall!, apologies to the guy next to me who suffered from my use of flash: