Whatever You Do, Take Care Of Your Shoes

It was quite an eventful morning as I traveled down to the Village to partake in the annual Record Store Day.  I’ll be the first to admit, I do not have much of a vinyl collection, having built the majority of my music catalog in the CD form.  That said, I was intrigued by a few releases being put out today, especially Phish’s Two Soundchecks.

I arrived around 9:15 at Other Music (down on E. 4th) to an already patiently waiting crowd of people.  Other Music would not open its doors until 11am, but already people were eagerly waiting and talking about the treasures they found earlier in the morning at some of the other NYC hole-in-the-wall record stores.  I was clearly late to the game.  I met a few really interesting people…all friendly, and all so passionate about music.  Everyone had their fingers crossed to be lucky enough to grab limited editions of releases from everyone including Phish to Bad Brains to Nirvana to The Rolling Stones to The Velvet Underground.  I listened in on a guy who claimed to have a friend that produced the latest Foo Fighters record, and said that an engineer wanted to bring a computer into the studio to polish some takes only to have Dave Grohl tell him he’s be fired if he did so.  In a world dominated by pop music and auto-tunes, it’s refreshing to know that there are artists who still insist on recording analog, and a legion of fans who know that music just sounds better a certain way. 

I was granted admission to Other Music just after 11am.  Not to my surprise, the Phish EP was gone.  They had only received two copies and they flew off the shelf instantly.  I did manage to score three gems; Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s Live From The Carousel 10”, The Velvet Underground’s Foggy Notion/I Can’t Stand It 7”, and a reissue of Pearl Jam’s Immortality/Rearviewmirror 7”.  I ventured over to Generation and Bleeker Street Records only to hear more of the same with regards to Phish.  I’m not giving up.  I’m sure I’ll get a copy eventually.  And, I’m not giving up on music out there.  Today was a refreshing breath of fresh air in seeing a great crowd of people with a common interest and releases from a stellar bunch of artists who all want to save the dying breed that is the local record store.  Pictures of my winnings and the line outside Other Music below.

Bruce Springsteen plans on reissuing his classic Darkness On The Edge Of Town album this fall as a deluxe package.  Included with the release will be a new documentary, The Promise: The Making Of ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ which features an intimate look into the making of Springsteen’s landmark classic album.

Rolling Stone spoke with director Thom Powers, who explains that the focus of the documentary is on the music.  The film opens with a black and white scene of Springsteen alone in his studio working on the album.  The focus shifts away from concert footage and instead focuses on the creative process that went into recording Darkness.  The previously unreleased studio footage is mixed with band member interviews, including one with Danny Federici before he passed away.  Patti Smith is also interviewed, discussing how she co-wrote “Because The Night” with Bruce.  Quoting Powers, “You don’t get the feeling that these are the same old stories they’ve polished up for the press all the time — especially with Springsteen. He gave long interviews for the film and just about everything he says is really interesting.”

For the diehards, the doc will contain original, previously unreleased studio recordings, including scenes of Van Zandt and Springsteen improvising songs never heard before - a remarkable look into the mind of a genius.

The Promise will debut on September 14 at the Toronto International Film Festival and on HBO in October.

As we near the end of 2009 and the decade (shit that went by fast), here’s a rundown of my favorite releases of the past 10 years:

10.  The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002):  I first heard this album through a buddy in college who was really into them.  I was familiar with some of their earlier work but never really gave them a shot.  It took only a few listens for me to become obsessed.  This concept album weaves in and out of the best experimental rock and roll I’ve ever heard.  KEY TRACKS - “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Part 1”, “Do You Realize??”, “Are You A Hypnotist??”

09. Warren Zevon - The Wind (2003):  In 2002, Zevon learned he had an inoperable form of lung cancer.  The doctors gave him months to live.  He took to the studio with a group of friends including Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, and Jackson Browne.  The result is a eulogy he left to himself, and for his fans to remember him by (he never lived to see its release).  KEY TRACKS - “Keep Me In Your Heart”, “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”, “Disorder In The House”

08. Bruce Springsteen - The Rising (2002): Bruce is the American Man.  Period.  End of story.  There is no other like him, and when America was recovering after the events of 9/11, Bruce answered with his most cohesive and powerful batch of songs in over a decade.  The Rising marked the return of The E Street Band in a time when the music community needed them most.  KEY TRACKS - “The Rising”, “Mary’s Place”, “Lonesome Day”

07. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happens Today (2008): The idea was simple.  Eno had songs but no lyrics.  Byrne had lyrics.  Put the two together and it could have resulted in just an average collaboration.  The results however, were astonishing.  The album is a perfect mix of pop, rock, and electronic.  KEY TRACK - “Strange Overtones”, “My Big Nurse”, “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”

06. M.I.A. - Kala (2008) - M.I.A dropped this record last year, which flew under the radar, until Pineapple Express picked up “Paper Planes” for the film and soundtrack.  The album is a mix of rap, hip-hop, and electronic; but what sets it apart is its use of world music.  It doesn’t exactly hurt that she’s a sick MC as well.  KEY TRACKS - “Bird Flu”, “Paper Planes”, “Come Around”

05. Pete Yorn - Musicforthemorningafter (2001): This debut release from Jersey’s own Pete Yorn was a huge underground hit while I was in college.  Yorn plays all instruments, mixing elements of punk, rock, and pop into a pure masterpiece.  KEY TRACKS - “Life On A Chain”, “EZ”, “Strange Condition”

04. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (2000): This debut release from the Whiskeytown frontman would solidify his solo career and raise the bar for modern day country music.  Adams sticks to what he knows best - smoking pot and women.  He’s managed to release several more classics in the past decade but, nothing touches this.  KEY TRACKS - “To Be Young”, “Oh My Sweet Caroline”, “Shakedown On 9th Street”

03. The White Stripes - Elephant (2008): Jack and Meg White recorded this gem on an old 4-track recorder…old school style.  The finished result was an album loaded with so much raw energy and emotion.  Oh, and it’s loud as hell!  Jack groans the blues as he lays some of the best slide work of modern times, with Meg keeping perfect timing.  KEY TRACKS - “I Wanna Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother’s Heart”, “Ball & Biscuit”, “There’s No Home For You Here”

02. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002): Wilco lost their label over this album, as the band sought to try something new.  Gone were the country sounds of their earlier records replaced by obscure electronic noises and distorted guitars.  The album nearly destroyed the band, who suffered tremendous internal arguments, but the finished product solidified Wilco’s place in history as one of rock’s most pioneering groups.  KEY TRACKS - “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”, “I’m The Man Who Loves You”, “Poor Places”

01. Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005): Conor Oberst opens this album with a story.  A Woman sitting on a plane talking to a man as the plane crashes into the ocean.  Enter the jug band, and, all of sudden the thought of crashing isn’t so bad.  Oberst leads his band through ten perfect tracks of alt-country/rock and roll.  He’s also the greatest lyricist since Bob Dylan, and I’ll go on record here.  His stories and characters are unlike anything I’ve heard in so long.  This album will never leave my rotation.  It’s just that good.  KEY TRACKS - “At The Bottom Of Everything”, “Lua”, “First Day Of My Life”