Singles going home alone - 2013 Matador

Oh gosh, new year of singles from Matador, this time it's going to be one every MONTH! Starting with Jeff Novak....damn.

For 2013, we’ll be doing a single every month, plus a special secret bonus 7″ at the conclusion, plus a yet-to-be-determined container for all the singles (wooden box? carrybag made from human flesh? a tote bag Altamont manufacture for free? ). The first single in the series is a pair of new songs from Cheap Time founder Jeffrey Novak, followed by an entry from Matador alumni Superchunk in February (one original backed with a cover of SS Decontrol’s “Glue”). The tentative schedule looks like this :

Jan 29: Jeffrey Novak – I Never Knew I Knew So Much / B-7
Feb 19: Superchunk – I Hate History / Glue
Mar 26: Cian Nugent – TBA
Apr 23: Lower Plenty / Dick Diver – split 7″
May 21: Bits Of Shit – TBA
June 11: Royal Headache - TBA

There's nothing else to say.... except save one of the 750 for me. I have to leave something for my wife to get me for xmas. Thank you.

Kurt Vile - He's Alright 7" on Matador

Kurt Vile's first single on Matador, just picked it up at Academy the other day, 3 tracks starting with 'He's Alright' on the A-Side, you might be thinking this was on another release like I did, but I checked Constant Hitmaker and The Hunchback EP and it's not on any of those or anywhere else. These three are exclusive to this release... even if it sounds like something off CH though, slow strumming with a bit of echo. Verse after verse of that folk storyteller monotone, very Dylan, he's getting away with it, even though I know better. It's compelling, his nasal 'haaaaaaaaannndss' half hearted delivery, it's a lot of work to half mumble.
He's got a distinct strumming style which might be making this sound like an extension of a Hitmaker track, every other strum is a little louder a little faster, making it sound echoed, he's pushing the expressiveness of the standard action.
And then there's this line I kept pickign up on:

'Some people they use up all their cash / records and such they sit around but I don't care about that.'

Kurt? But I just bought your single...is this some kind of cruel joke? A song about wasting my money on records? Damn you!

The B-Side first track Farfissas in Falltime is an instrumental throwaway reverb wobbly guitar, it sounds like a distorted looped sample. On top of that Kurt is solo-ing with a tight distortion that almost is synth. It's pretty cinematic, like Vangelis or something, using elements that are a little dated, but getting away with it, even elevating those sounds to something you can actually listen to and respect.
I appreciate it's on here, but I'm not going to seek it out probably.
'Take your time' is more solo acoustic Kurt and what you're going to spend time on picking over the lyrics, deciphering. God I hope no one takes him or any other acoustic guitarist seriously as a poet. Come on, poetry is just a separate animal, don't try to publish the verses on the page. it's one thing as liner notes, but Dylan as poetry? I don't buy it. It's a song...very different. It may be thanks to all the freshman English teachers who bring in Freewheelin' or Blood on the Tracks and yell at kids 'Listen to this! It's poetry!, Someday you'll understand!' that it's been ruined. You have to separate the two. The Beats may have killed poetry. That was the peak, and it's been downhill from there (take any spoken word show with the word 'slam' in it for example). I guess I'm going off on this tangent because he's got that gift for really effective songwriting, really universal but describing a pretty specific experience I feel like I share? Let;s just not get carried away.

Get it from Matador direct, or a million other places probably. I can't tell if this is the 7" that comes with the preorder of his Childish prodigy full length or not, I have to pick that up and see where Constant Hitmaker is going next.

Sonic Youth / Jay Reatard Split single - Record Store day

Just wanted to give another record store day single it's proper coverage today, this one the Jay Reatard / Sonik You*h split.

Sonic Youth' 'No Garage' is completely rehearsal space recorded. The bass notes rumble the snare. The high hat is unbalanced, the crashes flattened in the distance. But it's completely alive. The guitar leads a deep groove, that gets more minimal by the measure, until it's just bass and kick working together in time while Thurston wails. It's a roller coaster...the groove comes back and they immediately break it down again. The only vocals are Thurston just barely audibly yelling 1,2,3,4 to lead into the real disintegration, total freakout.
This is rumored to be a demo of 'Anti-orgasm' from their unreleased new album The Eternal, I'm hoping there's more of this raw sound like the 'Helen Lundeburg' track from Ripped. It's hearing them like this that I completely re-appreciate everything....like listening to a live show, to be able to spontaneously create this noise, and to hear the control they have over an amp and a guitar, looking back at their vast catalog, it just continues to get better and better.
The best part of course is in exploiting the format itself, the track spirals out into an endless loop of feedback that's easy to get lost in for a few minutes afterwords. It's a shame when eventually you have to pick up the needle. But I have to hear the new Jay Reatard after all.

Jay offers up 'Hang them all', which is right in line with Blood Visions. It's brief, the hook is over way before it should be.
A weird synth sound creeps in before it's power ballad Cars influenced. The most processed, gated guitar sounds that would sound ridiculous anywhere else.
The rhymes are obvious, it all sounds vaguely familiar, but he's a master creator of choruses, just pure genius, it's all forgotten. Harmonizing with himself, two snare hits on the beat are setting up the chords to pound it home again and I'm screaming along at the top of my lungs. He's going to make me look like a reatard listening to it utterly happy with myself. It's a small price to pay.
There is a weird break of a cappella 'oh un ah oh' which the guitar mirrors and the snare suddenly takes on a march beat. Jay shys away from the ballad, thank god, and this is as sensitive as I've heard him sound in this section.
Not to be predictable... the track ends with some kind of layered acoustic flamenco guitar.
But that's Jay's unique genius, to mix all this up and come up with the perfect power pop punk every time.

Beck / Sonic Youth split 7" - Record Store Day

So I heard about all these exclusive releases from Matador and all the email's from every record store announcing Record Store Day. I thought I might be missing out in NY...no one I checked with was a part of this except Permanent Records, thank god, where people were actually waiting outside the store for it to open. There were two boxes of brand new singles...everything I'd been hearing about, including this split single from Beck and sonic youth, or should I say Sonik You*h, covering each other.

Sonic Youth covers 'Pay No Mind', one of the classic Beck tracks from Mellow Gold. It starts out with their trademark looping distortion which changes when Kim Gordon's sultry whisper kicks in. She's backed by Thurston or Lee, I think, both giving their own melodic take on the stream of consciousness... a little out of sync and tune. The crunchy distortion changes key and then a slow tom beat finishes the chorus. Then the time signature completely changes, rounds of fast tom fills ending in piercing feedback and then they repeat the whole thing ending in a wave of reverb feedback. It's perfect Sonic Youth, their amazing take on this insanely recognizable song, that's almost impossible to separate from the original. Sonic Youth does it, and in a totally original way. Lyrically they even make complete deliberate sense. Not enough credit is given to Steve for ever providing the perfect rhythm, keeping everything always together, a little something to hold onto in Sonic Youth's world, keeping Thurston's experimentalism accessible, but unexpected as this cover illustrates perfectly.
It's amazing this was recorded 3 months ago in what must be their new digs in NJ.

Becks cover of 'Green Light' is pretty old school acoustic Beck, I don't recognize the original from EVOL, so he's doing a pretty good job making it his own as well. You can hear him sitting on a stool adjusting the acoustic, hitting it with a hollow thump. He's focused on the vocal delivery, singing it with all kinds of inflection, unlike Thurston's mumbled deadpan. He's actually got a great voice when he wants to. The melody line on an acoustic is accompanied by what I think is a harpsichord, lending a weird harmonic to the single string acoustic picks, giving it a Sonic Youth dissonance alongside beck's own slightly off stuttered strumming. I could use more of this, it's a throwback to the Pay No Mind days and brings it back around to replaying the B-side Sonic Youth cover. Actually they are both labeled B-side...even in the gutter.

These MP3's are ripped and out there already with a couple of google searches, so if you missed out, they are pretty easy to find.

This whole thing brings up something I'm torn about, all of this record store day stuff is on ebay of course, for way inflated prices...buy it now's for 29.99, 49.99. Hopefully not for sale from the record stores themselves, but they can't always on the up and up. I was tempted to pick up extra copies myself, but if I happened to be a little late and some asshole ahead of me had a stack of the same single I'd be pissed. I wasn't going to be that dick. At the same time maybe you are giving an opportunity for someone who couldn't make it to the store that day for whatever reason to get one, even if it is at an inflated price. I could imagine being sick or out of the country and being so glad to even come across a copy for sale on ebay. I just think you have to use some judgement. I just can't live with myself being such a son of a bitch opportunist. But if you are...well I can't fault that either. You went to the store, maybe waited in line, so sell it to someone who really want's it, and has no other way to get it.

It actually was briefly for sale on Becks merch site too, for about a minute.

In honor the 2nd annual Record Store Day, we’ll be releasing the following limited edition vinyl titles, only available at independent retailers taking part in RSD.

OLE-864-7 Jay Reatard “Hang Them All” 7″ b/w Sonic Youth - “No Garage”
OLE-865-7 Sonic Youth - “Pay No Mind” (Beck cover) b/w Beck - “Green Light” (Sonic Youth cover) 7″
OLE-855-1 Pavement Live In Germany LP

We’re making 2500 each of the above. After they’re gone, as the Bard Of Hookset, NH might’ve said (if he collected records), tough fuckin’ shit.

I heard there were color copies of these thrown in, I got one on black.

Fucked up

F#cked Up - Crooked Head b/w I Hate Summer 7" (Matador)

I just started reading about fucked up and how they have embraced the 7" 45 format, as a tribute to early punk days of releasing a few songs at a time, or if you were lucky an EP of 4, 2 1/2 minute songs, xeroxed sleeves with some politically charged photo...all anarchy. I think I kind of caught this vibe a little bit from the limited contact I had with Fucked Up. So I'm expecting this single to be real hardcore, fast, unintelligible to my untrained hardcore ears...but there's a lot of melodic elements...the chorus of these 3 guitar power chords. It's pretty close to Les Savy Fav at times in energy and experimental leanings.
The vocals are definitely hardcore, the half hoarse yelling, sort of Fugazi at times, very aggressive...this has to get violent at live shows. I'm looking forward to finding out Jan 20th at Market Hotel .....should be interesting...and with the Vivian Girls no less....they continue to surprise me.
The name wasn't going to help them either. As much as you might remember it, it's going to be turned down from as many distro places, shops...christmas lists. But then again...if we're going punk, let's go all the way, maybe we'll be a footnote or end up as influential and groundbreaking as anyone in the last 10 years as far as this genre is concerned.

The A-side Crooked Head...let's just say this guy Mike is an animal, the only thing that can sing over the sound of guitars all coming together in this mess of harmonics...high layers of chords that sound like a synth, or orchestra for christ sake.

The B side ' I hate summer' starts out as some kind lounge sounding bass driven soft core and then explodes. This is always changing...it seems like a accessible, but still sincere direction for a band rooted in hardcore. This is a direction everyone can get behind...and imitate.

I think it's going to take a while and a lot of singles to get a handle on this band, I know I have a few others I've picked up here and there just from hearing them mentioned constantly. I've been waiting to sit down and dig in.

The mythology going on here is pretty intense, the ultra limited editions of vinyl, the guy from Final Fantasy recording string arrangements. They played for 12 hours on the bowery, jamming with the guy from Vampire Weekend among other guests. I'm probably not telling you anything you didn't know, but putting all these things together for the first time...I'm overwhelmed.

They seem to want to confuse as much as break ground. One minute a whistling solo, the next writing fake tour diaries.
Mike Haliechuk sounds like 3 guitars, they can be some kind of emo at times even, basically saying anything you think you know about us is wrong.... we are going to surprise you constantly and you are either with us or against us.
They don't have a myspace...makes sense, so this will have to do.

Go get it from Matador records. Along with the Year of the Pig Japan/US/ and UK edits along with their double LP. I think this is how I'm going to have to do it eventually....all at once.

Times New Viking EP on Matador

$3 which is a bargain, when you consider what it takes to press a single...or in digital terms that's .60 a song...cheaper than itunes. TNV is back! This went on sale yesterday from Matador and includes a pretty sweet poster from when they played at the Whitney. I remember missing that.
This actually is perfect as a vinyl 7". I have to admit a lot of times playing the full length it kind of completely takes over, and after a long day and the bullshit of the city, a wave of static and yelling can be a little overwhelming. Catchy, but I need to think sometimes. So small doses can be just the double shot I need to put me to sleep.
Adding all these layers of overmodulation and distortion over what is essentially some kind of beat happening twee. It's so gosh darn harmonic, but all the fuzz instatly makes it kind of bad ass. Just like the Yips that I will never get over. The best two piece ever. It's still the noise your parents hate and no one understands, but it's still gentle and cutsie....I said it.
In a good way.

Times New Viking - Stay Awake 7" (Matador) Five-track EP.

Pre-order the single now, or pre-order our special Matador Store exclusive Times New Viking Bundle- You'll get the 7" and a limited-edition silk-screened poster from TNV's amazing show at the Whitney Museum in NYC earlier this year.

SIDE A:
1. CALL & RESPOND
2. PAGAN EYES
3. HATE HATE HATE

SIDE B:
1. NO SYMPATHY
2. SICK & TYRED

Innerparty system chocolate 7" - Jay + Brad = sad

You want to hear what a chocolate 7" sounds like?

Complete shit.

I have to hand it to them for making this, it's a feat of record pressing, but your needle will be fucked for sure and then the first summer it melts. Interesting, but does the song or band have anything to do with chocolate? Or eating? No...then it would kind of make sense. Oh well.

Oh and the Jay Reatard single from Matador that went on sale yesterday...well here's some advice to anyone buying this in the future, when you put it in your cart, checkout immediately, if you try to look around and add something to your order thinking it's in your cart so you have it, you are DEAD FUCKING WRONG! I mean.... fuck me for thinking I wanted more music and didn't just want to pay $4 shipping for one seven inch.

Try to check out and it says please remove the Jay single from your cart before checking out, it's no longer available. What the fuck.

Matador you suck, and I suck for fucking thinking I could get one of these. Have seven inches jumped the fucking shark? Why do I give a fuck about these stupid plastic discs?

Fuck me.

If anyone wants to give one of these up I fucking promise that I will make a youtube video of me snapping this bitch in half....I just stopped caring. Are you happy now Matador? I'm going down to Broadway and Houston and protesting....

Shit.

ed note...(I'm sober now, and calmed down, I can't wait for the compilation and keep telling myself it's not a big deal.)

Jay Reatard: #2 of 8

....and we're back!
I won't bore you with the details, but didn't have time to throw drafts together in time before I left for work....but I found out this was available last night and it's soooo worth mentioning.

They are really stepping up production at the Matador factory to get these suckers out there. I don't know if these are even limited to anything, but it's got to be in the 1000's I would think, not that I'm counting, I have to jump on this, if I miss one of these, I'm going to be really sad. I'm sure all this will end up as some comp later...we'll see.

Blank Dogs/DC Snipers Mike Sniper did the cover.

It's only $3, but you have to end up ordering something else...I'm looking into the Mission of Burma re-releases on vinyl, I really don't know too much about those guys.

From Matador:
The second 7" in Jay Reatard’s singles series for Matador Records & Filmworks, “Painted Shut” b/w “An Ugly Death” will be available for pre-order at 3PM Eastern Time. As with the last record, quantities are extremely limited so we can only honor one copy per order. This record features features artwork by Mike Sniper.