My Muxtape

Stoplight Sleep now has a Muxtape. You can go there to hear recently blogged tracks, related songs, and whatever else is on my mind.

Pop on over here. While you're there, make your own Muxtape and post the link in the comments.

The current Muxtape features tracks from my last post on the Kills.

Midnight Boom "Kills"

Until a couple weeks ago, I would have said that Hot Chip had released the best album of an adolescent 2008. Made in the Dark isn’t quite on par with last year’s Sound of Silver (LCD Soundsystem), but it comes from a similar sonic playground, including songs that can knock you down with shock and awe (“Shake a Fist”) and lull you into a meditative appreciation (“Wrestlers”).

Who could have up-ended this achievement? On March 18, The Kills released Midnight Boom, and album I had probably anticipated more than any other this year. No one could have had higher expectations for a fresh release from the cross-Atlantic duo of vocalist Alison "VV" Mosshart and guitarist Jamie "Hotel" Hince, but when I started hearing of Spank Rock’s involvement and some of the early reviews, I worried that my two-headed demon of ripping hipster blues had been defanged (a la PJ Harvey’s White Chalk).

When I finally got to pop Midnight Boom in my CD player, I felt the tingle that a friend had introduced me to with the first blips followed by the revving chainsaw of “Superstition” (track 1 of their debut, Keep on Your Mean Side). The first, confusing ten seconds of “U.R.A. Fever” follow landline sound effects into VV and Hotel’s endless supply of violently whispered haikus:

Pick you out a soda.
Look at you forever.
Eyes like a casino.
Find a piece of silver.
Go down to the Rio.
Put it in a fruit machine.
Everyone’s a winner.
Laughing like a seagull.
You are a fever . . .

With the refrain comes a subtle-but-deadly bass line and electro scratch. Like most of the album, it’s hit-and-run; two minutes later the track is over, leaving elation and bemused confusion in its wake.


“Take you to a jukebox . . . / Pick you out a number, / that’s our arrangement.”

Hip-hop roots decorate the proverbial sleeves of tracks like “Getting Down” and “Sour Cherry.” The Kills has always been the other side of The Bumblebeez garage-blues-for-B-boys coin (compare “Hook and Line” to the former’s “Step Back”), but Midnight Boom finds VV, Hotel, and their studio mates further exploring their metallic possibilities (Did Albini stop by with a metal pick?). There are new sounds, like the tricks that peers The White Stripes, Forget Cassettes, and Hot Chip have used to give their sound new dimensions.

With Midnight Boom, 2008 has found the spit and booze to shape its reckless youth, albeit one with decent taste.

VV borrows a pinch of soul from (The Gossip’s) Beth Ditto on “Cheap and Cheerful.”

Record Shop

Circa 2001. I'm working at a regional music chain in Jackson, TN. This is both the best and worst job I've ever had. My musical vocabulary and frame of reference increases ten fold in the year or so I spend there, and I meet many people who positively influence my knowledge and taste. I also encounter countless "morons" who grate my nerves with their questionable taste and inane questions. Worst of all, I become a cultural elitist (partially due to the film education provided by a roommate and a video production course), a personality trait I have only wrestled into submission in the last couple years.

Present. Inspired by my newly acquired speakers, I've u-turned away from the internet as my primary source of new music. Over the last decade the mode of transfer from my music has shifted in much the same way as yours (you being the ubiquitous blog-reader) likely has: from exclusively CD to almost exclusively mp3 (or some other digital equivalent). Although I'm completely confident in the ability of a digital audio file to deliver an experience equal to that of CD, I'm not confident in the ability of my computer or iPod or internet storefronts to consistently deliver that experience. What follows is a list of my praise and gripes:

• The iPod classic and PC, while good in storage capacity, portability (iPod), and user friendliness, require add-ons (external DAC, controler/line-in adapter) for optimum performance.
• BLEEP, 7digital, Anthology Recordings, and similar sites have the quality right, but their selection is limited or caters toward a specific market.
• Amazon and iTunes (the two biggest digital music retailers) are headed in the right direction, but still aren't the perfect solution.
• Nine Inch Nails had a great idea with their latest release, but bandwidth was a problem early on.
  

The--possibly foolish--reaction has been to invest almost embarrassing amounts of cash on CDs, occasionally of tracks that I'd previously acquired (legally or otherwise). Not since my time at the CD store have I so haphazardly consumed round, silver plastic. In the last two weeks, I've popped into Barnes & Noble (of all places) to look for CDs. The first time I was hoping they might have the new Kills album, and last night I was taking advantage of their 40% coupon. Both times, I hoped--fruitlessly--to see my friend/acquaintance who works there.

During his appearance on All Songs Considered, Thom Yorke stated that he missed the experience of record shopping. My time shopping the decent-but-inadequate CD section of our local B&N became about an attempt to reclaim that music shop experience, and even though there was no one around who's taste I would turn to, I picked up the Nick Cave album that sat in my friend's recommendation slot by the counter.

I realize that the try-before-you-buy nature of mp3s and music blogs are a more efficient and streamlined method of achieving the same effect. But there's a unique experience in filing through rows of CDs or vinyl while chatting and listening to someone else's selection. I don't want to give up all that technology hath wrought, but I don't want to throw out the indie shops either.

In the spirit of that idea, and the upcoming Record Store Day, here are my favorite record stores:

Grimey's Nashville, TN
If I ever move to Nashville, this place will have something to do with that.
Memorable purchase: DJ Shadow Preemptive Strike (used vinyl)

Euclid Records St. Louis, MO
I've only been there once, but the layout, selection, and staff were all top-notch. I'll be making a visit soon.
Jason Molina Let Me Go, Let Me Go (vinyl/CD)

Last Chance Memphis, TN
Memorable Purchase: Hot Snakes Audit in Progress (vinyl)
Shangri-La Memphis, TN
Memorable purchase: Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (used? vinyl)
When I lived farther down the Mississippi, these places (especially LC) were weekly stops.

The Disc Exchange Knoxville, TN
Another one I've only visited once . . . over five years ago, but they had a nice variety and friendly staff.
Memorable purchase: The White Stripes White Blood Cells (CD, original Sympathy for the Record industry release)

The Otto Modest

I won't bore you gushing about The Otto Modest, something I've done to almost a fault in other media. They're a band I've been familiar with for over three years, along with developing friendships with a couple members (Lead singer Josh Evans even played at my wedding). I've discovered it's harder and harder to be objective when it comes to them.

Nevertheless, I feel they're a band that people should hear about. Their 2007 release, Badbad can now be had on Emusic and other sites. If you get a chance to pick up the CD, you'll get a unique limited-edition cover.

Rather than say much about them, I'll point you to some links where you can hear them for yourself:

The official Otto Modest site
The Otto Modest on myspace
Buy Badbad on Emusic
Buy Badbad on Amazon

Required Reading

1. Re: Ghosts I - IV from The Register
2. Mat Johnson's Incognegro from Vertigo
3. "Primer: The Kinks" by Jason Heller for The Onion AV Club
4. Pitchfork announces internet TV channel
5. Inside Out's Wonder Woman round-up

Happy reading!