Pretentious Record Store Blog

So the other day I finally got a chance to see one of my all time favorite bands, Radiohead, live and in concert. I was a little hesitant because they were playing at the crappy Verizon Amphitheater which has the lovely benefit of making all bands sound like crap, and as a bonus you get stuck in a two hour traffic jam on your way out. Thank you Maryland Heights for thinking things out in advance. Jerks.

After raining for three straight days and most of the morning, the skies parted and a cool summer breeze blew off the banks of the mighty Missouri as the sun began to set and Thom Yorke and company took the stage. It was a beautiful night indeed. Radiohead sounded pitch perfect, defying the Verizon Amphitheater’s gods of bad acoustics, and put on a stellar performance.

Sticking mainly to the newer material, Radiohead put on an interactive performance that fits in nicely with their recent aesthetics. The five cameras focused on each band member and projected onto the screen a quasi multi-paneled presentation that would have been quite a trip under certain substances but was nonetheless impressive on a fairly clear head. Playing two encores, Radiohead closed with some classic materials and left all those in attendance absolutely mesmerized.

I can’t wait until my hookup gets me the soundboard recording of the show. That’s how Pretentious Record Store Guy rolls, fool!

Rhino just keeps doing it. A few weeks ago they re-released all The Replacements Twin Tone albums as remastered editions with b-sides, outtakes, and in depth liner notes. What else could any hipster alt rock fan dream of?

So, on order of release there was Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, Stink, Hootenanny and then their Twin Tone apex of Let It Be. Who else would dare to blatantly ape The Beatles title but Paul Westerberg and company? Those Minnesota boys have some bravado, and with due reason: Youth never sounded more beautiful as when captured by Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, Bob Stinson, and Tommy Stinson.

Do you doubt the wisdom of Pretentious Record Store Guy? Then pop in Let It Be and be instantaneously mesmerized by “I Will Dare” and continues all the way through to “Answering Machine”. In between are gems of “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”, “Androgynous”, and “Unsatisfied” maybe the best answer to Mick and Kieth’s opus to Satisfaction.

How do you say I love you to an answering machine?
How do you say I need you to an answering maching?

Often considered either the best band or worst band ever based solely on their live shows, The Mats live were either an exercise in organized chaos coming together in unified excellence or simply mass chaos. Unfortunately, Pretentious Record Store Guy was too young to ever see the The Mats live and in person, but he has caught Westerberg on tour with Grandpaboy and it was amazing.

Now if they’d only get to the Warner Bros. records and get Pleased to Meet Me and Don’t Tell A Soul…

You have to love Adam Duritz and the Counting Crows. Listening to August and Everything After as well as Recovering the Satellites and you can’t help but feel their pain. A lot of people can sing, but very few people can make you feel when the do it. Duritz and the Crows do both with panache. Their newest disc, Saturday Night and Sundays Mornings is their best album this century and very much follows in the footsteps of the first two. I was excited when I heard the Crows perform on Sirius Radio via the Howard Stern Show. Many bands put out good CDs but then disappoint when you go see them live. The Counting Crows put out really good CDs and then put on an excellent live show. If you haven’t seen them, I encourage you to buy a ticket and take the ride when they come through your town.

How to Write a Counting Crows Song in 5 Steps:
Step One: Pick a Girl: Elizabeth, Maria, Ms. Potter, etc.
Step Two: Pick a City: Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, etc.
Step Three: Add some weather, usually rain.
Step Four: Add a line about the circus
Step Five: Reference Dylan or the Dead

Shake it up, throw in some melody and then you’ll have a Crows song. Of course selling it like Duritz and company do is another thing entirely.

Vinyl is way better than CD.  When you listen to a record it’s warmer and has much more body than a CD, causing it to sound much fuller.  It’s like a nice, fine wine as opposed to a boxed pink wine.

Whether or not you spin the black circle you can at least admit it to yourself, Ted, that MP3s are violent.

But it’s not just MP3s, but CDs that started this trend and the number one reason for this is Steve Jobs.  That’s right, Mr. Digital Music, Appleman himself has led to the decline of music with Apple’s ProTools.

Nick Levine wrote a fantastic piece about it entitled “The Death of High Fidelity”.  Click on the link and get some knowledge for yourself.

As for me, I’m always in the know; I’ve always been an analog baby.

Viva la Vinyl!

1) Nada Surf - Lucky

2) Vampire Weekend - s/t

3) Magnetic Fields - Distortion

4) The Whigs - Mission Control

5) Cat Power - Jukebox

1) Radiohead – In Rainbows

2) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Baby 81

3) Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

4) Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

5) The Good, The Bad & The Queen – The Good, The Bad & The Queen

6) Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven’s Gate

7) Spoon – GaGaGa

The Shins – Wincing the Night Away

9) Albert Hammond Jr. – Yours to Keep

10) Editors – An End Has A Start