1999 Guardian Alternative Top 100 Albums →
timepieces.nl
This is my kind of list.
August 2010
48 posts
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“Mumble mumble shoulder something”: R.E.M., Guided By Voices, Ghostface, and the pleasures of lyrical ambiguity →
avclub.com
People often laugh when I—“the poet”—admit that I don’t pay much attention to lyrics when I listen to music, so I enjoyed this article quite a bit.
(via @largeheartedboy)
“Gardening At Night,” and especially the Chronic Town EP version, never fails to get me giggling when I try to sing along with it. “S-s-s-something you’re too young. Is-shin really been there twice.”
Play
Record Haul No. 3
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 - Four Sider
XTC - Skylarking
Badfinger - Straight Up
Grand Funk Railroad - Caught in the Act
Utopia - Ra
Utopia - Another Live
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star
“Ooo, look! I love this one.”
The girl in the big glasses shows the die-cut sleeve to her bottle blonde co-worker. They turn it over in their hands, amazed at the intricate shape of the corners, the crazy painting that apparently drove Mark Chapman to do something he shouldn’t have.
“That’s coooool.”
“EXCUSE ME, MISS…” A wobbling man carries stacks of 45s.
“I love this album, but I don’t really like his other stuff. It’s too… smooth, you know?”
“I didn’t like a lot of his stuff at first, and then I just kept listening, and now - ask him (a thumb to J) - it’s all I listen to.” J nods solemnly. “It grows on you. And I actually like the smooth stuff. I still think some of this (a thumb to the record) is too weird.”
“I like the weird stuff.”
“CAN YOU HOLD ON TO THESE? I HAVE TO GET HOME TO FEED MY DOGS!”
“That guy back there, though, (a thumb to a guy in back) he’s, like, the world’s biggest Todd Rundgren fan. You should talk to him.”
“Okay…”
She walks back to a man with glasses slowly pawing through a stack of records and says something to him, shows him the die-cut, then points a thumb in my direction. He says a curt word or two and turns his attention back to the stack of records still to be priced in front of him. She turns back to me and shrugs her shoulders in a way that says Todd Rundgren fans don’t always have the time to talk to each other, I guess.
“I NEED TO PRICK MY FINGER! I’M A DIABETIC!”
“Could you do it over there in the corner? Is that okay? Away from the customers?”
I ask to hear the Badfinger, the side with “Baby Blue,” to make sure that scratch isn’t so bad.
“Whose turn is it to pick? Can I turn this off?”
The Neu-metal fades out and Welsh power pop fades in. Shoppers crick their necks in the direction of the counter, glaring at me and my AM gold.
“Well, that certainly changed the mood of the room.”
“I’LL JUST STAND RIGHT HERE AND PRICK MY FINGER, OKAY?”
(Previously: Albums Purchase One Hot Weekend, Record Haul, Record Haul No 2)
Top 10 Things Today's Kids Will Never Experience →
time.com
The 5 things on this list I will be sure to expose my children to, even if it makes me a Luddite:
Camera Film
I have four cameras at home that use film, and I’m always tempted to acquire more. You can be sure my children will know how to load a roll of film if I have anything to say about it.
Landline phones
I can’t be the only one who lived through September 11th and the blackout who insists on having a landline and a phone that doesn’t require electricity, can I?
Being Lost
There’s something essential to be learned from wandering aimlessly.
Walkmans
I still have one tucked away in the apartment, and all my cassettes are in boxes waiting to be explored by nostalgic thirteen-year-olds the same way I explored my parents’ records.
Real Books
Even though I own a Kindle, I still prefer reading paper. The 700 books in my apartment aren’t just for decoration.
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"Elaine once wore a denim vest over a floral jumpsuit." →
nytimes.com
AUGUST.
I am so guilty of being a sucker for this (potentially awful) trend. The nostalgist in me can’t help it: this was the look of early Sassy, the first time we were allowed to go to the mall and pick out something to wear all by ourselves. I picked a crocheted off-the-shoulder ivory colored sweater, and I probably wore it with a floppy hat and combat boots.
But back then I wore pants that didn’t fit, cut my trouser cuffs too short, and hadn’t a clue about how to wear my hair. I was blinded by the confusion of my love for both Vanilla Ice and Michael Stipe. I would flirt with makeup, but end up with eyes rimmed too heavily with liner.
Back then, I had braces.
I’m going to pretend that we’ve discovered time travel, and I get a chance to do it all over again and get it right this time. This is okay by me.
(Also, this is Chloe Sevigny come full circle.)
