March 28, 2009: Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

25 Albums That Shaped My Life
#5

Nirvana
Nevermind
DGC, 1991

It was the album that changed everything. Nevermind changed music for me, just like it did for so many of you. Hell, it changed the world.

I still remember the first time I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I was in my bedroom, listening to KJ104 and reading comic books. I biked to Holiday Plus the next day to look through their tapes, but they didn't have it. It wasn't out yet. It came out the following Tuesday. My mom drove me to Down in the Valley in Golden Valley and I bought this funny tape with the naked baby on the cover. And it changed everything.



http://www.nirvana-music.com/

February 27, 2009: Joel RL Phelps & The Downer Trio - "Get the Chills"

This song comes from the Lost Classics Department. Phelps & company's 1999 album Blackbird was one of the new releases on the endcap when I started working at Oar Folkjokeopus. I knew that a handful of my friends were fans, so it was one of the first discs I checked out on the job. To this day, I maintain that it is one of the overlooked masterpieces of '90s indie-rock. I have not been able to make myself feel anything more than ambivalence toward the rest of Phelps' catalog, but this one is a must-own.

"Get the Chills"



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_RL_Phelps_and_the_Downer_Trio

February 25, 2009: Robyn Hitchcock - "Your Head Here"

One of my most pleasant musical surprises so far in 2009 is Robyn Hitchcock's outstanding new album Goodnight Oslo. It does not come as a surprise that it's a good album, as Hitchcock has always been good. He has, however, always been a guy who I have enjoyed listening to when I hear him, but for some reason have never gone out of my way to study his post-Soft Boys catalog. Well... it looks like I have a new project.

"Your Head Here"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Hitchcock

February 12, 2009: Sleater-Kinney - "What's Mine Is Yours"

In 2005, Sleater-Kinney left their longtime record label Kill Rock Stars for the larger Sub Pop Records and hired renowned producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Low) to record what would become their final album, The Woods.

While there was some speculation that Fridmann's typical polished and layered sound would take over, thus alienating longtime S-K fans, what the fans actually got was an entirely different and almost completely unexpected type of alienation.

For The Woods, Sleater-Kinney turned the volume up to 11, so to speak. Through a wall of distortion and Janet Weiss' thunderous drumming came the ballsiest record of the year. It was definitely hated by many. I love it. It was my favorite album of 2005. I love it when a band evolves.



http://www.sleater-kinney.com/

February 7, 2009: The Grifters - "Covered With Flies"

It's funny how the hype machine can swallow some bands and bury them like a time capsule. I hadn't thought about the Grifters for a long, long time until I saw their name in print today. They really were a great band, but almost a decade after their break-up, they seem completey forgotten. Here's to hoping I won't forget them again...













Listen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grifters

February 3, 2009: The Clean - "Anything Could Happen"

The last few days have been pretty busy and exciting at Treehouse Records (my place of employment).

Yesterday, Mark Olson and Gary Louris - the former frontmen of the Jayhawks - gave a fanastic in-store performance. It got me thinking about my favorite in-stores that we've done over the years, and one of those favorites would have the be The Clean.

"Anything Could Happen" is also an appropriate song of the day because this morning we completed a bold move that would have been difficult to imagine a few years ago. After removing one of our CD racks at the end of last week, six LP browser racks were hauled up from the basement and two rows of shelving for vinyl was added to our floor. My boss Mark joked about "this new analog age" yesterday. Indeed, vinyl is back!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clean

January 30, 2009: Rocket From the Crypt - "Guilt Free"

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION ALERT:
Tonight is my monthy DJ night at the King and I Thai, and given the kick I was on earlier this week, I have decided that I'm going to devote at least an hour of tonight's set to my favorite '90s indie rock.

Therefore, what better choice for Greatest Song of the Day than the band who inspired me to get a tattoo of their logo on my leg the week of my 18th birthday?

Tonight's music runs from 10 PM until 2 AM. If you're in the Twin Cities and looking for a cool place to hang out tonight, please stop by!

http://www.last.fm/music/Rocket+from+the+Crypt/_/Guilt+Free

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_from_the_Crypt

January 28, 2009: Crooked Fingers - "Destroyer"

Wednesday's song is dedicated to my puppy Sophie, who decided that she was going to spend her morning eating our kitchen floor. Bad girl!

"Destroyer"




http://www.crookedfingers.com/

January 25, 2009: Shudder to Think - "Red House"

Today's song is sort of a sequel to yesterday's Jawbox selection, continuing my '90s rock nostalgia weekend. As I'm sure many do, I closely associate Shudder to Think and Jawbox. After all, they were the only two bands to have ever left Dischord Records for a major label. Plus, original Jawbox drummer Adam Wade wound up with Shudder to Think after leaving the former.

While Jawbox's bombastic and fairly straight-forward sound easily appealed to my teenage sensibilities, though, Shudder to Think was a real challenge. I bought their albums because I bought everything that was on Dischord, and because I had some influential older friends who sang their praises. Their abstract post-rock riffs combined with frontman Craig Wedren's eccentric and theatrical vocals were jarring, to say the least.

I tried very hard to convince myself of their greatness, but I don't think I bought it until I finally saw them live. That was about 15 years ago. Wedren had a shaved-head, black goatee, and leather pants, and was singing this music to a pretty masculine crowd. I bought a t-shirt there, that I still have and occasionally wear. Shudder to Think was a gateway for my acceptance and eventual love of a lot of music that leaned on the adventurous side of the rock pendulum. While they certainly had their share of rabid fans, it's unfortunate that their name rarely seems to surface these days.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shudder_to_Think

January 24, 2009: Jawbox - "Savory"

I have been thinking about devoting one of my future DJ nights to '90s indie rock. After all, that's the music that got me through those trying teenage years. It's kind of funny how as I've gotten older and have grown increasingly bored with new music, and have thus found excitement in discovering music from the '60s and '70s and earlier, I have also managed to lose touch with my own musical roots.

For me, any conversation on '90s indie rock has to include Jawbox. "Savory" was their signature song and it would definitely be on the list of my 10 or 15 favorite songs of the decade, if I were to make such a list.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawbox

January 14, 2009: Spoon - "Everything Hits at Once"

I can simply not think of a more appropriate song for today's Song of the Day.





http://www.spoontheband.com

January 12, 2009: Portastatic - "I Wanna Know Girls"

Portastatic began as a solo side project of Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan in the early '90s. Early releases were essentially lo-fi, four-track recordings of would-be Superchunk songs. Through the rest of the decade, Portastatic evolved as a forum for McCaughan to experiment with bossa nova, tropicalia, and film scores.

Eventually, as Superchunk settled down, Portastatic became a full-band. The three big "rock sounding" albums are all great - and definitely some of the most underrated of this decade - but the best is 2005's Bright Ideas.



http://www.portastatic.com

January 3, 2009: Unwound - "Corpse Pose"

This is a fitting song of the day. I overslept this morning. I made it to work on time, but didn't have a chance to eat breakfast and, most importantly, had no coffee until my co-worker Ian arrived at the store around 1:00. Plus, I'm really sore from the first Friday Night Boot Hockey game of the season.



http://www.myspace.com/corpsepose

January 2, 2009: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "You Want That Picture"

Ask anybody who knows me well and they'll admit that I can be one stubborn bastard when I wanna be.

For years -- YEARS, I tell you! -- I was a Will Oldham hater. With absolutely no basis, I had made up my mind that he was pretentious and insincere. I never bothered to listen to his records closely because I could somehow tell that it wasn't the genuine article.

Over the last couple years, though, I have finally discovered the error of my ways. Sometimes people can make up their mind about something... anything... and it's much more work to change their mind than it ever was to make up that mind in the first place. For me, I can't even remember when or where the Oldham hate started. I probably heard somebody playing some Palace record and thought to myself, "This guy thinks he's the next Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan, but he's not, so I think he's full of shit." And that flippant, instantaneous reaction blocked me from several years of great music from Palace/Will Oldham/Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

Now that I've come around, I can quite comfortably recommend his newest album, Lie Down In the Light. "You Want That Picture" is the standout cut on the album, a gorgeous duet with Ashley Webber (formerly of Canadian indie band The Organ).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Oldham

December 30, 2008: The Go-Betweens - "Streets of Your Town"

I had the Go-Betweens stuck in my head all day today. Somebody sold a copy of their 1988 CD 16 Lovers Lane to my store and, it being my personal favorite Go-Betweens album, I spun it no less than two times during my shift.

"Streets of Your Town" was penned by Grant McLennan, who teamed with Robert Forster to form the core of the Australian band. McLennan tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 48 in 2006. This year, Forster released his first solo album since his songwriting partner's death. The Evangelist was one of the finest albums of 2008.



http://www.go-betweens.net/

December 27, 2008: Pixies - "Debaser"

I played this song during my DJ gig at the King and I Thai last night, and was once again reminded of its greatness.



http://www.myspace.com/pixies

December 22, 2008: Guided By Voices - "A Salty Salute"

I have many memories of this wonderful song, but two stand out the most.

1) I can not remember if it was St. Olaf or Carlton, but one of those Northfield schools had GBV headlining their "Spring Fling" outdoor festival one year. I remember standing by the side of the stage in the blinding sun as the bass player consumed whiskey by the gallon and frontman Robert Pollard flung Budweisers to the crowd from the on-stage cooler. They got so hammered that they played "A Salty Salute" twice. Glorious.

2) Rudie's Ska Cafe in St. Paul. It may have been different and more ska-like during the day, but when Rudie's opened around 1996, the regular barista Ray played a healthy dose of indie rock. It was so great that I would drive from my parents' house in Plymouth, pit-stop at Augsburg College and/or Middlebrook Hall on the University of Minnesota's West Bank to pick up my college-going friends, and continue deep into St. Paul to spend the evening drinking coffee and playing board games, and nerding out about music. Each night, the time would come for Ray to put GBV's Alien Lanes on the stereo. As soon as the opening bassline for "A Salty Salute" began, so did our night.

http://www.gbv.com/

December 18, 2008: Belle and Sebastian - "Sukie In the Graveyard"

When Belle and Sebastian's The Life Pursuit debuted in 2006, I was not overly excited to hear it. I loved their early albums and singles, but the previous two albums (Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant and Dear Catastrophe Waitress) and recent stand-alone singles felt lackluster. It simply seemed to me that the band had run its course, and was unlikely to make anything GREAT any more. The fact that The Life Pursuit was produced by Tony Hoffer (who was probably best known for producing Beck's Prince-wannabe album Midnite Vultures) and was being billed as Belle and Sebastian's "funk album" did not sound appealing, to say the least.

So, I try to remind myself of this every time I feel the inclination to write off a band before I hear the result. Because, as it turns out, The Life Pursuit WAS great. It was one of my top five albums of 2006. I would not dare call it a "funk album," but it was definitely looser and more fun than I was used to from Belle and Sebastian. Two years later, it still holds up.



http://www.belleandsebastian.com/

December 17, 2008: Lifter Puller - "Secret Santa Cruz"

I spent this morning answering questions via e-mail for a Lifter Puller interview as part of an oral history of one of my all-time favorite bands. Naturally, that put me in a Lifter Puller kind of mood today.

"Secret Santa Cruz" was one of my very favorite Lifter Puller tunes, so I was honored to have it chosen as the a-side on the 7" single that I posthumously released for the band in 2001.

Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of Lifter Puller have moved on to huge things with The Hold Steady. I adore The Hold Steady and am thrilled beyond words for their much-deserved success. I still miss Lifter Puller.



http://www.last.fm/music/Lifter+Puller/_/Secret+Santa+Cruz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifter_Puller
http://www.heartchamp.com

December 9, 2008: Eleni Mandell - "Salt Truck"

Since most of you are in the Twin Cities, where we just had our first significant snow dumping of the season, I thought I'd share something seasonal today.

Back in 2001, I drove through plenty of snow on my way to the 400 Bar to see Eleni Mandell for the first time. I had read an amazing review of her then-new album Thrill, so I ordered a copy and was completely blown away. I saw she was coming to town, and I made sure I was there. Unfortunately, few others joined me. I couldn't even convince any friends to join me on a weeknight in the middle of winter, so off I went on my own.

Eleni played a beautiful acoustic solo set. After the show, she was by herself at the merch table. I bought a t-shirt and introduced myself. I thanked her for a great show and made my pitch. "I have this little hobby record label called Heart of a Champion... if you ever have any interest in doing anything... a single, a full-length, whatever... I'd love to put something out!" We exchanged contact info and a couple weeks later I received a cassette of fantastic outtakes from the Thrill sessions.

A couple months later, we put out a 7" single. The following year, Heart of a Champion did a vinyl pressing for her album Snakebite. Now in 2008, the label has six different releases from this ridiculously talented artist. The latest one was the vinyl pressing of her 2007 album Miracle of Five, which contains "Salt Truck."

I can not even remember if I told Eleni that "Salt Truck" was my favorite song on the album before my wife and I went to see her play in L.A. on our honeymoon last June. At that show, though, she dedicated it to us. It felt perfect. I can honestly say that working with and getting to know Eleni Mandell has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my small little corner of the music industry.


Eleni and me at the Heart of a Champion 5-year anniversary party in 2004.

www.elenimandell.com
www.myspace.com/elenimandell
www.heartchamp.com