Utrecht Records Fare 2009

This weekend I will attend my second records fare in Utrecht, and I am really looking forward to it. What hidden gems will I discover this time? Will I finally find that one record I have been looking for the past years? What new old music will I discover?

Why did I start buying records in the first place? It started just before I went to India. I wondered around a flea market and saw a bin with some records in it. Rummaging around it I found one which caught my interest: The first record of the Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing was the track I recognized. The seller only asked 1 euro for it. And so my current collection was born.

As a music lover, records are for me a cheap and easy way of getting to discover great music, great music of any age. With an average price below 5 euro's its even worth to take risks. You for instance buy an old Santana record for 2 euro without knowing any of the songs on it. You play the record and find out it is an extremely musical light jazz album. Or you stumble on a record from Ry Cooder, a guy you know as the father of the Buena Vista Social Club, and find out he's one of the best guitarists ever. Going to a records fare is like a big adventure into a treasure cove for me; you never you what great piece of music you`ll find. Some people might not find old music relevant in this day and age - but for me a good music is timeless. Listening to the first record of Devo or an early Lou Reed can be just as exciting as listening to the debut of the Japandroids or the latest Dirty Projectors or TV on the Radio album.

So what will I be looking for at the records fare? I`ve been looking for the debute from DEVO for more than a year now; Apparantly the band really has a cult following since I`ve yet to see it anywhere. "Blue" of Joni Mitchell would also be a nice addition. Thanks to the Dirty Projectors I`m really getting into the Talking Heads. Perhaps I can also find the debute of Roxy Music? And what am I still missing from David Bowie? And what about Old soul records from Marvin Gaye, James Brown and maybe Lee Dorsey or Otis Redding? Minnie Ripperton - I still need to find the record that made her famous for a reasonable price. Dr. John also created some extremely catchy music and some early stuff from Van Morrison would also not be bad.

I wonder what my budget will be?

Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!

A: We are Devo!
Q: Why are you Devo?
A: With songs as "Jocko Homo" and "Satisfaction" you are basically deconstructing music.
Q: Why deconstruction?
A: Cos these two songs sound like a toddler trying to force a square brick into a round hole. It just does not fit, but you don`t care.
Q: More groups have tried that - why is Devo's effort so special?
A: Besides making square songs they are also completely unpredictable.
Q: Unpredictable as in?
A: Listen you "Jocko Homo" and see how it turns into an anthem at 02:30.
Q: Do they go beyond this gimmick?
A: Absolutely, listen to "Gut Feeling". Probably one of my favorite songs ever. It starts of with a simple guitar riff, speeds up, then the piano sets in, speeds up even more, the piana starts to get frantic, the guitar spits in together with Mark Mothersbaugh's words. At 03:30 in crashes into chaos, only to end with another frantic punk prelude for "Slap your baby down". Crazy and brilliant at the same time.
Q: So you really like this single song, anything else worth listening to on this album?
A: Well, yes: "Too Much Paranoias" makes you feel paranoid and very uncomfortable. In the middle the song breaks up, only to materialize again for one final push. "Mongoloid" is a beautiful song, telling the story of a mentally disabled person who just like everyone else brought home the bacon without being noticed. Such a sensitive song.
Q: Are there any weak points on this album?
A: Yes. The first 10 songs are just one big winning streak. Not one weak link in there; It catches you with its hyperactive jabs and does not let you loose. I never really understood "Shrivel Up" though. It misses a bit of direction, it feels a bit out of place. Still a good song though - but it does not feel as "urgent" or "relevant" has the others.

Q: And why do you still listen to Devo in 2009?
A: Nothing came before, and nothing came after it quite like it. Devo devolve there music like no-one else, and therefore listening to it sounds like a great party where people can only move in stop-motion. Check out there first album at your local record or web store. It's worth the money.

You`re an extra, lost in the scene

It has been a long, long time since my last post. Don`t let the gap of 3 months fool you: I`ve been listening a lot of music and learning about myself in the process. It for instance seems that I`m a person who likes a bit of structure in music. Groups like Animal Collective and the Dirty Projectors seem to be on the wrong side of this thin red line of mine. I don`t think they're bad, but I just don`t get it (yet). I don`t get what's so appealing about it (yet).

Artists that are appealing to me at the moment are Phoenix, The Pains, Allen Toussaint, Talking Heads (yea,yea, due to the dirty Projectors), Apostle of Hustle, T. Rex, Charles Spearin and St. Vincent.

St. Vincent in particular makes me smile. It's hard to describe how her music sounds like; It's a mix of styles. It's a (lot) rougher version of My Brightest Daimond - with a beat. Her latest album is a carefully constructed patchwork of songs. Some can start of as dreamlike and then at one point fall back into harsh distortion. It is this combination that makes me really like Actor, and songs like Marrow and The Strangers perfectly demonstrate this. Playing them very loud though will get your neighbours yelling at you.

Luckily she has some very neighbour friendly songs like Save me from what I want and Laughing with a mouth of blood. Judging from their titles and lyrics you would not call them upbeat, but they do sound like it. I especially appreciate those nice backing vocals she did on both the songs; the "Watch your step's" give Save me.. that little bit of extra.

Finally, the first single Actor out of work is a great stacato marsh from the start to the end. I really like how the songs builds up to the finale. It's not a second too long at a little bit more than two minutes, and makes you want to play it, again, again and again.

The best thing about this is that I`m going to see St. Vincent live in action in Nijmegen in about a week's time. I`ve taken half a day of to go see her perform her songs. And if this Letterman performance is anything close to what I`ll see that monday, I`ll go back home happy. Hopefully my right foot doesn`t drop off in the meantime.