It starts today.  One of the most wonderful events in the world for the record dork (yep I’m included in that).

The WFMU Record Fair will be going all weekend starting this afternoon.  It is an exciting time…performances, live broadcasts, and more records than you can wrap your head around.

The fair runs Friday 10/23 from 7-10pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10/24 & 10/25 from 10am to 7pm. Admission is $7 (per day).  Earlybirds can get in on Friday at 4pm for $25, which includes readmission all weekend.

I hate to say it, but last year was my first time going to this wonderful event…and I plan to go every year until I leave this city.

While there are tons of records you have to be selective or you will go broke very fast (I recommend setting a spending limit for yourself).  Last year I only purchased three records…Brian Eno’s Before and After Science, a Mommyheads’ 7″, and the grand prize… Talulah Gosh’s They’ve Scoffed the Lot put out by Sara Records!  And I can definitely say that my couple hours of browsing were worth it!

I tried to have a game plan last year, but I realized it’s pretty useless…I think it’s good to have a couple tables in mind that you want to shop (for me it is Michael Goodstein’s table and Gern Blandsten Records) and just kinda browse the rest of it… you know pretty fast if you have found a table that you like.

• Check out the Vendor List here!
• The Live events here!
• and the floor plan of the event here.

I’ve been mentally preparing for this event for a couple weeks now, and I can’t believe it’s finally here.  Record shopping is pretty meditative for me so I’m looking forward to a relaxing Sunday afternoon at the the fair.

The WFMU Record Fair happens at Metropolitan Pavilion located at 125 West 18th Street in New York City.

In honor of my wonderful find last year…here are two tracks from Talulah Gosh’s They’ve Scoffed The Lot:

[mp3] Talulah Gosh- “Talulah Gosh”

[mp3] Talulah Gosh- “Be Your Baby”

It’s so nice to have some of my favorite twee on wax.  I love it.  Now only if I can find some Field Mice this year (most likely not).

They’ve Scoffed the Lot is out of print, but you can get these tracks and a whole lot more on Talulah Gosh’s collection titled Backwash!  Buy Backwash here!!!

I’ll be sure to report back on my finds.

Links:

• more on WFMU here.

Since I initially heard Liechtenstein I have been craving more, and back in June, as a surprise,  klk brought back a copy of their new 10″ Survival Strategies in the Modern World that she picked up at Aquarius (I’m still so jealous that I’ve never been to that store).  I absolutely love this record, it gives me the same satisfaction that I get while listening to Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh, but with a slightly updated sound.  Liechtenstein also refuses to get lost in the fuzziness that is so popular these days, and I now have very little motivation to put on albums by Pens and Vivian Girls when I know that I will be much more satisfied by Liechtenstein (or Talulah Gosh for that matter).

Liechtenstein’s 10″ while wonderful is pretty short, a mini LP of nine songs, and in my searching of the internet I came across another amazing offering from the Free Music Archive.  When Liechtenstein was in the states back in June they stopped by WFMU and recorded a set for one of my favorite radio shows, Michael Goodstein’s Choking on Cufflinks.  The set is up in it’s entirety for free download from the FMA…and I’ve been particularly into these two:

[mp3] Liechtenstein- “All At Once” (via the FMA)

[mp3] Liechtenstein- “Everythings for Sale” (via the FMA)

[full album download/stream] Liechtenstein- Live on Choking on Cufflinks 6/6/09

This live set includes songs from their out of print cd-r and 7″s so it is totally worth checking out (“Everythings for Sale” is one of them).

Liechtenstein have also recently participated in Slumberland Records‘ Searching for the Now Series.

Here is why Slumberland does Searching for the Now:

We here at Slumberland have always believed in the 7″ single as the greatest medium for pop music. 7″s are cheap and portable, a great way to hear new bands without spending too much cash, and similarly a great way for bands to get their music out there without going broke. Add in a cool sleeve, maybe some color vinyl and the odd sticker or badge and you have an unbeatable little package.

The last few years have seen a real resurgence of great pop, and we find ourselves with a favorite new band almost every week. Or at least a few favorite new songs. We’ve puzzled over how to make more of this terrific music available, and our solution is our new split single series Searching For The Now. Our plan is to release two limited-edition split 7″ singles every ten weeks or so, then compile every eight singles onto CDs to keep them available. Note that this is not a subscription series — while we are limiting each single to one pressing, they’ll be available from your favorite indie record retailers and mail orders, and of course directly from Slumberland. All singles will be pressed on color vinyl and packaged in special sleeves — full-color, letterpress, silkscreen or something else cool. (more info here).

I fully agree with Slumberland’s vision with this series, and I feel like it speaks to me as a record buyer.  They are 100% correct in thinking that the 7″ is a great medium (both affordable, and digestible) for checking out new bands, and Slumberland is able to keep these records inexpensive ($5), and I am more likely to invest time in something that I buy for a couple of dollars than something I get off the internet for free.  Slumberland also has been kind enough to give us Liechtenstein’s new studio track “This Must Be Heaven” as a free downloadable sample.

[mp3] Liechtenstein- “This Must Be Heaven” (via Slumberland.  How can you resist that vinyl…Buy it here)

“This Must be Heaven” is pretty much a perfect pop song in my mind, and again like the 10″ it leaves me wanting more.

Liechtenstein recently lost  Naemi, but they have found  Ulrika to take over playing bass in the band.  And back in August they spent a couple days in a Gotland studio recording some new songs…I can’t wait for these to see the light of day.  Any news is good news if it’s coming from these ladies.

In the mean time…here is their video for “Security By Design”

Links:

• more on Liechtenstein here.
• more on Slumberland here.
• buy music by Liechtenstein here.
• Creative Commons credits on tracks from the FMA
  • Liechtenstein / CC BY-ND 3.0