I’ve been in New York for three and a half years, and Greenpoint for the past year and a half.  When I moved to the city I never thought that I would have such a devotion to one record shop….I have always been a record buyer/ collector, and even worked at a record store (which I still consider one of the best).  I was familiar with the other stores in the city, but had not been to Permanent Records until I moved to Greenpoint.

This has come to be, more or less, my only stop for records in the city.  Marjorie and Ron have been working there since I started going in, and have become more like friends than people who run the shop.  I like that they are honest, and if they aren’t into something they will tell you, and if you are interested in recommendation they will offer you an endless array of albums and genres depending on your mood.

Permanent Records is one of those places that I always want to go, and some days find myself emailing or playing phone tag with them.  Permanent Records is my favorite record store in the city, and if you haven’t been yet I highly recommend it…you just might find your new regular record shop.

Marjorie, Ron, and Milli were nice enough to donate their best of lists to be posted here on the Great Pumpkin, and I was really excited to see what they loved this year:

Marjorie’s Best of 2009

• Albums (alphabetical):
  • Arbouretum- Song of the Pearl
  • Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
  • Jarvis Cocker- Further Complications
  • Eddy Current Suppression Ring- selftitled
  • Eddy Current Suppression Ring- Primaru colors
  • Fresh & Onlys- selftitled
  • Fresh & Onlys- Grey Eyed Girl
  • Horrors- Primary Colors
  • I Was A King- selftitled
  • Cass McCombs- Catacombs
  • R. Stevie Moore- Meet the R Stevie Moore
  • Muslims (now known as Soft Pack)- selftited
  • Mystery of Two- selftitled
  • Obits- I Blame You
  • Ty Segall- Lemons
  • Ty Segall- Horn of Unicorn
  • So Cow- selftitled
  • Sonny & The Sunsets- Tomorrow is Alright
  • Richard Swift- Atlantic Ocean
  • VA (Numero 028)-Wayfaring Strangers Lonesome Heroes
  • Woods- Songs of Shame

• Best Re-Issues:
  • Amanaz- Africa
  • Bachs- Out of the Bachs
  • Chandra- Transportation
  • Ryan Trevor- Introducing
  • Spiritual Singers- Ntsamina
  • Witch- Lazy Bones

• Live:
  • REM- Live at the Olympia

• Stand-out Tracks/ Song of the Year:
  • Laura Veirs- “July Flame” (from July Flame)
  • The xx- “Crystalized” (from selftitled)
  • Hush Arbors- “Fast Asleep” (from Yankee Reality)

Ron’s Best Albums of 2009

1. Mystery Of Two – S/T
2. Meanderthals – Desire Lines
3. Jeremy Jay – Slow Dance
4. Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy
5. Ganglians – Monster Head Room
6. A.C. Newman – Get Guilty
7. The Horrors – Primary Colors
8. Fresh & Onlys - Grey Eyed Girls
9. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - S/T
10. 9DW / Boris - Golden Dance Classics
11. Crocodiles – Summer Of Hate
12. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
13. Ty Segall – Horn The Unicorn

Milli’s Top 25 Albums 2009

• 25. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
• 24. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be?
• 23. Metric – Fantasies
• 22. Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions
• 21. Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
• 20. The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
• 19. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
• 18. Mandy Moore – Amanda Leigh
• 17. The Dead Weather – Horehound
• 16. Sean Lennon - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead
• 15. Tom Waits – Glitter & Doom Live
• 14. Daniel Johnston – Is And Always Was
• 13. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
• 12. Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
• 11. Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending
• 10. Ben Kweller – Changing Horses
• 09. Karen O & the Kids – Where The Wild Things Are (Original Soundtrack)
• 08. Regina Spektor – Far
• 07. Relient K – Forget And Not Slow Down
• 06. Andrew WK – 55 Cadillac
• 05. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
• 04. They Might Be Giants – Here Comes Science
• 03. Mastodon – Crack The Skye
• 02. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
• 01. Eels – Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire

If you are interested in any of these releases, and happen to be in the New York City I would highly recommend checking at Permanent Records first. Marjorie, Ron, and Milli would be happy to help you find them, or anything you are looking for…and if they don’t have it they will try to order it(believe me I have them special order way too much for me). Customer service keeps people coming back, and this place definitely has it!

Permanent Records is located at
181 Franklin St
(between Green St & Huron St)
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
(718) 383-4083
website / twitter / facebook

If you are not in NYC maybe try an online music retailer ?

Links:

• more on Permanent Records here.
• more guest best of lists can be found here.

Thanks again to Permanent Records to contributing to the Great Pumpkins best of 2009 series and Happy Holidays!

Grass Widow have released two 12″s with in a matter of months.  Their self titled record on Make A Mess was one of those albums that I looked for for ever, but had no luck.  The first pressing of the LP went out of print very quickly, and even though I tried calling record stores in other parts of the country trying to mail order it I had no luck.  From what I understand the remaining copies of this LP floating around at your local shop are from the second pressing…that appears to be going out of print as fast as the first. It was a nice surprise walking into Permanent Records, and seeing this one up on the wall long after I had given up on it.

Girl pop seems to be king, or queen in this case, and these days there is no shortage of all girl bands…but there are three that I feel are a step above the rest, and Grass Widow is one of those.

Their debut full length on Make A Mess channels a more powerful force, at least for me. In the depths of their music I can feel the faintest hints of Beat Happening.  One might think that this would be a hard thing to pull out of their music being that they are an all girl band, and that one of the corner stones of Beat Happening is Calvin Johnson’s baritone voice, but it is more the subtleties in the music more than a direct comparison that brings this to mind….a vocal cadence or part of a drum beat.  It’s not necessary to see this, but it’s something I pick up on…and in the end anything that reminds me of Beat Happening tends to be a winner with me.

I feel that Grass Widow emphasis this on “Celebrate the Mundane” the second track off the Make A Mess full length.  Even at first listen Grass Widow are clearly different than their contemporaries in the way that they utilize every member of the band.  All three of the women in Grass Widow contribute to the vocals, and it is not just on choruses but at times all three of them are simultaneously singing different lyrics….creating harmonies that at first don’t seem possible.  This combination of lyrics, vocals, cadence, and harmony are where I truly see the connections I alluded to above, but occasionally in the beat as well.

[mp3] Grass Widow- “Celebrate the Mundane”

Grass Widow bring in the the horns later on in the LP, and overall have created a truly beautiful post-twee record. Extremely impressive as a debut LP, and one that has been spinning on the turntable and headphones for weeks. It’s looking like this is another one in my year end list as well.

Buy Grass Widow’s Self Titled album here.

A couple Sundays ago Grass Widow jumped on the bill for the Tom Tom Magazine launch party at Bruar Falls.  Grass Widow had been playing shows all weekend, but I didn’t quite make it to any of them, and when I heard this show was at Bruar Falls I couldn’t not go.  If you the Great Pumpkin you already know this, but Bruar Falls just happens to be my favorite venue right now…so the location was perfect.

I got to Bruar Falls about 20 minutes before Grass Widow went on, and the place was totally packed.  It seemed like more people were there for the magazine than the music (this was made clear by how many people just talked through the bands sets), but I guess that could be expected.  I was a little surprised by the music that was being played between sets…after all Tom Tom Magazine is a magazine about female drummers, but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t an actual drum set used in any of the dance/hip hop music that was being played (I guess a party atmosphere was the desired effect)….just thought this was odd and worth mentioning.

By time Grass Widow took the stage I was really ready to hear the music that I came for, and these ladies brought it.  With songs like “Celebrate the Mundane” and “To Where” it can be hard for a band to pull it off live, but Grass Widow were well practiced and sounded great even on what I assume, due to the distance they traveled without a full tour, was borrowed equipment.  It’s really impressive that all three of their vocals can be so tight in a live setting.  I was able to capture some of this on video, and I am now happy to share it with you.

Grass Widow- “Lulu’s Lips”

[mp3] Grass Widow- “Lulu’s Lips” off of the Captured Tracks 12″.  Buy it here.

While reviewing my recordings I realized that I didn’t know three of the tracks I taped.  I emailed Grass Widow, and Hannah was kind enough to help me identify them.

Hannah informed me that the three tracks are from their yet to be recorded album for Slumberland Records!  Grass Widow will be hitting the studio in January, and these three tracks, and many others, will be put to tape.  Enjoy:

Grass Widow- “Give Me Shapes”

Grass Widow- “Landscape”

Grass Widow- “Uncertain Memory”

Thanks to Hannah, and the rest of Grass Widow, for identifying these songs for me.  I’m really looking forward to the new record, and to your return to New York!

Links:

• Buy Grass Widow releases here.
• Grass Widows website/myspace
• more on Slumberland Records here.
• more on Captured Tracks Records here.
• more on Permanent Records here.
• more gprecs videos here.
• more This Week In Mail Order here.

I wrote about Love Comes Close earlier this week, and how much I’m loving Cold Cave these days.  Love Comes Close is pretty much a perfect dance album at least for people who don’t typically dig dance music…some people might think it nods to New Order a little bit hard, but that doesn’t bother me one bit.

Cremations has finally been released on LP (the CD came out earlier this year), and it compiles many of the out of print more experimental musings of Cold Cave into one album (Como Potions LP, Electric Dreams Cassette, and the Painted Nails EP..among other things).  My special order has arrived at Permanent Records, and I plan on picking it up tonight.  From what I have heard of the album it really lets the heavier back grounds of Wesley Eisold and Dominick Fernow come out.  While it still has touches of the lighter uptempo music that I love from Love Comes Close it definitely brings the bands dark, almost industrial, side into perspective.

Cremations was released on Fernow’s very own Hospital Productions.  Here is what the label has to say about the release:

Vinyl LP edition. Cremations is a collection of early demo/live/and unreleased tracks from Cold Cave. From the projects isolated beginnings to the recent full band line-up the development of this singular musical entity is documented here in its icy electronic glory. From Cold Cave’s infancy sexual identity and oblique existentialism have been expressed through biting lyrics and electronic minimalism. Rarely has the human condition been exposed so brazenly as in “Sex Ads”. Melodies, noise and rhythms clash as stories from below the surface are retold. From the demo LP Coma Potion, which featured a rugged stripped down distortion, to the suggestive Electronic Dreams tour cassette (featuring the voice of Max Morton on the track “Heavenly Metals”). Cold Cave has developed its own brand of genre defying electronic music, without ever betraying its dark roots. Love and pornography, Industrial music and traditionalism, poetry and profanity all mix together in a hedonistic, cocktail of nihilistic nights and mournful mornings. Cremations collects all this work for the first and last time.

You might notice that the last line of this description says “Cremations collects all this work for the first and last time” and I don’t think this is an understatement.  Hospital Productions is know for their high quality limited releases.  If you have been loving Love Comes Close you might want to pick this one up when you see it.

[mp3] Cold Cave- “Gates”

[mp3] Cold Cave- “Chrissie Sally”

New Yorkers can find this one at Academy Annex in Brooklyn, Permanent Records, and of course Hospital Productions…while supplies last of course.

Or buy it from Hospital Productions here (click on the price and it takes you to paypal)…or, if you prefer, at insound here.

Links:

• more on Cold Cave here.
• buy music by Cold Cave here.

Previous mp3s:

• [mp3] Cold Cave- “Life Magazine”

At what point do my hometown and my current residence converge in the music world you may ask…well that point happens to be Permanent Records tonight!  The Aamerican Tenants will be playing a free performance at 7pm. They are from Greenpoint but by way of Charleston, South Carolina…and have been making music since 1999.

I haven’t seen the Aamerican Tenants in many years, but when I was in Charleston last month at 52.5 Records I had the opportunity to pick up their new album Late City Final.  The limited press silk screened LP comes with a CD-R copy of the record, and I hope it will be available at Permanent Records (it seems to have a virtually non-existent web presence, hence no mp3s). Hartwell Littlejohn, the main force behind the Aamerican Tenants,  gives us something new and at the very same time brings me back to when I was much younger.  Permanent Records describes Late City Final as “bridging the often overlooked gap between The Silver Jews and The New York Dolls,” and this isn’t an easy thing to do.

Check out the Aamerican Tenants:

• The Aamerican Tenants’ myspace
  • you can stream several songs off Late City Final from their myspace

To buy Late City Final on vinyl email: (aamericantenant at gmail dot com) or buy it from itunes here.

Again:

The Aamerican Tenants play tonight at 7pm for Free at Permanent Records! (click through if you would like more details)

Sometimes you need to hear something that will make you a little bit uncomfortable, and after you hear it you either become totally intrigued or utterly put off.  I had heard single tracks by Brendan Fowler, who goes by  BARR when he performs and releases albums,  in the past but I had never listened to a whole album until the other weekend.

A couple months ago I was reminded about BARR while listening to Somebody Come and Play, and called up Permanent Records to have them get me a copy of Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case, his 2006 release.  The album came out on 5RC on CD and Doggpony on LP in the States.  Permanent was nice enough to track down the UK edition that was put out by Upset the Rhythm…although since it is from the UK it did take several months.

Once I finally got the record I forced my brewing buddies to listen to it with me for the first time.  Although it’s not the most social of music I think it is good for other people who wouldn’t normally be exposed to BARR to hear his records.

Musically Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case is almost spoken word/a personal discussions within Fowler’s mind that are performed out loud over experimental abstract or not so abstract pop songs or occasionally just drum beats.

When I say that BARR’s music can make you uncomfortable it’s not because it’s offensive in any way, but possibly the most personal music you will ever hear.  With that said Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case is infecting my thoughts, and more than likely I’m going to order his other LP this afternoon.

I highly recommend that you listen to “My List of Demands” because I think this will adequately show you what I’m talking about.  If it’s your thing…by the end of the two songs you might find yourself tracking down these releases just as I did…if not listen just to put your mind outside it’s normal comfort zone.

[mp3] BARR- “My List of Demands”

[mp3] BARR- “Is All For Updated”

to hear more go to BARR’s myspace.

Buy Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case here on CD.  I originally thought the US edition of the LP was out of Print but you can buy that here, or the UK version here.

After listening I hope you are in the same boat with me where you want to hear more…I have to say that I’m really sad that I missed his couple NYC performances this summer, but I’m going to do my best to catch him next time he plays in the city.

Day 4 of North Side Fest. June 14th, 2009.

North Side was finally winding down, but there were some interesting things going on…after doing the normal Sunday morning routine, I headed over to Bruar Falls, but first was a stop at Academy that produced Zork’s Tape Bruise (I thought the first press was out of print, but this copy was on clear wax…I guess I win!).  If you get a chance to snag this Oh Sees album you totes should.  It is basically John’s 4 track recordings, and a cd of all of the out of print eps.  I was happy to find it, although the number of Oh Sees records I have is becoming exceedingly large.

I considered buying Enter the Vaselines, but didn’t…and then headed to see the Browns play.

When I got to Bruar Falls I was one of maybe 5 people there for the show…but more people trickled in slowly, and the Browns ended up playing to a decent sized crowd at 3 in the afternoon.  They were tight, and the singer played on the floor.  I caught them at Market Hotel sometime last fall, and I can say they have grown as a band quite a bit since then.  I really enjoyed their set.  They are making 90’s influenced indie rock…you can see bits and pieces of your favorite bands in their music, but at the same time it still feels fresh.  I haven’t picked up their album yet, but I have been digging on these tracks that found in the mp3-o-sphere:

[mp3] The Browns- “For the Saints”
(off of the 1928 Label Sampler. Out of Print)

[mp3] The Browns- “Two Of You”
(off of Family History.  Buy it here.)

Enter the Vaselines was still sticking around in my head, so I headed up to Permanent Records…and just as expected it was a couple bucks cheaper than the other shops in Williamsburg.  So I snagged a copy of it…and well worth it too.

I met up with klk at Studio B for a totally packed out performance by the Dodos.  I really enjoyed Visitor, and the first two times I saw the Dodos…but this time it wasn’t the same.  Maybe it was that I was in the back of Studio B, but they didn’t have the same effect.  The sound was boomy, and I just couldn’t get into it.  We left after about three songs, and headed to The Diamond…which was a good decision.  I am interested in hearing the new Dodos album when it comes out though.

I didn’t do much else for the rest of the afternoon except listen to my new Vaselines collection (which is totally awesome…thanks Sub Pop!).  I headed over to Shea Stadium a little later than I was planning to, and unfortunately missed The Gutsies, but I did catch most of Knight School’s set and I was very happy that I did.    Knight school totally rocked.  I’m not going to say much more about them because I’m going to dedicate a post to them soon…but be on the look out.

Next up was So Cow, and as ya’ll probably already know his record on Tic Tac Totally has pretty much been my obsession of 2009.  These guys were in California earlier that morning…traveled all day…showed up to Shea Stadium during Knight School’s set, and played about an hour later.  Even though the three men that make up So Cow were exhausted from traveling they still managed to play for almost a full hour, and killed it.  So Co is just one of those bands that doesn’t have an off night, or that was the impression I got from them seeing them play a hand full of times in NYC over the past two months.  I also caught them again at The Bell House the following night.  I’m a little sad that I won’t get to see them play for a while, but I’m sure they will be back.  Oh and if you didn’t already see, So Cow’s album got a rad review on Pitchfork! (buy it here!)

At Shea Stadium…someone threw a chicken at So Cow (my first gif!?!):

I forgot to mention (therefore I’m adding this after I originally posted this) that the So Cow show at Shea Stadium was just about the most fun show I have been to in NYC…everyone was dancing (literally), having a good time, and just happy to be there.  I was really glad that I got to be part of it.  The chicken was thrown, but it was in good fun.  A great end to the fest.

Lots of pictures of So Cow can be found here.

North Side Festival Wrap Up:

Overall North Side Fest was pretty cool, and I commend L Magazine for taking on something so ambitious.  It brought lots of great music to the neighborhood, and overall I’m sure it helped out local businesses by bringing large groups of people out at all times of the day.

I think it was a great idea for there to be North Side Fest Badges, but I just feel like it didn’t give the badge holder enough benefits.  And here is why:

• The Badge didn’t guarantee entry to all of the shows.
  • Only 20% of the venue capacity was reserved for Badge holders, and if you weren’t there in time you didn’t get in.
    • There was also no effective way for the festival to track badge holders coming and going
      • Statements like “No Re-Entry for Badge Holders” were common, and I felt that it just wasn’t a fair way to treat people who had invested money in the whole weekend.
  • This was the main problem.
    • In order to get your moneys worth out of the badge you have to jump from show to show (it’s just not cost effective if you don’t), and not being guaranteed entry is lame.
    • Even if a show wasn’t sold out to the public…if 20% of the capacity was filled by badge holders, no more could get in.  This created problems with buzz bands like Real Estate.
  • Also it was really hard to take advantage of the “free drinks” that were available…you had to try really hard, and in the end I only got two.
    • I would almost like to see more drink specials at venues, rather than free drinks or drink specials at non-venues.

All in all, I think people would be willing to pay more for a badge if it ensured that they got into the shows they wanted to see.

My last questions about the Badges is how do bands get paid?  I know that North Side Fest people are at all the venues to count how many badge holders enter…but how is this money distributed?   I assume money got thrown toward Real Estate from North Side Fest because the badge holder capacity was sold out…but what about smaller shows that don’t attract that many badge holders?  Is any money given to those bands?  It is in the music lovers interest to buy the badge, especially if they are planning on seeing lots of shows…and while I wasn’t a fan of SIN way of dealing with NSF…their flier did raise some questions. I’m not siding with SIN (they knew what they were getting into when they sided with North Side Fest to begin with), but it did make me wonder where the money from the badges went.  One would hope that some of your money from the badge purchase is going to the bands you actually got to see.

These were all thoughts that came up during the festival, and since I have a blog I feel that this is as good a place as any to air these opinions.  I think a little better planning could go into pairing bands with venues of appropriate size (ie Real Estate, The Van Pelt, and the Beets could have all used a larger venue).

These things will all be worked out with time.  I hope to see more national acts at the Festival next year (this year was a little bit heavy on the local, but there is nothing wrong with that…we have a great scene), but overall I congratulate L Magazine, and North Side Festival on a successful first year.   Lots of great bands played, and I felt that it was really good to see all of the venues, bands, promoters, and local media working together to make this happen.  North Side brought people out to Williamsburg and Greenpoint that might not normally venture into North Brooklyn to see bands play and be part of the festivities…we even got calls from friends asking what shows they should go too. because they wanted to check out a North Side event.  Basically what I’m trying to say is: YR doing a great job, and I look forward to it next year.

Links:

More on So Cow here.

More on Thee Oh Sees here.

More on Permanent Records here.

All of my North Side Festival Coverage can be found here.

This concludes my North Side Fest coverage until next year.  Now back to normal posting.

Tay over at Somebody Come and Play once again made an awesome recommendation via his podcast, and this time it was for the Irish boy that goes by the name of So Cow.  Tay has been playing So Cow on his podcast over the past couple months, and as soon as I saw the record I had to pick it up.

So Cow is Brian Kelly of Taum, Ireland.  When you hear the opening track “Casablanca” you start to think that there is no way the rest of the LP could possibly be this good, but So Cow keeps the surprises coming.  While Kelly is from Ireland he spent time living, and recording in South Korea, and this shows.

Overall I have been really impressed with the self titled collection of best of, reworked, and new songs that came out on Tic Tac Totally.  This wonderful 18 song album keeps going, and doesn’t gets old.  I guess So Cow is most easily classified as up beat low-fi pop, but Kelly is a master at entertaining the ears. His lyrics are clever, and his refreshingly diverse music accompanies it wonderfully. Just when you think it can’t get better he busts out “100 Helens,” and for me it doesn’t get much better than a Kids in the Hall reference.

I have been rocking this record every morning this week, and just want to hear more…since it isn’t digital I just placed an order for So Cow’s These Truly Are End Times, and I’m Siding With My Captors through his myspace ( I’m Siding With My Captors is also available via eMusic).  Although some of the songs are the same I’ll be happy to rock it on the subway!

So Cow will be touring the States as a three piece next month, and the first couple shows are right here in NYC:

5/7/09- Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls w/ German Measles, Die Hard, and Mr. Falcon

5/8/09- Queens, NY @ The Silent Barn

5/9/09- New York, NY @ Death By Audiow (Less Artist More Condos Presents!) w/ Pink Reason

for more tour dates all around the US check out the So Cow myspace.

Listen to So Cow:

[mp3] So Cow- “Casablanca” (off of the self titled LP) (via WFMU Blog)

[free ep download] So Cow- So Cow In A Shed! (So Cow covers Television Personalities, Kim Jung Mi, The Who, Fiddle Bambi, Annie Philippe, Big Monster Love, and Tracey Ullman.)

The new So Cow LP looks beautiful with a full color sleeve, and just is a great record overall (so far it’s my favorite release of 2009!).  I know I normally post the quantity pressed, and what not…but as of now this info is not available for this record.  I picked up my copy of the LP at the Academy Annex in Brooklyn, and I am pretty sure that Permanent Records (also in Brooklyn) will be stocking it soon.  If you don’t live near these stores I highly recommend picking it up from Tick Tac Totally.

Buy the So Cow LP from Tic Tac Totally!

photo by Loreana Rushe

So this is the first year that I am participating in any of the Record Store Day exclusives…Record Store Day is this Saturday April 18th!

The past couple years I lived so far away from a record store (well not physically far, but it was a damn long train ride) that it was a task to get down there on this consumer holiday, but now being a Greenpoint resident I am just minutes away from almost all of my favorite shops!

I’ll probably hit up Permanent around when they open, and if I’m feeling like fighting the crowds do my rounds at the Academy Annex,  and if my wallet isn’t too beat up stop by Earwax.

Now here it is the great pumpkin’s 2009 record store day exclusive picks:

Grizzley Bear Live on KCRW 7″

Arthur Russel’s Love is Overtaking Me 2xLP

Subpop has several exclusives, but I’m looking to grab a copy of the Flight of the Concords 7″ and the Obits 7″

I’m looking forward to having “Albi the Racist Dragon” on vinyl.

For a complete list check out MBV…those guys got it covered.  Happy Shopping, and long live physical media!