Record Store Day 2011

As most of you know, today was Record Store Day, a virtual holiday for music geeks. Along with special promotions, there are limited releases that come out exclusively to be sold at participating RSD stores. It's a chance for us music fans to pick up some cool stuff, and a way to promote the independent record stores across the country and possibly send them into the black.

Let's face it, your ipod is all well and good, but there's nothing like holding the physical disc (vinyl or otherwise) in your hands, examining the artwork, adjusting the volume and getting acquainted with a new friend. That's the service these stores provide. Big box stores don't care much about the serious music fan, and are unlikely to stock much that isn't in the top 100 or isn't a well worn classic that everyone's heard a billion times to the point that it no longer has much relevance. You're going to find it difficult to order a disc to the store, and good luck getting any decent recommendations from the staff. Nope, you can only do that at your local, independent music store. And not just today, all the time.

I dropped the ball by not talking about Record Store Day on this blog before now, but I don't intend to let that mistake happen again.

As mentioned earlier, there are many limited releases, and some are hard to get your hands on. Due to other commitments I couldn't go shopping until late afternoon and I missed a few records that I really wanted (Bad Brains, Foo Fighters, Buck Owens, Mastodon/ZZ Top split, Rush). But here's a list of what I did buy.

CDs

Crowded House-North America Travelogue 2010 (RSD release)
Metallica-Live At Grimey's (RSD release last year-got it today)
Eddie Spaghetti-Sundowner

Vinyl

Flogging Molly-Don't Shut 'Em Down (single-RSD release)

Johnny Cash-With His Hot And Blue guitar (used-Sun label, great shape)
Joan Jett and The Blackhearts-I Love Rock And Roll (RSD 30th Anniv. release)
Pearl Jam-Vitalogy (new vinyl reissue)

It's probably a good thing I didn't get there too early, I might not have had any money left!!! Some worthy additions to the collection, I feel. Super excited about the Johnny Cash record. Also digging the Joan Jett, I had the original when it came out. I was eight years old and played it daily for a full summer. Interested to hear the Crowded House as many feel they are one of the most underrated 80's pop bands and this is a 3 disc live set so I hope it's good. Anyway, I've got lots to listen to and absorb in the coming weeks. Always makes me happy.

So...what did you buy?

New release: Foo Fighters- Wasting Light

One would be forgiven for having limited expectations for the new Foo Fighters cd "Wasting Light". After the interesting but ultimately failed experiment of 2005's "In Your Honor", a snoozer live acoustic record and 2007's near-miss "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace", the band's longtime fans have reason to doubt. Sure, there were some great moments on those records, no question, but overall they seemed to fall a little flat.

Well I'm happy to report that Dave Grohl and Company have made the Foo Fighters record we've been waiting for. They're back, and none too soon. As has been documented elsewhere, "Wasting Light " was recorded in Grohl's garage. Bringing things back to basics it would seem. It worked. The album features the return of Foos guitarist (and former Germ) Pat Smear, with contributions from Krist Novoselic, Bob Mould and Fee Waybill (!). The album roars out of the speakers and bears its rock and roll heart on its sleeve in the best possible way.

All the strengths of the band are on display here. Take the opening numbers for example, "Bridge Burning" and "Rope", a solid one-two punch to begin the proceedings. There are lots of catchy melodies too, like the middle section of "These Days", "Back And Forth" and "A Matter Of Time", at least one of which is guaranteed to get stuck in your head. But it doesn't stop there. The Foos have a newly acquired groove on this album (most notably on "Dear Rosemary") that gives the sound a welcome fresh dash of paint. And, once again, working with Josh Homme pays off in the borderline QOTSA song "White Limo".

This is not to say that the CD is perfect. In the quest for immediacy this album has, some songs feel cut short before they have a chance to blossom. Others have a few too many stop/starts. There are a few of varying quality, but song for song it's stronger than the last two FF records combined.

"Wasting Light" is the CD that brings the Foo Fighters back to form. It is immediate, loud, fun, and a top notch pure rock record. The world needs more of those, and bless Dave Grohl for delivering one to us. 4 out of 5 Daves.

Update 4/7/11

Apologies for the lack of content around here the past few weeks. Sometimes other things get in the way, but now it's back to business. Kinks To Reunite? As we all know, Ray Davies has made a bit of a comeback over the past few years with two strong albums, "Other People's Lives" and the stellar "Working Man's Cafe". The inevitable Kinks reunion question continues to surface and Ray has always been open to the idea. He has suggested several times that it was close to happening. But to do it properly, he'd need his brother Dave on board. When told last year about Ray's stating that a reunion of the Kinks was close to happening his reply was simply "Ray's an asshole." Undeterred, Ray then stated that he'd just do it without Dave. Well, this must have lit a fire because Dave seems to have lightened up a little towards the prospect. Hopefully some news coming our way soon. Meanwhile, Ray Davies has just released a duets style album entitled, appropriately enough, "See My Friends". Expect a review here shortly. More Iron Maiden in 2011 My all time favorite heavy metal band, Iron Maiden, has announced yet another best of package. Titled "From Fear To Eternity" it focuses solely on the records from 1990 on. Since the band has focused on longer songs in the past 10 years they have decided to make this a 2 disc release. Does the world need another Maiden compilation? No. The band claims the reasoning behind the release is to educate newer fans about the past catalogue, which is the same excuse behind the "Somewhere Back In Time collection a few years back. Doesn't ring true though, if anything this CD should be a primer to the new stuff for older fans who may have drifted away. Seems irrelevant anyway as Maiden's fans are incredibly loyal and probably have all the music anyway. And therein lies the bigger problem for yours truly. I've got every album the band has put out but the completionist in me won't let me not buy this...which is sad. What is not sad, however, is that Iron Maiden will release a new live collection at the end of the year. It will feature a show from the last leg of the "Final Frontier" tour. The only disappointment here is that this is the version of the show that the U.S. didn't get (with a few exceptions coming up this year). The set list is much more well rounded than the one we got last summer (don't get me wrong, the shows were great but as a long time fan I missed some of the older songs), Production wise, it seems that the show got bigger and better...and has a brand new "giant Eddie" which we all love so much. (I hate to say it, but it almost seems as though the U.S. shows were purposely lacking. No proof of that mind you, just thinking out loud.) Anyway, something to look forward to later this year. Okay, that wraps it up for now. Keep checking in, there's more to come.