Posted June 23rd, 2009 by Shane
We were torn this week when it came to Record of the Week. Some incredibly good albums came out and when it came down to it we found ourselves with two albums that were equally deserving of the honor. 
There was no question from the first listen that the new Dinosaur Jr. was going to be tagged for Record of the Week. This is without a doubt, the only band that can go into hibernation for years on end and then come back at it as thought they put out a record the week prior.
The sound here is unmistakbly Dinosaur Jr. From J’s blaring guitar solo and heart on his sleeve lyrics(it’s hard to believe this guy is 45 years old now) to Murph’s thunderous pounding of the drums this album sounds like it was recorded somewhere between Where You Been and Green Mind. If you don’t believe us, check out the song “I Want You to Know” that we posted on our last Weekend Listening feature.
To top it all off we have the deluxe version of the CD that features a second CD with four exclusive songs. This version is the same price as the normal version and very limited. We also have this on sale right now! An absolute essential this year.
Bibio really came into this week at an unfair advantage. Dinosaur Jr. had the Record of the Week award on lockdown from the moment the album was released so putting out anything else good(and good lord is there a lot of good this week) was really just shooting yourself in the foot. Bibio managed to stay head and shoulders above the rest though and put out an incredible record in Ambivalence Avenue.
Equal parts Boards of Canada(for it’s warbly folky, National Geographic film being projected in 7th grade sounding interludes) and Prefuse 73(for it’s glitch-pop main tracks that actually manage to be the best Prefuse 73 material that Prefuse 73 didn’t put out), Bibio weaves his own brand of folktronica over 12 tracks and is one of the best releases not just this week but this year. To celebrate how great it is, we have this on our listening stations right now for a SUPER cheap price. There is absolutely no reason not to pick this up right now.
Honorable mentions for June 23rd Record of the Week:
- Foreign Born - Person to Person (Secretly Canadian)
- A Hawk and a Hacksaw - Deliverance (Leaf)
- Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer (Jagjaguwar)
- Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey)
Tags: bibio, dinosaur jr., Record of the Week
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Posted June 18th, 2009 by Shane
If you happen to be near the downtown Toledo area tonight, I(Shane) will be doing a DJ set at the Ottawa Tavern(1817 Adams St.) from 10PM - 12AM. I’ll be playing all sorts of stuff spanning from Caribou, Animal Collective, and Grizzly Bear to Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, Gal Costa, Blank Dogs, some African Folk stuff thrown in there for good measure. No cover!
Tags: animal collective, blank dogs, caetano veloso, caribou, dj, gal costa, grizzly bear, jorge ben, ottawa tavern
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Posted June 16th, 2009 by Shane
Record Store Day is great but once a year? Well we thought that too so that is why we are glad to bring Vinyl Saturdays to you! Vinyl Saturday will be the third Saturday of every month and we’ll be getting a small handful of some very, very limited records from some of your favorite bands. To kick off the inaugural event we have four 7″s you’ll sure want to get here early Saturday for!
Modest Mouse - Autumn Beds b/w Whale Song
First up is the exclusive new single from Modest Mouse! We got the first in the series and they were gone instantly. On this, the second in the series, Modest Mouse present two new songs in “Autumn Beds” and “Whale Song.” They plan on releasing four 7″s before they release their next EP in August so you might expect the next ones to come out on future Vinyl Saturdays but that remains to be seen.
Wilco - You Never Know b/w Unlikely Japan
Second is an exclusive 7″ from everyone’s favorite alt-country rockers Wilco. This 7″s features the single from the new album, Wilco the Album, titled “You Never Know.” On the b-side of the 7″ is a track titled “Unlikely Japan” which is a very early version of the track that became “Impossible Germany” off of their album Sky Blue Sky. So you are getting one track 10 days early and another track that you’ll never find anywhere else!
Green Day - Know Your Enemy b/w Hearts Collide
Third is a new 7″ from Green Day. The a-side is the song that you have to have heard by now, “Know Your Enemy,” while the b-side is a song that no one has heard up until now “Hearts Collide.” This is the only record that “Hearts Collide” will show up on so if you want this song, you want this 7″!
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Relator b/w I Don’t Know What To Do (Pete Yorn Demo)
In the Fall Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson have an album coming out called Break Up that is supposedly going to be in the vein of Serge Gainsbourg’s(second mention on the site in a week!) work with Brigitte Bardot. Well the fourth release for Vinyl Saturday is the single from this album entitled “Relator,” months before the album is due. The b-side to this 7″ is a demo of Pete Yorn performing “I Don’t Know What to Do” which is also scheduled to appear on the album.
As I said earlier, all of this stuff is incredibly limited. That being said, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to come in past this Saturday and get any of these as we anticipate they’ll all be sold this Saturday. So do not hesitate to make it in and spread the word around. Odds are, we’ll be the only game in town when it comes to these titles! Oh did I mention we open at 10AM on Saturdays? 
Tags: green day, modest mouse, pete yorn, record store day, scarlett johansson, vinyl saturdays, wilco
Posted in New Arrivals | No Comments »
Posted June 12th, 2009 by Shane
Quite a few new releases have been announced for the upcoming Summer months and we are happy to pass along some free MP3s from some of those upcoming releases!
First up is the one, the only, Dinosaur Jr. They came back from beyond the grave a couple years ago to grace us with Beyond which was just a killer album. Well on June 23rd they are going to release Farm which is classic Dinosaur Jr. The track available here, “I Want You to Know” is the first indicator on the album that they haven’t lost it as J. Mascis’ crooning and ripping guitar are all over the place with not just one but two of J’s signature guitar solos! Ahhh, it’s good to have them back.
Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You to Know
Up next is Foreign Born, the Los Angeles quartet whose album, Person to Person is released in a couple weeks on June 23rd. This track “Vacationing People” is the third track and it’s a good one. Equal parts Delta Spirit, Walkmen, and maybe an unequal part of Summer because this is certainly a warm weather kind of song from a warm weather kind of album. Definitely one to keep an eye on, which has become the norm from Secretly Canadian.
Foreign Born - Vacationing People
Sunset Rubdown is mostly Spencer Krug who you may know from such bands as Wolf Parade and Swan Lake. The man is no slouch when it comes to putting out albums, that’s for sure. When you are so prolific though it can sometimes be easy to sacrifice quality for quantity but such is not the case here. “Idiot Heart” off the new Sunset Rubdown album Dragonslayer runs you through the indie rock gauntlet that is bound to leave you worn out and tattered and wanting more when the end comes. The fact that Jagjaguwar can release this and Dinosaur Jr. in one week really makes you wonder: Do these people have any concern for our wallets at all?
Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart
Tags: dinosaur jr., foreign born, sunset rubdown, Weekend Listening
Posted in Weekend Listening | 1 Comment »
Posted June 11th, 2009 by Shane
We just got the two newest Mexican Summer pieces in and, like always, the label has not disappointed. If you are not familiar with Mexican Summer, now is a great time to get acquainted with the label as these two releases are not only some of their most limited but some of their best. You may have even picked up one of their releases and not realized it as everyone seemed to love their releases from Headdress, Marissa Nadler, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and Kurt Vile.
First up is the new Wooden Shjips 12″ titled Contact. Wooden Shjips have been cranking out 5+ minute neo-psychelic tunes since 2006 spread over various 7″, 10″, and 12″ and they haven’t decided to stray from the path on the two tracks featured here.
The title track “Contact” is actually a Serge Gainsbourg cover that was performed by Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot initially. You wouldn’t know it to hear Wooden Shjips take on it though as it turns into a bass-driven psych jam that goes the distance at over 8 minutes long. The b-side is a second version of their song “I Hear the Vibrations” that originally appeared as the b-side to their Vampire Blues 7″ released in 2008.
This 12″ is hand numbered and limited to 550 copies and then they are gone. They also come in different colored DJ sleeves and are quite the attractive package.
Secondly is the debut 12″ from Little Girls. Hailing from Canada, Little Girls blast out short and distorted lo-fi post-punk / new wave tunes not unlike Blank Dogs, Waavves, or Psychedelic Horseshit. This 12″ is 5 tracks that both tease and please as after it’s done you’ll just want a whole lot more. Fortunately for us it looks as though they have a 2nd 12″ coming out soon along with a 7″ single.
These 12″s are only available here right now as they have sold out everywhere else. If you are looking for any of Mexican Summer’s back catalog, we do have a very small amount of some of their releases still left in the store. We have incredibly limited amounts on the titles that follow:
- Dungen - Sätt Att Se (Limited to 1,000, includes 5 different versions of the track “Sätt Att Se” from their latest album 4)
- Nachtmystium - Worldfall (Limited to 500, includes 5 tracks two of which are covers of Death in June and Goatsnake!!!)
- Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave (Limited to 1,000 copies, this full length album is possibly the store favorite(but Kurt Vile runs a cloooooose second) on Mexican Summer. 10 tracks of what it would sound like if Bob Dylan grew up in Leksand, Sweden as opposed to Hibbing, Minnesota. Great genuine folk. Also includes an extra 4 tracks on a 7″ included with the LP for 14 tracks total!)
- Black Moth Super Rainbow - Don’t You Want To Be In a Cult (Limited to 500 copies this picture disc 12″ features two songs you are not going to find anywhere else. For fans of Cluster doing pop songs!)
- Golden Triangle - Golden Triangle (Limited to 500 copies, this garagey post-punk band will get you off your seat and shaking your ass with tunes unlike the Cramps jamming with Birthday Party)
- Valet - False Face Society (Limited to 500 copies, Valet contributes three songs not found elsewhere to this 12″ that is a a mind melter for sure. Layers of droning guitar and vocals that defy all preconceptions on what this music is supposed to sound like is topped of with a cover of Boris w/ Michio Kurihara from their album Rainbow)
Tags: little girls, mexican summer, wooden shjips
Posted in New Arrivals | No Comments »
Posted June 8th, 2009 by Shane
After taking a brief hiatus from declaring a record of the week, we are back with a good one. There are some pretty high profile releases out this week with the new Sonic Youth, Deerhunter’s new EP, and Coalesce coming back to life with their new full length but one stood head and shoulders above all of them. Dave Longstreth has been plugging along under the moniker Dirty Projectors and with his new full length Bitte Orca he really has delivered what looks to be his defining album.
Bitte Orca is a winding album of strange twists and turns, off-kilter rhythms and melodies standing on Longstreth’s warbling voice. Whereas most artists who work in the realm of playing such music might sound forced or use the strangeness of it all as a crutch, Longstreth truly doesn’t know any other way to make music. This guy is a legitimate weirdo yet he continually churns out these perfect pop gems, one after another on Bitte Orca.
Longstreth has finally seemed to solidify a lineup behind him and let’s hope it sticks. Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian’s(who also put out a pretty good solo EP a couple weeks ago) voices match up with Longstreth’s bizarre delivery incredibly well and each get a track in which they take the spotlight(Coffman on the single “Stillness in the Move” and Deradoorian on “Two Doves).
Dirty Projectors got quite a bit of attention when they appeared on the Dark Was the Night compilation with David Byrne in tow. They’ll no longer have to worry about guest appearances of such caliber soon as Bitte Orca is sure to have them getting plenty of press for years to come. Recommended if you like Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Talking Heads, or pop music that hangs on the fringe of insanity.
Honorable mentions for June 9th Record of the Week:
- Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange (Kranky)
- Gregg Kowalsky - Tape Chants (Kranky)
- Sonic Youth - The Eternal (Matador)
- Quest For Fire - Quest For Fire (Tee Pee)
Tags: deerhunter, dirty projectors, gregg kowalsky, Record of the Week
Posted in Record of the Week | No Comments »
Posted May 26th, 2009 by Shane
For the inaugural record of the week we had a rather tough choice to make. So many great new albums are coming out for the May 26th release week between the new Grizzly Bear, Tyvek, Blank Dogs, Sunn O))), Current 93, Khanate, and tons of others. After all was said and done though, one stood much above the others to get the esteemed honor.
When James Blackshaw left Tompkins Square for Young God I had a feeling that something great was going to come. Michael Gira(Young God Records) rarely signs any artists that are short of amazing and I have absolutely loved everything that Blackshaw has put out. Admittedly though, I was feeling a little let down by his last effort, Litany of Echoes.
Blackshaw has been completely forgiven for any let down on this new album. Despite the fact that he is still compared to other guitar artists such as John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Jack Rose, and their ilk, Blackshaw has really carved out a sound all his own. Blackshaw’s sound has a much less American sound to it, which would make sense considering he is from England. His compositional skills go beyond guitar as well as vocal arrangements complement his guitar playing on the first track “Cross” and piano and string arrangements, not unlike Peter Broadrick’s work on Float, make up the majority of the second half of the album.
Blackshaw, having recently joined Current 93 and played on their new album(also released this week), is joined by members of Current 93. You’d think this would lead to a more abstract or disjointed Blackshaw but he seems to be more focused than ever. Recommended if you like John Fahey, English folk, ambient music or just a good record to play around the house on a rainy day.
Honorable mentions for May 26th Record of the Week:
- City Center - City Center (Type)
- Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (Warp)
- Blank Dogs - Under and Under (In the Red)
Tags: blank dogs, city center, grizzly bear, james blackshaw, Record of the Week
Posted in Record of the Week | No Comments »
Posted May 26th, 2009 by Shane
TheCultureClash.com , website. A page barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic website. TheCultureClash.com will be that website. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster.
Alright so the new website isn’t bionic. But it’s new and certainly much better!
Expect to see a lot more staff involvement and a lot more of what makes our store unique on the new site. Staff picks, records of the weeks, customer picks, new release lists, tickets for sale, etc.
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to use the comments sections on the news posts or email us at info@thecultureclash.com!
Tags: store news
Posted in Website | No Comments »
