Week in Rock

This weekend I picked up a few new and a few old records and CDs.

Mates of State - Bring It Back
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
The White Stripes - Elephant
Beulah - When Your Heartstrings Break

First impressions of Bring It Back: I like the new Mates of State record for the same basic reason I like all The New Pornographers records. There is an underlying, infectious AM pop influence that I find irresistable. Mates of State do it without guitar for the most part, and their musical phrasing and lyrics are more conventional than the New Pornos. But the male/female vocal harmonies are similarly sweet. It's a fun record [nice 180 g pressing, too].

I couldn't have bought Destroyer's Rubies at a better time. I need something new in music to obsess over [I've been listening to the hell out of some Belle and Sebastian, lately, and was starting to wonder if I was developing an addiction--more on that later]. Destroyer is essentially Dan Bejar, otherwise known around my house as the elf-sounding guy on the New Pornographers albums. I don't know what to say about this album. It's been in my truck CD player since I left the record store parking lot on Saturday afternoon, and I've listened to it about three times through. It may stay in the truck all week. There are stories in the songs, but what the hell is he singing about? What is he doing to my pop sensibility? How can I be hooked without any hooks? I am determined to get to the bottom of it. New obsession.

Low End Theory may be my favorite hip-hop album of all time. I had a dubbed cassette of this when I was in high school, and I'm pretty sure I listened to it until it wore out. So I'm very happy to have this album back in my collection--this time on glorious double vinyl LP. The product is dope.

We have White Stripes' Elephant on CD, but this is something I've wanted on vinyl for a while. It seemed appropriate since their entire recording process was analog from start to finish. Results are mixed. The packaging is pretty nice. Gatefold jacket; full color inner sleeves. Double LP: disc 1 on white vinyl; disc 2 on red vinyl. Unfortunately, disc 1 is warped and just barely outside my tolerance [slight pitch bending]. After spinning sides A and B, I thought I was going to return the album. Then I popped on side 3 [disc 2] and was blown away by how much better "Ball and a Biscuit" and "The Hardest Button to Button" sound on vinyl compared to the CD. The jury is still out. I think I'll keep it [but I know I could probably sell it on eBay for at least 2x what I paid].

I have one gripe about "premium" vinyl packaging: the glossy, full color inner sleeves are a pain in the ass. They always form a static cling/vacuum suction bond with the record that makes it a real chore to get the record in and out. It's almost as bad as trying to force my cat into the pet carrier to take him to the vet.

Beulah's When Your Heartstrings Break is a quiet indie-pop classic that I kinda missed the first time around, circa 1999. I've always liked the track, "If We Can Land A Man On The Moon, Surly I Can Win Your Heart", but a whole album of such lush, pop-hook laden tunes was a bit saccharine for me at the time. They eventually won me over at a show in 2002[?] at the Club Formerly Known as The Mercury. When I saw this album in the used CD bin at Backspin Records, I didn't hesitate to snatch it up. Beulah is laid back, good time rock in a similar vein to The Glands. They're not going to blow your mind, but they show tremendous respect for their influences [Beatles, Stones, et al] while adding their own signature sound to it all, crafting great sounding, quality pop rock.