It’s been a month, and I just did some music collection reorganization/had a High Fidelity moment, and felt it was time for some more descriptions of the how and why I have certain albums in my possession.
Chicago soundtrack – This film came out midway through my senior year of high school, and my crew of thespians and music geeks fell in complete lust with it. At the time we had a thing for the Roaring 20’s and anything remotely seedy and risque in popular culture. We all saw it at least two or three times in the theater and those of us who bought the soundtrack shared with everyone else. Everyone sang the horn solo from the “Overture” in the halls, my best friend Liliane couldn’t contain her love of “When You’re Good to Mama,” and as a joke my literary magazine class wrote a parody of “Cell Block Tango” about our adviser Mr. Stephens. We had a lot of fun with this movie and its music. And I just realized that the last time I listened to it the whole way through was over a year ago while on a car trip in my little red Subaru somewhere in Georgia.
Sloan Twice Removed - I met a nice young man on the Internets many years ago on a Beatles message board, and we became pen pals. He was a few years older than me, and from Canada, but we had loads in common and kept our correspondence up for about two years. Early in our friendship he introduced me to Sloan by telling me that they were Canada’s version of the Beatles. Now that seems silly but at the time I thought that was awesome. Being a sweet guy he sent me this album and as such I listened to it obsessively for a few weeks. The first track is called “Pen Pals” and he said it made him think of us. He eventually got married and we gradually lost track of each other, but every once in awhile I gotta rock this one.
The Libertines Up the Bracket - Holds the distinction of being the first CD I knowingly bought with a Parental Advisory sticker on it. I really don’t listen to it at all anymore, but I felt renegade buying it at the time. The only track still in rotation is “Boys in the Band,” but that’s mainly because Kenny from The Films name-dropped it once. I am that pathetic.
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - I’ve never been much of a Wilco fan. A number of people I respect and admire love Wilco and have tried to get me to like them, and it just hasn’t stuck. It’s not that I find Wilco irritating to listen to, the band just happens to not be my thing. The reason I ended up with this particular album is because Jeff Tweedy, lead singer of Wilco, a few years back asked my lovely friend Tin Cup Prophette to open for him for two shows on his solo tour. This was a big deal. My respect for Jeff Tweedy and co. grew exponentially, and on a weekend trip to Charleston I stopped by (the now defunct) Millennium Music and purchased this in an effort to try and come to love Wilco. It didn’t take. But I was able to make those two shows on the tour and saw Jeff perform “Jesus, etc.” with just him and his guitar and came to like that one song a lot. Jeff Tweedy still holds my love and affection for giving Tin Cup Prophette such a great opportunity. We sold quite a bit of swag that short tour and Tin Cup was approached by a man who booked the band at Bonnaroo that year. So yeah, pretty awesome.
The Features The Beginning EP - The second time I saw Jump, Little Children perform was the first time I attended a show of theirs knowing full well what I was getting myself into (I memorized some song lyrics, knew the band members’ names, and knew random fandom trivia). The Features were the opening band at the Variety Playhouse that night. I thought they were a little odd and crazy, but I dug it. I didn’t get their EP that night because I hadn’t as yet learned that when you see bands you bring cash so you can buy their swag. About a month or so later I was hanging out with my friend Aaron and we decided it was high time to get ourselves to Criminal Records (the best record store in Atlanta) and buy some tunes. I’m pretty sure one of our parents dropped us off (neither of us drove at the time, though we were old enough to), and we hung out at Criminal trying to impress each other with our musical knowledge. I saw that The Beginning EP was available and decided that was sufficiently indie enough to impress Aaron, so I got it. Then we started walking back in the general direction of my house and never got around to calling someone to pick us up. We walked all the way home (which Google informs me is 2.7 miles), in mid-summer Hotlanta heat, and never ceased to talk until we got to my place where we rehydrated and watched Bullets Over Broadway. Now that’s a story!
