Fleshgod Apocalypse: Labyrinth
Ty Segall: Sleeper
Jel: Late Pass
Julianna Barwick: Nepenthe
Zola Jesus & JG Thirlwell: Versions
Another year, another torrential downpour of albums across our desks. As always, we encountered way too much amazing music, from Meshuggah to The Mars Volta, Converge, Killer Mike, P.O.S, and many more.
Ty Segall: Twins (Drag City, 10/9/12)
“The Hill”
On last year’s Goodbye Bread, garage-rock singer-songwriter Ty Segall displayed a newfound sense of maturity — most notably on “Comfortable Home (A True Story),” in which he announced the rather adult decision to invest in some real estate. Now the San Francisco wunderkind prematurely grapples with his own mortality on his newest solo release. “Took 22 years to die / 22 years to lose to my mind,” he laments amid the grinding guitars of “Ghost,” imagining himself as a specter who haunts the California coast. It’s heavy stuff — musically and lyrically — especially from a guy who used to sing about girlfriends and Coca-Cola.
Ty Segall: Twins (Drag City, 10/9/12)
In light of his third release in just a year’s time, the ever-prolific garage/lo-fi wunderkind Ty Segall has just released a video for his new single, “The Hill,” a psychedelic throwback to VHS spliced together by the man himself over a series of three days. Think John Lennon singing over the grimy distortions of Big Business or Lightning Bolt…in a bear/dog/eagle costume.
Garage-rock revivalist Ty Segall has a brand-new bag of heaviness coming 10/9 from Drag City, and its first single, “The Hill,” sounds like a heavy bass-and-drums duo channeling John Lennon.
Two solo records recorded for two of modern garage rock’s crowned heads before the age of 25 is no small feat. But Ty Segall is the real deal, playing every note with the kind of passionate, sweaty, hormonal swagger brandished by the best of the black-leather rockabilly cats of yore.
Each Tuesday, Behind the Counter speaks to an independent record store to ask about its recent favorites, best sellers, and noteworthy trends.
Landlocked Music in Bloomington, Indiana has been around since 2006 and has since proved to be a staple in the small college town. The store has hosted a number of notable in-store performances and curates a collection of music to satisfy almost any taste. With its fifth anniversary coming up in March of 2011, we spoke with Landlocked c0-owner Jason Nickey and got the inside scoop on one of the Midwest’s top record stores. A message to any straightforward rock-‘n’-roll bands from Bloomington: get in touch with Nickey; he doesn’t believe that you exist.
What was your motivation for starting a music store? / What is your background in music?
I had no choice, really. It’s the only thing I’m fully qualified to do; I’m otherwise unemployable. All I ever did at any other job I ever had was talk to people about music and records and try to discover new stuff I hadn’t heard yet. So it was probably inevitable. Also, at a certain point, when you’ve acquired a certain quantity of recorded music, it’s the next logical move.
I worked in record stores all through college, and I’ve worked a bit on the distribution side of things, as well as some writing for magazines, websites, etc., and deejaying at college and then community radio. All of those experiences have come into play to some degree. Also, finding a partner was key. It would be near impossible to do this alone. I’m sort of the behind-the-counter guy; my partner is the marketing/social-networking guy, broadly speaking.
Each Tuesday, Behind the Counter speaks to an independent record store to ask about its recent favorites, best sellers, and noteworthy trends.
Memphis, Tennessee’s Goner Records specializes in punk, soul, blues, funk, and heavy-metal LPs and 45s, with a label that is home to some ALARM favorites. What other record store can boast its own annual rock-‘n’-roll festival exhibiting bands from all across the globe? Shop owner Eric Friedl (of The Oblivians) spoke with ALARM and shared the story behind Goner.
A recap of the most exciting, and not so exciting, events of this year’s SXSW including some of their favorite artists and a few that just didn’t cut it.