Looking for something?
The WFMU Record Fair is at the Metropolitan Pavilion all weekend. It's real easy to blow cash at this, but there are some incredible deals to be found - I did especially well this past spring. Highly recommended, especially since the next one won't be for another year.
Apostle of Hustle plays The Hook tonight and Tonic tomorrow night. We've mentioned their new record Folkloric Feel a couple times before. It really is quite good and shamefully overlooked, though Tiny Mixtapes actually gave it a 5 out of 5 today. Very curious to see how they are live - I'm pretty psyched for this one.
And right below Apostle of Hustle, there will be an Alldisco party at SubTonic on Saturday night. Chuddy, Rob Uptight, Dan Selzer, and Jeremy Campbell are spinning. Show up early and you can get a free mix. I'm guessing this'll be a fun one. I've been wanting to see Selzer spin for the longest time, but it never seems to work out. Perhaps this'll finally be the night.
Or, you can check out the Ghostly International party at the Delancey on Saturday night - moved from Rothko, still having building code issues. Ghostly is a Detroit label but they always seem to be doing something in NYC. Most of the label's big names will be here, including Audion (AKA Matthew Dear), Derek Plaslaiko, James T. Cotton, and Todd Osbourn (AKA Soundmurderer). I have no idea if the abundance of aliases will mean that the music will be any different, but Ghostly puts out enough interesting stuff that this should be a good night regardless.
I may actually try to make it to every one of these.
But we shall see
For all my talk about LCD Soundsystem, their long awaited full-length finally came out yesterday and I didn't even mention it. It frankly felt like a non-event since the MP3's have been around for months. Instead, and somewhat appropriately, I posted on Sleater-Kinney asking their fans to avoid the leak of The Woods. I've got mixed feelings on leaks. If I like a band enough to seek out a leak, odds are I'll end up buying their record when it comes out. My conscience is clear on that front - but what always nags at me is losing the excitement that used to come with the release of a much-anticipated album. The last time I looked forward to a record as much as LCD Soundsystem was probably Kid A. I was definitely thrilled to hear it early (in case you couldn't tell with the flurry of posts), but I miss running to the record store to absorb the whole package all at once for the first time, to finally hear songs I've only read about. For comparison, I remember my mom driving me to the record store the day Pearl Jam's Vs. came out after weeks - months! - of anticipation, and skipping chemistry class so I could have the second Portishead album the morning it was released.
Lots has changed since Vs. (obviously), and curiosity will almost always win me over when I hear an album's out there in advance. I lose the release date excitement, but I hear it sooner - it's a fair trade. That said, I absolutely see where Sleater-Kinney are coming from, and I'm not sure where I stand on The Woods yet. I love their music and I respect what they've written - I think it makes a pretty compelling case. But waiting 3+ months when it's out there now? It'll be a tough call.