Atomic employee: Uh, don’t buy it because you won’t be able to play it.
On its second-to-last day, Atomic was as busy as I’ve ever seen it outside of live in-stores and release parties. The staff posed for a couple of quick pictures, but mostly they just hustled, trying to keep the long line moving. It was a fruitful, surprisingly festive final visit for me, and for $19 I walked out with the following:
Cud – The Peel Sessions (LP EP)
$2 (before 40% discount)
The great John Peel was so taken with Cud’s demo that he
invited the four-piece
$7 (before 40% discount)
Jonathan Richman deviated from his usual script for the soundtrack to this little-seen, 2007 indie-drama, composing quick little instrumentals that swap his usual, nostalgic rock-and-roll for rustic, pedal-steel and violin-soaked meditations more Dirty Three and Sonora Pine than Modern Lovers. It’s a minor but spirited effort.
Faraquet – The Anthology 1997-1998$10 (before 40% discount)
These days Dischord is more interested in releasing good old music than good new music. This recent anthology eulogizes one of the label’s last great bands, compiling rarities and a bunch of scattered songs I felt guilty for downloading on Napster when I was in college. Faraquet’s twisted, smirky math-rock is now remembered as something of a musical dead-end, but for a time it felt like a possible wave of the future. This collection remembers an era when Dischord was still a major player. Damon and Naomi – More Sad Hits (LP)
$10 (no discount)
After Galaxie 500’s split, Damon and Naomi were coaxed back to the studio by their longtime producer to record this beautifully hazy, unrepentantly romantic 1992 debut as a duo. Future Damon and Naomi albums would establish the “Damon and Naomi < Galaxie 500” law, but More Sad Hits is the exception. The album as a whole soars, and its best moments, like the glorious “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington,” match anything in the Galaxie 500 highlight reel.
