Savages by Richard Dumas

Following Savages’ two Pitchfork Best New Track rated singles for She Will and Shut Up (watch it on Youtube), we’re giving 5 record stores in the UK the first public airing of the forthcoming album Silence Yourself tomorrow, for Record Store Day.

The below stores will all be playing the record at the following times, you can pre-order Silence Yourself from Savages, the Matador Store and iTunes, or in the store blasting to your ears, if you’re in one of the following shops:

Jumbo, Leeds @ 8:30am

Piccadilly, Manchester  @ 10am

Sister Ray, London @ 11am

Spillers, Cardiff @ 3pm

Resident, Brighton @ 7pm

…or, if you prefer, 8 more days to find great records in real record stores before you risk being trampled to death in a Furby-esque frenzy.  Naturally, we think the above LP is worth the hassle.

It was the 40th anniversary of the release of Can’s Ege Bamyasi LP (an album known to me in my youth as Ege Bamyasi Okraschoten, because I didn’t know anything), and WEEK-END Fest was happening in Cologne. The dates were November 30 through December 2, 2012, and the festival featured artists such as Ian Svenonious, Justus Köhnke, Alexis Taylor (of Hot Chip), Scritti Politti, Deerhoof and Stephen Malkmus.

WEEK-END Fest co-curator Jan Lankisch (of Tomlab Records decided to ask Stephen, currently residing in Germany, whether he wanted to play the entirety of Ege Bamyasi with a band of German musicians Jan had rounded up. And Steve loved the idea. So after a few rehearsals, Steve was joined by Sebastian Blume (synths), Felix Hedderich (bass), Jan Philipp Janzen (drums) and Phillip Tielsch (guitar) for a truly magical & wondrous performance of one of the greatest albums of all time. It took place on December 2 at the Alte Kranhalle in Cologne, and was committed to tape by the band. The sound quality is fantastic; the performance jumps out of the grooves and bubbles its way through your stereo.

We are releasing the LP as a 3500-copy limited edition on green vinyl for Record Store Day, April 20, 2013. (Domino will be releasing it on red vinyl in Europe.) The hand-printed silkscreened sleeve was designed by David Shrigley, who also designed the poster for the event, inspired by the original artwork for Ege Bamyasi. It is being printed in Germany by Slowboy.

We’re truly honored to be part of this special collaboration between tons of talented artists.

“This was the first Can LP I bought brand-new (Torquay, July 1972), and it is still my favourite.”

– Julian Cope, Krautrocksampler

“Ege Bamyasi was one of those marginal cut-out LPs (along with the 1st Stooges, Rhinoceros, Ambergris a.o.) that you’d find in the bargain bins of department stores in the early 70s. For kids with no money and an allure to weirdness these cheapos were significant listens. Ege Bamyasi with its okra can cover and live circus rock shot on the back was completely singular. And it sounded cool as shit. I still check it as one of the top 10 greatest rock LPs of all time, and it remains a perpetual inspiration.”

– Thurston Moore

stephenmalkmus.com

(pic culled from EgoTripLand.com)

While I cannot endorse the disrespect shown to Mark Eitzel or The Grifters (heck, the latter’s records usually sell when they end up in the used bin) there’s much about this list (posted at Laurie’s Planet Of Sound) that’s excellent advice for any record store buyer contending the latest pile of LP’s/CD’s being exchanged for crack rent money.  Aside from misspelling Boz Skaggs’ name,  I’m genuinely surprised NYC’s Laughing Dogs didn’t make the list. The former Rupert Holmes sidemen’s two Columbia albums have been clogging used bins for 3 decades and counting.

(EDITOR’S NOTE :  Patrick and I were having a huge argument via IM the other day over which was our nation’s best fake holiday.  He argued it was Arbor Day.  I insisted it was Take Your Anaconda To Work Day.  Well, it turns out WE WERE BOTH WRONG.  Newcomers to the Matador blog have no doubt noticed our somewhat intense fixation with all things music retailing, but have you ever sat up late at night and wondered exactly where that obsession began?  No?  Really?  It’s of no interest to you whatsoever?   Fine. It’ll be a long time before I share something this personal again. And if I make the mistake of doing so, you can bet I won’t republish it 4 years later. – GC)

What Record Store Day Means To Me – A Personal Journey (April 19, 2008)

Much has been written about Record Store Day, and while I’m loathe to get all gushy in public, even for a significant cause such as this, it might be an appropriate time to add a very personal note.

Every now and then, Chris and myself are asked by young persons or hungry-4-facts journalists just how we got our respective starts in the music industry. Chris, as you all know, was the first helmsman to be banned from the America’s Cup for using performance enhancing drugs. His subsequent tell-all, ‘Juiced : On A Boat’, while critically panned, was a huge best-seller in 1989. Along with receiving rightful credit for the widesweeping changes-to-come in competitive sailing, Chris used the book’s profits to finance Matador’s earliest recordings.

My own roots are a tad less spectacular. For one crazy summer, I worked in my hometown record store. It wasn’t as big or as successful as Music Town, but it really had a terrific vibe. My boss, Joe Reeves (above, right), was a really inspiring kind of guy. I hear he’s moved on to things other than music, but I’ll always remember the way he kept the store alive, much the way I’ll always remember all the great music I was turned onto by the rest of the staff. Toad The Wet Sprocket. Better Than Ezra….ok, actually, I can’t remember any others. But surely that’s enough.

It was an awesome work environment and we’ve done everything possible to try and recall the ethos of that cool indie shop and try to apply it to the important work we do every day at Matador Records and Filmworks. I even wanted to borrow the store’s old slogan, “We’re Selling Music, But We’re Not Selling Out”, but Patrick argued it was kind of a dumb cliche. I dunno. I guess you had to be there. That’s the difference between me and him. I still remember what it was like to hear Toad The Wet Sprocket for the first time.

Anyhow, enjoy Record Store Day. And if you know of any cities or states where this occasion isn’t being marked, please let us know and we’ll make sure U2 never play there again.

We’re in the midst of a heavy period of activity for The New Pornographers ; in addition to a new batch of US dates (below), the band’s “Sweet Talk” video for Oxfam’s Gulf oil spill relief efforts (directed by Shannon Hart Reed  has just been nominated for an Emmy in the “Societal Concerns” category.  Though Record Store Day is a slightly less important cause than those supervised by Oxfam, it’s obviously one very close to our hearts, and saturday’s chapter in this annual celebration of independent music retailing will feature a limited edition 7″ of ‘Together”s “Moves” b/w the unreleased B-side “Drug Deal Of The Heart”, plus a download code for said tracks and the Tom Scharpling-directed video for the a-side.

Thu, 4/14 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater*
Fri, 4/15 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater*
Sat, 4/16 – Indio, CA – Coachella Festival
Sun, 4/17 – Santa Cruz, CA – Rio Theatre
Mon, 4/18 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom*
Thu, 4/21 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room#
Fri, 4/22 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue^
Sat, 4/23 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues^
Mon, 4/25 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom^
Tue, 4/26 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s^
Wed, 4/27 – Iowa City, IA – Ballroom at The Univ of Iowa^
Thu, 4/28 – Urbana, IL – Canopy Club^
Fri, 4/29 – Columbia, MO – The Blue Note^

* = with Menomena
^ = with The Walkmen
# = with The So-So Sailers

Photo from Stereogum’s portraits

Having just arrived back from a string of North American dates, including several well-recieved shows at SXSW festival, Esben and The Witch embark on a second UK & Ireland tour in support of their debut album, Violet Cries. Starting tonight, the Brighton 3-piece are playing towns and cities that they haven’t visited for some time ahead of their Record Store Day release of the Chorea EP, a limited edition 12″ record featuring 3 new and exclusive tracks, including a remix of album track ‘Eumenidies’ remixed by Mogwai.

Picking up praise from across the pond, Spin Magazine hailed them as one of their ‘next big things for 2011‘, Stereogum praised their SXSW performance, saying that ‘Esben & The Witch might be my favorite set of the festival so far‘ and Fader described their set at the SXSW Fader Fort as ‘moody and drum circle conjuring‘.

Catch them at the following shows:

April

1st – Southampton, Joiners (tickets)

2nd – Oxford, Jericho  (tickets)

3rd – Liverpool, Kazimer  (tickets)

4th – Glasgow, Captain’s Rest  (tickets)

6th – Leeds, Cockpit 2  (tickets)

7th – Manchester, St Philips Church  (tickets)

8th – Dublin, Crawdaddy  (tickets)

9th – Belfast, Speakeasy  (tickets)

To be perfectly frank, we thought about blowing off Record Store Day this year. It’s not that we don’t support record stores – far from it, it’s what 37 of 38 employees prefer – but the huge glut of supposedly limited-edition releases, the scrum to get to the counter in the morning, and then the instant reappearance of many of the records on eBay at inflated sums are all an unintended and unwelcome side-effect of the event.

That said, we couldn’t help ourselves, and neither could three of our artists, so we proudly announce the following limited-edition items. They’re all awesome, they’re all limited, and if you don’t succeed on getting your hands on them on Record Store Day, just remember that the prices on eBay will (most likely) come down over time.

SO, on Saturday, April 16, Matador will have the following RSD exclusives:

From Byrdesdale Garden City in the UK comes the compilation album DAVID’S TOWN. Featuring 11 unreleased tracks from local bands including Gacy and the Boys, Animal Man, Grain and Hateful Coil, in styles varying from DIY to post-punk to power pop, this limited edition from FU-Discs was recorded in Byrdesdale between 1976 and 1979 and not released until now. An essential document of a thriving scene.

Next comes the new 7″ single from THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, “Moves.” Currently moving up the radio charts, and of course featured in Tom Scharpling’s genius video for the track, it comes with the unreleased B-side “Drug Deal Of The Heart,” recorded at the sessions for the album Together. (Note: the band is playing Coachella on RSD weekend, and then will tour out of there through April and May.)

Finally we have the new 12″ from ESBEN AND THE WITCH, the great trio from Brighton, UK – many of you will have seen one of their great shows at SXSW this month. They just wrapped up their US tour and returned to their homeland. The single is the radio edit of “Chorea” and features a remix of their pounding classic “Eumenides” by Stuart Braithwaite of MOGWAI, along with an entirely unreleased 18-minute version of “Corridors” recorded for The Creators Project and only played at a special installation in London for Karl Sadler‘s Lit Forest. (Note: Esben return to the road in the UK starting this Friday.)

As usual, we will be taking down our webstore in observation of Record Store Day. Get out there, get in line, and spend some money, goddammit!!!

Now if we could only find the homeless guy on the Spiral Scratch cover…

Hey guys, can’t hurt to remind you again that tomorrow is INTERNATIONAL RECORD STORE DAY, and if heaps of RSD-exclusive vinyl and that fulfilling feeling of buying great music from great retailers isn’t enough to get you out of the house, here are two more events members of the Matador-family are involved with:

article via Record Collector Magazine

Damian Abraham of Fucked Up @ Sonic Boom Records
512 Bloor Street St. West Toronto, ON M5S 1Y3
416-532-0334 | info@sonicboommusic.com

Fucked Up‘s Pink Eyes will be hosting an all day event at Toronto’s Sonic Boom Records that features in-store performances from Sloan, Adam Green, Meligrove Band, Metz, Buck 65, Valery Gore and more. Damian’s also hinted at a special guest appearance for those who show up before 3PM!

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Hospital Productions
60 E. Third St. New York, NY, 10003
hospitalprod@gmail.com

When he’s not performing in Cold Cave and as Prurient, Dominick Fernow spends his time overseeing the Hospital Productions record label and shop, which primarily focuses in noise and black metal music. For Record Store Day, the store will debut 13 new cassette releases on the label. In addition, the first 100 people to visit the store are invited to come to the store to record their very own noise cassette. The recording gear will be set up and supplied by the store and you can record your own
1 minute noise tape. The store will personalize your cover for you and you will be the only person to have a 
copy. You get to keep your recording free of charge.
100 people. 1 minute tapes. Limited to 1.

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Don’t forget the Yo La Tengo in-store at Rhino Records in Claremont CA, Kurt Vile at Philly’s Beautiful World Syndicate and the special Pavement, Ted Leo and Fucked Up vinyl exclusives available only for Record Store Day TOMORROW!  We’ll see you out.