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!

***

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.

***

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.

What we mean is… we’ve got some limited edition vinyl items at many participating independent record shops for one day, and one day only — the third annual Record Store Day (henceforth, RSD ’10) this Saturday, April 17!

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists – The Oldest House b/w North Coast 7″
OLE-932 (lim. 2375)

Two brand new, never-released, rockers from TL/RX, not included on ‘The Brutalist Bricks’. Packaged in a classic dubplate style.

Fucked Up – Daytrotter 7″
OLE-931 (lim. 2000 standard edition, lim. 100/store edition)

The two songs from the ‘Couple Tracks’ comp plus a third song from the session (an equally screwed-with version of Crooked Head) – this comes in a regular sleeve PLUS 10 limited-edition sleeves each with a photo of, and named after, a different great US record store: CD Alley (Chapel Hill), Disc Exchange (Knoxville), Fingerprints (Long Beach), Generation (New York), Grimey’s (Nashville), Lunchbox (Charlotte), Speakertree (Lynchburg), Spiral Scratch (Buffalo), Waterloo (Austin), Wax Trax (Denver). Bear in mind, that each single might be found in any record store.

Pavement -  Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement RSD ’10 VERSION 2xLP
OLE-933 (lim. 2000)

An alternative version of our double-disc Pavement best-of collection, ‘Quarantine The Past’… with a completely different track listing (chosen by contest), cover art fucked with by Stephen Malkmus.

Keep in mind, all these records are available for one day only, so get in line early and pick up some other great records while you’re at it!!!

My personal Record Store Day nightmare involves sleeping thru an 8am wake up call and by the time I show up at my favorite record shop, all the cool shit is gone and all that’s left is the limited (but not limited enough) Godsmack 7″.

So with that in mind, we’re encouraging you to get plenty of sleep Friday night, especially those of you in or near Claremont, California. On Saturday —- the day before playing Coachella — Yo La Tengo will be playing Rhino Records at 3pm. The last time I visited this establishment, I found one of these, so you might wanna turn up early. Unless you’re into Godsmack, in which case I reckon you can take your time.

We announced the grand prize winner of the Pavement guess the track listing contest last week. That guy, from Brazil, won an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to see Pavement in Central Park next September, for coming closest to guessing the actual track listing to Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement, in stores on March 9.

The no-less-coveted second prize, for most imaginative track listing, goes to Gwendael Gouriou of Plougastel-Daoulas in France. The sequence, as chosen by the band from over 1200 entries, is as follows:

1. Zurich Is Stained (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
2. Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17 (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
3. Grave Architecture (WOWEE ZOWEE)
4. Unfair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
5. …And Carrot Rope (TERROR TWILIGHT)
6. Shady Lane / J Vs. S (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
7. Two States (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
8. Fame Throwa (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
9. Cut Your Hair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
10. Here (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
11. Extradition (WOWEE ZOWEE)
12. Stereo (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
13. The Hexx (TERROR TWILIGHT)
14. Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse) (WATERY, DOMESTIC EP)
15. Kennel District (WOWEE ZOWEE)
16. Price Yeah! (SLAY TRACKS 1933-1969 EP)
17. No Life Singed Her (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
18. Stop Breathin’ (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
19. Type Slowly (Live) (TIBET FREEDOM CONCERT COMP)
20. Fin (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
21. Forklift (DEMOLITION PLOT J-7 EP)
22. Fight This Generation (WOWEE ZOWEE)
23. Box Elder (SLAY TRACKS 1933-1969 EP)

Gwen’s sequence will be pressed up as a limited-edition double vinyl LP only available on Record Store Day, April 17, at participating shops. The silkscreen cover art may have some resemblance to the image above – the band are customizing it later this week as they get together for their initial reunion tour rehearsals.

In addition to 5 copies of his sequence of the album, Gwen will be getting a complete Pavement 12″ vinyl catalog on Matador. Four runners-up will be receiving these as well – we’ll be announcing those shortly, so keep your eye on this space if you entered the contest.

Pavement’s tour dates in 2010 as announced so far are as follows:

Mar 01 Auckland, NZ Auckland Town Hall
Mar 04 Sydney, AU Enmore Theatre
Mar 05 Sydney, AU Enmore Theatre
Mar 06 Meredith, AU Golden Plains Festival
Mar 07 Adelaide, AU Thebarton Theatre
Mar 08 Northbridge, AU Metro City
Mar 10 Brisbane, AU The Tivoli
Mar 12 Melbourne, AU Palace Theatre
Mar 14 Melbourne, AU Palace Theatre
Apr 07 Tokyo, JP Studio Coast
Apr 08 Tokyo, JP Studio Coast
Apr 10 Osaka, JP Zepp
Apr 12 Nagoya, JP Zepp
Apr 18 Indio, CA Coachella Festival
May 04 Dublin, IE Tripod
May 05 Glasgow, UK Barrowland
May 07 Paris, FR Le Zenith
May 08 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso
May 10 London, UK Brixton Academy
May 11 London, UK Brixton Academy
May 12 London, UK Brixton Academy
May 13 London, UK Brixton Academy
May 15 Minehead, UK All Tomorrow’s Parties
May 18 Brussels, BE Ancienne Belgique
May 19 Berlin, DE Astra
May 20 Prague, CZ Palac Akropolis
May 21 Vienna, AT Arena
May 22 Munich, DE Muffathalle
May 24 Rome, IT Atlantico
May 25 Bologna, IT Estragon
May 28 Barcelona, ES Primavera Festival – Main Stage
Jun 19 Toronto, ON Olympic Island
Jun 25 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
Jul 04 Roskilde, DK Roskilde Festival
Aug 12 Oslo, NO Oya Festival
Aug 14 Gothenberg, SE Way Out West Festival
Sep 21 New York, NY Rumsey Playfield/Central Park
Sep 22 New York, NY Rumsey Playfield/Central Park
Sep 23 New York, NY Rumsey Playfield/Central Park
Sep 24 New York, NY Rumsey Playfield/Central Park

crookedrain.com
Preorder Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement

Some of you may remember last year’s excursion to the outer reaches of Record Store Day, so this year I decided to give another outer-burrough a shot at Record Store Day. After stopping by Other Music and the Academy Annex , picking up some amazing limited edition records (and failing to find the new Fresh & Onlys LP) I hopped on the subway deep into Queens in search of NYC’s best cumbia, champeta, rebajada and technocumbia shops.

We got off at the Junction Blvd. stop to find that the most-recommended music spot in the neighborhood, Discos Medellin, has been order closed by Police Order! Do the police know it’s Record store Day???

Anyhow, after some deeply remedial Spanish conversations, we found a few other great stores right off on Roosevelt- Pancoatl Bulmaro and Domingo records. Pancoatl was up a secret flight of stairs in the back of a barber shop and blasted the latest Mexico-via-Queens Sonidero mixes. The employees were incredibly friendly, and excited to share their favorite new CDs (no vinyl sadly) and talk about their favorite local Sonideros (dj’s).  They got excited about Record Store Day, and talked a little bit about how they felt their stores were crucial hubs for people to feel connected to their home countries. Good vibes! After picking up some new Ecuadorian, Colombian and Mexican music we finished off the day with tacos at Tacos Al Suadero, easily the best Mexican food I’ve had since leaving San Francisco.

(Pancoatl Bulmaro)

(VICTORY!)

Record Store Day came to Brooklyn and Academy Records served up the goods, as always. The little guy couldn’t go another day without the new Woods’ LP “Songs of Shame” on Woodsist. He was also cultivating his new “Crystal Stilts’ gaze.”

Some other LPs acquired today:

Click on the images for information, except for the last one about which there is very little online… killer afrobeat from NIgeria, great organ, I think about 1970 or 1971.

What did you score on Record Store Day?

Though nothing about the below image makes me happy, I couldn’t resist sharing this photo of Steve Knutson (Rough Trade/Audika) and I wating in line for Other Music to open this morning.

On the brightest New York morning of the year so far, this is what a couple of geeks look like getting ready to SPEND SOME MONEY ON RECORDS!!!!

Matador’s Record Store Day specials were slung under many an arm at Other, get to your local record store today!

Happy Record Store Day kidsssss!!!!!!!!

Steve threw me a life vest and saved my Record Store Day!

About a year ago, I attempted to explain — citing pivotal incidents from my own thrilling personal life — just how important records stores were in my formative years. Were it not for being asked “do you work here?” too frequently at a couple of ‘em, I could very well sign over my paycheck to a couple of these lovely establishments, whom I regularly liken to our nation’s most savvy cultural documentarians (either that or very benevolent drug pushers).

That said, my own homage to record stores in no way measures up to a screed composed by Chicago resident Steve Albini for a Reckless Records advertisement earlier this week (h/t, Chicago Reader, Peter Margasak).

Oh how we love thee, dearest Record Store Day. 

As if a Live Pavement LP, a Sonic Youth/Jay Reatard 7″ AND a Sonic Youth/Beck 7″ weren’t enough, we’re spreading the love with some live instore performances.  If you live in or around Memphis or Columbus, be sure to check out Jay Reatard or Times New Viking kicking it RSD style. 

(Picture taken from http://jp917.blogspot.com/)

Jay Reatard Live Instore

Saturday April 18 (known aliases: Record Store Day)

Goner Records 5:30pm

2152 Young Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee 

(Picture taken from http://wexarts.org/wexblog/?m=200702)

Times New Viking Live Instore

Saturday April 18 (known to his friends and loved ones as Record Store Day)

3pm @ Used Kids Records

1980 N. High Street in Columbus Ohio

(above : Empire Records‘ Anthonly La Paglia consoles a tearful Renee Z. after the cancellation of the Chain Gang in-store)

In honor the 2nd annual Record Store Day, we’ll be releasing the following limited edition vinyl titles, only available at independent retailers taking part in RSD.

OLE-864-7   Jay Reatard “Hang Them All” 7″ b/w  Sonic Youth – “No Garage”
OLE-865-7    Sonic Youth – “Pay No Mind” (Beck cover)  b/w  Beck – “Green Light”  (Sonic Youth cover) 7″
OLE-855-1    Pavement    Live In Germany    LP

We’re making 2500 each of the above.  After they’re gone, as the Bard Of Hookset, NH might’ve said (if he collected records), tough fuckin’ shit.

Hi Matablog Readers!

I started a tour today supporting Jamie Lidell and I’m in Chicago at the Abbey Pub awaiting soundcheck. Because I enjoyed participating in Record Store Day so much earlier this year, I’ve decided to visit local record stores in some of the cities we are playing and find out the answers to some important questions. This is my way of continuing to celebrate all the awesome record stores throughout the country. 

Today, we went to Reckless Records in Wicker Park and talked with Dan.

JO’C: How long have you worked at Reckless?

Dan: About 4 years.

JO’C: What did you have for lunch?

Dan: A chicken flatbread sandwich from 7-11.

JO’C: Do you have favorite restaurant in the area?

Dan: I’m not really a foodie, but I like this Middle Eastern place down the street called Sultan’s Market.

JO’C: Do you have a favorite record of all-time and if so, what is it?

Dan: Hmmmm……

JO’C: Am I putting you on the spot? We can come back to this one.

Dan: Ok, let’s come back to it.

JO’C: What record are you guys selling a lot of this week?

Dan: The new Portishead.

JO’C: Any thoughts on your fave record yet?

Dan: I’ll say Daydream Nation, but if you ask me tomorrow, it might be something else.

JO’C: Fair enough. Anything you’d like to add, that you’d like the Matablog readers to know?

Dan: I don’t think so.

JO’C: Ok. Thanks for talking to me. I think those are all the hard-hitting questions I have.

Ok! Tomorrow is Toronto and if we have time….we’ll be hitting up a store there too.

JO’C, record-store-reporter, signing off.

xox

On my trip up to SUNY Purchase this weekend to see Fucked Up I stopped off in Port Chester, the last town in New York on the Long Island Sound before you hit the Connecticut border. To my and Dean’s surprise, the town is totally Latin American now… almost all the businesses were Peruvian, Ecuadorean, Colombian or Mexican. Pupuserias, grosserias, a “meateria” and lots of long-distance phone card places. We had a nice Peruvian meal – half pollo a la brasa, that spicy green sauce, some potatoes in a thick yellow sauce with half hard-boiled eggs, sopa de pescado, and Mexican coke (made with sugar instead of corn syrup).

Of course it was Record Store Day and we wished we could have visited Vinyl Solution but it went out of business a long time ago, so instead we checked out 2 bootleg CDR/DVD shops with tons of chicha and cumbia CDRs. We tried to explain to the owners that it was Record Store Day but our Spanish wasn’t good enough, and that made me think that someone should record a song called “Do They Know It’s Record Store Day?” and we will give a special Matador prize to the best version. Submit MP3s to patrick@matadorrecords.com, please. (Only of that song.)

The cultural contrast between Port Chester and Purchase (and especially the town in between, Harrison) was extreme, even more Greenwich to the north of it. I need to get out to the suburbs more – they’re getting weirder.

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 I’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.

Record stores are what Matador has always been about, and there are still 2400 of them across the US. Today is Record Store Day, and hundreds of stores, big and small, are celebrating with discounts, freebies, limited-edition specials, and live performances, DJ gigs and counter-manning stints by bands and artists.

As I’ve argued in another post on this blog, a lot of us buy records because we love records, not just music. And we love the experience of spending money and accumulating stuff. Screw all this “community of the store” shit — my idea of a good time is being down on my knees, covered in dust, and going through box after box of LPs that nobody has looked at (or re-priced in years). It’s all still out there, and you can have that experience too. Get off your ass and do it!

It’s especially nice that I grabbed this 1985 single on the day before Record Store Day, since Richmond’s Honor Role was helmed by the great Bob Schick, who runs the Plan 9 Records stores in Virginia. Be sure to visit one of them tomorrow.

This 7″ cooks and is a great example of the kind of complexity that hardcore developed into during the mid-’80s. Penn Rollings’ guitar playing is sui generis. Quiz question: what superhip current band’s vocalist sounds quite a bit like Bob?

Jennifer O’Connor stopped by our office and gave us a message of love and hope regarding Record Store Day and indie retail. Check out some other Matador artists pitching in for Record Store Day this Saturday the 19th.