Crazy Heart was a rather disappointing film. It’s about a fictional has-been country musician, played by Jeff Bridges, and his attempt at getting his life back together. But the lows of this washed-up country musician’s life aren’t particularly low, and the characters feel far too bland for one to ever start caring about. The overall atmosphere and pacing of the film remains too relaxed throughout, without enough conflict to really engage. Plus, a key scene in the film is severely mishandled (see this discussion), destroying whatever little “audience engagement” the film had managed to build up by that point. Jeff Bridges’ performance is also rather underwhelming, yet it won him an academy award.
Fortunately, the film does have a few decent songs which helps make it more bearable. The highlight is a duet between Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell, who are both surprisingly competent country singers, singing the song “Fallin’ & Flyin’”. It’s catchy, and the lyrics are actually rather fun and clever. And it’s this week’s pick.
I think I’m warming up to Jeffrey Lewis. While I’m not yet a fan, I can definitely appreciate some songs of his and can see his overall charm and appeal. Amusing, clever lyrics from the urban outcast point of view, half-spoken to jangly guitar with too many syllables squeezed in. There are few other established artists who quite offer the same package.
His song “Cult Boyfriend” off his 2011 album A Turn Into The Dream-Songs is the best new song I’ve heard so far in 2012, applying the concept of cult media to that of boyfriendhood, and it’s this week’s featured track.
Seems I have missed a few weeks and a few seasonal events, for which I apologize. I don’t have a particularly good excuse, other than my growing disdain towards mankind and my general disgruntlement regarding the overall state of my various affairs. I had also originally intended to post a particular track for Halloween, but I was wondering if the copy I had of the (legally obtained) song was somehow defect and I never got very far in my research regarding the matter.
So for this much delayed installment, I offer you a song that is entirely unrelated to any holiday, namely:
The song was featured on the digital only charity compilation Grow Up / Move Out, released earlier this year. It does seem somewhat arbitrary to credit the song to The Human Hearts feat. Franklin Bruno considering that The Human Hearts is a band fronted by Franklin Bruno. That would be like crediting a song to The Mountain Goats feat. John Darnielle, Hefner feat. Darren Hayman, and so forth. I’m guessing it was done because there might be people who know who Franklin Bruno but who don’t know about The Human Hearts. Trivialities aside, it’s a great song. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Franklin Bruno’s vocals, but it works pretty well here. It’s a catchy, rockin’ indie pop song. The compilation also has some other decent songs, so I’d recommend checking it out.
I liked the first Mass Effect game. Except for a few caveats, like clunky combat and a bunch of anticlimatic and superflous side-missions and grinding objectives. Other than that, it was good. So I’d hoped to get a copy of the second game sooner or later, which was supposed to be even better if game reviews are to be believed.
So when I saw the Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition on the PC on sale for 129 NOK minus 20%, so 103 NOK, I figure I’ll buy it. Or rather, I go home and try doing some research and give it a think, then ask a friend to buy it for me. But then this friend calls me to say he is unable to buy it for me because he wasn’t going downtown after all, so I have to ask another friend to do it for me instead. But he isn’t able to find the game at the store at all, so I eventually go down to buy it myself the day after that again. I find it without any problems.
When I get handed the game by the cashier, I see that my copy isn’t sealed. I’m a bit annoyed, but I shuffle along, figuring I’ll give it a closer look when I get home. Which I do. Turns out I got, as I feared, one of the “demo copies”. That is, I get the cover that has been out on the shelves, and the contents have been hidden behind the counter or in their storage room somewhere, and the contents look to have been through some noticable wear and tear as well. So I’m not at all happy, as I’m very particular about having my media in mint condition. I’d also considered making it a juletide or birthday present for myself, but it’s no fun getting an item that looks used for either of those occasions.
I’m rather annoyed the cashier didn’t (a) warn me about the condition of my game, and (b) offer a considerable discount due to the condition of the game. Instead they’ve made one of their costumers rather displeased with the end result of his visit to one of their shops. So displeased that he wants to write a blog entry about it, and show horryfing pictures of the copy of the game he was given.
So I consider maybe returning it. Except, I can’t find the receipt for it anywhere. Which is very odd – and perhaps it might even qualify as being ironic – as I generally make a point of getting the receipts for anything I buy, and saving them. But this particular receipt seems to have disappeared. My guess is that it fell out of my bag or pocket in Oslo somewhere. That makes returning the game hard, maybe even impossible, considering the game isn’t sealed, looks somewhat used, and comes with a one-time online code which I could have potentially already activated.
But the same retailer is offering the game for 129 NOK through their web shop – without the 20% discount. They also have a warehouse sale, apparently trying to get rid of some of their stock. I see some CDs I like, and after a few days of deliberation, I decide to order both the CDs and another copy of the game. I figure I’ll try selling the unsealed copy, or making it a birthday or juletide gift for someone. They also have another campaign going where shipping is free if your order contains a book. So I include a cheap book as well, which costs as much as the shipping would have – about 30 NOK – to get the shipping for free.
I get a receipt by e-mail shortly thereafter. Everything looks to be in order. Then a few days later I get a message saying they’ve sent my order, but a couple of the CDs I’d ordered (two copies of We Shall All Be Healed by The Mountain Goats, a great album) were out of stock. I get a second receipt, now without the two CDs listed, but including another new item instead: they’ve listed Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition twice, but the extra copy is listed as only 30 NOK. So I suspect that they’ve charged me for the shipping after all, and it somehow got listed as something else due to database confusion. I’m a bit annoyed by this and plan on e-mailing them about this after I’ve received my parcel, as the shipping was supposed to be free.
When it arrives and I open it, I find it actually contains two copies of Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition, one in plastic and one already opened (but looking less bruised than the one I got at the shop). So seems the extra 30 NOK was actually for an extra copy of the game. I’m guessing they added it because they wanted to get rid of their stock, and because it made packing my order easier, and they wanted more of my money. So I won’t be complaining about the added 30 NOK, since that’s pretty cheap. But I now have three copies of the game, for which I’ve paid a total of 262 NOK, and two of which I want to get rid of.
Apologies in advance if you end up getting one of these from me for jul, but in my defense, it’s supposed to be a pretty good game. And hey, you get an artbook, too!
So I finally got my hands on Stephin Merritt’s Obscurities. The definite highlights are “I Don’t Believe You” and “Yet Another Girl” – which I’d already heard – and the previously unreleased “Forever And A Day” and “The Song From Venus” – though “Forever And A Day” had been given as a free download from the album for promotional purposes so by the time I got the actual release I’d sort of gotten what I could out of it, and “The Song From Venus” feels somewhat like it’s missing some sort of chorus.
I can’t help but feel like they could’ve included more on it though. The collection clocks in at just over 38 minutes, and there are plenty of other non-album tracks they could’ve included. Like the alternate vocal B-sides from the digital Distorion singles; Stephin Merritt’s “The Man Of A Millon Faces” and “I’m In A Lonely Way”; and the compilation exclusive tracks ”The Meaning Of Lice” from Plague Songs, and “Mr. Punch” from Where’s Neil When You Need Him? But those are all available to buy digitally so they might not be sufficiently obscure. There are also a few remixes and covers, but then there might be possible copyright issues.
The most glaring omissions, to me, are two previously released versions of “Plant White Roses”. It was originally included as the last song on their first album, sung by Susan Anway, but it was removed from the re-released version which combined both of their first albums (presumably removed so it could end with “100,000 Fireflies” instead; it’s not like it had to be cut due to time restrictions). Another version of this song was included on the ’94 compilation 5 Rows Of Teeth, with a very different sound and with Stephin Merritt on the vocals. This version wasn’t included either. Instead we get a third, more minimalist, and definitely more obscure version, with just a guitar and Shirley Simms on the vocals, credited to the band Buffalo Rome. It’s nice, but might be my least favourite of the three.
It would’ve been nice if they’d included all three versions. Perhaps a bit much with three versions of the same song on the same disc, but they sound sufficiently different from one another, and they’re all arguably sufficiently obscure as well – the Stephin Merritt vocal version perhaps the least of the three, since it’s available digitally. This version is also my favourite of the three, and is this week’s featured song.
Lately I’ve been trying to get some gigs in the Oslo region. But that isn’t easy. You have to find venues which seem appropriate, venues which tend to host musicians that are roughly within the same genre as yourself. In my case, that would be venues which are open for shorter shows by unsigned amateur solo indie pop folk rock twee singer-songwriter music. Then you have to get in touch with whoever’s in charge of booking shows for these potentially appropriate venues, and try to sell yourself and your music. Few of them will actually get back to you.
Personally I think I’d prefer sitting at home, working on music, but seems playing live is a big part of getting your name out there and trying to build a fanbase for yourself. I’ve heard it’s even a way to potentially make some money, maybe even more than you’d make through selling your actual music.
I did manage to score a gig earlier this year though. I was supposed to perform at Galleri Pan this summer, and had an hour at my disposal. It was daunting, having to fill an entire hour on my live debut in Norway (I’ve performed live once before – in Manchester, UK, 2010), but it opened up certain possibilities. The place was small and cozy, and open to artsy stuff, so I could recite poetry and get some friends to help out on a few of the songs. But the powers that be decided to intervene, and made me sick (with a bad throat, no less), and I had to cancel.
About five to six weeks ago I stumble over an announcement for a John Vanderslice gig in Oslo at the Sub Scene venue. I’ve liked some of what I’ve heard of his music, and it’s not too expensive, so I figure I’ll probably try going. Then I notice there were no supporting acts announced yet. So I get the crazy idea that maybe I could open for him? So in a fit of arrogance and presumptuousness, I send an e-mail to the venue to inquire about the possibility, and later decide to send Vanderslice himself an e-mail to ask about it as well.
So I go through an entire week feeling periodically hopeful, anxious, nervous, and some other emotions, waiting to hear back from either of them.
On the one hand, I feel it would be oddly appropriate to serve as his opening act, considering I’ve been semi-active on the official forum for John Darnielle’s band The Mountain Goats for the last four years and have maybe a handful of folks there who’ve supported me and my music, as a lot of fans of The Mountain Goats are fans of Vanderslice too, and Vanderslice and John Darnielle (of The Mountain Goats) have worked together on several occasions. So a bit of a shared fanbase there. But on the other hand, I really feel like Vanderslice is in a completely different league than myself, and that I might not be qualified to serve as the opening act of someone of his caliber and background.
A week later I finally receive an e-mail from the venue, telling me they unfortunately already have the opening acts (there are two opening acts) for the gig booked, and just haven’t gotten around to updating their website. Saddened, I drown my sorrows in kroneis and Urge.
A few days later I receive an e-mail from Vanderslice himself, telling me he (a) loved my music (I linked him to a couple of YouTube videos), and (b) that he’s gotten in touch with his agent to see if he could make this happen. Of course, I have to write him back to tell him I’ve already heard that the slot was filled, but his positive response definitely lifted my spirits. He then writes back telling me to say hi to him at the show.
Fast forward to the day before the concert, and I frantically try to find someone to go with me. I’ve never gone to a concert alone before, and I wasn’t very keen on the idea. But the guy I usually go to indie music concerts with is out of town, and the guy I usually can drag along to whatever (as long as it’s not too expensive) is also out of town. I work my way through my contact list, manage to get a few maybes, but they eventually turn to full-fledged nos as they find they’re either unable to change their shifts, or are broke.
So I go alone. With no one to chat to while waiting for the music to start, nor anyone to offer any moral support when I try to say hi to Vanderslice, or to carry my stuff.
I bring my relatively new digital video camera along, to see if I can try filming some live music. I also bring a copy each of my latest LP (All har fått nok av Eivind Kirkeby) and EP (Whatever happened to blast processing?) along for gifting purposes, and the sleeve for Pixel Revolt for signing purposes. I also decide to use my cane. I’ve got a bad knee which I’m still waiting (and hoping) for to mend, and using a cane helps stress my knee less, and reduces some of the potential pain.
Pixel Revolt, signed and personalized.
When I show up at the venue, my cane results in two guys holding up the door for me and letting me enter first, which was a nice start to the evening. The people working there also seem friendly and sociable. While killing time I order a milkshake before going into the concert area to find someplace to sit down; there were some chairs along the sides. And of course I manage to spill some on my way there; walking with a cane in one hand, and a full glass of milkshake in the other, with a camera bag you need to keep track of and people in your way, that’s not an easy task. I pause to put the glass down to give it a wipe and do some damage control, and can’t help but feel some of the nearby staff maybe giving me the evil eye afterwards, but I might’ve been imagining it. I should’ve of course pointed out and apologised for the incident to one of the staffers, and if my knee was better maybe even offered to get some napkins to clean it up myself. Hopefully it won’t stain too badly on their nice, carpeted floors.
When entering, there was also a note saying that the second opening act of the evening had been cancelled, and had been replaced by another artist. Of course, they could have asked me since I’d already inquired before, and I’d definitely been able to step up even if I was only asked the day before, but I’m guessing the band that cancelled was the one that arranged for the replacement and not the actual venue.
The two opening acts were okay. Not exactly my kind of music, and the mix seemed pretty off on the first act, making it sound rather muddled and distorted (but that can easily happen when the volume is so loud). I was surprised by how young and inexperienced the musicians seemed though. Looked like they were pretty fresh out of high school – maybe even still in high school. But then, the venue seems to be catering to the younger folks, serving no alcohol and therefore having no age limit on their concerts. Not exactly the openers I’d expected to this sort of concert, though.
The main concert itself was great fun. Vanderslice was joined by Jason Slota on drums and moog. I was immediately worried that the drums would drown out the guitars and vocals, but for the most part it worked pretty well together, and there were some excellent drum heavy parts. Vanderslice was sufficiently chatty with the audience too, making the odd witty remark, which is always fun.
At the end they both Vanderslice and Slota went into the center of the audience and performed two songs acoustically, which served as a very nice ending to a good show. Vanderslice then went straight for the merchandising table, to do autographs and chat while selling wares. I don’t think I’ve gone to many concerts where any of the band members have done that. The only one that comes to mind was Darren Hanlon, who opened for The Magnetic Fields, who was manning his own merchandising table for a while. Maybe I’ve been going to the wrong shows.
I tried recording the show, but I was close to the speaker and was worried that the loud bass would make the sound distorted, or worst case scenario even damage whatever sensitive electronics were inside the camera! So I didn’t end up recording as much as I maybe would have liked, and tried going for the more quiet parts.
At the end I got ready to leave, but was waiting for things to calm down first so I could talk to Vanderslice without delaying anyone else. As I’m waiting, I’m approached by a friendly guy who’d noticed I’d been filming, and he asks if I’ll be putting it up on YouTube, which I confirm. We talk briefly about the concert, and it’s revealed that he was the one who managed to book Vanderslice for this particular venue. I then ask if he’s the guy I talked to over e-mail about possibly being one of the opening acts for the show, but apparently that’s another guy. He seems to become slightly turned off when the topic briefly changes to my own music, but I soon bid him adieu and go to talk to Vanderslice, as the crowd around the merchandising table seemed to be slimming down.
But there are still a few folks before me, and I catch some of what other people are discussing. Some seem to be talking about The Mountain Goats, asking if they’ve toured or played together live often. I think the answer was fifty. Some people ask about the CDs available. The girl from the first supporting band gives Vanderslice a copy of their own album, and he says he’d like to meet the rest of the band. I think he also offers her a free CD in return. To another girl, the conversation turns to the high prices of everything in Norway, saying that it would be too expensive to go on holiday here. Since there’s only she and me at the table, he also makes eye contact with me while talking, inviting me to join in, but I can’t think of anything substantial to add. Yes, Norway is expensive.
Then it’s fully my turn, and he apologises for having me wait. I introduce myself, and we shake hands. I give him the sleeve to Pixel Revolt to sign, then give him my CDs. He enthusiastically responds that he’ll play them in the van. The drummer walks by, and we’re briefly introduced. I then ask if he’d mind doing a brief promotional video for my me – an idea I got during the concert – and he sportingly agrees.
Then it’s time for him to clean up, and I can’t think of anything more to say, so I head homewards.
Shortly after exiting the venue, a black woman on the street asks me in English, “How are you doing?” Guessing she’s a prostitute I respond “Sorry, not interested,” and continue walking. “How come?” she asks, and I continue walking. I have another peculiar interaction as a guy on the subway, who may or may not have been homeless, asks if I’m a goth or just a fan of The Lord Of The Rings, and complaining that Clint Eastwood has been making too many dramas recently.
When I check the video I recorded, I find the audio to be surprisingly un-distorted. Not perfect, but definitely not bad, and I regret not having recorded more.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable concert, a good night overall, and a somewhat unique experience. Even if someone weren’t too keen on his music for some reason, I could imagine that this someone could still have ended up enjoying the concert. The venue felt kind of nice, informal and cozy, and seemed to work well for this sort of show. Looking forward to going to the next Vanderslice concert whenever he’s in the neighbourhood again.
Originally released in 2001, Hefner‘s Dead Media was the band’s fourth (or fifth, if you count Boxing Hefner) and final album. Rather than giving their fans another album of accessible piano- and guitar-driven pop/rock songs a la We Love The City, they decided to experiment with retro electronica. Few people seemed to “get” the album, losing them fans and receiving some poor reviews, and it was a contributing factor to the band breaking up (or going on an indefinite hiatus, as the band’s frontman might prefer to phrase it).
Dead Media is personally one of my all-time favourite albums, up there with The Fidelity Wars, and I have fond memories of listening through it at night on my older brother’s Discman. I was around 16 – 17 years old at the time. While this album wasn’t the first Hefner album I bought and listened to, it was the one that got me interested in the band in a roundabout way; I saw the cover artwork for Dead Media in an e-mail newsletter from an online music retailer, which displays what appears to be a crying super hero. This made me curious, being a comic book and super hero fan, so I looked them up online and listened to a few clips off The Fidelity Wars. While I wasn’t entirely won over I decided to take a gamble and ordered a copy. I ended up buying Dead Media sometime later at Platekompaniet when I stumbled over it on sale for 100 NOK.
Re-listening to it, it’s still a great album. It didn’t give me the sense of re-discovery that the We Love The City re-release gave me, but this is probably because I casually listen to tracks off Dead Media at some frequency. There are some great songs on this album, and the sound is varied enough to never get boring. While the album does overall have a retro electronica sound to it, there are plenty of acoustic elements and tracks to be found here too. The definite stand-out track is “When The Angels Play Their Drum Machines”, which might be the closest the band comes to pure synth-pop joy, but there isn’t a single bad song among the bunch.
My feelings about the double-disc re-releases have been mixed, as I’ve stated previously. While they have had some neat bonuses, and certainly having all the EPs and B-sides collected in one place is convenient, they have felt bogged down with too many needless demo, rehearsal, and 4-track recordings, which often sound too similar to the finished recordings to really be of interest. Perhaps they could have done a limited-edition mp3 album like ANT did with his When The Morning Arrives release, collecting the bulk of the demos (and such) on that. They’re mostly only of interest to hardcore fans, who probably wouldn’t have minded investing a bit extra to get these recordings, and it would have helped un-bog the albums and help make them less daunting for new and casual fans of the band. Plus, there wouldn’t be the 80-minute audio limit to worry about.
But unlike any of the previous re-releases, this one has zero demo, rehearsal, or 4-track recordings. I may sound like a hypocrite or flip-flopper when I say this is a shame, but this is the album I actually would have really liked hearing demo recordings from. An acoustic version of “When The Angels Play Their Drum Machines” would’ve been interesting as all heck, if such a thing exists, or of some of the other more heavily electronic songs. This is also the shortest of the re-releases so far; while the three previous ones all, oddly enough, clock in at 2 hours and 36 minutes (plus a varying amount of seconds), this one clocks in at a “mere” 2 hours and 10 minutes. So 26 minutes less content than any of the others.
The double disc reissue.
The extras start off with four B-sides from the two Alan Bean singles, followed by the excellent EP The Hefner Brain – the band’s last proper release before their hiatus. These are all pretty great. Next up is an alternate version of “Waking Up To You”, marked as Bass Guitar Version, followed by an unreleased instrumental track called “Wrong Brain”. Unfortunately both are fairly forgettable; the former sounds almost exactly like the original except that a synth has been replaced by a bass, and the instrumental just seems like a practice track with no real melody to it.
Next up are four tracks from a Dutch radio session: “Alan Bean”, “Junk”, “Gabriel In The Airport” and “The Pines”. The first was originally released on the limited edition live CD Kick, Snare, Hats, Ride, and the later two songs would eventually be recorded for Darren Hayman and John Morrisson’s The French project. (Demos of these can also be found on Catfight!) These are all neat, but I have heard talk about releasing a Hefner radio session compilation, for which they perhaps could have been more appropriate.
The extras are finished off with five remixes: two remixes of “Alan Bean” from a previously released 7-inch, two remixes of “Trouble Kid” from another previously released 7-inch (which was also released as a promotional CD for some reason), and a previously unreleased remix of “Trouble Kid”. The three “Trouble Kid” remixes are decent, with the Battersea Remix done by Darren Hayman himself being my definite favourite. The two “Alan Bean” remixes are far too ambient for my personal tastes, paying too little heed to the original melody.
This marks the last of the Hefner deluxe re-release albums, unless they’ve got something else in store. But there’s still the re-release of Local Information to look forward to, the sole album of the short-lived post-Hefner electronica duo The French. In terms of extras to expect, that will probably include the two B-sides from the Porn Shoes/ Gabriel In The Airport split single, and the Dagenham EP. There’s also the track “Watery For” that was released on the Songs To Break God’s Heart compilation, and if we’re lucky they might have cleared any copyright issues so they could include the four-track TV themes radio session they did – unless they’d be saving that for the possible radio sessions release mentioned above.
As for the still un-re-released Hefner tracks I listed in my piece about the We Love The City re-release, according to a commentor the songs in question had all been recorded for BBC and there were some legal and monetary issues. So for now, the only way to get a hold of those tracks is to track down the original out of production releases, which is a shame.
To finish off, I’ve included three tracks below. First is the fun and bouncy Darren Hayman remix of the song “Trouble Kid”, which you’ll find included on this release. Then there’s a cover song of Jonathan Richman’s “To Hide A Little Thought”, which is possibly my favourite cover song by Hefner. It was included as a B-side to the I Took Her Love For Granted single, and later included on Boxing Hefner, and it’s one of the tracks that probably won’t see a re-release anytime soon. And finally there’s a fun acoustic cover I found on YouTube of “Peppermint Taste” off Dead Media, done by someone going under the artist name The Man Who Loves You (who is remarkably reminiscent of David Tattersall from The Wave Pictures). You can view the original video here. Enjoy!
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone‘s Twinkle Echo was a great album. Catchy melodies with interesting, low-fi arrangements performed on what I’m guessing were inexpensive Casiotone keyboards. Other than that one album, CFTPA‘s music is a bit of a hit and miss thing with me. But one song that hits is “If You Were Mine”, found on the single for “Young Shields” off the Etiquette album, which is this week’s pick.
On July 11th I pre-ordered Stephin Merritt’s Obscurities release through amazon.co.uk. I’m eager to get my hands on it, and figure pre-ordering is the best way to get it as early as possible. I also decided to order Destroyer‘s excellent Kaputt album, taking advantage of the combined shipping and still staying below Norway’s infamous 200 NOK customs limit. The items were estimated to dispatch August 30th, so I figured I’d get them late August, early September.
Curiously, on August 23rd I get an e-mail telling me the Destroyer album has shipped, and soon thereafter I receive it in the mail. Then I get an e-mail from Amazon on August 31st, saying the following:
We regret to inform you that your order will take longer to fulfill than originally estimated. Our supplier has notified us that there is a delay obtaining stock for the following items you ordered on July 11 2011.
We are awaiting a revised estimate from our supplier, and will email you as soon as we receive this information.
That’s a tad annoying. But these things happen. But when I look at Amazon’s websites, I see that the album is no longer available for ordering, but that there’s another version of the album that is. This version appears identical to the other, except the label is Domino Records rather than Merge, and the release date is September 5th rather than August 23rd. So I’m fairly certain this is the official European release of the exact same album, as albums will sometimes have different labels and distributors depending on region. (And no, this version wasn’t available to order when I pre-ordered on July 11th.) So I’m guessing that due to rights issues Amazon won’t actually be getting the Merge release of the album at all, which I pre-ordered, but only the Domino Records release.
I don’t really care which label release I get, as they appear to be identical. So I decide to write Amazon customer service. I ask when I can expect to get the album, and I also suggest that the version I ordered could be switched with the Domino Records version, which they have in stock. I get an e-mail in response, telling me the following:
Please note that whilst we aim to display the most accurate product availability possible, occasionally products can go out of stock or become out of print/discontinued.
When you place an order with us for a product we do not have in stock (such as products where the availability on our product detail page states that it is “Unknown”), we endeavour to source that product for you from our suppliers. We’ll notify you via e-mail as soon as we have enough information to provide you with an estimated delivery date. However, in some cases it is not possible to obtain the product as the product is no longer available for purchase. We’ll notify you via e-mail if we are unable to obtain the product.
Please accept my apologies for this situation.
Utterly unhelpful. Doesn’t seem like she (the response is credited to a female name) even read the actual message. When you write their customer service a message you have to choose what the topic of your inquiry is, and I chose “where’s my stuff”. Seems like she just glanced at the category and sent a standard copy-n-paste response rather than bothering to read through it, and in effect not answering my second question of whether a switch would be possible.
Of course, I could just cancel my order for the Merge version and order the Domino Records one. But that would mean losing money on the combined shipping deal, as the Destroyer album had already shipped. It would only be 2 GBP extra tops, but still. Money is money, and I don’t like parting with it unnecessarily.
So a couple of days ago I figured I’d try buying it at an actual record store instead. Platekompaniet, the leading Norwegian record store chain, was offering it through their website for 100 NOK, which didn’t seem like a bad price. Would be a bit more than I would have paid through Amazon, but I could live with paying 20-30 NOK extra for immediate satisfaction. Plus, I was getting tired of waiting for and trying to deal with Amazon.
So when I visited Oslo last week, I figured I’d drop by one of their stores and buy a copy. I ended up going into three different Platekompaniet stores, and none of them had the album. Which I thought odd, since it was a new release by a popular indie artist, and any self-respecting record store should have a few copies of those. The day after I find myself in Sandvika and figure I’ll ask at the Platekompaniet there too – and they actually have a copy! But, it’s priced at a whooping 170 NOK, and marked as a special import. I see it’s the Merge version, which probably explains it.
And that’s pretty much where I am today. My order with Amazon is still open, and I haven’t heard anything more about when I can expect my copy. Buying music sure is tiring.
I’ve been wanting to buy Neko Case’s live show Live From Austin, TX. The only problem is, should I buy it on DVD or on CD? Certainly getting to see the actual performance would be nice, but I might get more use out of the CD; having to use the TV whenever you want to listen to a particular song isn’t very convenient. Consequently I haven’t bought either yet, as I haven’t been able to make up my mind.
Ideally, rather than offering either a CD or a DVD they should have offered some sort of package combining the two. And that’s sort of what The Flaming Lips did right with their own live release, U.F.O.s At The Zoo from 2007. You get a DVD with the video on it, but when you put it in your computer you’re able to download the audio files onto your computer as 256 Kbps mp3 files. Which is pretty neat! Perhaps ideally it would have been a dual sided disc ordeal instead, with one side being a DVD and the other a CD, since you could then play it in CD players and choose your own format and the quality to rip it to yourself. But I’m pretty happy with this solution. And I won’t have to choose whether I want the CD or DVD release, since there’s only one version. And since I can’t make up my mind as to what I’d prefer when it comes to Neko Case’s live release, I’ll probably end up not buying either version, unless I stumble over one of them at a sufficiently low price.
As for The Flaming Lips‘ U.F.O.s At The Zoo, it’s a pretty neat little live show. One of the highlights is “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”, which has a fun and peculiar guitar effect thing going on which really adds to the song, and it’s this week’s pick.
