Mes amis!!!
I've been logging in some time over on the Backstreet blog the past couple of nights. If you go over there it'll more than make up for the lack of "track a day" action as there is an hour long .mp3 mix called
I Can't Stress This Enough!!!. In addition you'll find notes on what's recently made it's way onto the store's shelves.
I've come to wonder, since I've been posting my clever little stories of the daily twilight zonish 'appenings at the store, if there's been an increase in the level of public insanity or if it just seems that way 'coz I'm remarking of it.
This past Saturday one of "my people," as I like to think of them came in as I was racking some recent used vinyl arrivals. So you picture this 6+ foot man with a ball cap and dirty blonde hair with a wadded up leather jacket under his arm... oh and with a voice halfway between Randy Machoman Savage and The Cookie Monster.
Him: You don't know anyone who'd be looking to buy a vintage WWII leather bomber jacket. would you?
Me: Ah... no, no. We don't deal in clothes and, ah... I don't know of any vintage clothing stores in the area.
Him: This coat is over 50 years old and [flipping it inside out to display the lining] it's been taken care of. It was worn by an aviator... you can tell by this material.
Me: Oh. Well... I'm sure someone would be interested in it... but most clothes around town seems to either end up in the Salvation Army or maybe sold through auction houses...
Him: No. No. I'm not in a position to auction anything [???].
Me: OK? Well, good luck with finding someone for it.
Him: I just thought that, where you sell used stuff you might know... you know... and where I buy a lot of stuff here [first time I've seen the man]... because I'm a fan of the old stuff, like the Creedence and the Revival and Bob Seger... the older Bob Seger stuff like [he starts naming albums but I've stopped listening, preferring to let a fine glaze slide over me... carrying my consciousness far, far away... but then...] I did a lot of Bob Seger songs at karaoke nights at The North Star... and I made it to the finals, but this other guy beat me with a Fleetwood Mac song. Just as well, the regional final were in Moncton and I can't even swear in french.
Me:
Him: OK. Thanks.
I've been thinking lately about this strange duality:
Being a fan of "indie rock" brings with it a certain attitude of pride for being loose from the machinery of rock marketing... that is to say being a fan of a band because a magazine ad/radio station/video channel is co-opted into oversaturating a profile, making it seem incontrovertible that "X" is the biggest best band in the land. Indie bands seem to grow organically and/or virally with whatever actual or electronic equivalent "word of mouth" is spread, usually beneath the radar of mainstream media. That is good. Yes.
However, on the other hand, there seems to be a short, short, short attention span for the very brief history of "indie rock" (if you place it's roots in the late 80s/early 90s). New grassroots acts spring up monthly, seemingly displacing into obscurity artist from a couple of years previous. Does this amount to a "no heroes" mentality fostered within the fandom of the underground... or is it plain old media oversaturation on all of these new playing fields (internet/web radio/music blogs) that, instead of concretizing a bands rep, pushes aside today's successes to make room for "the next little big thing."
Mostly I wonder why people who are "huge fans" of Arcade Fire don't know who people like J Mascis are. Today's track is from this once and still guitarist for Dinosaur Jr. who broke big in indie's first wave with albums on Homestead and SST... the first three of which were recently re-issued on Merge Records, home of the aforementioned Fire. This track is from a solo live acoustic album called Martin and Me, and it is a cover of The Smiths, another groundbreaking outfit from the 80s and 90s. Enjoy.
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
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