Merry Christmas from Iceland

Enjoy your holiday season. Whatever it may be.

Hopefully days off come with it.

Music perfect for a wintry-mix. A snowscape.

More where this came from.

My "Icelandic Period."

Everybody has one.

Apparat Organ Quartet - Romantika. AKA Music. Bargain bin.

Pop Will Not Be Eating Itself

I grabbed the 808 State disc knowing it was 808 State.

The problem with that. I thought I was buying Pop Will Eat Itself.

Or at the very least, the sound of Pop Will Eat Itself.

I saw the 808 State disc. My mind went "grebo."

I had been looking for it. At least I thought I had been looking for it.

That night I realized my mistake. 808 State was 808 State. Nothing to do with grebo. Nothing to do with Pop Will Eat Itself.

All was not lost. I managed to pick up an album featuring Bernard Sumner and Bjork.

My mistake netted me a better album. An unexpected success.

Pop Will Eat Itself continues to elude me.

808 State - EX:EL. AKA Music. Bargain bin.

Fat and Stagediving Were Mentioned

For some reason, the size of the singer was a selling point when Colin first told me about the band.

He had seen them at the Trocadero.

I ended up buying the cassette.

For years, I only had the cassette. Played exclusively in the Volvo wagon.

More recently I only had the cassette case.

The cassette. Lost.

Finally replaced with a compact disc.

Black Train Jack - You're Not Alone. Generation Records. Used.

I'll Find Out Thursday

A lot of time was spent at Sound Garden in Armory Square.

I was there at least once a week. Buying and selling compact discs.

Mostly buying. Although I'm not sure where I was getting the money.

Occasionally I had a job during the school year. My final semester, I didn't do much of anything. I completed Final Fantasy VII. I did not complete any of my coursework.

The lack of gainful employment did nothing to curb my spending. Imports. Full-lengths. Singles.

When it came to box sets. I exercised restraint. A sense of responsibility.

This. I regret.

I passed on two box sets in particular. They were pricey. I shouldn't have cared. I did.

Putting off the purchase. Always for next time. The Jam. The Style Council. No one would buy them. No one ever did.

Waiting for next time. And the next time.

There was never a next time.

I returned to Philadelphia. This time for good.

Paul Weller - Wild Wood. Princeton Record Exchange. Bargain rock.

Mike Judge Music Club

In addition to 120 Minutes, Beavis and Butthead had been one of the better places to see alternative videos on MTV.

These videos were often the subject of ridicule. That didn't matter.

It was more important that the videos were on television. Even if it was for only for a few seconds.

Already listening to some of the bands, it was fun to see them on MTV.

Plenty of others were new discoveries. An introduction. Something to look for.

Another resource for new music. Underutilized.

Whale - We Care. ??? New.

I Can See Japan

I was a fan before I knew it.

It was curiosity that put it on my Christmas list.

My first listen. Driving to work. Imagine my surprise when I recognized songs.

Songs sampled by Kahimi Karie.

The Japanese reinterpretations of Western music, mainstream or otherwise. How they then assemble those reinterpretations into songs. Sampling. Emulating.

It never ceases to amaze me.

The Soft Machine - Volumes One and Two. Christmas 2007. New.

Christmas Should Deliver One or Two

Deluxe editions. Reissues. Remasters. A fan necessity.

The updated release is no reason to abandon the original.

No reason to delete the digital files.

No reason to sell the compact disc.

Double up. Triple up.

Keep them all in play. For playback.

The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys (Original). eBay. Used.

The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys: Expanded and Remastered (Disc 1) (Disc 2). Barnes and Noble. New.

Select Selections

Select provided the introductions.

Blurbs. Reviews. Advertisements. Compilations.

Select made convincing arguments to overlook silly names.

Morcheeba. Gay Dad.

Select expanded listening. Purchasing. Collecting. Completing.

Then one month. It no longer appeared at the newsstand.

The next month. Same thing.

Faded away.

Morcheeba - Big Calm. ??? New.

"Velocity Girl" as a Generalization

There had been a rash of Velocity Girl pretenders within the hardcore scene.

Try to argue that they weren't part of the scene. One of the many sub-genres falling under the umbrella that was hardcore of the nineties.

Today, expressing an interest in many bands of the era often results in ridicule.

Denial after the fact. Running rampant.

At the time. Others were listening. Others were buying.

Proudly standing by some. Copper. Ashes. Endive. Samuel.

Ashamed of others. Beta Minus Mechanic. Baby Gopal.

Idle Hands - Treaty. Generation Records. Used.

Remembering Songs, Not Sights

The same trip. Summer 1994.

A stop in York. Purchased in York.

A walled city? There are photographs of the trip. Scattered.

Adding to the Simpatico! portion of the soundtrack.

Velocity Girl - Sorry Again. Somewhere in York. New.