Mates of State- These Days (Daytrotter Session)
This is probably my third favorite rendition of this song, which is saying something, since it’s been covered 589 times— just this month. I think the kid has halfway decent pitch.
*I should volunteer that my other two most favorite versions are the Nico and the St. Vincent.
Now that I’m finally feeling a bit rested and clearheaded, here are some Record Store Day purchases.
The Mynah Birds
A short-lived Motown band from 1966, the MBs featured Neil Young and Rick James (bitch!). It’s kinda like the Stones or Them, with a little psychedelic feel to it. It’s pretty great, I think.
New Multitudes
A couple of studio tracks and a couple of demos are on this EP from the alt-country supergroup. The demos are the real find here. All lyrics are by Woody Guthrie (whoever that is).
Sufjan Stevens/Rosie Thomas
This is fun stuff from two of my favorite artists. It makes some generous post-Bon-Iverian use of the auto tuner, which adds an eerie synthetic quality to two of the more painfully earnest voices in indie pop.
Townes Van Zandt
This is a 1987 LP from Townes, and it’s a good one. The production is refreshingly clean— I had worries about a 1980s Nashville country album that featured a DX-7. It’s country, though, with some genuinely decent harmonica work, which is pretty rare.
Mates of State
This is an album of covers from indie pop’s durable spouses. I hadn’t heard any of this, and was a bit worried when a friend told me (post-purchase) that he’d seen them playing this material live and was underwhelmed. But it’s actually very good, and they make the covers their own. I still prefer their music when it’s just the two of them playing, but the slightly larger ensemble really works well on this one.
There were other non-purchases that I’ll get when I have a chance— the Uncle Tupelo LPs were pricy, though entirely worth the money. They should be around a while, though. There were a couple of killer blues anthologies by Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, and a live Cohen set, which will probably be in my next batch of purchases. Seeing as I get paid in records, I figured this was the best allocation of my “funds” for the day.
Happy Record Store Day, planet Earth.
