Cash money, ya'll.

Although it's not a huge news day, it would be foolish of me not to remind you all that Decatur CD is most definitely open on Mondays now, so you should come in and get your music on. To be quite honest with you, my important job as The Security Chicken simply isn't very exciting when there is no one to secure. Plus, if you make your way to the store, you can check out our excellent new Johnny Cash display (pictured above), filled with all kinds of goodness pertaining to The Man in Black. All right, then. See you soon.

Today's Reading

Gather round, everyone, and have a seat on the reading rug. We have some music-related articles to feast your eyes upon today. The first is a Pitchfork essay that shows how the line between style and substance is constantly getting more and more blurry, and how bands now give off an everyman vibe instead of glamming it up to garner attention. Is it possible that artists are actually bigger critics than the people who write about their music? Are the days where musicians created myths about themselves (we're looking at you, Bob Dylan) really over? Read the piece to find some answers:

Self Portrait

Elsewhere, the New York Times sports a couple interesting articles. In the first, a reporter talks with former Steely Dan member Donald Fagen about his new album, Morph the Cat, which was written in the wake of September 11th. In the second, the Sunday magazine section takes an extensive look at excellent rock collective Broken Social Scene and the Toronto music scene the band sprang from.

What Rhymes With Orange Alert?
Guided By (Many, Many) Voices

Look what you missed...

Today, National Grain graced us with an in-store performance. Sprinkled amongst selections from the band's self-titled album (which you can of course buy at Decatur CD) were a few covers, including songs by Gram Parsons and The Replacements. It was a great set.

While the guys did their thing, some of the store's finest took in the tunes and shopped. Several people were impressed enough to get a copy of the band's album.

Be sure to check back for more in-stores and sale in the future...

A reason to bare-knuckle box with Mother Nature

Well, it's gross outside again. But this time, you have a reason to put on the poncho and step beyond the warm confines of your home. National Grain will be performing today at the store around 1:30pm, so come in and see the band that Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers will be playing with at Andrew's Upstairs on March 3.

Related link:
National Grain official site

Download National Grain mp3's:
"Pretty Women Won't Give Me the Time of Day"
"City Lights"
"High Country Twilight"

Why would you shop at Best Buy?

Pitchfork published a pretty interesting article today on the Big Retail Vs. Indie Shops war. Although the piece doesn't really offer any answers or point too many fingers, one thing is certain - you should always support your local independent store over something big and nasty like Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Obviously, the fair/gentle/kind customers of Decatur CD understand this already, but the article is an interesting read nonetheless. Enjoy:

Best Buy to Indies: Drop Dead

Friends don't let friends release bad album covers.

Above: The winner of Decatur CD's annual "Finest Moustache" award.

While tooling around on the net today, we found some more rainy day fun to pass the time. You've seen them in stores, on television and probably in your very own collection. They're bad album covers and they're everywhere. Lucky for us, there's a website collecting them and organizing them into categories with names such as Metal Mayhem, Great British Awfulness and Keeping It Unreal. Peruse the museum:

The Museum of Bad Album Covers

Rain, rain go away.

Well, it's a lovely Wednesday afternoon...not. Still, don't let the rain keep you from coming in and paying us a visit. At the moment, we're listening to the energetic and excellent sounds of young, Atlanta trio, The Selmanaires. Their music makes us feel sunny, even if the weather is not. But then we got to thinking about different weather/climate-oriented music that we sell. Take a gander:

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
These young gents have the honor of calling their first album the quickest selling UK debut of all time. It moved 360,000 copies in the first week over the pond, and now it's here in the states. Sure, we'd rather it not be too cold outside, but we'd be happy to sell you this frigid disc.

Tom Waits - Real Gone
Although his latest record includes a song called "Make it Rain" (a sentiment we simply can't agree with today) it's hard to argue with the genius of Waits. Over the last 30 years he's gone from sappy (yet awesome) bar singer to circus barker to bluesman and back again, if that makes any sense. There's a reason Decatur CD stocks every single one of his albums.

Allman Brothers - Eat a Peach
This classic 1972 release includes the song "Blue Sky," which is something we'd sure like to see right now. Sigh.

Weather Report
Ignore the actual weather report and come in to the store and pick up one or more of the seven discs we have by this jazz fusion supergroup.

Beta Band - The Three E.P.'s
This collection of the now-defunct band's early work is an excellent introduction to the group. There's a reason why Rob (played by John Cusack) plays the song "Dry the Rain" in the movie High Fidelity.

Various Artists - High Fidelity (original soundtrack)
Speaking of this hilarious film that just so happens to involve a record store, the soundtrack is also worth your time. Alongside tracks by Stevie Wonder, Royal Trux and Smog, you get The Velvet Underground's "Who Loves the Sun."

Earth, Wind and Fire
Who needs rock 'n' roll when you have r&b, right? In that case, come peruse our extensive selection of one of the genre's finest groups.

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Robert Zimmerman would agree - Decatur CD will happily be your "Shelter From the Storm" today.

Some other recommended selections:
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Summer in the Southeast
Andrew Bird - Weather Systems
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
(includes "The Rain Song")
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
(includes "Who'll Stop the Rain")
Jenny Lewis - Rabbit Fur Coat
(includes "The Changing Sky")
Pernice Brothers - There Goes the Sun
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
(includes "Saturday Sun")
The Kinks - Kink Kronicles
(includes "Sunny Afternoon")
R.E.M. - The Reckoning
(includes "South Central Rain")
The Beatles - Abbey Road
(includes "Here Comes the Sun")
Los Lobos - Just Another Band from East L.A.
(includes "Wicked Rain")

Of course, there's no way we could list them all. In fact, do you have a favorite weather-themed song or artist? If so, list it in the comments section. And by all means, come visit us at the store. We're obviously bored. On a parting note, as Neil Young said on the final track of Greendale, perhaps we should take the if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em route and simply "Be the Rain."

What you'll be listening to soon...

Here at Decatur CD, we're lucky enough to get our grubby little mitts on a few records before they're officially released. And since we're kind folk, from time to time, we like to let you listen to these records as well. So, without further ado, here are some CDs we have in the store that don't come out for a while. Feel free to stop by, as we'd love for you to hear them as well:

Alejandro Escovedo - The Boxing Mirror
This is Warren's favorite album of the year so far. Escovedo recorded it with John Cale, and it's set to come out sometime in April or May. Warren had this to say, "It just sounds great. What more do you want?!!?" Exactly.

Built to Spill - You in Reverse
After five years, Doug Martsch and his band of Idahoan pranksters are finally getting around to releasing a new full-length, and Austin thinks its the guitar record of the year so far. The band will be coming to Variety Playhouse in May, but until then, we'll have this disc on repeat (it comes out in April, by the way).

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
The silver-tongued Ms. Case has done it again. We think you'll agree that her voice sounds as great as it ever has. Look for it on the shelves on March 7.

Calexico - Garden Ruin
Hot on the tails of their collaborative EP with Iron & Wine, Calexico is dropping an epic new release on us in April. We're quite excited about it, as we think it will live up to the expectations of longtime fans of the band.

We've also got new music releases coming out soon from The Flaming Lips, Mark Knopfler/Emmylou Harris, Donald Fagen, Van Morrison and several others. Be sure to ask about any and all that interest you.

And remember, this is only the beginning of the blog. We'll have links up soon over there on the right side, and there will soon be near-daily posts, so be sure to check back often.

A new era begins...

This is the first post of the official Decatur CD blog. Here, you'll find up-to-the-minute updates on everything that happens in the store, from weekly best sellers to upcoming in-store performances. The blog won't go live for a while after this post, but consider this test.

Oh, and welcome to Decatur CD.