Friday, September 26, 2008

Young Eliot at ATP NY


If you've made your way down to the store over the past week (and shame on you if you haven't!), chances are that you've heard a new record from TV on the Radio, Eddy Current, Sweet Faces or some other equally rock-tastic band. Your pal Young Eliot, however, hasn't heard any of them. At least, I haven't heard them clearly. Why not? Well, my ears are still ringing from seeing My Bloody Valentine (above) Sunday night at the close of the indie-rock-extravaganza ATP New York. So, sit back and relax while I reminisce about a time when I could still hear--and heard a lot of good bands at that.

Just as prevalent in the various reports on ATP as stories of performances have been tales of playing cards with Shellac's Steve Albini or drinking out of the same water fountain as My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields. What, you ask, was my brush with "fame" (a relative term, to be sure, in the world of indie rock)? Did I play air-hockey with J. Mascis? Or maybe canoe with Ira Kaplan? Nah, but I did eat lunch with Michael Rother (of Neu and Kraftwerk fame, but playing at ATP with Harmonia)! The catch is that, at the time, I thought he was just a German with bad table manners, not a krautrock legend.

The influence of Krautrock permeated the entire festival, which certainly had a substantially experimental edge. Appropriately enough, then, the first band to really impress me was San Francisco's deliciously psychedelic Wooden Shjips. Avoiding the pitfalls of indulgence that beset many similar bands, the Shjips turned in a taught, energetic set. Speaking of energy, Les Savy Fav singer Tim Harrington has that in spades. He also has (perhaps too much) confidence in his fans, as he brought a ladder into the crowd and coaxed the largely intoxicated crowd into lifting him into the air as he stood atop the ladder. It was a great set from the band as a whole, even if Harrington's antics stole the show.

As I watched Harrington dance around in woman's clothing, I thought to myself that Steve Albini would probably want to strangle this guy. Fortunately, Shellac didn't start until hours after Les Savy Fav, so there was no strangling. But there was punk rock. Ever since reading Our Band Could Be Your Life, Albini has been something of a musical hero to me. Shellac's set exceeded my accordingly high expectations, highlighted by their seminal "Prayer to God" (don't play that one for the kiddies, folks) and Albini playing the guitar with his teeth.

Speaking of my heroes from the 1980s punk scene, Bob Mould (above) was also on hand. I went into his set wary, given his recent electronic flirtations, but Mould couldn't have been better. Sporting an impressive beard and ignoring his solo stuff in favor of Hüsker Dü classics like "I Apologize" and "Makes No Sense at All," no one rocked harder than Mould this weekend. A few bands were louder, though, including Mercury Rev and Dinosaur Jr. Loudest of all, of course, was My Bloody Valentine. And I, of course, did not wear ear plugs, because I'm just that hardcore. Or stupid.


To put it simply, MBV was everything you've heard about them. At once crushingly loud and impeccably subtle, they are both the immovable object and the unstoppable force. Drawing evenly from their catalogue, Kevin Shields, Belinda Butcher (above) and company didn't miss a beat. The set concluded, as promised, with "You Made Me Realize," one of the catchiest tunes in MBV's repetoire. After two minutes of noisy pop perfection, the song transformed into a locomotive of sound. For about fifteen minutes, the band wailed ferociously on their instruments. It was at this point that my ears started screaming at me to get out of there.

But I didn't. And no one did. The fact that not a soul left that ballroom amid that sonic assault is a testament to the respect that My Bloody Valentine has earned on the indie rock scene. That said, I wish the cacophony hadn't lasted quite so long. Nonetheless, when MBV descended back into "You Made Me Realize," it was so epic that I didn't care that I wouldn't be able to hear for a week. Which brings us back to the present. In fact, I think I can almost make out the Creedence re-issue that's playing...

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Decatur CD's Upcoming Show Guide - October

There is a reason we're calling it ROCKtober. Shows! So many shows! Since we missed September, we're including what's left of the month on this October post. If you're at the Drunken Unicorn tonight, do wave at Young Eliot, who will be a-rockin' as usual. The list:

TONIGHT - Sunset Rubdown @ The EARL
TONIGHT - The Carbonas, Brimstone Howl and Crusaders of Love @ The Drunken Unicorn
TONIGHT - Gogol Bordello @ Variety Playhouse
TONIGHT - Ron Sexsmith @ The Five Spot
September 25th - Mugison @ The EARL
September 25th - Henry Rollins @ Variety Playhouse
September 26th - Stereolab and Atlas Sound @ Variety Playhouse
September 28th - Rizzudo, Vivian Girls and Tyvek @ The EARL
September 30th - Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles @ The EARL
September 30th - Jenny Lewis @ Variety Playhouse (We're giving away a pair of tickets, so stop by and enter if you're so inclined.)
September 30th - Tegan and Sara @ The Tabernacle (We have a couple pairs of tickets left, but they're going fast. If you buy a Tegan and Sara CD, you can have one of those pairs.)

October 1st - The Raconteurs and The Kills @ The Tabernacle
October 1st - Lloyd Cole @ Eddie's Attic
October 2nd - Neil Hamburger @ The EARL
October 2nd - The Black Keys @ The Tabernacle
October 3rd - The Walkmen and The Little Ones @ The EARL
October 3rd - Gringo Star and Anna Kramer @ The Star Bar
October 6th - The Roots @ The Tabernacle
October 8th - Common, N*E*R*D and Janelle Monae @ The Tabernacle
October 9th - Hot Chip @ Variety Playhouse
October 10th - The Howlies @ The EARL
October 10th - Ra Ra Riot @ The Drunken Unicorn
October 11th - The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker @ The EARL
October 11th - JJ Grey and Mofro @ Variety Playhouse
October 12th - Wire and The Selmanaires @ Variety Playhouse
October 14th - The Wedding Present @ The EARL
October 15th - Apollo Sunshine @ The Drunken Unicorn
October 15th - The Heartless Bastards @ The Five Spot
October 16th - Girl Talk @ Variety Playhouse
October 16th - Los Lonely Boys and Zac Brown Band @ The Tabernacle
October 17th - Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships @ The EARL
October 17th - Pistolero @ Lenny's
October 17th - Ruthie Foster @ Eddie's Attic
October 18th - Grace Potter and The Wood Brothers @ Variety Playhouse
October 18th - Ray Lamontagne and Leona Naess @ The Tabernacle
October 19th - Delta Spirit and Ocha La Rocha @ The Drunken Unicorn
October 19th - Widespread Panic Tunes for Tots benefit @ The Tabernacle
October 21st - Pierced Arrows (ex-Dead Moon) and Gentleman Jesse @ The EARL
October 24th - Ben Kweller @ The EARL
October 25th - TV on the Radio and The Dirtbombs @ The Tabernacle
October 26th - Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater @ The Drunken Unicorn
October 27th - Jackson Browne @ The Tabernacle
October 30th and 31st - Southern Culture on the Skids @ The EARL
October 30th - Matthew Sweet @ Variety Playhouse
October 31st - Noot d'Noot and Judi Chicago @ The Drunken Unicorn
October 31st - Deerhunter, Pylon, Jay Reatard and Times New Viking @ Variety Playhouse
October 31st - Deerhunter after-party with The Spooks @ The Star Bar

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Monday, September 22, 2008

New. Release. Tuesday.

Album cover pictured above, TV on the Radio's excellent new record, Dear Science, is just one of many new releases that'll be on our shelves first thing on Tuesday morning. In fact, it's a rather massive day. Have a look at a few of the other artists that will stand proud for Decatur CD tomorrow:

TV on the Radio
Jenny Lewis
The Replacements (reissues)
Kings of Leon
Mogwai
Old Crow Medicine Show
Blitzen Trapper
Thievery Corporation
Jackson Browne
High Places
Cold War Kids
The Pretenders
Brightblack Morning Light
Kenny Loggins
Cowboy Mouth
Mason Proper
Otis Redding (live)
...and more!

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Deke Dickerson photos!

Phew. Seems like only yesterday Deke Dickerson was in the house, rockabillying everyone and their mother. It wasn't, though. In fact, it was practically a week to the day. Sorry about the wait on these photos, but we've been recovering after one of the biggest DCD in-store crowds in history. Great fun! Deke brought his buddies (including his charismatic drummer, Sugar Balls, who danced on the cash-register counter!) along, and delivered perfectly on his MySpace-promised party. Click on any of the photos in this post to see a much larger version of them. Enjoy...










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Monday, September 15, 2008

New. Release. Tuesday.

New releases, folks! We got 'em, you want 'em. Witness:

Marc Broussard
The Cure (EP)
James
Nelly
Amanda Palmer
Leona Naess
Wayne Brady
Ne-Yo
Passion Pit
Jem
Lindsey Buckingham
Avenged Sevenfold (live)
Portugal. The Man
Lisa Loeb
...and more!

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Deke Dickerson in-store performance on Friday!

What you need to know: Friday. 8pm. Deke Dickerson. Live. Free. Refreshments. Sale. Decatur CD. But hey, don't take our word for it. Take our newsletter's:

Deke Dickerson - Friday, September 12th - 8pm
This Midwestern native's history is rather immense. A country/rockabilly/surf icon, Dickerson's played in such bands as the Untamed Youth, Dave and Deke, and more. He's released a handful of albums, the most recent of which, King of the Whole Wide World, dropped just this past May. His music has been featured in myriad films, including Sideways, but this will be the first time his tunes have been featured live at DCD. He's calling it a party on his MySpace page, and we're planning to bring the noise with free, delicious beer for any 21+ patron that shows up to enjoy Deke's musical company. See you then!
Visit Deke Dickerson's MySpace page.

Oh yeah, and that sale? Glad you asked...

We've teamed up with our friends from WEA (who were kind enough to provide Friday's refreshments!) to offer a rather extensive Warner/Rhino catalog sale. What this means is that on Friday you'll be able to purchase select titles from Talking Heads, Otis Redding, Bjork, ZZ Top, Lucinda Williams, B-52's, Devo, Jackson Browne, Los Lobos, Ride, Deep Purple, Little Feat, 10,000 Maniacs, Tracy Chapman, The Cars, Warren Zevon, Dwight Yoakam, Violent Femmes and many more, all for $9 each! To make it easy for you, we'll have all the sale titles on display in the new releases bin, marked for your convenience. Pretty sweet, right?

To put it in perspective, you can't buy an album on iTunes for $9 (plus, you get a copy for your shelf our way). You can't buy three gallons of gas for $9. You can only get a decent meal for $9 if you're lucky. You can barely get a regular used CD for $9. And you certainly can't see a Falcons game for $9. But you can get tons of brand-new discs from some of our favorite artists on Friday for $9! Don't miss out on this opportunity.

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Monday, September 08, 2008

New. Release. Tuesday.

As we're sitting here preparing to type about tomorrow's new releases, Wire's latest (which hit our shelves on 7/15), Object 47, is rocking the store. It's a rather melodic, understated affair, with bits of that raucous punk edge we've come to expect from those old-guard rockers, and it's getting us psyched about the band's Oct. 12th date at Variety Playhouse with DCD faves The Selmanaires. Speaking of live shows, it's about time for a September show calendar blog post. Expect that in the next couple days. And speaking of DCD faves, as you can probably tell from the image above, Calexico has a new record out tomorrow. It's also melodic and understated in the best way possible. And there's actually quite a bit of other stuff coming out as well. Indie rock, electronic, jazz, folk, hard rock, comedy, hip-hop and more! Not too shabby. But we're rambling at this point. Here, read this list:

Calexico
Okkervil River
Metallica (actually comes out Friday, 9/12)
Joan Baez
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Mitch Hedberg (40 mins. of material recorded two months before his death)
Damien Jurado
Daniel Johnston (reissues)
Fujiya & Miyagi
Tricky
Steve Wynn
Liz Durrett
John Phillips
Broken West
Josh Rouse
Dar Williams
DJ Tiesto
Chad Vangaalen
Kimya Dawson
Women
Captain Beyond (reissue)
Patty Loveless
Chris Duarte
Grayson Capps
Emiliana Torrini
Joan Osborne
Freddie King (reissue)
Gym Class Heroes
Kenny Lattimore
Wovenhand
LL Cool J
Eric Benet
...and more!

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Saturday, September 06, 2008

Randall Bramblett live at DCD on YouTube!


Check out what our buddy Tom did for us recently. After stopping by for the Randall Bramblett in-store performance, and then recording parts of said performance, he uploaded a few songs to YouTube. Above is the track "Till the Sun Runs," and we think it's pretty dang cool that Decatur CD has finally made its long-overdue debut on the popular Internet video site. Have a look and let us know what you think. And if you dig it, check out Tom's YouTube page for additional clips of Bramblett performing "Use to Rule the World," "Don't Waste Your Time," "Everybody Glow" and "Blue Road." Thanks, Tom!

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

New. Release. Tuesday.

Tuesday sure does sneak up quickly each week, no? Seems like it's been five minutes or so since the last time we posted about the new stuff, but alas, Tuesday is Tuesday. And hey, busy is better than bored, right? We love music and music loves us and there is a lot of love to go around. Are we rambling? Most assuredly. ANYWAY, here's who has the fresh goods this week, including the album with the purty cover above:

Brian Wilson
Young Jeezy
Giant Sand
The Chemical Brothers (singles + new track)
Rodney Crowell
Wreckless Eric
Dean & Britta (reissue)
Chris Knight
Theresa Andersson
Terrence Howard
Hank Mobley
Henry Poole is Here (soundtrack featuring Badly Drawn Boy, eels, Joshua Radin and more)
Lila Downs
Lou Donaldson
...and more!

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