July 14, 2004

assistant pulley

I finally biked down to that weird little used record/book store at 3532 NE MLK today--it's technically called Below Zero, but the sign out front only says RECORDS BOOKS VIDEOS, or something like that. Discovered an enormous selection of good, unusual LPs and books for very reasonable prices (plus a ton of hardcore punk 7"s that I don't know enough about to be able to tell what I want), and brought home a backpack full of finds: a box of four B. Kliban books, a British book about the history of million-selling records, an Anni-Frid Lyngstad album from 1970 (sure enough, one of the songs that jumps out is by Andersson-Ulvaeus; the other one is "Där du Går Lämnar Kärleken Spår," which I knew as "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"), a Suzi Quatro best-of, and the kind of novelty I wish I didn't live for but do: a 12-inch single by Barbara Markay from 1979, on what I'm guessing is her own Hot Box Records, whose cover has bad Letraset type over a not-as-flattering-as-she-probably-thinks portrait of the artist's head (w/ straw hat) and bare shoulders. Title of A-side: "It's Allrite to Fuck All Nite." B-side: "It's Allrite to Truck All Nite." Record itself has an unusual calypso-disco arrangement--not quite what I'd expected.

So: Never let it be said I don't give the people what they want. Alex Ross requested Ex Faced Hermans' 1990 setting of a Kurt Tucholsky poem, "Lied der Steinklopfer," and... well, he almost gets what he wants, anyway (same song, half of the same band, same single, opposite side): The Ex's "Stonestampers' Song" (removed). (Thanks to Jos from the Ex for permission to post it; he notes that there'll be an Ex singles compilation coming out next year.) This version's got English lyrics and one Godalmighty monomaniacal seeker-destroyer of a riff.

The Ex have their own site here, and it explains a lot about their 25-year history; they also have a generous selection of MP3s here. Start with "Kokend Asfalt" (a Dutch-language remake of their earlier "State of Shock," featuring the huge all-star Ex Orkest), "Hidegen fujnak a szelek" (a Muzsikas cover, with cellist Tom Cora) and "Everything & Me."

Posted by Douglas at July 14, 2004 12:09 AM | TrackBack
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