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Record Store Day: The Breeders/ The Dead Weather/ A Hawk & A Hacksaw/ Jay Reatard/ Sonic Youth/ Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Singles round-up

Article written by Ged M - Apr 30, 2009

According to Graham Jones’ book ‘Last Shop Standing’, 540 record shops have closed in the last 4 years. Which I don’t think is a bad thing in most of those cases when the way we access music has changed so radically. Record shops/ companies once pretty much controlled the supply of music but now the ones that survive are those that provide knowledge and a quality filter for people to navigate their way through the ocean of music available now.

That’s what independent stores do so well and Saturday 18 April celebrated the fact with Record Store Day. Apart from instore appearances, there were plenty of new records available, some of which are reviewed here. My indie of choice, Rough Trade, had 300 copies of a 99p cassette compilation of their current releases, ‘C09’, taking us right back by copying the design of the NME’s seminal ‘C86’.

Shops like Rough Trade will always lay their hands on rare gems and today it’s an expensive-but-worth-it 12” single ‘Fate Not Fatal’ by The Breeders. This comes in an edition of 1000 in a hand-screened sleeve (by the Deals themselves) and was recorded in London, Dayton and Chicago. The title track is the Breeders at their menacingly purring best, sounding like an opiated Beatles, with an unconcealed attack on religious fanaticism: “What men pray for, what men cradle/I’ve gone from fate to fatal”. ‘The Last Time’ has Mark Lanegan guesting and a most strangely jarring chorus, ‘Chances Are’ is Kim’s take on a Bob Marley song but doo-wop rather than reggae, and ‘Pinnacle Hollow’ is warm, sweet and drowsy, with guitars dancing around each other like partners at a formal tea-dance. I’m sure you can download it now but the pleasure of listening while holding that Deal-designed sleeve is unsurpassed.

Also sought after, but a bit of an anticlimax, is the debut release from Jack White’s new band The Dead Weather. I say “Jack White” though he’s just the drummer, occasional vocalist and guitarist; the other members of this supergroup are Alison Mosshart from the Kills on vocals, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age on guitar and Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs on bass. ‘Hang You From the Heavens’ (Third Man Records 7”) is blues-rock, on the same trajectory as the Raconteurs’ second album, and sounds powerful but a bit unfocused. Meanwhile the cover of ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric’ is just plain novelty odd. Anticipation is sometimes better than experience.

Other singles were also released specially for the day. A Hawk & A Hacksaw’s ‘Foni tu Argile’ (The Leaf Label), gaining a special release on 78, is a wonderful, Balkan-flavoured tune complete with wheezy accordion that sounds perfectly matched to the ancient format. The Dixieland-jazz of ‘Lorraine, Lookout’ by Elvis Perkins in Dearland (XL Recordings 7”) is the cheeriest-sounding we’ve heard Mr P, while ‘I’ll Be Arriving’ is very like the Bad Seeds and completes an excellent release. Matador Records’ 7” release is unusual but not exceptional; Jay Reatard’s ‘Hang Them All’ is a pop take on hardcore (do you take Sugar in your twee?) and Sonic Youth’s instrumental ‘No Garage’ sounds like classic Sonic Youth, even with the classic locked groove trick, but it’s not a classic song. All these and more, only at your indie store!

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