.record haul / bucket list finds practically

What I have purchased and acquired in the month of May is not normal. It's like my own version of Rex Manning Day only with vinyl. I think what sparked this was a rare find of a friend, then that sparked the interest of another friend, then that friend rubbing off on me. Basically it let me to discogs purchasing shit tons of albums along with going crazy in the Vinyl Me Please Membership Store. The apocalypse is coming? Maybe! What treasure troves did I find / order? Well....

From the Vinyl Me Please Membership Store I purchased Nick Cave's "The Boatman's Call." This is my first Nick Cave album AND it came in a smoky red and black color. Figured it would be a collector's item down the line, picked it up. Next is Sylvan Esso's latest album in cherry red, "What Next." One word: fire! Such a fantastic array of songs. Next is Beach House "Teen Dream" which I've wanted to own for a while and the first album of their's I discovered. It's depressing but so is life sometimes ;P To round out my Gorillaz collection "Plastic Beach" and the new one "Humanz." Haven't listened to it yet, next on my list. Slowdive, a favorite of my best friend. The album is silver and very beautiful to listen to. Last but not least Julien Baker's "Funeral Pyre" 7" because anything by Julien is golden.

On Ebay someone was selling a copy of Liz Phair's "Juvenilia" where I nearly screamed. Plus they are two 7" lps! Interesting. No clue this even existed. Bonus? The seller lives in my state so shipping was super fast!

Now for Discogs! Lots of European sellers for some of these. Otherwise I would NEVER find any of these in the US. First off was Ex Hex's 7" "Hot Cold." I tried in the past for that on Ebay but the seller wanted too much money for it. Next I completed my Le Tigre collection with their self-titled, Feminist Sweepstakes, and This Island ALL on vinyl! Not only that, I nabbed a copy of Kathleen's Viva Knieval 7" where only 1,000 copies are made! My copy is 527. Wow! Rounding out the rest of my purchases I found Mary Timony's "Mountains" and holla!!! PJ Harvey's "Uh Huh Her" from someone in Greece. If only "Is This Desire" or "Dry" were more reasonably priced :(

Lastly I pre-ordered the Helium bundle pack in late March which came in the mail this month. It comes with all of Helium's albums and a special edition album of demos and live tracks. Plus you get a Helium tote as a bonus. Mary Timony rules!

So I'll be holding off on major vinyl purchases for a while as you can see. Most of this was birthday money and some good deals. 

.pj harvey @ the fillmore

And there she is again

Barely getting any sleep, to put a damper on things my train was delayed almost an hour getting back home from New York! Felt like I was waiting at Penn Station forever. I literally drove home from Hamilton Station, bought 2 donuts and an iced tea from DD, showered, and slept until it was time to go to The Fillmore. A concert friend from Virginia was driving up and was kind enough to hold me a spot in line. She was second in line and got to the venue around 3:00. I didn't get to the Fillmore until closer to 6:30-ish where I met up with my other friends too. It was nice having a group of people at this one. Inside they always have two lines of people by the doors entering the actual room where the stage is. We nabbed front spots towards the center. Perfection. Polly was literally in front of us all night. 

This time I tried to get a video of the entire band but it wouldn't come out that great when uploading it on Instagram. Since all the band members are in different positions on the stage, some of their heads got cut off in the video edit. Bummer. The fans in the audience were so great though. The one woman near us said this was her first time seeing Peej,that she's been a fan for twenty some years. I love when people see her for the first time. It makes me happy. 

As for the set list, it was pretty much the same. As for the encore I felt we got the better songs of "Highway '61" (yaaaas Rid of Me!) and "The Last Living Rose" (which always chokes me up). The concert went by so quickly but again stellar performances. A shout out to Terry Edwards on sax. That dude is killer. There was a moment where Polly and others started laughing on stage playing their instruments as he was wailing away. And playing two saxophones at one time? That is some hardcore Tori Amos playing two pianos shit! You go Terry!

SET LIST:
CHAIN OF KEYS
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
COMMUNITY OF HOPE
ORANGE MONKEY
A LINE IN THE SAND
LET ENGLAND SHAKE
THE WORDS THAT MAKETH MURDER
THE GLORIOUS LAND
MEDICINALS
WHEN UNDER ETHER
DOLLAR DOLLAR
THE DEVIL
THE WHEEL
THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS
50FT QUEENIE
DOWN BY THE WATER
TO BRING YOU MY LOVE
RIVER ANACOSTIA
---------------------
HIGHWAY '61 REVISITED
THE LAST LIVING ROSE

After the show we got to hang around since we had backstage wristbands. I saw Mick Harvey but he was talking to Kurt Vile most of the time. I wanted to ask him about his cat haha! Then Kenrick came out and he was super nice and polite. As much as we were excited to talk to him and ask him questions about the album and Polly he really wanted to know a lot about us! Asked us where we were all from, if we played any instruments (I claimed my Fender is collecting dust for 2 years in the corner of my room, he laughed). I told him I liked the picture of him and Nick Cave on Instagram and told him I will see Nick Cave in June. We asked about the process of making HD6P and he told us some interesting facts about Polly. The first word he used to describe her was "extremely creative" and how she changes up the songs when they play them live compared to the album. I also found it interesting that she felt isolated from the rest of the band since she's up front and wanted to have points where she was in the background jamming out with them. Kenrick mentioned the band did not have downtime to explore Philly because we talked about all the interesting places around the venue the band could seek out (they would've loved the Barcade!). Before Kenrick left I said I might see the band one last time in Central Park and he gave me a look like "Maybe? You better come!" He was so nice he gladly obliged to get in a picture with all of us. All of my friends were ranting and raving how amazing the experience was. Best night ever! 

.pj harvey @ brooklyn steel

Polly the Great <3

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. PJ Harvey's northeastern tour coincided with my spring break, the stars couldn't have aligned more perfectly. I was kind of nervous going to Brooklyn solo but I troopered through. The venue (recently opened and my first time being there) was not that far of a walk from the subway station and incredibly easy to find. I arrived at Brooklyn Steel around 3:45. There I noticed the same fans in the front of the line that were there for her Terminal 5 show in August. I believe I overheard them claim they have been waiting since 1:00. Secretly smirking I could not believe I was sixth in line! How amazingly awesome. In New York people line up early and are very pushy / gung-ho about their spots. Philly is a lot more low key. With a little over three hours to kill, I managed to just about finish half of a book. The weather wasn't too shabby which was great!

Inside the venue they had metal detectors to walk through and buckets to place your bags in. I tried to get through quickly and managed to drop my wallet on the way in. Nice right? The venue has an industrialized feel and the barricade was kind of far from the stage. I nabbed a spot to the right of PJ's mic. This time it was in the center of the stage compared to the far right like it was in the past. Managing a decent rail spot I could not believe it. Then the waiting game began. The doors opened at 7:00 and PJ did not come out until 8:45. It felt like forever but when those lights dimmed a smile spread across my face.

The concert went by so fast! She played The Hope 6 Demolition Project in it's entirety practically with a mix of Let England Shake and a few White Chalk songs. I'll admit I cried when she played "Talk to You" because it reminds me of my Grandmother that passed away when I was 9. So Polly, you got me in tears! Towards the end of her set she played "Down by the Water" "To Bring You My Love" and "50 Foot Queenie." The most annoying thing that happened in the audience was two girls tried to push their way up to the front towards the end of her set. One of them was drunk crying pretty obnoxiously yelling out between wails and tears "I LOVE YOU PJ!" My friends all laugh when I impersonated her at my birthday brunch. Finally she got cocky and attempted to push in between this guy and myself on rail. I took one look at her and said "NO WAY!" as she backed off. 

The encore was a mystery as PJ changes it up at each show. She played "Near the Memorials" and then the big surprise "The River!" I LOVE Is This Desire and out of all the times I've seen her, hearing that song was a first. The entire night was so amazing I love her so much and her stellar band of 9. Here's the set list....

SET LIST:
CHAIN OF KEYS
THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
COMMUNITY OF HOPE
ORANGE MONKEY
LINE IN THE SAND
LET ENGLAND SHAKE
WORDS THAT MAKETH MURDER
GLORIOUS LAND
WRITTEN ON THE FOREHEAD
TO TALK TO YOU
DOLLAR, DOLLAR
THE DEVIL
THE WHEEL
THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS
50 FT QUEENIE
DOWN BY THE WATER
TO BRING YOU MY LOVE
RIVER ANACOSTIA
------------
NEAR THE MEMORIALS
THE RIVER

When the show was over I waited by the rail hoping for a set list. One of the stage hands told us that at Polly's request they do not give out set lists so we all left. Thankfully I waited a bit before Ubering to my friend's in Brooklyn. Grateful to have a place to stay overnight! Totally ready for day #2 of Polly. 

.it's pj harvey week!!!!

Getting so excited for PJ Harvey pre-birthday weekend!! Kicking off in Brooklyn on Thursday and Philly on Friday. Two back-to-back shows. I will be in all my glory. Here are some of my favorite Polly pictures. Let the count-down begin!!

.we're under 15 feet of pure white snow!!

Nick Cave says, "Oh my lord!"

Because of the incoming blizzard some of us are experiencing this weekend in the northeast, I decided to post my favorite mix of winter-y songs. Some of these gems were favorites from college. 

Bjork - Frosti
Tori Amos - Black Dove
PJ Harvey - Catherine
Nick Cave - 15ft of Pure White Snow (click for amazing video)
Travis - Writing to Reach You
Massive Attack - Rising Son
Beach House - Norway
Vampire Weekend - Horchata
JJ72 - Snow
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Portishead - Wandering Star
Dismemberment Plan - Ice of Boston