I was lucky enough to catch My Bloody Valentine on Thursday night at the El
Rey in LA and it was all that I hoped for. Afterwards I ended up at my
friend Josh’s house and we hung out listening to Brian Eno and playing some
Mega Man 2 and drinking a couple Shiner Bocks. I snagged dibs on picking
the next album to play and went into his room and started fumbling through
his CDs. We both used to work at Fingerprints in Long Beach and there’s a
handful of albums you just end up with because of working there. No… not
stealing (like the Instrumental Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique cassette that
I don’t think ever made it back) but there’s albums get spun a lot in the
store then end up in your collection.
One of those was Merge Records‘ 5th anniversary compilation, Rows of Teeth.
I can’t say that every song on there is a masterpiece but it’s worth picking
up for the 5 or so that are. One of them is The Renderers – “Million
Lights”. It had been a while since I had heard it and instantly made me
lean back and remember the good ol’ days…. which….really haven’t
changed that much. Other bands on the comp that might be of interest are
Lambchop, RFTC, Polvo, Superchunk (of course), Archers of Loaf, and Drive
Like Jehu.
If you’re around Carrboro, NC during July 22nd – 26th you should check out
Merge Records 20th Anniversary Festival. There’ll be a lot of magic going on
there
The Renderers – “Million Lights”
photo courtesy of the band’s Myspace
