live review: atp, nightmare before christmas. butlins, minehead. 9-11 december 2011.

And the live tweeting of #atpnbc begins. In fact, it begins with a coach transfer between Taunton and Minehead

— Tim Brown (@sockformation) December9, 2011

when i first posted a review based solely on my tweets it was basically a lazy way to review field day a couple of years ago. i developed the idea and wireless 2011 was what i perceived was the pinnacle. now, with the ability to embed tweets (you may have always been able to do this but i’ve only just found out), we’re taking it next level motherfuckers. you can reply, retweet and favourite. go fill your boots. it seems to slow down the site a bit though, so you’ll have to click to read… (more…)

saturday was the something annual record store day. i’m pretty sure anybody who reads this blog knows what it’s all about. but in case you don’t (or you just happened to come across us after a google search for “asparagus” brought you to this page) it is a day when loads of special editions and shit are released to celebrate the wonder that is going to a record store. it’s all quite good fun really.

my plan for the day was to get down to a couple of the stores and get my hands on a carefully chosen selection from the exclusive product list. top of my list was the roxy music special edition. a double a-side of ‘virginia plain’ and my personal favourite ‘pyjamarama’, limited to just 500 copies. after a slight delay in leaving due to enjoying the comfort of my bed a little too much i was off.

first stop flashback records on essex road. the bus journey may have been short, but all it did was emphasise the need for the coffee industry and the tfl to stop their ridiculous conflict and come together as one.

after wandering about flashback for a while pretending i really was interested in that 1971 spring triple gatefold at just £500 i thought that maybe i’d got the wrong day and it was just a normal saturday. just as i was ready to leave i noticed a small whiteboard with their rsd2011 (as the cool kids call it) releases listed. it wasn’t huge, but i got the toro y moi / cloud nothings double a-side that was midway down on my shopping list.

it was all about rough trade today though, and that was exactly where i was heading next. the queue was long, but fast moving. i was in within ten minutes and ready to find my roxy music amongst the literally zillions of records. obviously, this being me, i failed. i did however end up with the ‘satellite’ 10″ from the kills and a limited edition cajun dance party that had nothing to do with rsd2011. it’s cajun dance party though and you never need an excuse to buy anything by cajun dance party.

as i left i realised i hadn’t eaten all day, but it is worth mentioning the burger and potato wedges i had for two reasons. firstly, i sat next to a young couple who were revising for their a-levels. if you’re reading this, i think you’ll do pretty well because i didn’t understand a thing you were talking about, so assume you’re correct. secondly, i burnt my tongue on the potato wedges and now have a red mark on it. actual red mark.

as i was leaving i suddenly realised i hadn’t taken any photos. so i took one. this is it.

you see the fella with this guy pointing towards him? i got in one of those awkward situations when you walk at the same speed as somebody but you’ve left it too late to speed up or slow down without looking strange. we stayed walking side by side until he carried straight on down commercial street and i turned right up brushfield street to get my bus.

so, my record store day conclusions? i should have got to rough trade earlier. i failed to get roxy music, the white stripes and the beach boys. i turned down saint etienne and ed banger for being too expensive. i bought the kills and toro y moi / cloud nothings. my favourite purchase though was cajun dance party. it was fun. i’ll get up earlier next year.

oh, and i took this photo when i got home.

update: on sunday afternoon, rough trade tweeted that they’d found 30 copies of the clash cd upstairs. i rushed over and picked one up, along with the metronomy 7″, bringing my rsd haul to five.

single review: toro y moi & cloud nothings. i will talk to you / for no reason. 28 march 2011. carpark records
(buy here)

you haven’t read that wrong. chillwave favourite toro y moi has joined up with sockformation favourite cloud nothings to release a split a-side. toro y moi takes the billing on ‘i will talk to you’ and cloud nothings on ‘for no reason’. guess what. it’s fucking ace.

although perhaps not obvious partners in their musical styles, the two work so well together that i would love to think this is an early indication on a joint album. unfortunately i think it is more likely that they were just bored while on tour together. however it came about, i’m delighted it did and it is just further proof that music is awesome. i love shit like this.

i knew doing some live tweeting (follow me! follow me! @sockformation) would be invaluable. now all i have to do is copy & paste my tweets for a thorough field day run down. i’ve decided not to remove the bit when i mention i was published in the guardian this weekend (ahem). my phone battery died before phoenix as well, but i can confirm they were once again very good. probably. i don’t remember much from that point onwards.

enjoy. it is probably best to start at the bottom by the way.