pink teeth blog.

(photo by Dan S, an old co-worker in Indianapolis.)

Personally, it’s been an exciting time to be a nerd these last couple of days, on all fronts.

To start, last night’s LOST was another amazing entry in a fantastic season. I’ve never been one to be rabid over television unless it is something with my sense of humour, but this show has been very fulfilling to say the least. It’s not something I am public about, but if it comes up, I will be happy to participate in a chat about the complexities and over all genius of this program, any day of the week.

Moving along to the music front (which is why we’re all here, at a record label’s blog), P4K was kind enough to share the news that the reissuing mammal Rhino will be releasing an expanded compact disc of 1992’s Lemonheads masterpiece “It’s A Shame About Ray” come 25th. Besides countless b-sides and demos, the collection also comes with a dvd version of the long lost “Two Weeks In Australia” vhs from way back when (a film which I’ve never seen sadly). Now, I am not going to pretend that when I was a 2nd grader I ran to my local record store to pick up a copy on the release day, but when I finally did come around to this band/album, I never looked back. It’s a perfect pop rock record that is surprisingly as timeless as any of your parent’s quintessential records they claim as their own. If only the 90’s had produced more Lemonheads clones, we’d be in a far better state in the present. In fact, I’d go as far to claim that there would be no illegal downloading and no fall of the industry. Believe it. Anyway, here is what to expect and get excited for:

01 Rockin Stroll
02 Confetti
03 It’s a Shame About Ray
04 Rudderless
05 My Drug Buddy
06 The Turnpike Down
07 Bit Part
08 Alison’s Starting to Happen
09 Hannah & Gabi
10 Kitchen
11 Ceiling Fan in My Spoon
12 Frank Mills
13 Mrs. Robinson
14 Shaky Ground
15 It’s a Shame About Ray (demo) *
16 Rockin Stroll (demo) *
17 My Drug Buddy (demo) *
18 Hannah & Gabi (demo) *
19 Kitchen (demo) *
20 Bit Part (demo) *
21 Rudderless (demo) *
22 Ceiling Fan in My Spoon (demo) *
23 Confetti (demo) *

* previously unreleased

Two Weeks in Australia:

01 It’s a Shame About Ray (music video)
02 Ride With Me (live)
03 Mrs. Robinson (music video)
04 Being Around (music video)
05 Alison’s Starting to Happen (live)
06 Hannah & Gabi (music video)
07 Half the Time (music video)
08 Rockin Stroll (music video)
09 Confetti (music video)
10 It’s About Time (live)
11 My Drug Buddy (music video)

Read the full article here: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/48833-lemonheads-irayi-gets-deluxe-reissue-sxsw-show

Say Rhino, any chance of a vinyl issue? To conclude this rant on my Lemonheads adoration, my personal favourite song on the album, “My Drug Buddy” has been covered by 2 great bands: New Jersey’s own (and friends of the label) It’s a King Thing do a beautiful version and Lawrence’s own The Belles make the song their own. It appears the internet doesn’t have the mp3s of these anymore, but if you can’t track them down email info@pinkteeth.com with the subject “MY DRUG BUDDY COVERS” and I will rip them from my iPod and send them over.

And finally, I just finished reading “The Spirit” volume one hardcover by Darwyn Cooke. I am quite young and missed the boat on Will Eisner’s original hero but these new tales were really a rewarding read. Every issue’s cover contains the words “action, mystery, adventure” and that couldn’t be more true. As much as I love interconnecting grandiose plots leading to the bigger picture eventually down a long line, this series is simply one great story each month, easy to hop on whenever with no worries about remembering what occurred however many issues previous. Cooke left the series with issue 12 (which along with 11 I picked up before getting the collection,hoping volume two comes out soon!), which is an absolute shame because he really had a handle on this character. I will try not to rule out the new creative team, but it is so hard to not think about what we had lost in Cooke. After reading this, I plan on getting as many of the old Eisner Spirit tales that I can and also catching up on other of Cooke’s work as I am quite attached to what he’s up to. I highly recommend picking this up for yourself or a loved one if you like quality stories with a lot of heart and substance. On a side note, I am excited for Frank Miller’s upcoming film version. He was friends with Eisner so that’s a plus one and also his past stuff (all of his Batman, all of his Daredevil, Sin City, etc) is very enjoyable. Fingers crossed and good luck!

Millar and Hitch’s Fantastic Four debut did not disappoint!

Next Friday, Heirloom Arts is hosting the vinyl release show for a Connecticut gem (and a NORTHWEST CORNER CT gem to boot!) Most modern fans of our type of music are familiar with Gary Higgins and his long lost “Red Hash” record. Drag City is rereleasing a vinyl version of it and he is playing a rare gig to celebrate. I hope to talk to him as finding out about him by accident has been very fun: He lives a town away from where I grew up and many of the players on his album had children that I went to school with (and some were relatively close chaps). Gnarly!

In closing, my friend Hanz Bronze has finally gone and set himself up a myspace account so the world can rejoice in his brilliance. Please check him out and add him if you are feeling generous: http://www.myspace.com/hanzbronze

I’ll try to be back soon, I have a new idea for the blog I’d like to start on as soon as I can. Hopefully, I’ll hit the ground running throughout this weekend!