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[White Man]

I walked into the record store with my weekly alotted record buying budget and started cycling through the newly traded in titles, looking for a find. Within 5 minutes, I held in my hands the Vetiver record and The Sisters of Mercy's Floodlands. Quickly, my mind went into gear: which would I be adding to my collection?

v.

Sisters of Mercy
Pro: It legitimizes goth music.
Con: I'd own an undeniably goth record

Vetiver
Pro: It's Devendra Banhart-affiliated
Con: I think I've caught Devendra Banhart scrounging in dumpsters around my place

Sisters of Mercy
Pro: Have you HEARD This Corrosion?
Con: I don't think it's ever been remastered, and that might hurt the record, due to the dancey nature of it.

Vetiver
Pro: New freak folk
Con: This stuff kind of makes me mopey

Sisters of Mercy
Pro: 2 Jim Steinman-produced tracks. I don't care how big of a music elitist you are -- if you don't dig Jim Steinman, you don't know good music cheese.

Vetiver
Con: Fart recommends it. Fart, you can hit me all you want, but I no longer love you.

Sisters of Mercy
Con: What's with the cover art? Andrew Eldritch looks like LA roadkill circa 1986. He could've been in Guns and Roses. . .or worse. He sort of reminds me of that douche from Buckcherry. Except he has a cooler name. Eldritch. That was like H.P. Lovecraft's second favorite word next to 'cyclopean.'

Vetiver
Pro: This is good cover art. Reminds me of something. . .

Sisters of Mercy
Pro: HEY NOW HEY NOW NOW SING THIS CORROSION TO ME

Vetiver:
Pro: My Bloody Valentine's Colm O'Cossoig. MMmmmm, MBV. What a wonderful name. How the hell do you say it?

Sisters of Mercy
Pro: Jim Steinman! Meatloaf, man! Total Eclipse of the Heart!

Vetiver
Pro: This cover artwork, man. What is it about it?

Sisters of Mercy
'Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart '

Damn! JIM FUCKIN' STEINMAN!

Vetiver
What the fuck is this artwork. It's fucking with my hot synapse action

Sisters of Mercy
I can't fucking get Total Eclipse of the Heart out of my head. It is infectious like an overproduced STD:

"Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart "

Vetiver
Cover artwork. Bright Eyes.

Sisters of Mercy
Bright Eyes?

Vetiver

vs.

<shock> Vague, but the resemblence is there. . .

Sisters of Mercy
Bright. . .Eyes

Vetiver
...

I backed away from the used bin, quickly putting back the CDs. This bizarre act of extremely tangental serendipity could only mean *1* purchase was destined to be made today:

Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)

 

[etiolate]

I vote Sisters of Mercy. Even though the production is ancient. Are you into Red Lorry Yellow Lorry?

 

[Dead]

Sisters of Mercy. How was this even an issue????

That Vetiver album is pretty damned good tho...

 

[iapetus]

Many of your 'Pro's and 'Con's seem to be the wrong way round.

 

[White Man]

Many of your 'Pro's and 'Con's seem to be the wrong way round.

I can't help it if you want to get freaky with Axl Rose or the dude from Buckcherry.

EDIT: If I came across Floodland on vinyl, it would be a non-issue. I have First, Last and Always on vinyl. Back in PA. Damn you, 2500 miles!

I haven't had a good vinyl find here in Seattle since Maggot Brain. Floodland and Maggot Brain. I'd like to play both those records at the same party.

I own Floodland on CD back in PA. I just miss it, and I won't be able to get my mitts onmy collection for a while. Maybe a long while.

 

[Virgin Wii]

Sisters of Mercy fucking RULE!! Get Floodland!!

 

[border]

Haha, I have non-goth friends who bought Floodland just because they heard This Corrosion and liked it so damned much. I think Lucretia and Dominion are better, less self-indulgent tracks though.

I have Floodland on CD and vinyl, thought the vinyl copy is kind of weird. What does it mean when there is a little notch sawed into the sleeve of the disc? I've seen it on other old records for sale, so I don't think it's a random thing. Maybe it's a promo copy and that's how they mark it as being "not for sale"?

It took until Floodland for goth music to be legitimized? You didn't like earlier efforts by Siouxsie and Bauhaus?

 

[White Man]

Well, maybe saying it 'legitimized' goth music is incorrect. I'm quite the Bauhaus fan. And I'm a member at a goth club. Let's just say it's the best goth record. Ever.

I cannot answer your notch question, although I'm not sure what you mean.

PS: Dominion/Mother Russia is the best song. Although it's still pretty damned indulgent. There's fucking horns, isn't there? That's the other Steinman track on the album.

 

[Lemurnator]

By the white mans way I thought you meant you buying them as opposed to stealing them.

 

[hXc_thugg]

Vetiver, damn it! There should have been no argument!

 

[White Man]

Brian Eno, Andrew Eldritch, Meatloaf, and Jim Steinman could totally kick the asses of Devendra, the Vetiver duder, Bright Eyes, and Colm O'Cossoig.

 

[hXc_thugg]

I don't know. Devendra Banhart was homeless on the streets of San Francisco for awhile, so he's got to be pretty tough. But really, no man could take Brian Eno. An unfortunate perdicament.

 

[White Man]

Also, Eno could hit up his tag team partners, David Bowie, David Byrne, Robert Fripp, Phil Collins, John Cale, and Bono.

Bowie would totally guitar fellatio them all to death. At least that's the way it plays out in my fantasies.

 

[AntoneM]

dude, you lost me at hello.

 

[hXc_thugg]

Bowie would totally guitar fellatio them all to death. At least that's the way it plays out in my fantasies.

Hot.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

White, this is what I do when I go into Earshot, I just never had a name for it. Thanks. :lol


"Sticky Fingers does have Can't You Hear Me Knockin' , but On the Sunday of Life... is Porcupine Tree, and they need the appreciation in the form of sales."

 

[Star Power]

:lol


I haven't heard the Sisters of Mercy record, so I can't give any input, but the Vetiver album is good stuff.

 

[White Man]

I think I may go back up to Everyday Music (a member of Xiu Xiu works there!) and buy another (i.e. several) Eno album(s). This one was good.

 

[etiolate]

Wait, wait, wait!

How did Phil Collins get into that orgy?

 

[White Man]

Phil Collins drums on a numer of 70s Eno songs. His drumming practically MAKES songs like Sky Saw.

 

[mattiewheels]

Did you get the rerelease of Tiger Mountain? I wish I had the cash to buy all those again.

(and I'd get the Veviter album, from the cover alone)

 

[Argyle]

I have Floodland on CD and vinyl, thought the vinyl copy is kind of weird. What does it mean when there is a little notch sawed into the sleeve of the disc? I've seen it on other old records for sale, so I don't think it's a random thing. Maybe it's a promo copy and that's how they mark it as being "not for sale"?

Wow, cutouts, haven't thought about those in a while I've seen promo copies that have cutouts, but usually (if I remember correctly - haven't thought about this in a while) you get cutouts when a record doesn't sell well and it gets returned to the distributor...then they cut a notch in the sleeve (so it can't get returned at full price) and sent back to the stores to get put in the bargain bin...

They still do it for CDs, sometimes (the notch is cut in the case)...

 

[border]

Wow, yeah. I guess I never really thought of it before, but I think I've also seen notches cut into the spines of CD cases as well.

There's actually a notch cut into an old Shonen Knife CD I own!

+1 music elitist knowledge

 

[iapetus]

I can't help it if you want to get freaky with Axl Rose or the dude from Buckcherry.

That's rich coming from the Meatloaf fan.

 

[White Man]

That's rich coming from the Meatloaf fan.

Hey now. (Hey now now). His Steinman work aside, he sort of totally kicks ass in Rocky Horror.

And yes, it is the rerelease of Taking Tiger Mountain. I really dislike those plastic sleeves on the reissues. The extra funny thing about the story is that I could've bought both Vetiver and Sisters of Mercy for the price of the Eno reissue (which wasn't used).

EDIT: Stay tuned for future posts, such as Picking Sushi: The White Man Way, Buying Overpriced Pants: The White Man Way, and Dealing with that Peppery Thing in the Extra Spicy Miso Soup that You Weren't Supposed to Eat but Did Anyway: The White Man Way.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Haha great thread White Man. Look forward to many more like this.

I'd have gone with Sisters of Mercy, but that's just me.

 

[talking head]

yeah i work at a music store and all the promo copies we get have either the cut in the spine or a melted spot where it looks as if someone pressed a cigarette against it. if the artwork isn't damaged, i just get a new case and sell the cd somewhere else.

 

[GG-Duo]

I'm pretty sure they're promo copies.

My university paper gives away free CDs on Thursday afternoons, and they have notches in 'em like that.

EDIT: oh bargain bin CDs too?

 

[enjoy bell woods]

White Man, do you like this version of "This Corrosion": http://www.inextremo.de/_realmedia/video/thiscorrosion.ram

AHAHAHAHAHAAHA THAT VIDEO IS THE FUNNIEST VIDEO IN THE WORLD

 

[White Man]

White Man, do you like this version of "This Corrosion": http://www.inextremo.de/_realmedia/video/thiscorrosion.ram

AHAHAHAHAHAAHA THAT VIDEO IS THE FUNNIEST VIDEO IN THE WORLD

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?

Anyway, I went back and bought Floodland anyway. I guess Vetiver loses big time.

Lambchop does a FUCKING AWESOME cover of This Corrosion. Nearly as good as the original.