Needles & Grooves AotM /// Vol. 41 - November 2022 /// The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site

[avecigrec]

Albums that could have been :: No. 4

Nubya Garcia – Nubya's 5ive


Jazz Re:freshed ran a great little series of 5ive releases from 2010-2019 (and hopefully it comes back!) Showcasing a handful of great artists thriving in the South London scene, before the South London scene became a global thing. One of my favourite releases from this series has always been Nubya Garcia's - it's already evident here that she is bound to do great things.

To find out why this isn't the AotM, feel free to surf on over to Discogs and check out prices for the 2017 release and the 2018 repress. I regret thoroughly not picking an already expensive copy up before her album Source was released, as these now go for a little over double what they were then!

 

[Jan]

I think I owe some more clue connections:

Remaining clue dump:

Spoiler: Clue #4

View attachment 153145

The three songs in parentheses on the album are sonnets

Spoiler: Clue #5

View attachment 153146

From "one great city"our golden Business boy, will se ghe North end die" referring to the statuxo the Manitoba legislative buulding in winnipeg

Spoiler: Clue #6

View attachment 153147

I am not able to read hebrew but could be a Psalm?

Spoiler: Clue #7

View attachment 153148

This is by marcel Dzama who did the cover of reconstruction site

Spoiler: Clue #8

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Mr. Brett from Bad religion, founder of Epitaph records, who released the album

 

[Jan]

Clue, the third:

View attachment 153061

" when the bottle cap ashtrays and intimates ears are all full" is a line from a new Name for everything

 

[Jan]

I was in too much of a Gravol coma last night to give this the response it deserves, so here we go hours later...

I'd really hoped to make it more than 3 days into the month before somebody guessed the album, which is why the first five clues I had in mind were specifically toward lyrics on the album before expanding into the broader series of clues - although the first clue turned out to have a trio of possible directions, which was a bonus.

Mild disappointment aside here, congrats @Jan for getting so far with so little! Hit me up with your deets so I can get a copy to you. If you already have a copy of this one, I've got a related something else in mind to send your way.

Write-up and stuff coming later today or later this week. With a dump of remaining clues to follow shortly after this message.

Well done!

Thanks, sorry to spoil this. The first thing that came to mind with the Derrida clue was this line from the Explorer song and the Weakerthans are one of my favourite Bands ever.
Sometime at the end of the 90s I saw this Poster for a gig in my college town

A friend of mine and me, who listened to Propagandhis ""How to clean" a lot decided to go and the show was not at all what I expected but completely bleibt me away. I bought the fallow CD that evening and played it obsessively

 

[avecigrec]

I am not able to read hebrew but could be a Psalm?

The Workers Circle or Der Arbeter Ring (Yiddish: דער אַרבעטער־רינג), formerly The Workmen's Circle, is an American Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic justice, Jewish community and education

Arbeter Ring is also the name of the publishing company co-founded (now ARP Books)

 

[gafacaode]

@Ethos99 and VFL have got the hook-up for us. Shortly after this announcement, the VFL price will be lowered to $16!

Did not know this band, I'm streaming it now and very much enjoying it.
I'm just waiting for the price drop to Tina it.

 

[cul8er]

Albums that could have been :: No. 4

Nubya Garcia – Nubya's 5ive


Jazz Re:freshed ran a great little series of 5ive releases from 2010-2019 (and hopefully it comes back!) Showcasing a handful of great artists thriving in the South London scene, before the South London scene became a global thing. One of my favourite releases from this series has always been Nubya Garcia's - it's already evident here that she is bound to do great things.

To find out why this isn't the AotM, feel free to surf on over to Discogs and check out prices for the 2017 release and the 2018 repress. I regret thoroughly not picking an already expensive copy up before her album Source was released, as these now go for a little over double what they were then!

I feel lucky to have found 5ive series before Nubya Garcia got super popular.
I also have 'Source' signed.

Cool jam on this one! I could have picked it for my ROTM, too!

 

[avecigrec]

I feel lucky to have found 5ive series before Nubya Garcia got super popular.
I also have 'Source' signed.

Cool jam on this one! I could have picked it for my ROTM, too!

View attachment 153222

Show off!


Also, nice one!

 

[avecigrec]

Great news! @Ethos99 has adjusted the price over at Vinyl For Less in celebration of this AotM...

The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site [LP] | Apocalypse Vinyl - End of the World Deals 24/7

Vinyl, Released by The Weakerthans, in genre Rock & Pop, on 08/26/2003

vinylforless.com

When I checked a few weeks ago he also had The Weakerthans three other studio albums and both of John K. Samson's solo albums (one of which is 3/4 of The Weakerthans) available, should you decide to do a deeper dive. All of them are worthwhile.

Write-up will be up within the week.

 

[Jan]

and someone should go and press slips and tangles or the little pictures ep
This is one of my favourite john k samson songs

 

[Aelias]

I love this band and this is my favourite album. Perfect timing too, fall always puts me in the mood for The Weakerthans. I know Fallow and Left & Leaving are at the top of a lot of people's lists but for me it's Reconstruction Site and Reunion Tour. Also want to recommend that people check out the John K Samson (lead singer) solo stuff, most recent is Winter Wheat that came out in 2016.

 

[BjorgenFjorgen]

Love this record! Great choice! It's always been my fave Weakerthans album, too. Will have to pick up a vinyl copy of this one. Shame on me for not paying attention to the clues; I think I actually would have put them together, haha. Nice work, @Jan!

Bonus photo of my first acoustic guitar, with a sticker slapped on some time around 2005 after seeing them co-headline with the Constantines:

 

[gafacaode]

Great news! @Ethos99 has adjusted the price over at Vinyl For Less in celebration of this AotM...

The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site [LP] | Apocalypse Vinyl - End of the World Deals 24/7

Vinyl, Released by The Weakerthans, in genre Rock & Pop, on 08/26/2003

vinylforless.com

When I checked a few weeks ago he also had The Weakerthans three other studio albums and both of John K. Samson's solo albums (one of which is 3/4 of The Weakerthans) available, should you decide to do a deeper dive. All of them are worthwhile.

Write-up will be up within the week.

 

[Fillip J Phry]

Wish I would have seen this one sooner, would have got it off of the Derrida clue. Our Retired Explorer is one of my favorite songs to sing along with!

I love The Weakerthans, got introduced to them through the song Plea From a Cat Named Vitrue on Punk O Rama 9. They were so unlike everything else Epitaph was putting out, and I listened to that song on heavy repeat. Another one I sing along with all the time! Really glad to see them getting some love, I always felt they were underappreciated.

 

[avecigrec]

Well... it seems I have really shit the bed on my own thread here. My apologies!

I'm gonna work to catch up on alternate albums and get a write-up for the AotM up this weekend if my head cold and the children allow.

 

[avecigrec]

Albums that could have been :: No. 5

Rae Spoon – Superioryouareinferior


Having previously released 3 solo albums of twangy country, this album was a radical shift in sound for Rae, introducing electric and electronic sounds - an indie folk interlude on their path towards an even heavier techno-influenced sound (influenced in no small part by Rae's time living in Germany!) 14 years later, this album still unpacks new feelings, realizations and sensations for me. I truly believe this belongs on the so-called "Canadian" album canon - but given its decolonizing elements, that's not exactly the right place for it to be... either way, I think it's an essential album.

Hopefully this sees a reissue some day down the road, but for now it's OOP, and thusly not our AotM!

 

[avecigrec]

Albums that could have been :: No. 6

The Uncluded ‎– Hokey Fright


Such a perfect pairing of weirdness! After each guesting on the other's most recent album at the time, Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson decided to take things further and record a collaborative album of quirky anti-folk hip hop jams. It's fun, funny, heartfelt, and features a couple of my favourite all-time Aesop verses. I had no idea this album existed until a few years after the fact when I couple of friends covered "Telepromptors" at a house concert on my birthday back in 2016 - it's been a heavy rotation favourite for me ever since.

The only vinyl release of this was a 2LP 45RPM picture disc set that is now listed in the $250+ range. Therefore, it is not our AotM.

 

[avecigrec]

Albums that could have been :: No. 7

Sun Ra – Space Is The Place


Even though I'm sure it was going to be everyone's first guess, I did, in fact, consider for a while which Sun Ra album I would choose were I to choose a Sun Ra album. Ultimately I decided on Space Is The Place. Not because it's my favourite (though, I do love it!) and not because I think it's his best (that's a whole other can of worms!) but because it was my first Sun Ra album, and I figured it might be for some AotM followers too. It's also one of his most recognizable releases. I consider it a great entry point into Ra's Omniverse - it's by no means the most accessible album, but it's a great spread through the wide range of sounds found in Sunny's spatial realms.

This one's readily available, and looks to be receiving another reissue next June, but it wasn't our AotM because me picking Sun Ra felt too obvious.

 

[cul8er]

I had this for about a week and this is my second spin. Having not known anything about them before this thread, I can now say they are really good.

My first thought was this sounds a lot like The Mountain Goats. Similar vocals and similar story-telling style.

Very nice pick!

 

[avecigrec]

Albums that could have been :: No. 8

Sol.Illaquists Of Sound – No More Heroes


The most inspiring hip hop discovery of the late oughts for me was this Orlando crew, and this album was the one that broke me through into their world. I fell hard and heavy for pretty much everything they released and still revisit this particular album frequently. Everything about it from the vibes to the beats to the flows to the subject matter just hits me in all the right bits and pieces. A powerful force, these four. "Bulletproof," in particular, still floors me every time!

Sadly, this album has not been pressed to vinyl.