Hey everybody. I hope your weekends were swell. Mine was…it was okay. I’ve been ramping up the search for my own place recently so I’ve been busy before and after work most days either looking at potential rentals or browsing the Internet for said rentals. Whether apartment or guest house or condo or duplex, as long as it’s affordable and in a decent neighborhood there’s a chance I’ve called or emailed about scheduling a walkthrough. It’s just time, you know? Time to get out on my own after living with roommates for the past 6+ years. Remember when I lived in a guest house on Clifford Street here in Echo Park? I had my own bedroom and living room (furnished) and shared a kitchen and bathroom with a few other dudes who I never saw. It was nice. It was close enough that I could still see all my friends and not have to drive a lot. I didn’t have a job at the time but…I’m sure the commute wouldn’t have been affected. It might have been a shorter drive than I have now, come to think of it.
I also went to Blue Palms late Friday night after some Silverlakte/Los Feliz/Hollywood apartment scouting. I had a bunch of really good beers, like:
Epic Fermentation Without Representation Pumpkin Porter (#9)
New Belgium / Cigar City Collaboration Lips Of Faith (brewed with two kinds of chilis)
Boont Barl Ale (aged in Wild Turkey barrels)
Epic Big Bad Baptist (Release #14)
Epic Hopulent IPA (on Nitro!)
Epic 825 Stout (condition with Imperial IPA)
And on Saturday I went to 626 Night Market in Arcadia, where I ate lamb skewers, a pork burger, noodles with thai chilis, a deep fried pork bun, a Japanese curried beef rice ball, a Korean pork belly rice ball, and Nutella wontons. It was kind of gross.
But that’s all besides the point. First and foremost, I need to move. I need a change of scenery. New housing. Which brings me to this week’s theme for the next five installments of my An Album A Day project. Today is number…#85. So from now until Friday I’m going to pull random records from my collection that have artists, titles, or song titles that are somehow related to this “Housing Project” I’ve undertaken. First up is the self-titled Amalgamated Sons Of Rest record from 2002, which contains a song called “The Last House.” If only I was on the verge of moving into the last house I’d ever require…
For those who may be unaware, Amalgamated Sons Of Rest was something of a “super group” consisting of Jason Molina, Will Oldham, and Alasdair Roberts. They only recorded one album, which came out in 2002. I was already a fan of Molina’s and Oldham at that time but I didn’t know they had collaborated. Molina and Scout Niblett, sure. Molina and Oneida, yeah. Molina and Rex, of course. But not Molina and Oldham. In fact, I’m pretty sure to that point all I’d heard of Oldham (solo) was from I See A Darkness, Joya, and Ease On Down The Road. I didn’t think that after Palace he had recorded any collaborative works. After ASofR he famously worked with Matt Sweeney and Tortoise and a slew of other groups/individuals. I’m pretty sure it was Ilya who introduced me to ASofR (can you tell I’m tired of typing the whole thing out yet?).
Oddly enough, the trio worked together on one song that didn’t make this EP. The song, “Translation,” only appeared on a Songs: Ohia split with My Morning Jacket. Which I’ve never heard. I try to be a Songs: Ohia completist but beyond the LPs there’s just too much for me to track down. And a lot of the early 45s are super expensive. Also I don’t collect CDs so the only way I’ll probably ever hear the ten-minute ASofR song “Translation” is if an MP3 finds its way to me. Hint hint.
I found my copy of this vinyl EP at Amoeba in Hollywood on August 6th, 2007. $6.99, I’ll take it.
Funny, the tracklisting lists “B1” as “I Will Be Good,” but this is a one-sided EP with an etched “B” side, so it certainly doesn’t play a song. Unless there’s a needle out there capable of traveling along the grooves of the etching perfectly, and there’s sound recorded in said grooves. That’d be an impressive feat. Galaxia is a criminally underrated label, by the way. They put out the Papa M Sings 12″, Black Heart Procession’s Fish The Holes On Frozen Lakes and what else? Good stuff, right? At least that’s how I imagine it…
I really miss Jason Molina.
Amalgamated Sons Of Rest
Amalgamated Sons Of Rest
(Galaxia – glx-16, 2002)
A1. Maa Bonny Lad
A2. My Donal
A3. The Gypsy He-Witch
A4. The Last House [MP3]
A5. Major March
A6. Jennie Blackbird’s Blues
B1. I Will Be Good
