Today, May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) marks the seven year anniversary of my arrival in Los Angeles. On April 29th, 2007 I departed from New Jersey in my red Volvo, with little more than two duffel bags filled with clothing and bedding. I packed my acoustic guitar, a lamp, and a small television/VCR combo thing, and an Xbox 360. I reached Los Angeles in the early evening hours. I had time to unpack my things and introduce myself to my roommate Fawn. Pretty much as soon as everything was out of the car and into my room (in a nice pile in the middle of the floor) she suggested we walk over to a Mexican restaurant called El Compadre for celebratory margaritas. We’d be joined by her boyfriend Brian, and their good friends Lauren and Charles.
That was seven years ago. Now Fawn and Brian are married with an adorable baby daughter, and Lauren and Charles have one of their own. They’ve all since relocated, leaving me as the sole Angelino of the group that spent my first night in my new home together.
Six days later I made my first trek to Amoeba in Hollywood. I picked up three records, then didn’t purchase any others until the end of the month. As I spend more and more time reflecting on those earliest days in LA, the theme of week’s installment of the An Album A Day project will be the first records I purchased upon relocating here. I know I’ve stated it before but when I got here I didn’t think I would stay long. I figured a six-month sublet was long enough to determine if I liked it or not. For that reason I didn’t bring any records from New Jersey with me, and I did not intend to buy any while I was here. I also didn’t bring a turntable or speakers, so anything I bought I couldn’t listen to anyway. After 6 months were up I moved into a house with a turntable to sublet a room until February of 2008. If at that point I still didn’t have a job, I was going to move back to Jersey. Then I met a girl. Then I got a job. The rest is history.
The first record I purchased at Aomeba (and I know it was the first because I always search the used bins alphabetically, so it would have been the first of the three I grabbed that day) was The Fun Of Watching Fireworks by the American Analog Set. At that point I don’t think I owned any of their albums on vinyl. They would routinely sell for $20 – $40 on eBay in those days, so to find one for $6.99 was — in my eyes at least — a steal. In fact, that first trip to Amoeba was quite successful as far as steals were concerned, but I’ll refrain from spoiling the next two LPs before they’re posted. I’ll just say that in those days I wound find a lot of underpriced records there. You probably still can, I just don’t go to Amoeba much anymore because you have to sift through SO much garbage just to find a record that MAYBE you want to purchase. Anymore, if I find one record of value (and I don’t mean collectibility, I mean usefulness) it’s a good day. That place…I’m starting to wonder how they stay in business with all that space devoted to total garbage.
The debut album by AmAnSet was originally released in 1996 on a label called Emperor Jones. It’s a quiet and dreamy affair, with Farfisa drones and gently strummed guitars dominating the mix. The vocals are mostly whispered, the rhythms buried way, way in the background. I mean…when the word “slowburner” appears in the first track on the album…it should give you a pretty good idea of what you’re in for. The band’s first few records (we’ll see…everything up to The Golden Band) drew a lot of comparisons to Stereolab, but I think these records are unique enough to eschew such an easy analogy.
I’m not going to break any new ground describing this record. It’s pretty well known and other blogs or websites have been covering it for — Jesus, almost twenty years now — so if you want more specifics about it you should just Google it. I’ll just say it found its way into my hands on May 11th of 2007. Then it sat in a blue milk crate until I purchased my first IKEA Expedit (2×4) in late 2008. Know By Heart is still my favorite AmAnSet record, but The Fun of Watching Fireworks runs a very close second. Check out the track below and you’ll see why. And if you already own it, which I’m sure most of you do, dust it off and give it a spin. You’ll thank me later.
American Analog Set
The Fun Of Watching Fireworks
(Emperor Jones – ej04lp, 1996)
A1. Diana Slowburner II [MP3]
A2. On My Way
A3. Gone To Earth
B1. On The Run’s Where I’m From
B2. Dim Stars (The Boy In My Arms)
B3. Trespassers In The Stereo Field
B4. Too Tired To Shine II
B5. It’s Alright
