The Orange M&M - Day 1 [10.10.23]

On occasion, I work at Creeps Record Parlour in Newtown, Wellington. While working there I am allowed to play any records I want, as long as it’s either one of my personal records or if it’s used and I found it in the store. I have decided to keep a listening diary here for all the records I listen to in the store, some of them I am new to and others are trusted favourites of mine. I have named this series of posts “The Orange M&M” as a reference to a scene in the movie “Empire Records” (1995) where Marc gets an m&m that matches the colour of the one Gina has, which gives him the right to play whatever he wants in the store:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkvKrATCHJE

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981) 

Brian Eno & David Byrne

Day one started with the strangest pick. A 43 minute long album filled with chants, ambient textures and constantly driving drum beats that seem to go on forever even when they really only last around 3 or 4 minutes. My brain immediately thought anybody walking into the store would think I was nuts for having this playing during a sunny Tuesday afternoon. But the album was just sitting there in the used $30 section. I love Brian Eno so I was curious what picking out one of his albums at random might have in store for me. I've been reading "a year with swollen appendices", but that takes place in 95' so this must have been a product of an earlier, probably more eccentric era of his.

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997) 

Yo La Tengo

Max recommended me this album in 2017. He pulled it up on rym one time in media class and I would have added it to a never ending recommended list. That was a good 6 months where I would spend hours finding new music and only end up listening to like a quarter of it. I am very disappointed that I let this one slip through the cracks. It is fun and warm, and gentle but also has a really strong drive. I will definitely be playing this in the coming summer months in Wellington.

Time and Tide (1982) 

Split Enz

I only listened to one track off this album. Dunno what it was, it didn't really stick and I wanted to listen to the new Slowdive.

Everything is Alive (2023) 

Slowdive

A recent release! This album has a clear purpose and vision and it accomplishes it well. I had only listened to two slowdive albums before hearing this one. “Souvlaki” is a classic and of course a staple of early shoegaze, and I had heard “Just for a day” last year around February. This album is a lot more electronic and modern, and unfortunately I find it hard not to compare it to their earlier work. I still enjoyed my listen, and it was a great album to play in the store.

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998) 

Black Star

I love this album. Not fair to compare that to the others as I have been listening to it since 2016. Every beat catches your ear, all the wordplay and homages and skits are referential and charming. It goes without saying that Mos Def and Talib Kweli are great lyricists, this album only continues to be a time tested statement on their ability and that hip-hop simply cannot die.

Day One working at Creeps was a lot of fun, and people were really friendly and understanding considering I was struggling with the eftpos machine and I had no idea where the Red Hot Chilli Pepper LPs were when someone asked. I cleaned a lot of CD's and had to stop myself from buying a really cool DVD of Portishead Live in NYC. We will see what kind of stuff next week will bring.

Reon x

Welcome to Sour Times!

Kia Ora! This is the official first post on the Sour Times blog.

Sour Times is a music blog based in Aotearoa New Zealand and is run by Max Brandon-Warren and Reon Bell.

We will post whatever we want really, thoughts, feelings, opinions and just general music-based discussion. It's just a place for words we feel like putting somewhere.

It's also a place for us to post/share our music and some physical releases such as tapes and cd's.

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy.

Ngā mihi,

Reon + Max