6/19/10

Nostalgia Times Two

If I remember correctly, it was early Fall of 1999. My friend Tom and I had been feeding each other a steady supply of new and interesting music. This was back when you still often had to special order CDs and records through the hip record store, or order out of catalogs. There seemed to be a real sense of discovery to every new album ... you had to kind of work for it. Tom was getting me into some really great music. I hope that I did the same for him.

That early Fall we drove from St. Louis to Columbia, MO to see Olivia Tremor Control at the Blue Note. At the time he was dating a girl who went to the University of Missouri and was involved with the college radio station there. We rolled into town and tuned in the college station. They were playing Elephant 6 stuff all day long in anticipation. The show that night was one of the best I ever saw. For the next several years it was practically all Elephant 6 all the time for me. That whole Elephant 6 "Magical Mystery Tour" ethos remains a big part of me. There was something sort of Millenial about it ... like a big pot of 20th century popular music and images all juxtaposed and mixed around. I always go back to it when I feel bored or dissatisfied with whatever I am listening to at the moment. It's nostalgia times two, I suppose.

And so why haven't I seen this yet?

3 comments:

Ethan Slaughter said...

I, too, got way into elephant 6 at just about the same time as you. I loved that whole thing of buying a CD by a band I'd never heard of just because it had the elephant 6 seal of approval on it. And for the most part it didn't steer me wrong. That was some good times.

Matthew Frederick said...

Yeah! I remember very well, Ethan, when you came to the STL around that time with a treasure trove of CDs.

Ethan Slaughter said...

I remember that too. There was a really awesome record store I think near Wash U and I distinctly remember making some good scores. I bought my first Elf Power album on that visit as I recall.