Autumn Souvenir

I remember 2002 being a fairly rough year on a few personal fronts. I also recall spending late summer and early fall in bars throughout Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Inn was obviously my/our favorite, but we spent many late nights at stops throughout Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. There was The Gate, Boat, Great Lakes, that classic bar all the way down Fifth Avenue that had a Buckner mix on the jukebox, and of course, the newly discovered O'Connors, which turned out to be the bar where Elliott Smith wrote most of XO . When we weren't in these bars (and many more), we'd be seeing bands at Southpaw, North Six, The Mercury and at venues large and small all over the city (and Hoboken and Connecticut and other cities). The bars and music provided some respite from some turmoil going on in my life. And a record by a virtually unknown band named The Mayflies USA shot power pop right through me. Around this time I was listening to everything from Big Star and The Posies to ...

Glorious Noise has a great little article on the bands they'd pay at least $50 to see. GLONO's 13 Artists We'd Pay More Than $50 to See 1. The Smiths 2. Uncle Tupelo 3. Stone Roses 4. Neutral Milk Hotel 5. The Modern Lovers (with all 4 original members) 6. Tom Waits 7. Weezer (with Matt Sharp) 8. Wilco (with Jay Bennett, Ken Coomer, and Bob Egan) 9. Rolling Stones (at the Double Door) 10. Leonard Cohen 11. A Full Leppotone Family Reunion (Sleestacks, King Tammy, Twister, The Sinatras, et al.) *Includes travel and accommodation costs—these guys reunite for $6 shows like every three years. 12. The The (with Johnny Marr) 13. ABBA And here's mine: 1. Bonnie "Prince" Billy (only with Emmett Kelly and in a small room or outside) 2. Uncle Tupelo 3. Son Volt (original lineup) 4. Slobberbone 5. Marah (original lineup) 6. Pavement 7. The Replacements (w/Paul, Tommy and Chris) 8. The V-Roys 9. Neutral Milk Hotel 10. Richard & Linda Thompson 11. Wilco (w Jay Bennett, ...

"Hopeless" "Faster Gun" "Boys, You Won't"

I spent about six months listening to nothing but Sweet.