STILL SINGLE

A space for thoughts on music and culture, as written by Doug Mosurock and a select handful of individuals. This is intended as a supplement to our regular feature Still Single, published on Dusted Magazine. Updates will run here more frequently, and may feature writing on music not covered in the column. Compact discs are still not accepted for review -- we have more than enough vinyl and the occasional cassette to worry about. Our Twitter feed keeps you apprised of reviews as they're published. It's kept locked and private, because with a name like @stillsingle, everyone thinks it's a dating site. Approvals happen whenever they happen.

NEW ADDRESS -- PLEASE SEND MAIL HERE FROM NOW ON

Doug's contact address for all POSTAL mail is as follows:

Doug Mosurock
PO Box 3087
New York, NY 10185-3087

Anyone wishing to send submissions by another carrier (UPS, Fed Ex, etc.) can address it here:

Doug Mosurock
610 5th Ave. #3087
New York, NY 10185-3087

May 2, 2012

Various Artists – Bring Beer LP (12XU)

RECOMMENDED

You have to figure that a town like Austin has so many goddamn musicians in it that some of them are worth your time. But when you have over a certain number of people in a place like that making music that is on the side of good/memorable, those folks need a place to get together outside of a bar, and of course you can only invite people to your home so many times before it starts to get old. Trailer Space, an East Side record store that opened in 2008, is that place, an informal hub for all sorts of activity, some of which may involve music. I love this store and have stopped in on each subsequent visit to Austin (since that first night, when I pinched that Garbage & The Flowers double LP for the unbelievable price of $5.99, and Sex Vid played with Fucked Up on the retail floor). Because this place is so important to the ecosystem of bands/people/interests in town that basically have their backs to the dam of shit ready to burst out at any given time, whether they realize it or not, Trailer Space is deserving of recognition. You can watch bands there (for free), play some video games, some darts maybe, or get into long and argumentative conversations with whoever is there on anything from sports to … well, that’s all I’ve witnessed. You might also get shown the door, though, and that is why Trailer Space rules. There are a lot of subtle but effective tactics that keep a store like this going in the right direction, which I’m sure you’ll experience if you go there. Austin resident Gerard Cosloy has as solid a lock on the things that matter in that town as anyone, and this is the third compilation he’s assembled in as many years which shows us the depth of talent/loose and friendly presentation worthy of any proud scene. Strung together with some out-of-town offerings by folks like Chris Brokaw and G.Green, Bring Beer also serves as another great primer by a guy who knows not how to present anything otherwise, as a sampler for his 12XU label, and as a benefit for Trailer Space, which will be accepting any profits from this comp. It was rejected by Record Store Day as an affiliated release, but you know what? Fuck them. Lots of surprises and expectations met/exceeded within, including a better look at James Arthur’s Manhunt, some tuff shit by Cruddy, a solid Golden Boys outtake (from their new 12XU release Dirty Fingernails, also depicting Trailer Space on its cover), and a track by Carolee which was so good I went out and bought her EP. See? It worked. It always does. (http://12xu.net)
(Doug Mosurock)

1 year ago • 0 notes