The cut-out bin

Every now and then my memory gets jogged regarding a forgotten song or artist from my high school and college days. Typically it'll be something I don't own and haven't heard in ages. While a foundation for my musical tastes existed before my teenage years, it wasn't until then and the young adult years that my active listening habits had me branching out more.

I've been slightly alarmed to find that some of the albums from that time are out of print, especially those that I don't have but might have an interest in. Out of print already? Of course, the record industry doesn't see an early or mid-'90s modern rock album that didn't sell particularly well as something worth keeping in print. How many 18-year-olds are looking to pick up a Trash Can Sinatras album? For that matter, how many people twice that age are? (Maybe more than I think since it's apparently a still-working band, although their profile in the U.S. is pretty low.)

I did a little trolling on eBay this week and snagged the lone album by The Grays for virtually nothing and one by Zumpano, a band I didn't know at the time but which led to one of the members going on to form The New Pornographers. I also had some time to burn and dropped by Used Kids Records--their entrance is pictured above--to browse their overflowing bins.

I didn't have anything in mind for purchase. Really, just going through stack after stack and being reminded of music that had come and gone, some for the better, was fun in its own right. I did end up parting with $3 for a World Party album, which I wouldn't have purposefully set out to do. No complaints, though.



Listening to Bang! seventeen years after its release, it's interesting to hear what was both current and retro about it. Most notably, there's a clearer and more direct echo of The Beatles in the Britpop of the day. '60s pop/rock is riven throughout the CD--a big plus, to my ears. (It's not all that different from the '80s revivalism going on in pop now.) Borrowing from '60s music was fairly common at the time, whereas today's pop catalog plunderers in indie rock tend to be sifting through The Beach Boys discography, not that that's a bad thing either.



Digging through the cut-out bins and discount stacks at used music stores brings that sense of rediscovery. It's enjoyable to have a second chance to stumble upon music that I liked back when but didn't feel strongly enough about to buy. (In the process of finding links for this entry I came across another World Party song I knew but probably haven't heard since college.) Today's discards were yesterday's great new hopes. Perhaps some of them are worth salvaging, if even for just a couple moments.