Hmmm, you're probably too sensible to let this happen to you, but sometimes I set out on the beginning of a mission, and— well, it starts off seeming quite modest, not ambitious or foolhardy, but as one thing leads to another it becomes both of those things. Yet I seem unable to bail out. You can see me sliding down this slippery slope over the last few years, from the seed of an idea about Alasdair Roberts' recordings in 2006 to acquisitive pathology and collector's envy in recent months.
Thus it was that I got this EP via the Discogs marketplace in February this year. The seller turned out to be from the Hayfever magazine that originally released the record with their fifth issue in 1998. I have some notes, of unknown origin, about the other contributors to the EP: "features Modernista Novanta, RLW (David Grubbs), Hall of Fame (Samara Lubelski's old band), Appendix Caledonia (AKA Appendix Out, AKA Alasdair Roberts), and Jason Molina's Songs: Ohia"
I don't care what the 7" vinyl diehards and underground cultists say, as a confirmed spendthrift, I really oughtn't to be paying collector's premium plus international shipping for a record that has only one song of real interest — and that turns out out to be a fuggy low-fi recording of uncertain merit.
Yet I keep doing this, against my better judgment, just in case I one day stumble on a real jewel. Perhaps this could one day turn out to be such a jewel. I don't think anyone, myself included, has yet come to grips with how good Alasdair Roberts' work is.
| Buy via Discogs.com | Discogs entry for this EP |
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