I kind of love HEALTH a lot. The first time I saw them was possibly the first time they played Austin: Emo’s inside stage, my friends’ band opened (there is a crazy story they tell involving the HEALTH guys backstage, nudity, and certain illicit substances… which I’m not gonna re-tell here), HEALTH destroyed me with awesome. Kinda like this:

Anyways. Their first album was cool, but the remix album they released after was effing great, and got them major publicity which they fully deserved. The new album dropped last year, and I’m in love with it (god the video for Die Slow is gorgeous), so when I heard a remix album was planned for it I was fucking giddy.

The title is DISCO2, and it drops June 22nd. Track listing is below. AND. AND. Dude, they’re playing Red 7 in a few months! June 26th, to be exact, and I will be there, and you should be there also. Oh, and, Indian Jewelry and Gold Panda will be there too. Cool, yeah?

Track Listing:
1. USA BOYS
2. BEFORE TIGERS (CFCF RMX)
3. IN HEAT (JAVELIN RMX)
4. DIE SLOW (TOBACCO RMX)
5. SEVERIN (SMALL BLACK RMX)
6. BEFORE TIGERS (GOLD PANDA RMX)
7. EAT FLESH (CRYSTAL CASTLES RMX)
8. IN VIOLET (SALEM RMX)
9. NICE GIRLS (BLONDES RMX)
10. DIE SLOW (PICTUREPLANE RMX)
11. NICE GIRLS (LITTLE LOUD RMX)
12. BEFORE TIGERS (BLINDOLDFREAK RMX)

Here’s your own brief tour of the six stores we hit. All these photos + more are here.

First and largest, Waterloo Records. Doubly dangerous in that I went weeks ago, then again for Spoon, and couldn’t resist buying both times.

Record count: Anni Rossi – Rockwell, HEALTH – Get Color, Dengue Fever – Escape From Dragon House

Cheapo, right up the street

Record count: Radiohead – They Might Be Wrong (live recordings)

Brief interlude to say that I have absolutely loved these recordings for years, and am so happy to finally have them on vinyl. The versions of Like Spinning Plates and True Love Waits on here are so, so good.

Backspin Records, my hands-down favorite new find. I actually had to stop looking, because it was getting more and more difficult to choose which albums I should buy and which I could wait on.

Also, they have a Billy Idol wall.

Record count: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Broom, HEALTH – s/t, Spoon – Kill the Moonlight, one more I can’t remember

End of An Ear

Record count: Bedřich Smetana (who had a thoroughly depressing life), the Chariots of Fire soundtrack, the Roadie soundtrack with its awesome classic rock, LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

Friends of Sound, where I stumbled into by accident last sxsw and ended up with some Billie Holiday and Holy Fuck… great location also, right off of South Congress.

Record count: Nina Simone – Best Of Collection, Dirty Dancing Soundtrack (hell yeah!)

Breakaway Records, aka ohmygod so many awesome $1 albums wow.

Record count: Dave Brubeck – Solo Piano Songs, Cindy Lauper, Beatles – 1967-1970

The sad thing is, I probably bought even more that I forgot about… vinyl love is a sickness, I tell you!

Thursday at Baby Blue Studios, I picked up Brazos’ album, Phosphorescent Blues, and haven’t been able to stop playing it since.

A fan of Brazos for a few years, I’d heard various versions of many of the songs already, live or on their MySpace. The album versions are much more polished, tied together with piano by Jared Van Fleet (formerly of Voxtrot) and some great post- work.

The songs I’ve loved since first hearing them are still there: Avignon, Day Glo, For So Long Now. But the previously un-heard ones are quickly gaining: Downtown Boys in particular is just gorgeous, pulled along by softly surging piano and wistful lyrics about a lackadaisical life of late nights and mornings after (listen to it, and others, at their site).

They’re about to head out on tour with White Denim, whose album Fits drops tomorrow. The Brazos LP officially hits stores late November, but you can get it from ‘em at live shows now. Catch them at the Mohawk this Saturday for the tour kickoff, or around the country:

10/24 – Mohawk – Austin, TX
10/31 – Granada Theater – Dallas, TX
11/02 – Firebird – St Louis, MO
11/03 – Jackpot – Lawrence, KS
11/04 – 400 Bar – Minneapolis, MN
11/05 – High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI
11/06 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL
11/07 – Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
11/09 – Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, ON
11/10 – Il Motore – Montreal, QC
11/11 – TT the Bears – Cambridge, MA
11/12 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY
11/13 – Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA
11/14 – Rock N Roll Hotel – Washington, DC
11/16 – The Basement – Nashville, TN
11/17 – The Bottletree – Birmingham, AL
11/18 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA
11/19 – The Social – Orlando, FL
11/20 – Cafe Eleven – St Augustine, FL
11/22 – One Eyed Jacks – New Orleans, LA

Atlas Sound is Bradford Cox of Deerhunter’s side project, because this guy apparently just can’t stop creating gorgeous music. Anyways, the sophomore album, Logos, is dropping next week, with a bonus disc if you purchase it via the label. Sweet!
(via Pitchfork)