Dump "International Airport" 10 inch (Smells Like Records/1994)

This past Sunday night I made the trek into Brooklyn to see Dump play a show so in spirit of the show today I shall be sharing with you fine followers of this blog a nice long play effort from Dump called International Airport. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the lengthy title track of this record was played Sunday evening and yes, it was awesome. Earlier in this space I posted a rare single from Dump but in case you missed it, Dump is the long running solo project of James Mcnew who is better known for his "day job" in Yo La Tengo. Since the early 90s Mcnew has been sporadically recording music on his 4 track in his home and releasing it in various forms over the years. This 10 inch record was released Smells Like Records, the label run by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Dump has been one of the bigger influences on my own bedroom recordings over the years as Mcnew never just settles into one style as he deftly switches back and forth from bedroom pop, ambient, drone, folk, and even what can be described as lo fi new wave or dance music. Fans of the New York City indie rock band Versus should take note as International Airport features a great re-working of their song "Flax". Some of Dump's releases are tough to come by but his full length cd albums A Plea for Tenderness (Brinkman Records) and Grown Ass Man (Shrimper Records) can be found rather easily and most likely on the cheap due to the cd format not being "cool" anymore or whatever the fuck. Both of those albums are probably the best starting off points in the Dump discography so I highly recommend you seek them out.

Dump International Airport 10 inch track listing
1. Words
2. International Airport
3. Flax
4. The Way Love Used to Be
5. Memorial Trauma #1
6. Laurdine

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Versus "Go Tell It on the Mountain/Frog" 7 inch ( K Records/1994)

So here we are...another blog. This is My Life and You Can Have It is a blog dedicated to sharing what essentially has been a large part of my life, listening to and collecting music, particularly music in the indie rock/indie pop/lo fi/post punk genres. Also it is me paying homage to the great indie pop band Veronica Lake and their song 'This is My World and You Can Have It". I won't be sharing my entire collection but just things that I am interested in discussing and also pieces that are rare and aren't elsewhere on the internet. So with that being said shall we?

In getting this blog off the ground I'd like to share the first 7 inch that I ever bought from a record store (not counting local band records that I purchased at shows). How I miss you Music Den of Port Jefferson... This 7 inch was also my introduction to the wonderful K Records label and their wonderful International Pop Underground series. I had already been introduced to the New York City based Versus by way of their incredible full length album The Stars Are Insane on Teenbeat Records. This two track single continues in delivering what I had come to expect from the band, driving yet jangly melodic indie rock with outstanding male/female trade off vocals. The sleeve features trademark artwork from indie artist extraordinaire Tae Won Yu (also known for his work in the band Kicking Giant). As the years have gone on these two songs "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and "Frog" remain some of my favorite in the band's catalog. When the band started playing again a couple of years ago, I caught one of their first shows back with the original line up and I absolutely lost my shit when they closed their set with "Go Tell It on the Mountain". If you are a fan of indie rock from the 90s chances are you are familiar with Versus and if you are not you owe it to yourself to check out one of the era's best.

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