Left of the Dial	by Donny Kutzbach

Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)

The Functional Blackouts/KK Rampage: Split 7" (Big Neck Records)

The Electricutions: Sedition, Subversion and Espionage 7" (Big Neck Records)

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a drive-carrying member of the iPod nation. There’s an amazing freedom to having 15,000 songs in your pocket at all times. Still—in my scabby but still pumping rock and roll heart—there’s something that can never top a stack of LPs or a pile of 45s. You can call it purist, you can call it dinosaur, but I gotta call it the truth. In these days of easy online music availability and the slowly ringing death knell of the compact disc, I’m buying more records than ever. While others are amassing digital libraries on their computer, I find myself still collecting the music that really matters in the ever-superior analog domain of vinyl.

With a roster of acts including Arcade Fire, M. Ward and Destroyer, it’s already understood that Merge is at the forefront of indie rockdom for its impressive stable of bands. Always a label that knew its fans, Merge is also proving to be at the front of the line for vinyl retail, giving the people what they want. All of Merge’s new releases on vinyl include an online download of the same record from Merge’s site. This way, you can get the vinyl and still easily feed the iPod. This isn’t an entirely new idea, but Merge has implemented it on all of their releases. Hopefully other labels will catch on.

When Spoon’s latest LP arrived I was able to put it on the turntable and download it to my laptop. Spoon’s sixth full-length is a fittingly funky follow up to 2005’s Gimme Fiction, highlighted by Spoon’s swirling pianos and guitars, Britt Daniel’s razor sharp wit and dryly cool lyrics and Jim Eno’s steady beat. “Don’t Make Me A Target” is a simple but memorable opener utilizing the Spoon template of smattering together hooky pop with a pervading sense of pathos and tension. “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” is a power poppy slice of infective rock and roll. The slinky, spy soundtrack soul of “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case” further ups the charmed cool of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Spoon has another classic on their hands and has yet to make a record that disappoints.

It always warms my soul when I open my mailbox to find a package from Big Neck Records. That soul warming always spins into adrenaline rush and split ears once the needle is dropped on the latest vicious punk and garage delicacies from Buffalo ex-pat Bart Hart’s imprint.

The Functional Blackouts deliver DOA as what’s here are the band’s last two songs with an unrelenting Killed By Death-style. Flip the split for KK Rampage—the band from Blackout leader Dr. Filth—who trade in a swampier, more menacing brand of punk. D.C.-based the Electrictuions feature former Buffalo boy Scott Wilson and the band’s 4-track Sedition, Subversion and Espionage is a vitriolic blast of unvarnished rock that echoes from the influence of surf guitar, ’77-style punk and bands like Rocket From The Crypt. For more, go to: www.bigneckrecords.com

Viva la vinyl!