UPDATE 10:30 a.m.: Congrats to Tracy Halliday, who is the lucky winner of Index Festival tickets and the loot from the Good Records challenge. Have fun out there, Tracy!
Here we go now, get busy! It's time for another Good Records Challenge. I wish I had a whistle to blow. You know the drill: We give five minutes and $50 to some of our favorite Dallas musicians, and they show us what they would buy next. Although, we are thinking about adding some new elements, like shots of tequila or spinning around a bat. Thoughts?
This week, brothers Aaron and Stefan Gonzalez from Yells At Eels met up with us before playing Index Festival this weekend. Asked about their shopping strategies, Stefan gives me a relaxed, 'We're just going to go for it." But Aaron, who is already walking in place, falsely promises me a brotherly fight and sets off as soon as I say, "Go!"
See also: - Six acts we're excited for at this weekend's Index Festival - Good Records Challenge #3: DJ Sober - Good Records Challenge #2: The Mohicans - Good Records Challenge #1: Sarah Jaffe
After five minutes, Stefan returns with two choices to pare down. Aaron, however, has an armload of treats from which to choose. It's clear who's the minimalist and maximalist in this family. We all need that ying and yang though, and as you can see, they provided a pretty fantastic selection.
Aaron's picks: The Ex, Catch My Shoe This is the newest album I am aware of, which has a new vocalist. A Dutch anarcho punk band. On one hand they are very politically active, and they are also very experimental and collaborated with a lot of jazz artists and worked with international musicians from Ethiopia, some form America. So they have a diverse range, musically and culturally. I don't know if the new lineup is as classic, but I am curious to hear it.
Van der Graaf Generator, The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other I believe this is their second album. They are a prog band from England working in the '60s to early '80s. This would be from before their classic period, so very experimental, very psychedelic and almost proto-heavy metal. I have always been curious about this album. If it's anything like the records that came directly after it, it should be very awesome.
Stefan's pick: Ornette Coleman, Ornette On Tenor I probably picked one of the more stereotypical choices for free jazz. Ornette Coleman, who is a Fort Worth native, normally plays alto sax, but on this record he plays tenor, which is what he first played. So it's kind of a nice visit his early days. He was one of the early avant-garde jazz musicians who actually coined the term "free jazz." I picked it up because even though I have heard such great things about this album, I haven't actually listened to it. So, it should be a good one.
Good Records clerk Jacob gives the selection a cheerful thumbs up, but not without adding, "This is exactly what I thought you would pick."
Do you want the the loot Stefan and Aaron picked out? Do you want a pair of tickets to this weekend's Index Festival, which Yells At Eels play on Saturday? Then shoot us an email here and plead your case! We will announce a winner tomorrow morning.
See also: - Six acts we're excited for at this weekend's Index Festival - Good Records Challenge #3: DJ Sober - Good Records Challenge #2: The Mohicans - Good Records Challenge #1: Sarah Jaffe
