VA-The Way Things Change (Volume 2) 7": You're Standing On The Ground (Red Square, 2001)

(7" cover front, back, vinyl and inner label front, back)







VA-The Way Things Change (Volume 2) 7": You're Standing On The Ground
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-Recorded at various times and places by various people*

*In the liner notes to the "Song Islands" comp. Phil writes: "...recorded nobody knows when" and I guess if he isn't going to hazard a guess, neither should I. Certainly sometime pre-2001.

-Released sometime in 2001 by Red Square Records (RSQ004) (4465 Spring Meadow Circle Flagstaff, AZ 86004/Jen Turrell@hotmail.com) (There is a website listed for the label, though when I tried to go to it, it appeared to be someone's blog all in, possibly, Chinese: rsqrecs.com. I even tried putting the site location into one of those online translators but it didn't seem to want to do it, oh well)

-Pretty sure this series was only ever released on vinyl (an ongoing series of maybe 6 7"s I think) with no corresponding CD collection of them. No idea the pressing numbers but I'd guess less than 500 each.

-Vinyl plays at 33 1/3 speed and is 180 Gram translucent orange/yellow. Inner groove info appears to be stamped rather than written (RSQ 04 MFG. CZECH/IOS 4 15-487-3444 A and B)

-No Insert.

-No indication who designed the cover or the inner labels on the 7" (It should be noted the sides are designated as C and D [rather than A and B] as this was the second record in the series. One assumed that the third records' sides would be labeled E and F and so on...)

-This song would appear (same version, though named slightly differently) on the "Song Islands" CD




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Continuing with the "Song Islands" theme portion of this blog we have the Red Square "The Way Things Change" Compilation, Volume Two. This one, as you can see, is pressed on lovely orangey yellow wax, and it's heavy! I mean, this has to be 180 gram which is quite the anomaly for a little label putting out a tiny comp series of random artists. But hey, good for them! It's wonderful.

This is a really cool little label and, looking into their history
(http://www.discogs.com/label/Red+Square)
I realize now that the reason they ring a bell was that way back in the day, at Newbury Comics, I think it was my "friend" Matt J who was collecting these and, at some point, he made me a tape of all the ones he had, maybe 1-3, that I cherished a lot. I was particularly into the Jen Turrell track from volume 1. All of these comps come on this heavy vinyl and all different colors. As far as 7" series' go this one is definitely worth the time to track down and acquire.

Now, having said that, I will be ashamed to admit that I haven't even really listened to the rest of this. It's easy to see, just from the track list, that it's going to be lovely. You can't really mess with The Softies or Dear Nora. But, anyway...

Here we have "You're Standing On The Ground". Not, as it attributed on "Song Islands", "You're Standing On The Ground (Version)", though it is, in fact, the same version (no pun intended).

We can only guess at what differentiates this track from the "original version" seeing that, as far as I know, there has never been a release of the non-"version" version of this track.

It certainly has that "version-y" feel to it, as witnessed on The Moon 7" and the bonus tracks on the Glow Pt.2 rerelease LP. But, alas, like many pieces of Phil's legacy, we may never know.
(not featured on a mix, to date)


Tracklist
----------------
Side C:

The Softies-Hey Hey Girl
Mac Dare-Where Did All The Preppy Girls Go?
Park-Name On Container


Side D:
The Bright Lights-Fire Moon
The Microphones-You're Standing On The Ground
Dear Nora-Philadelphia













Additionally...
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Right around the time I was hearing The Microphones for the first time, but too early to really have them stand out for me, a then friend of mine, Matt, was really into this 7" series. He made me a tape of all of the volumes he had at that point, which I recall listening to and liking a lot. It was not until recently, going through tons of old cassettes that I found this tape and remembered it.

Obviously nothing to do with this release or Phil directly but I thought it ought to be added as a personal footnote, as far as my personal history with this release goes.



















xo

The Microphones: Lanterns/Antlers 7" (K Records, 2002)

(7" cover, front, back, vinyl inner label, A, B)











The Microphones: Lanterns/Antlers 7"
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-Another release with very little info available. No info on when or where this was recorded or by whom.

-Released in July 2002 on K Records (kpunk.com/PO Box Olympia, WA 98507) as part of the International Pop Underground Series (Volume CI/101). Catalog number IPU101.

-The cover appears to be drawn and designed by Phil, though no one is credited. These look like Phil's typical drawing/painting style. The front depicts a small hut or igloo in a snowstorm, glowing with light from inside. The B-side features the same hut either before or after this storm. A figure is visible in the doorway.

-Side A Features Jenn Kliese as "The Friend". Side B features "Prayer No.2" By G.I. Gurdzjieff, as performed by Thomas deHartmann.

-No idea how many were pressed or if K had a usual number for it's IPU releases. I'd guess no more than 1000-1500.

-As far as I know all o these are on black vinyl.

-Inner groove info is just the usual label items (IPU-101-A and B)

-These songs would later be collected on the "Song Islands" CD.*

*Though they would be absent from the Japanese import version on 7ep. In there place would be the song "Buzz, Buzz" previously included as one of several bonus tracks on the D+ album "Dandelion Seeds" (more on that in the "Song Islands Post")

-Other details of note on this records:

This is one of the first times on vinyl where the band is actually referred to, throughout, as "The Microphones". On most previous records the cover billed them simply as "Microphones".

The vinyl inner label is the full on Phil style label, hand-drawn in that "old book" color.

These songs are some typical instances where Phil has subtitled the tracks extensively (as on "The Moon", "I Whale" etc...)




...............




One of the first Phil Elverum records I ever bought. I had many brushes with his music (which will be recounted as we go, as the releases go by) in the case of this 7" I think I remember being intrigued by the closed circuit-ness of it, the perfect loop of the song titles. Little did I know, years later, this 7" would be one of the most important experiences of my life. I think, in it's weird way, this could maybe be counted as "one of the records that changed my life" not so much because of the content of the music but because of the spark of inspiration which it catalyzed. Indeed this 7" would become the blueprint for the entire mix project (which I refer to from time to time in these posts) and much of mine and my close friends lives, then and to this day. This was the foundation for the entire epic art undertaking that would follow. This is where it all started. One single lantern held up in the dark, one single light, out there, in the deep woods, for us all to follow off into the wilderness of my mind and his mind and this world, our hearts.

(001/002)








Tracklist
---------------
Side A:

Lanters (or "Let Go Of Everything")


Side B:

Antlers (or "Come With Me, I Love You)










xo.