Always Wanting More.

In case anyone is taking part in the office pool to see how long I could keep up with Matador's Jay Reatard singles series before being reduced to a sobbing child, the most recent installment (#3) sold out in TWO HOURS & I was unfortunately shut out of getting on board. My second hope was picking one up during my pilgrimage to Sound Exchange while I'm here in Houston, but my record shopping partner picked up their only copy before I had the chance to snag it. The future of our friendship remains to be seen.

Apparently, this is the breakdown for each single's pressing number:
#1 - 3517
#2 - 2750
#3 - 2000
#4 - 1300
#5 - 900
#6 - 400

Which means that I probably would have had to give up hope somewhere around #5 anyway, but I didn't think I'd be throwing in the towel this soon. I hear the In The Red singles comp + DVD is due out this week though (in a normal pressing, at that), so if that's someting you're into, take note.

Told You So.

I'm kind of ashamed of how much time I've been spending lately reading the Matador Records blog, but I feel totally redeemed when I stumble across something like this. Press release using the term "multi-album, worldwide, exclusive recording agreement" in a non-sarcastic context + Jay Reatard = kind of weird, kind of hilarious.

Read it & weep, y'all.

The In The Red-financed singles compilation surfacing this summer is good news & it might even temporarily distract me from how I'm eventually going to play right into Matador's hands when I have to shell out money for THEIR singles collection at the end of their record collector-baiting pyramid scheme.

As long as you're seduced away by the Matador blog, check out that new Matmos video, because they've got a new jam coming out really soon & I like what I've heard so far.

For A Real Cheap Time...

I hope you guys all got your first Matador-sponsored Jay Reatard 7", because the next one is already one the way. I'm currently taking friendly wagers as to how long I can last at keeping up with these records until I explode in a fit of frustration & break my computer's keyboard in half.

Also, let me implore you to go see Mister Reatard at Harper's Ferry in Allston this Sunday with Cheap Time (whom I am not yet familiar with, although they have a new record out on In The Red, which is promising enough for me). Here's hoping that it doesn't wind up like his show in Toronto last night, because it's bad enough that I'm willing to travel two hours to see this man run through a full set that barely cracks the nineteen-minute mark WITHOUT drunks destroying his gear.

Mega-Impatience.

Did y'all know about this? My usually razor-sharp Jay Reatard radar must be severely fucked up, because I don't know how this one slipped by me.

"After months of public speculation, late night phone calls and a fascinating thread on a bulletin board other than our own, we’re pleased to announce Matador will be releasing six limited edition singles in 2008 by the wildly prolific Jay Reatard.

Manufactured quantities of each single will diminish with each successive release. We’ve not figured out the exact scheme yet, but given our commitment to the customer-always-being-angry, rest assured the numbers will be lower than you’d like.

For those not nearly hung up on the collector skum scenery, all 6 7″’s will be compiled for a subsequent CD and LP release."

Now that I think about it, I do remember one-time WMUA blog comrade Bryan telling me about this when I ran into him on the bus one night, but to be honest, I thought he was fucking with me. Jay Reatard, on Matador? Whatever, dude. At any rate, it's actually upon us soon. Between this, last year's way-hot Love of Diagrams record & that new Times New Viking album, Matador actually knows what's up consistently for the first time since like 1997. How worried should I be that I'm going to have to battle it out with a bunch of Cat Power/Belle & Sebastian-listening assholes to get my hands on these singles?