My Boyfriend's Record Collection

Artist: Pizzicato 5
Album: The Sound Of Music
Released: 1995
Label: Matador
Choice Song: The Night Is Still Young

HIS: Matador Records; icons of guitar-driven indie rock, classic 90s culture, garage classics and Japanese retro-leaning, 60s hipster throwback Shibuya-kei! Wait. What? Matador put out a Shibuya-kei record? What the fuck?! That was approximately the reaction I had as a teenager when I first bought this album. For those of you who don’t know, shibuya-kei was a late-90s movement in Japanese music that blended the modern sounds of electropop with classic stylings of 60s hipster lounge music. Think Burt Bacarach meets The Sugarcubes. Still with me? Good. Now you understand my reaction when I first heard that Matador Records, arguably my favorite record label of all-time, had signed P5. Of course, here I will refer you to our Das Damen post where I explain how there are certain record labels you just trust, whether or not you think you dig the style of music of a certain record they’re releasing. Matador was one of the best at this. It may not have sounded like Pavement or Yo La Tengo or Thinking Fellers Union but you knew that there had to have been something special about the record you weren’t sure you wanted. Only because it had that iconic waving flag on the back and if they said it was cool, then yea it was probably pretty cool. So of course I picked up this CD if only for that waving flag and for a long, long time I wasn’t sure exactly what it was about. In fact, I’m still not sure exactly what it’s about. But I loved how it sounded. And I loved its songs. And I loved this band. And in the end, isn’t that all that matters?

HERS: You truly can’t judge a book by its cover. Because if the owner of said record collection were a book cover, he’d be the Encyclopedia of Punk Rock sold used at a supercool East Village bookstore (a book I recently bought him). But were you to actually start reading that book, inside you’d find a few unexpected chapters. More than a few, actually. You’d find some old Italian music, some folk love songs, old timey soul music, and even the very surprising Kelly Clarkson chapter. Wha?! Usually when a guy is all, “I love all kinds of music,” he typically hands you some obvious jazz CD he burned you or sentimental singer/songwriter stuff he wrote back in college. Instead, he puts this record on and I’m listening to some Japanese pop group he loves that I never knew existed. But this isn’t new. These are the kinds of unexpected layers I’m dealing with (even over a year in) that continue to surprise me everyday. Before I elaborate further, let me remind you that this is the man who forces me to watch entire Iron Maiden concerts on the Palladia channel while quizzing me on my Maiden knowledge (which is lacking, apparently) and following it up with required Black Breath listening sessions. Meanwhile, ice skating? Loves it. The Artist? Dying to see it. Sure he fell asleep during The King’s Speech, but if he’s up late watching some terrible romantic comedy when he should just turn in and go to sleep, he’s hooked until the obvious and painfully cheesy end (I’m talking to you, Something Borrowed). Also fruit. He’s a football-sized, 6’4” man who cannot get enough fruit in his life. And I’m not talking about the way I eat fruit (i.e.- an excuse to eat peanut butter or Nutella by the spoonful). I’m talking about strictly pure raspberries, apples (green only), and strawberries (stems off so you can eat the whole thing). As dessert, no less. Just goes to show that when a guy takes you on a date to see King Tuff at the Knitting Factory, there may be more than meets the eye.