Musicbeat

“I was introduced to lots of great music through my local record store. Whether it is in the physical world or online, the value of a great and knowledgeable record store has not gone away.” ~Peter Gabriel

“Folks who work here are professors. Don’t replace all the knowers with guessors. Keep’em open, they’re the ears of the town.”

~Tom Waits “I love the smell of them. I love that people actually care for and know about the music they are selling.”

~Neko Case

“The indie record stores are the backbone of the recorded music culture. The stores whose owners and staff live for music have spread the word about exciting new things faster and with more essence than either radio or the press.” ~Joan Jett

Northern Nevada’s Independent Weekly Newspaper invites you to join with us in celebration of Record Store Day on Saturday, April 21st by supporting these local, independent stores

RECYCLED RECORDS

Come see Reno’s oldest remaining record store on Record Store Day Since 1978!

Specializing in Used and Out-of-Print Records, CDs, DVDs and Tapes. We’ll fi nd what you want, in or out-of-print.

• LIVE MUSIC 11-4 Spike & Jackson, Last to Leave, Max Volume (and friends?), Sage & Honey

• SPECIAL RECORD STORE DAY RELEASES

• AUTOGRAPHED ITEMS and RARE RADIO SHOWS

• FIND OUT MORE ABOUT RECYCLED RECORDS’ UPCOMING MOVE TO MIDTOWN!

SINCE 1978

BUY • SELL • TRADE

3344 KIETZKE LANE 826-4119 RecRecReno.com 121 CALIFORNIA AVE. • RENO 786-1188 sundancebookstore.com

SUNDANCE BOOKS AND MUSIC

At Sundance Books and Music, every day is Record Store Day! We stock wide varieties of music for every taste.

We specialize in Americana, Post-Rock, Progressive Rock, Ambient and Jazz.

We access and special-order hundreds of thousands of titles, in print and out.

Come hear the difference!

Vinyl fetish

Record Store Day

Search your memory banks. Think hard. Can you remember those days when people used to actually go to record stores to socialize? In a not so far off time known as the 1990s, before the days of iTunes and music blogs, people actually used to brave the elements and convene around dusty vinyl records and small plastic squares that housed CDs. People would go to these ad hoc salons for music aficionados and read album lyrics like poetry, and pull out vinyl records from their sheaths the way a passionate lover delicately removes a partner’s clothes. They were magical times when, whether you were going to trash on the latest pop music flavor of the month, or discuss the underappreciated influence of Lou Reed on modern American rock ’n’roll, you were there out of a mutual appreciation of music, and how it united and separated us, for better or for worse. It’s with nostalgia of those days in mind that local record stores will celebrate Record Store Day (RSD) on April 21st. RSD is a national celebration where thousands of records are released to participating retailers with the diehard collector in mind. Paul Doege of Recycled Records explains the process, “RSD has a bunch of limited edition releases, and basically you put in for them, and see what ends up showing.” He adds reassuringly, “I’ve usually gotten what I put in for.” Recycled Records will host an event on the 21st when, not only will you be able to purchase hardto-find records, but you’ll also be

able to enjoy live music from 11 to 4 p.m. There will be records available by covering a wide range of musical Marvin Gonzalez genres, which will satisfy musiclovers of all stripes and creeds. Aparticular record that Doege is interested in is a record of a live Devo performance in Seattle from 1981. “It was cut from a cassette of one of their shows in Seattle. Somebody found a tape in an old shoebox full of cassettes. So, it disappeared, and then it got resurrected.” The record is of particular interest to Doege, because one of his first shows upon moving to Reno was a Devo performance at the old gym at the University of Nevada, Reno from the very same tour, which still resonates in his heart as the quintessence of live performance. And he hopes to resurrect this type of nostalgia in others at this event. To keep the party going after hours, Mike Moberly of the Biggest Little City Club on California Ave will be hosting an event from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., with DJs spinning vinyl, a record swap, and records that didn’t sell earlier in the day available for sale. “Last year they had some RSD exclusives that they didn’t sell, so we wanted to make sure we could help sell them off, and be a part of the celebration, more than anything,” says Moberly. ADJ and record-lover himself, Moberly is just happy to help out in any way, and to be a facilitator. “Hey, we’re helping you getting nerdy all night.” Doege also hopes to keep this momentum going after the event, which is why he’s excited about his store moving to the MidTown area in June. He hopes the new move will help usher in a general interest in records stores locally. “It’s a celebration of that style of buying,” says Doege. “Arecord store was a cool place to go back in the day.” And he’s excited that MidTown might be a great location to reignite that interest. “To get that kind of walk-in, and those kind of people interested in doing business with small local places, that’s so much different than the strip mall world I’ve lived in for the past 30 years.”Ω

PHOTO/AMY BECK

Customer Mike Ryan browses for vinyl at Recycled Records.

Record Store Day is April 21. Local record stores include Recycled Records, 3344 Kietzke Lane, 826-4119; Discology, 11 North Sierra St., 323-2121; and Sundance Bookstore and Music, 121 California Ave., 786-1188. Biggest Little City Club, 188 California Ave., 322-2480 is hosting a Record Store Day celebration from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. For more information, visit www.recordstore day.com.

Range life

The Harvest and the Hunt

In music, the term “dynamics” refers to the volume of notes. Amusical group with dynamic range is a group that can play both loud and quiet, forte and piano. It’s a simple concept, but one that a lot of groups tend to forget— metal bands especially tend to set their levels and rip ahead at a constant volume and unchanging tempo. Reno’s The Harvest and the Hunt is a dynamic band. Their music is often body-crushingly loud, but it doesn’t always start that way. Songs like “Message from Polaris” and “Landmines in the Meadow” have passages of lovely, quiet melodicism that build to the heavy, crunchy power of their loudest riffs. And it isn’t just a simple one-click-of-thedistortion-pedal on-off quiet-loud switch either. Guitarist Tony Ashworth and bassist Marcus Mayhall play with precision and nerve at a whole range of volumes. “We’re not afraid to be heavy and not afraid to be pretty,” says Ashworth. That dichotomy is referenced in the band’s name. Sometimes they sow and reap. Other times, they simply destroy. The sense of range also applies to the band’s tempos. Metal bands tend to play either really, really fast or slow and heavy to point of plodding. And while The Harvest and the Hunt have sections of both fast and slow, they seem to prefer a comfortable midtempo—not too hot, not too cold. This mid-tempo feel also benefits the band’s vocalist, Mark Earnest, a music journalist who also performs as troubadour Mr. Vague. (Everyone in the band is a veteran of the local scene.) Mid-tempo songs can provide a blank canvas for a wide range of vocal approaches. For The Harvest

and the Hunt, Earnest sings with a clean croon, a chest-heaving bellow, a by nasty, wet snarl and more—depending Brad Bynum on what each song needs. bradb@ “There’s more than one way to newsreview.com sing, and there’s more than one way to scream,” he says. His lyrics contain complex metaphors, subconscious imagery and allusions to H.P. Lovecraft and other writers. It’s only possible to catch a line here and there during the band’s live performances, but it’s evocative stuff. And as great as dynamic range can be, there’s also something to be said for consistency. Drummer Garett Ball makes you feel sorry for his snare drum. He hits the thing with such a consistent whack that the otherwise untouched drum head has one deep divot—a single, perfectly placed crevasse where he hits it every time. And that snare crack is not only perfectly consistent, it’s also perfectly loud. Even when the other guys pin their amps to 11, Ball’s unmiced drums ring out loud and clear. The closest musical reference point for The Harvest and the Hunt is the contemporary metal scene centered on Savannah, Ga.— bands like Mastodon, Baroness and Kylesa. And The Harvest and the Hunt also incorporate some Rush-style prog rock music geekery—though never at the expense of their songwriting. “We’re progressive without being showoffs,” says Mayhall. “We have prog values, but in service of songs,” says Earnest. Earnest and Ashworth curated the Day of the Loud, a gathering of loud bands, both local and national, including Behold! The Monolith, TenDead, Hellbeard, Merkin, Cranium, Yesir, and of course The Harvest and the Hunt. The bands featured play what Earnest describes as “all the flavors of loud”— hardcore to metal to rock ’n’roll. Though, with The Harvest and the Hunt on the bill, there will also be at least some quiet. Ω

Not afraid to be pretty: Mark Earnest, Tony Ashworth, Marcus Mayhall and Garett Ball are The Harvest and the Hunt.

Day of the Loud, featuring Behold! The Monolith, TenDead, Hellbeard, Merkin, The Harvest and the Hunt, Cranium and Yesir, is Saturday, April 21, at Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlor, 71 S. Wells Ave., 3841652. 6 p.m. $5. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/the harvestandthehunt.

PHOTO/BRAD BYNUM