Nothing can induce a potent combination of nostalgia and rage like the time-honored top 100 list. All the major music magazines have come out with at least one or two, and Rolling Stone has about a one-per-month quota. But this latest one comes from a slightly unlikely source — Amazon. Apparently they don’t just sell you music. They might actually know a little something about it, too. Maybe.
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There are few musicians who deserve the respect that Dan Deacon merits. Through all of the successes he has enjoyed recently, he has remained a man of the people — and of his people. Not only does he still play on the floor amongst the fans whenever possible, but he has tried with much effort to bring as many of his friends and fellow musicians to prominence with him. These are the reasons we like Dan Deacon. These are the reasons we respect Dan Deacon. But none of these — or the many other reasons I’m sure there are to be a fan of Dan — would mean a thing if he didn’t produce good music. So after a three-year recording hiatus and a full two-years after the release of Spiderman Of The Rings, many of us have been anticipating with wonderment what will become of Mr. Deacon’s trademark sound?
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We love vinyl, you love vinyl. This is nothing new. But for once a corporate entity is confirming what we’ve known to be true for a good long while now — Nielsen SoundScan reported that sales of LPs were up by 89 percent in 2008, from 990,000 in 2007 to 1.88 million. But since we already knew people loved vinyl, here’s bigger news: Neutral Milk Hotel landed in the top 10 best-selling LPs of 2008.
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