Touch and Gone

I was a little disheartened to wake up today and find out that Touch and Go is phoning it in.  It looks like all is not lost, as they'll still be operating as a label, at least to some extent.  However, they're dropping the distribution side completely, which is a big hit for a few of the veritable indie labels of America.  It's better explained here.

This news has got me thinking of all the bands T&G has provided us over the years, from the angular post-rock of June of 44, Slint, and Rodan to the angular punk of Big Black, Killdozer, and the Jesus Lizard, to the angular muddled dirges of the Black Heart Procession and Dirty Three.  So much low end, all for naught!  Just kidding.  There were some pretty jams in there as well, with the likes of Rachel's, Blonde Redhead, and the prettiest girl at the ball, Ted Leo.

 

I was going to post a track that Ted Leo/Pharmacists released on a digital EP last year after the riots at the Republican National Convention, but some blogs around the way have gotten in trouble for it. Nothing like a little brute force and some copyright issues to sully a party. So instead I'll just post my most favorite Ted Leo song ever. After all, I don't think Lookout Records is coming for me anytime soon, right? Hey-o!

Ted Leo - Parallel Or Together?

I also thought I'd post this totally kick-ass Polvo song. This is "Can I Ride," which I think was their first single ever, and eventually found album release on Cor-Crane Secret, released on Merge and later by T&G. It's the song version of a brother-in-law, I guess. It's all in the family.

Polvo - Can I Ride (Polvo EP version)