Time seems to be flying by so fast as we get close to the end of the year. I really do love this time of year and hate that it goes by so fast. As soon as October begins it seems to end. Halloween has come and gone and Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's Eve will be here and gone before we know it. The music releases will start to slow down in November and December but there are still some great albums coming out. We have a new fantastically great reissue from the fantastically great band Pylon. I can't believe it has already been two years since their last reissue, but it's true! I was about to do a whole blog about Pylon but it was sounding a bit familiar as I was thinking about it in my head. That is because I already did a whole blog about them two years ago. Pylon's first album, Gyrate, was reissued by DFA two years ago on October 16, 2007. You can go back and read my blog here if you want. I just went back and read it myself. I was amazed what I had forgotten over the last couple of years and actually learned something myself. Pylon was great. You may not know that. I sure didn't know anything about them until 2 years ago when that first reissue came out. DFA has now reissued their second album, called Chomp. It is equally as great as the first one. And I love how they recreate the LP artwork for the CD reissue along with the worn in imprint from the vinyl. Pylon was a new wave band from Athens, Georgia, but they have a darker sound than fellow Athens groups the B-52's and R.E.M. They remind me of Siouxsie & the Banshees at times, mixed with the Motels and Romeo Void. Basically, you can just think of any fantastic female led new wave band and mix them all up together and you get Pylon. The band toured a bit with Gang Of Four and also sound like them at times. This second album is at times dark and gothy and at times just a dark sort of punk. I like to think of them as Athens Goth. Seriously. These songs would not be out of place at a death rock night at any club. Good stuff. I really did love that first reissue but had sort of forgotten about Pylon until now. I was so excited when I heard that their second album was also getting reissued. I went and listened to that first reissue again to get myself ready. The second reissue does not disappoint.

Considered the seminal group of the Athens music scene (later groups included B-52's who cited Pylon as influences and R.E.M. who later covered the Pylon song "Crazy"), Pylon formed in 1978 when all four members (Bewley & Hay -- then Brisco, bassist Michael Lachowski, & drummer Curtis Crowy) met up while attending the University of Georgia. A year later they released their debut and continued recording and performing up until 1983 when they temporarily disbanded. While they reformed in 1989 for two years and once again more recently five years ago, their most important years remain 1979-1983. 

When R.E.M. was chosen by Rolling Stone as "America's Best Rock And Roll Band" in 1987, R.E.M.'s drummer Bill Berry dismissed it famously, saying at the time, "We're not the best rock'n'roll band in America," and insisting that Pylon, who had been broken up for four years at that point, was much more deserving of the honor than his own group.

After a couple of crazy new release weeks, today is a bit slower. Beirut came out on top last week. At least for us at Amoeba. I am still thinking Jens Lekman has the best album out this year. But I know its now a new week. And the Christmas releases are continuing to come out. The Michael Buble "Let it Snow" EP is finally out at retail stores. I know most people really hate the Christmas music. But I sort of get a sick pleasure out of it. I may not be excited by Michael Buble but there are plenty of great christmas albums. I am actually getting excited that we will soon be putting out our Christmas section. I am not really sure what is wrong with me. But don't worry. I'll be doing some Christmas blogs in December. But my plan was to do all sorts of Halloween blogs as well. But somehow it is already the 16th of October. But I still have a couple of weeks to go. The Halloween sections are up at all the Amoebas right now. So go buy all your favorite Halloween music soon. I really do love October. When I think about October, I think about horror movies and the magical Elvira. Unfortunately, it is a rare treat for an artist to do a whole Halloween album. It is just not the same as Christmas. Try to imagine how great it would be to hear a whole album of The Carpenters singing Halloween classics. Or how about Aretha Franklin or Dolly Parton. Almost everybody does a Christmas album at some point in their career. Even Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand have Christmas albums. But who besides the great Elvira puts out a whole album of Halloween songs. You really need to check out some of those great B movies hosted by Elvira that have been coming out on DVD. Amazing stuff. Her jokes are still hilarious. But I guess if you never liked her then you still will not like her. I grew up watching those Elvira movies and really thought that she was the coolest thing ever. She actually still is. Her reality show "The Search for the Next Elvira" just started a couple of days ago. I have not had time to watch it yet. But all I know is that it is a four part series and I will be watching and talking about it very soon. It on the special Fox Reality network. If you live in the Bay Area and have Comcast cable, that is channel 159. I seriously had no idea that this channel even existed until I was searching for her new show to record.