Ill Communication and Weezer [blue]
I bought these both on the same day at a friend's recommendation, and they changed my life (a little). I believe I had just acquired a Discman, and I remember listening to them at my grandparents' house when we were visiting for Hanukkah; this must have been 1995. It was two years before I really developed an appreciation for the Beastie Boys, and Weezer didn't really survive the 20th century—those first two albums were great, but I think Pitchfork said it best in their review of the red album: Weezer's post-Pinkerton work has been "in many ways, the opposite of what made Cuomo's band so adored in the first place." The other night my friend and I did "Get It Together" at a karaoke bar on Avenue A. We did it sort of in the spirit of the unbeatable live "Maestro" on the Sure Shot EP—and let's just say if you'd been there, you would have started looking around for the mashed potatoes.*CUTLER'S ON BROADWAY (NEW HAVEN, CONN.)
Brighten the Corners and California
I got a lot of albums at Cutler's, but I have particularly strong memories of listening to these ones with these excellent big headphones at the stations along the wall. 
The stereo in the first 15 seconds of Pavement's "Stereo" won my heart immediately (although now I'd probably cut Corners** from my list of top three Pavement records); Mr. Bungle's "Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy" I listened to while watching a silent & insipid*** Mariah Carey video on the Cutler's television set in which she's swinging on a swing over a lake and letting her toes dip in the water as she arcs by (I think this must be it)...the Bungle turns out to be the perfect soundtrack—definitely better than anything she or her handlers could have come up with. (Try it and see!)
The stereo in the first 15 seconds of Pavement's "Stereo" won my heart immediately (although now I'd probably cut Corners** from my list of top three Pavement records); Mr. Bungle's "Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy" I listened to while watching a silent & insipid*** Mariah Carey video on the Cutler's television set in which she's swinging on a swing over a lake and letting her toes dip in the water as she arcs by (I think this must be it)...the Bungle turns out to be the perfect soundtrack—definitely better than anything she or her handlers could have come up with. (Try it and see!)TOWER ON BROADWAY AND SIXTY-SIXTH (NEW YORK, N.Y.)
Loveless and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The only thing that makes me feel the slightest bit bad about the loss of Tower Records, 
other than the fact that I bought a bunch of CDs there during the first two decades of my life (and cassettes!—e.g., the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles original motion picture soundtrack, true story!), is the time I went there trying to decide whether to buy Loveless by My Bloody Valentine or the La's self-titled LP, and this guy working there restocking or something overheard me talking to my friend and said, with great conviction, "Get Loveless. The choice is clear." I still haven't heard that La's album, but I find it hard to believe that it could be any better than the amazing Loveless (whose cover art, by the way, is probably more appropriate to its content than any other album...except maybe—dark-horse candidate coming up—And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out), and I was just so thrilled by this totally exceptional experience of having a corporate chain-store employee actually know something (and care) about the actual music they actually had in stock that I still get a boner thinking about it it very nearly restores my faith in humanity.
other than the fact that I bought a bunch of CDs there during the first two decades of my life (and cassettes!—e.g., the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles original motion picture soundtrack, true story!), is the time I went there trying to decide whether to buy Loveless by My Bloody Valentine or the La's self-titled LP, and this guy working there restocking or something overheard me talking to my friend and said, with great conviction, "Get Loveless. The choice is clear." I still haven't heard that La's album, but I find it hard to believe that it could be any better than the amazing Loveless (whose cover art, by the way, is probably more appropriate to its content than any other album...except maybe—dark-horse candidate coming up—And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out), and I was just so thrilled by this totally exceptional experience of having a corporate chain-store employee actually know something (and care) about the actual music they actually had in stock that WATERLOO ON NORTH LAMAR BOULEVARD (AUSTIN, TEX.)
E.P., LCD Soundsystem's self-titled LP, and The Milk-Eyed Mender
One of the great things about Waterloo Records is the listening rooms. You give a CD to someone behind the counter, 
that person gives you a room number, you go in, you close the door, and then you've got this music playing at you as loud as you want it, on real, big speakers, all to yourself, and that on its own (or Ruby's BBQ, Bookpeople, Barton Springs, Vulcan Video, or the Alamo Drafthouse) is practically enough reason to want to live in Austin. The Fiery Furnaces' EP became a must-buy as soon as I heard "Single Again" (which, as the Flaming Lips demanded on the cover of their excellent 1993 LP Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, must be played at MAXIMUM VOLUME: somehow it just doesn't come across the same when it's quiet). Most of what this brother–sister team has turned out hasn't grabbed me, but the first three songs on this EP are classic, and I listened to them and listened to them and listened to them while driving to and from Central Market (is mainly what I remember, for whatever reason).
that person gives you a room number, you go in, you close the door, and then you've got this music playing at you as loud as you want it, on real, big speakers, all to yourself, and that on its own (or Ruby's BBQ, Bookpeople, Barton Springs, Vulcan Video, or the Alamo Drafthouse) is practically enough reason to want to live in Austin. The Fiery Furnaces' EP became a must-buy as soon as I heard "Single Again" (which, as the Flaming Lips demanded on the cover of their excellent 1993 LP Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, must be played at MAXIMUM VOLUME: somehow it just doesn't come across the same when it's quiet). Most of what this brother–sister team has turned out hasn't grabbed me, but the first three songs on this EP are classic, and I listened to them and listened to them and listened to them while driving to and from Central Market (is mainly what I remember, for whatever reason).* Wrong song, right spirit.
** Nyuk!
*** Not to be confused with Slanted & Enchanted.
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