I finally saw the Elephant 6 documentary, and as all the sleeves flashed up, I saw one I didn’t recognise. A Minders single, by the look of it.

Given the cult status Elephant 6 has acquired in the years since it stopped being a thing, you’d think something like that would be more collectible than it is. Jeff Mangum’s name is on the sleeve, for goodness sake! But fortunately vinyl hipsterism is myopic herd-following, so while they’re happy to drop 200 quid for a repress box-set of Aeroplane over the Sea to put on the wall, they don’t care about something genuinely rare, culturally significant, and, most of all “authentic”. Because isn’t that what the vinyls are all about? The warmth, and the authentic.

The songs are pretty good, but Minders got better. The sound varies more across the three tracks than you’d expect, given they were all recorded by the same person on the same gear at the same time. Maybe Build needed a lot of bounces to accommodate all the credited knee-slappers.

A 33rpm compilation thing on Motorway, which I think was a Japanese label. The bands are very American though. Beanpole and Nerdy Girl, who sound like a lesser-known DC duo, share side one, and they both do lovely songs, particularly the former. They sound like you expect them to.

B’Ehl’s name sounds Klingon, but Aktuh and Maylota this is not. It’s more jangly, somewhat sugary, Softies-style girly guitar pop. Mister Woof might not rate it, but I do. The lady from The Seashell Sea has an absolutely beautiful voice. (By the sea shore.)

The man who sold me tonight’s records put this one in for free. How kind. I always found Spinanes one of the more agreeable Sub Pop bands, but they’re not on Sub Pop here, they’re on IMP, who you probably know because you have a lot of stuff by Ovarian Trolley and Adickdid. And I suppose everyone’s got a copy of Flat Top F–ker / Stuck Up Art Bitch. ($3 each post paid if somehow you haven’t.)

They don’t sound particularly Sub Pop either. The ‘a’ is just the right (pop) side of indie rock, and the ‘b’ is moody and spare, and they’re both pretty solid.

Given free, apparently, with issue one of Honey Thunder in 1998. Was there ever and issue 2, I wonder?

Lately there’s been a fair bit of hoo-ha over Pitchfork getting bought and scaled back. Now, I don’t want to see anyone lose their job or their purpose, but man, I hate Pitchfork. I bought the NME for a few years in my late teens, but other than that, I’ve never liked reading about music. I like listening to it, and I don’t much appreciate being told what to think about it.

This is a flexidisc, and it sounds pretty good. That may be because I’ve got a Introspective underneath it, (first thing I put my hand on) and a weight on top, and a very good record player.

Metrotone sing moodily while something far too loud bleeps rhythmically. Then i s a n do what everyone with a synthesizer probably does, which is put a bass and a rhythm under a sample. They were really good at it though, and in their own weird way, they never particularly sounded like anyone else. Cleanse. Tone. Nourish.

This was quite expensive, but I wanted it, and what else am I going to spend my money on these days? Car tyres, roof repairs, dental bills. Shit like that. It’s expensive because it’s bona-fide indiepop gods Rose frikkin Melberg and Amy frikkin Linton (and also some bloke, but who cares?) and it’s the first thing they released. It’s also bloody great. Top-tier indiepop. They’ve got the tunes, the jangle, the voice, the heart, and, vitally, the bit of acidity to balance the sweetness.