Over at the main site, we interviewed Mike McGonigal of Yeti Magazine.  Mike is something of a 21st Century Harry Smith or Alan Lomax style documenter of all things cool and weird.  We highly suggest reading this interview, and also seeking out everything Mike has ever been a part of.

Leigh Stein talks to Largehearted Boy about music she listened to when she moved from Chicago to New Mexico, a review of The Third Reich, geeking out over SST Records, and much more in today’s Morning Bites. 

“Where we were with music history seven years ago, you’d already had half a century of re-appraisals, repackagings, and box sets,” said Yeti editor Mike McGonigal, who has produced two multidisc gospel compilations for Tompkins Square and is working on a third—a four-disc overview of the Nashboro label—with gospel collector Kevin Nutt. “You had canonical reissues like the killer job that Smithsonian did in the 1990s with their reissue of the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music, as well as contemporary compilations like Revenant’s American Primitive collections and Shanachie’s Secret Museum of Mankind series. Those compilations are a road map for how to be both informative and ass-kickingly beautiful. They’re arranged with a symmetry and a purpose and make connections that you might not get until dozens of listens. It was clear that [Rosenthal] was interested in records like this because he released them.”

(via Reissue king Josh Rosenthal is mining for musical gold (with a gold record on his wall) | Capital New York)

At least one Vol.1 editor is very, very happy that this album is coming out. (via Turing Machine Return With New Album Featuring Late Drummer Jerry Fuchs’ Last Work | News | Pitchfork)

“I like vocal effects most when they are radical and transformative and make me give more as a singer. If they are too subtle then they starts to feel like cheese sauce and it’s usually better raw. Those decisions come very early in the writing process because I commit to the effects while I’m recording them (rather than applying them post). That way I can be sure they’ll translate live.” (via Q&A: Former Books Member Nick Zammuto on the Very Busy Start to His 2012 | The Measure)

Parts and Labor — whose final show is tonight — have had four drummers over their ten-year existence as a band. At The L Magazine, Lauren Beck talked to all of them. (via Ten Years of Parts & Labor, Through the Eyes of Their Four Drummers | Features | The L Magazine - New York City’s Local Event and Arts & Culture Guide)

Sound of the City unearths Tom Johnson’s Original 1972 Voice Review Of Philip Glass’s “Music in 12 Parts.” 

Our weekly roundup of criticism we liked is now up, featuring everything from Douglas Wolk on Gilbert Hernandez to Adam Levin on James Ellroy to Maura Johnston on Fun. (via The Week In Reviews: NSFW Graphic Novels, Kirsch on Ullman, Brandon Stosuy on Pallbearer, “Frat Rap,” and More | Vol. 1 Brooklyn)

“Does it sound like 1980s Leonard Cohen on some combination of Prozac and Ambien? Yes, it does! Does he make “Every Breath You Take” upbeat and cheery? Yes, he does! Do you vaguely feel like an anime has just ended? Yes, you do! If you think of the album Swearengen would make, you probably think of something very much like Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads, or maybe Sunn O))). Having the seductive Michael McDonaldisms of From Both Sides Now wash over you instead is an experience not unlike discovering Duke Silver and his extensive following of saucy moms.” At The Awl, Mike Barthel tracks down Ian McShane’s 1992 pop album. (via Ian McShane Made An Album In 1992: Would You Want To Listen To It? | The Awl)