Ci #33 -- Record Fairs

My friend Brock and I attended the WFMU Record Fair this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. How do you know you're at a good record fair? Just look for Rolling Stone Editor David Fricke shopping there and Yo La Tengo member Ira Kaplan working there.

But calm yourself. That wasn't the exciting part!

Amidst the heaps of musty music and niche celebrities, I discovered an entirely new genre -- train sounds.


Wait a minute. I thought trains go "choo choo." Don't they go "choo choo"?

Apparently, trains absolutely do not go "choo choo." They go "clank" and "whiz" and "chugga" and "pssssh" while birds in the background go ... you know what, let's skip that part. Suffice it to say that there's more to train sounds than you or I could ever imagine (and also less).

So What do trains really go? I actually don't know. I didn't buy any of the records, but I did read the sleeves and marvel at the fact that this guy had about 15 of them there waiting for the train sounds collector with truly discriminating tastes.

Looking for something rugged and Latin-inspired? Try the Rio Grande line's California Zephyr. Or perhaps you'd prefer something with a little more chutzpah, in which case I'd recommend the Sante Fe line's Super Chief.

So if you're into the sounds of mostly outdated modes of transportation captured with mostly outdated modes of recording, you should totally go next year.