Some Small History

Portastatic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B001CVCBJO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,357 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Starter

2. Sandals With White Socks

3. Oh My Sweet Carolina

4. Lousy Penpal

5. A Cunning Latch

6. Teenage Kicks

7. Too Trashed to Smoke

8. Skinny Glasses Girl

9. Trajectory

10. Power Supply

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Some Small History

2. San Andreas Crouch

3. Not The Same

4. And I Was a Boy From School

5. Spying on the Spys

6. Weighted Raft

7. Dragging A Crow

8. Gray Robins

9. I Wanna Know Girls (demo)

10. Feel Better

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, inexpensive catch-all of stray songs, October 5, 2008

By 

Stargrazer "the lost mixtape of my life" (deep in the heart of Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Some Small History (Audio CD)

If you, like me, have a compulsive need to accumulate Mac McCaughan's entire recorded output, then this odds-n-sods compilation is a godsend. Portastatic's last two albums ("Bright Ideas" and "Be Still Please") were (hyperbole and fan-boy gushing aside) high water marks for the band, which has transformed from a Superchunk "side project" to an entity of its own with a rather intricate and lengthy discography.

A cursory glance at the tracklist shows many tracks that are on compilations and singles that you may already have if you are a completist (like me), however, many of these are actually different versions(!) from Mac's 4-track vault. This is true especially in the case of older songs like "A Cunning Latch," "Skinny Glasses Girl," "Trajectory," and "Had" -- which all make appearances in unfamiliar versions. So this double discer is pretty much a win-win for fans.

As far as sequencing goes, maybe disc 2 should have been disc 1 and vice versa? It's a small quibble, but the songs on disc 1 are from a little deeper in the vaults and the songs on disc 2 a little poppier/more produced. But let's face it, this isn't a record to convert new fans, it's for established Portastatic junkies. Bon appetit!

p.s. this is a limited release of 3,000 copies, in case you were on the fence.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent compilation of b-sides and rarities, January 28, 2009

By 

Jason Brobeck (Coraopolis, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Some Small History (Audio CD)

I love this double-disc set. I'm a Portastatic fan in general, and it's great to hear a lot of unreleased material that wasn't previously available. Featuring lots of songs new to my ears, some alternative versions of some of their best songs, and some very well done covers (I happen to specifically love their version of When Love Breaks Down), these discs haven't left my cd player in over a month. I seem to never get tired of listening to it. While I definitely don't think this is the best starting point for someone new to the band, once you become familiar with them, this is a must-have collection. And with about 40 songs over 2 discs, it offers an incredible amount of quality material. Probably my best purchase of the year as far as music is concerned.