Pitchfork

Welcome to the latest edition of Pitchfork's Guest List. Each week, we'll ask one of our favorite artists to fill us in on what they've been up to lately: which tracks they can't stop spinning, what books they can't put down, and what new bands they've caught on tour. This week it's Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who talks about his Velvet Underground bootlegs, discusses the thrills of playing small venues, and compares Ol' Blue Eyes to Lou Reed.

>> Favorite New Records of the Past Year

Tom Waits: Orphans
I like the second disc [Bawlers], but I can't really pick a favorite. They're all really different.

>> Favorite Older Records at the Moment


Velvet Underground: Yesterday's Parties
There's a great bootleg that I have, where one side is "The Nothing Song" and the other side is "Untitled [Jam Session]". It's fantastic, it's for the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and the way it's done, there's some sort of commentary: There's this rock jock, like a DJ that announces really enthusiastically, "Andy Warhol is exploding about blah, blah, blah…" And then it starts out with all this tuning for a little while, and then Moe Tucker playing this little "boom, ba-boom" and then it goes on for about 20 minutes and Nico just runs on top of it. It's perfect.

Billie Holiday: Lady Day

Frank Sinatra: Watertown
I never really got into him before, but I'm starting to get into him now. My girlfriend is a big fan of his, and she has a lot of his stuff. Somebody told me about [Watertown] a little while back, and told me it was something like Lou Reed's Berlin, in the sense of desperation. And it kind of takes a line between Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger and Berlin.

Duke Ellington: Money Jungle
It's a record he did with Charles Mingus. I've been listening to that a lot, and also his live record, Duke Ellington and the Buck Clayton All-Stars at Newport.

>> Favorite New Band

I like Dr. Dog's last album [Easy Beat], and I've heard bits and pieces of their new one [Takers and Leavers EP]. That's good.

>> Favorite Song Ever

Woody Guthrie: "Wash-y Wash Wash (Warshy Little Tootsy)"
Maybe that one. [Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child] is a great album. And that's a great song, too.

>> Best Recent Show

Bob Mould, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City
I haven't really gotten too far beyond the shows that we've been doing, because we've been touring so much. But within those, we got to see some pretty good shows. On New Years Eve, we got to see Bob Mould play. He was playing before us, which was incredible. Bob Mould is one of those guys that I've looked up to since I was a kid. It was great, it met every expectation that I had.

>> Last Great Film I Saw

Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita
That might be my favorite of the [recent] films I've seen. But I also saw Pandora's Box, which was really good.

>> Last Great Book I Read

Jack London: The Sea Wolf
A literary critic gets lost somewhere off of San Francisco, and he is picked up by a schooner headed for Japan. He is sort of captured by the captain of the ship, whose name is Wolf Larsen, and he has an interesting philosophy on life that's very much survival-of-the-fittest.

>> My Favorite Piece of Musical Equipment

A kazoo.

>> Favorite Record Store

Hideaway Music, Philadelphia
I bought a few records there the other day. One of them was Bing Crosby's Christmas album, which is great. My record player is broken, so I haven't been able to listen to any of my music lately. But I'm buying a new one today, so not to worry.

>> Best Purchase of the Past Year

It wasn't really a purchase as much as an acquisition, but it became a purchase when I realized how much it cost going to the vet. We got two cats. They're nice. I've never really liked cats before, either, but they're really small. Maybe when they grow up I won't like them, but I have a certain interest in them now.

>> Favorite Music Venue

Solar Culture, Tucson, Arizona
It's an art gallery that doubles as a venue. The stage is really small. And, because it's fresh in my mind, there's a place in Philadelphia called Johnny Brenda's, which is also pretty small. But it's really nice; the opportunity of playing in venues that size presenting itself recently is a little more rare than it was before.


>> Favorite Radio Program

I don't really listen to the radio, but when I do I listen to NPR. And the oldies station sometimes.

>> My Ringtone

It's on vibrate.