Portastatic - Some Small History

Some Small History is a double-disc of Mac McCaughan rarities, collecting B-sides, compilation tracks, EPs, fanzine vinyl, and previously unreleased material recorded between 1990 and 2007. 44 Tracks on two disks. All of it a delight, especially for those of us who have been around since the heyday of Superchunk and the creation of Portastatic.

Disk 1 is filled with tons of great tunes mostly featuring covers and unused demos. One of my favorite tracks on this disk is the rip-roaring “Trajectory.” According to the liner notes, the demo had a “distorted and good” quality that they could quite recreate when recording it for real. Based on the amazing quality of the demo recording, I can only scratch my head and wonder why they didn’t just throw it on a record anyway. It f’in rocks! “Make You Up” is a forgotten 4-track gem that has amazing lyrical content. “I didn’t have you, so I had to make you up.” Mac’s throw-aways are better than most band’s best efforts. One song I am shocked never made the light of day was “Portraits From Before the War.” According to the notes, this song was recorded for Bright Ideas but somehow didn’t make it. Mac refers to it as coming out “kind of weird.” Weird? Weird?!! Maybe compared to the sound he had in his head, but not to the rest of us.

Disk 2 is a bit more sturdy top to bottom than the first. It starts off with the title track “Some Small History.” You may recall this tune from Old Enough to Know Better, the incredible comp Merge released in conjunction with it’s 15th anniversary. Disk 2 also features the original acoustic version of “Spying on the Spies” from its 7” release in 1996, perhaps one of my favorite songs ever. I am also totally in love with the Galaxie 500 cover, “Tugboat.” According to Mac’s notes, “we also recorded it in an unusual fashion for us - live, in the studio, including the vocals, which due to my inaccuracy are almost never done live.”

I strongly encourage absolutely everyone to obtain a copy of Some Small History. It goes so far above and beyond a mere compilation of b-sides and rare recordings. It truly is a glimpse into the history of indie rock. For 2 decades, Mac McCaughan has helped to write, mold, shape, encourage and develop the genre through his work with Superchunk, Portatstatic, and especially, Merge Records. I can’t really imagine what indie would be today without his contributions.

The official release date is Sept 9th. But, you can preview all 44 tracks now by visiting http://www.mergerecords.com/.