With iconic garage-punk trio the Oblivians, with the Parting Gifts (his collaboration with the Ettes’ Coco Hames and Jem Cohen), with a legion of other one-offs and defunct projects, and, for the past 13 years with driving rock ‘n’ soul revue the Reigning Sound, Greg Cartwright has chased various traces of American rock and pop to arrive at something singularly his. Still, with his legacy perfectly well cemented among garage-rock aficionados and discerning vinyl-heads, Cartwright is still chasing the unexpected. The Reigning Sound’s latest album, Shattered, is the band’s sixth proper full-length, a follow-up to 2009’s Love And Curses, and its debut for Merge. Cartwright will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on him.
Cartwright: Hello MAGNET readers. My name is Greg Cartwright, and I play in the Reigning Sound. A few weeks ago, I was asked to play guest editor for MAGNET’s website. My only directive was to produce 14 short editorials on some of my favorite things. I was humbled, and horrified. I’m not the kind of person who submits year-end top-20s, or responds to requests for the 10 most influential records of their life. Partly because I’m a little scared of seeming naïve or overly excited about things that won’t stand the test of time, but also because when I’m asked to perform these tasks, my mind goes blank. Worst of all, I may say something totally contrary to something I’ve said in the past. Invariably, I pass. A week later I’ll visit a friend’s house and we’ll listen to some records. They’ll play me everything they’ve been grooving to for the last month and suddenly my brain is telegraphing a flood of musical topics and new favorites. On my way home I’ll think, “Why?” Why couldn’t I think of all those things last week? As much as I can figure, other people’s interests act as dominoes that eventually trigger a queue of my own. Other people’s excitement about music, art or whatever is contagious to me. Your collection of brocade pillows, your R&B 45s or your framed paint-by-numbers that are exclusively of castle moats. Looking at them and hearing about how you acquired them, that’s what makes me talk. So, I’m reverse engineering the process here and trying to get myself started by talking about some of the things I like by telling you a little bit about the people who started me on liking them. From there, I should be positively motor-mouthed. Because mainly, I like to hear about what you like.
