March was a busy month for Kurt Vile. He wrapped up a tour that stopped in record stores all along the East Coast; his new Matador album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, dropped March 8; and on March 10, he returned to the road with Dinosaur Jr’s J. Mascis. Vile’s an avid collector of vinyl, so The A.V. Club sat down with him on the eve of his in-store tour and asked about—what else—records.
The A.V. Club: Are you keeping an eye out for any particular prizes at the stores you’re playing?
Kurt Vile: On the last tour, I wanted Carpenters records. I played an in-store in Toledo, Ohio, and they had not only the double vinyl singles collection but also the cassette. I bought them both because my van has a tape deck (laughs). The Rolling Stones are my favorite right now. I’m reading my eighth book on the Stones, so now I want Love You Live and Steel Wheels.
I don’t really look for obscure shit anymore. I’ve been collecting for so long that that high level of sought-after vinyl, like Neil Young’s On The Beach or Time Fades Away, is gone. I pretty much have all of them.
AVC: Your tour hits record stores in a bunch of East Coast cities—Boston, New York, D.C., Baltimore. What records and bands come to mind when you think of those cities?
Philadelphia: The Strapping Fieldhands’ Wattle and Daub
There’s a song called “Blue Kangaroo” that tears my head off.
Boston: “Academy Fight Song” from Mission Of Burma’s Signals, Calls and Marches
That record just blew me away. It’s got such energy. It’s art punk. When I got signed to Matador, that was the first thing I picked up—because they give you CDs, you know—and I was so stoked on that.