Charles Douglas • The Burdens Of Genius
First vinyl reissue of Charles Douglas’s The Burdens Of Genius, originally released in 1998. “The best New York record you’ve never heard!” Had it not been for bad timing, mental illness, rampant drug abuse, and a penchant for burning bridges, Charles Douglas might be thought of today as a songwriter on par with Stephen Malkmus, Beck, Daniel Johnston, Robert Pollard, and other members of the indie-rock aristocracy. Playing all the instruments himself, recording in the basement of his parents’ house in Allentown, Pennsylvania, his songs range from gleeful stoner anthems to deranged anti-folk to noisy pop to lo-fi bubblegum.