Portastatic To Release <i>Some Small History</i> Comp in September

Mac McCaughan likes to keep a clean house. In his time fronting Superchunk, he’s released a total of three odds and sods comps over the years, and now he’s dipping into the vaults yet again. But this time it’s for his his long-running, more experimental-leaning Portastatic outlet.

On September 9, the Merge Records co-founder and Obama backer will release Portastatic’s Some Small History, a double-disc collection that’s packed with over a decade’s worth of rarities. On it will be a choice selection of originals and covers, with McCaughan having a go at Hot Chip, the Magnetic Fields, Galaxie 500, Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. Also, for your "maximum listening pleasure," the compilation is presented in chronological order, just so you can hear the Portastatic story unfold in proper running order.

Here is the track-list for Some Small History:

Disc 1:

1. "Starter”
2. "Sandals With White Socks”
3. "Oh My Sweet Carolina” [Ryan Adams cover]
4. "Lousy Penpal” *
5. "A Cunning Latch” (acoustic) *
6. "Teenage Kicks” [the Undertones cover]
7. "Too Trashed to Smoke” *
8. "Skinny Glasses Girl”
9. "Trajectory”
10. "Power Supply”
11. "Josephine” [the Magnetic Fields cover]
12. "Race You Home”
13. "Make You Up” *
14. "Your Own Cloud”
15. "Love Breaks Down” [Prefab Sprout cover] *
16. "Portraits From Before the War”
17. "Soft Fruit”
18. "Easily Aroused”
19. "Guessing”
20. "Little Fern”
21. "All I Need Is You” [Sandy Denny & the Strawbs cover]
22. "You Love to Fail” [the Magnetic Fields cover]


Disc 2:

1. "Some Small History”
2. "San Andreas Crouch”
3. "Not the Same”
4. "Boy From School” [Hot Chip cover]
5. "Spying on the Spys”
6. "Weighted Raft”
7. "Dragging a Crow”
8. "Gray Robins”
9. "I Wanna Know Girls” (acoustic demo)
10. "Feel Better”
11. "Useless Switch”
12. "Had” (full band) *
13. "Secret Session”
14. "Tugboat” [Galaxie 500 cover]
15. "Codes, Runes, Dunes”
16. "Candy Cigarettes”
17. "Firefly” [American Music Club cover]
18. "La Pelicula”
19. "Look, Honey, Peaches”
20. "Replacement Parts” *
21. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue” [Bob Dylan cover]

*previously unreleased

Portastatic "San Andreas”