Vintage Slide Collections From Seattle, Vol. 1

On Vintage Slide Collections From Seattle, Vol. 1, Jason Trachtenburg assembled the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, a colorful group of musicians including his daughter Rachel Trachtenburg on drums and Presidents of the United States of America frontman Chris Ballew on bass. At the band's live shows, Trachtenburg's wife, Tina Trachtenburg, serves as slide projectionist, adding a dizzying visual element to the festivities. The music is unabashedly light and fun-loving, much like the off-kilter epics on Trachtenburg's 2000 Revolutions Per Minute disc. After an energetic beginning, the light piano at the beginning of "Mountain Trip to Japan, 1959" hints at a new subdued style. The song eventually reinvents itself into another of Trachtenburg's semi-vaudeville-style classics. He shares vocal duties with his daughter on the fourth track, "Eggs." "Wendy's Sambo's and Long John Silver's" is another in a long line of serious-sounding musical statements, with the singer's tongue firmly in cheek. He goes on to again attack the fast-food industry with "Let's Not Have the Same Weight in 1978 — Let's Have More." The piano and handclaps on "Why Did We Decide to Take This Decision to You?" add immensely to the short and feverish track. The disc ends with "Believing in You," Trachtenburg's heart-on-his-sleeve ballad, with his piano work again taking center stage. After cutting his teeth in Seattle's open-mike clubs, he assembled this dramatic live group. Robb Benson guests on harmonies, while Fastbacks member Mike Musburger drums on some tracks and Phil Hurley and Hugh Sutton check in on guitar and accordion, respectively. The disc's 11 songs are somehow fuller and more complete than his previous work. Orange Recordings released the disc in late 2001.