Legendary Athens, GA group Pylon is playing two dates this week in New York City —one on Wednesday at Mercury Lounge, the other at the Music Hall of Brooklyn.

I’m not going, which kinda breaks my heart but it’s a bad time to be gallivanting anywhere. I’ll make do with the brand-new, luxe DFA-sanctioned GYRATE+ reissue, which sounds not only crystalline and perfect, but IMMEDIATE, like it had just this very second been spit out by some musical equivalent of the Big Bang. Please ignore my hideous metaphor, the record really IS that beautiful. If you don’t own it, I suggest you snap it up posthaste. If you’re not quite convinced, here’s an interview with singer Vanessa Briscoe-Hay from the music documentary Athens, GA: Inside/Outside :

Meanwhile, John Doe will be playing in Providence on Thursday, November 8th (the same night Pylon will be in Brooklyn) at downtown rock n' roll hole-in-the-wall Jake’s. I’ll be there, crying into my cider over missing Pylon, while simultaneously cheering on the awesomeness of Mr. Doe. Sound impossible? Au contraire.

DFA Store (Buy Gyrate!) | WeArePylon.com | Pylon Myspace | The John Doe Myspace Thing | John Doe at the Yep Roc Store

Pylon, “Stop It” (from Gyrate+)

Mission of Burma with Vanessa Briscoe-Hay, “Feast On My Heart” (Live at the Earl, Athens, GA, 1-13-07)

IMAGE FROM VANESSA’S FANTASTIC PYLON BLOG, PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN