The bicyclepirate adventures

New Blog

2011-06-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have started a new blog on record hunting and craft beers in Mexico City. Please visit it here: http://beerandrecordsinmexicocity.blogspot.com

Grand Rapids, MI Punk and Ska

2010-02-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Bounty Hunters were a punk/ska band that was around from 1997-1999. They mostly played around Michigan, but did play a few shows around the midwest. The later stuff has more of a hardcore influence, and the members went on to form With Arms Still Empty.

The Bounty Hunters - Less Rock, More Sock (1997)

The Bounty Hunters - Less Rock, More Sock.zip

The Bounty Hunters - The Answers Don't Mean Anything (1998)

The Bounty Hunters - The Answers Don't Mean Anything.zip

Just For Kicks were a great pop-punk band that played around Grand Rapids in the late 90s, transformed into Hunter Rose for a few years, and then reformed in the mid-00s.

Just For Kicks

JFK - MediaFire

I'm looking for more digital copies of 90s Grand Rapids punk rock from bands like: PR Stunt, misled youth, The Addictives, Slamdunk Rancore, The Krabs, and anyone I have forgotten or don't know about. Most of this music was released on cassette, I don't remember too much vinyl floating around during this time, except for a Krabs 7".

Um sure, I'll buy that for five dollars...

2010-01-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

I found this on Friday at a local record store, which shall remain nameless, for a whopping $5. Not sure what was calling me to the 12" singles section loaded with depeche mode, erasure, and madonna singles, but as I was flipping through this dreck, I came across At the Gates' first ep, Gardens of Grief. At first, I couldn't believe what I was looking at, and became really nervous. Was this for real? Was the owner of the store really going to let me buy this once I brought it up to the counter? I continued to browse for about a hour or so afterwards, but I kept this hidden in between the other records I had found (the 2nd killing joke album, what's THIS for...!; Linn County's till the break of dawn, and Econochrist's trained to serve), just in case any other customers saw it and decided to talk to me.

I've been looking for At the Gates records for years, but I never thought I'd actually find one in person.

Finds in Connecticut

2010-01-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I last posted. Too many other things going on in my life to worry about blogging. But alas, I am back for the first post of 2010.

I recently spent a week in CT for the holidays, and came back with a few finds. I visited three stores while I was there. Unfortunately, I didn't have more time to hunt, but I still came away with some records that are next to impossible to find here at home.

First up, I visited Brass City Records in Waterbury, where I came away with The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus, Life Sentence-No Experience Necessary, Pharoah Sanders-Black Unity, and Joe Henderson-Power to the People. The store itself is quite the unorganized dive, has records scattered all over the place in some strange categorization scheme that really only works for personal collections. The prices, however, were pretty reasonable, and if anyone is looking for old 80s youth crew and straight edge hardcore records, this place has a lot of early gems. Supposedly, this store also doubles as a woodworking tool shop, so I brought my dad along who collects old planes. The tools were in terrible shape, and that goes for many of the records too. While the vinyl was in generally good shape, the owner doesn't seem to care much about the condition of the jackets. I almost purchased Life Sentence's 7" but it had a serious warp in it.

For me, the Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson records were great finds, I love both of these albums and I'm glad to finally have some copies on vinyl.

I was staying almost an hour away from Brass City, and got caught in a terrible snow storm on the way there. Luckily, we made it back in one piece, although I saw 7 or 8 car accidents on the drive home. Living in NM has made me soft, I can't handle the snow like I used to.

I also made it to Redscroll records in Wallingford, which was a pretty great store for punk and metal records. I picked up Out of Order-Paradise Lost, Overkill-feel the fire, and Believer-Dimensions.

They had a slew of 80s thrash metal records I would have liked to brought back with me, but I was trying to be selective. The space was incredibly tiny but had so much crammed into the place it was hard to find anything. One of my pet peeves in record shopping is having to look at records by the spine, and most of their used records were organized this way. Hopefully they fix this in the future.

I've been trying to collect old Chicago punk and hardcore records from the 80s for the last couple years, and was pleasantly surprised to find the life sentence and out of order records in CT.

Reverend Columbus Mann-They Shall Be Mine b/w Jesus Loves

2009-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

There was another record show in Albuquerque last week, and this was the first time I tried to look for gospel records at this show. I didn't do too well, and I'm not surprised, how many gospel records are floating around the southwest? I did find a few 45s from one seller, and since he didn't know anything at all about the records he had, I got a pretty good deal. This record here by Rev. Columbus Mann I got for free. I had never heard of him before, but after some checking around online after I got home (one of the few slightly successful gospel searches), the LP this single came from is a highly sought after and very expensive gospel gem. The first track is much better, check it out.

The Virgil Lights - what a meeting b/w I've got a new home

2009-09-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

My search for the perfect gospel song continues. I've managed to start a small collection of 45s from the Memphis-based label, Messenger Records, and nearly every record from this label has ranged from decent to mind-blowing. The first track on this record, "what a meeting" is one of those mind-blowing tracks.

I don't know anything about this group. It is both incredible and frustrating how little is available online about gospel. This means to find anything, I have to just take a chance. Luckily, chance is exactly how I found this record. I purchased 3 45s on ebay for literally pennies from a seller who had a few gospel records. The Virgil Lights was one of those records, and while the other two (from The Jubilee Hummingbirds and the Sensational Six) were just ok, the first track on this disc made it all worth it. Enjoy.

The Jubilee Hummingbirds-Help Me to Make It

2009-04-19T10:58:00.001-07:00

First, let me start off by saying I know virtually nothing about gospel music. A couple months back I picked up a really cheap Sam Cooke record called the Two Sides of Sam Cooke. I knew very little of his music, and thought I would be more into the pop stuff, but his gospel stuff with the Soul Stirrers blew me away. Thus started my most recent obsession with gospel music.

Yesterday I found this 45 from the Jubilee Hummingbirds at my favorite local shop, Mecca. The A side, Help Me to Make It is phenomenal, the B side, Heaven Bound is just ok. But the A side has the really gruff male gospel vocals that I like, and the backing band is very similar in style to Booker T and the MGs or James Brown's Famous Flames.

Check out the song, I won't be doing this too often, but hey, I'm spreading God's word, or some shit like that.

If anyone out there has any gospel recommendations or good sites to check out where I can learn more about this music, let me know.

Finds in Denver

2009-04-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

So I had another conference in Denver last weekend, and this time I spent as little time as possible "conferencing" and as much time record shopping as possible. Too bad I didn't do this in Chicago, because the finds in Denver were pretty weak. I first went Wax Trax Records, which I had planned on going to since I'd been there about 9 years ago and remember it being pretty cool. My memory really failed me, or my tastes have completely changed, but I thought Wax Trax was pretty weak. They have a ton of records, but almost all of it is common junk. I did manage to find these two Esquivel records for $2 each, and my wife wanted the Jay & the Techniques, but we spent a lot of time here for very little. It was a huge disappointment.

A few blocks from Wax Trax my wife and I found another place called Jerry's(?) Record Exchange. They had a slightly better selection, but it was also pretty unorganized, smelled like smoke, and the owner had all these boxes of cds on top of all the records, so it was a little bit of an ordeal to flip through the records. Some of the prices were outrageous, but I did grab this Ten Years After record which I had been wanting for a while, and Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak. I'm not sure why I got the Thin Lizzy record, I think I felt like it was one I needed to have in my collection, but its pretty terrible.

The rest of the finds were pretty random. We were walking around a neighborhood on South Broadway and happened upon a bar having some kind of rock n roll swap meet inside. I found this fifteen record, and the Miroslav Vituous record which I have been searching for online and off for over a year. The really drunk guy who sold me the Miroslav disc told me him and his buddies used to listen to this and do mushrooms in Alabama back in the 70s. He also kissed my hand.

There was a book store near the bar, and they also had a big pile of records. The Runaways was probably the best find of the trip, I don't think I've ever come across this before. The Bobby Brown was my wife's pick, and we had a little argument over whether or not I would even add this to the collection list. I grudgingly have...

Finally, I picked up this Cure record (looks mint and unplayed) at a farmer's/flea market. While it was super cheap, I don't even know why I really got this. I have a bunch of Cure records, but I also already own this on cassette and cd. I'm never going to listen to this record. The more exciting part about this flea market was this guy who had a couple portable wind up 78 players that I almost bought. I'm mad at myself for not getting one, but at least I learned a lot about how they worked from the seller. The thought of carrying a big metal box and another box of 78s on the plane with me just was too horrendous.

Anyway, I'm not that impressed with digging in Denver, although almost everything was pretty cheap. This whole lot cost $46. What a great city though!

Chicago Finds at Reckless

2009-04-05T17:40:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a political science conference in Chicago, and luckily I had some spare time to snag a few records. I wasn't even planning on looking for records since my time was so short, and since I stayed right downtown near the Millennium Park, I just figured there was no way a good record store was going to be within walking distance of that part of the city.

Fortunately, I was wrong. Just as I was going back to my hotel to practice the presentation I had to give, I happened to walk by Reckless Records. I literally started moving in slow motion as I passed by, contemplating skipping my practice time in order to look at records. Thankfully I wasn't so 'reckless' (I needed the practice) and waited until my presentation was over.

There was a ton of stuff I wanted, but I settled on these four records:

Joe Yamanaka-Live at Nippon Budokan

Sidekick Kato-1st Class Chump

Limp Wrist-one-sided 12"

Archie Shepp-Mama Too Tight

Joe Yamanaka was/is the singer for Flower Travellin Band and I couldn't believe I actually found this laying around a record store. Its a live show from 1978, where he mostly plays his solo material, but he also does some interesting versions of Shadows of Lost Days and Make Up by FTB. Hideki Ishima, the guitar player for FTB, also plays on the album. Its fairly decent, but definitely more traditional hard rock than any of the FTB stuff, although I love his voice so its a decent disc. Some of the FTB records I have are the most expensive records I've purchased, and to find this for cheap was pretty exciting for me.

The Archie Shepp record is great too, and I bought this not having heard this particular album at all. For a while now I've been trying to get my hands on copies of the Magic of Ju-Ju and Fire Music. Amazingly, I won a copy of Fire Music right after I got to Chicago on ebay, and then found this record the day afterwards. I didn't think one could mix free jazz and big band, but that is more or less what is going on with this album; glad I picked this up.

The Sidekick Kato record I heard years and years ago when these guys were still playing around a lot, but I never found a copy until this weekend. I almost wasn't sure I was going to like it, since it had been near 10 years since I heard it last, but its still good. They somehow manage to mix the anthemic punk of the great chicago bands like Sludgeworth and Naked Raygun with the more emo/post-hardcore sound that was so prevalent in the late-90s.

Finally, the Limp Wrist record is great, I had no idea these guys had just put out another record. (It has Martin Sorrendeguy on vocals, the singer of Los Crudos, if you haven't heard of them...). More great thrashy hardcore, not much of a surprise here, but still good. I generally try to avoid buying new records when I travel, but getting copies of Lengua Armada records is so hard and they go out of print so fast that I broke my normal travel rules.

Today's Albuquerque Record Convention

2009-03-22T16:46:00.001-07:00

Today, another of the bi-annual record conventions was held in Albuquerque, and I think I did pretty well. I've been going to these pretty consistently for the last 3 years. A lot of the sellers are the same, but there are always new people that bring some good records. This time I felt like I'm going to grow out of this convention, as my collection is growing and there isn't a whole lot of common stuff I'm really searching for anymore. Anyway, I'm still happy with what I picked up, which for the all that is in the picks below, set me back about $140. In addition to what I have pictures of, I also grabbed 4 45's, 3 from Albert King and one from B.B. King for $1, a reissue copy of Mingus' Black Saint and the Sinner Lady for a friend, and a dealer gave me a free 10" 16rpm record that I have no idea what I will do with.

This time around, I didn't smell anybody, which I was happy about (although I have really bad allergies right now and can't breathe that well through my nose). The last few times, there have been a few really smelly guys that reeked of cat urine.

Every convention there is this older lady that keeps a Cabbage Patch doll in a strap-on baby carrier on her chest. She was here again, I think she is married to a dealer, and I heard plenty of other dealers gossiping about this woman. No one seems to know why she carries the Cabbage Patch doll, I think next time I will ask her.

I also heard some people saying the local Krazy Kat Records store was condemned by the city. I'm not sure if that is really true, but I don't feel that sad about it. On the one hand, its sad to lose a local record store, but on the other, the owners of this shop were gross, seemed to be engaging in shady activities, and consistently overcharged for many of their records.

On to today's finds:

John Coltrane-Coltrane's Sound

Return to Forever-Where Have I Seen You Before

John Coltrane-Mating Call

Sonny Rollins-Worktime

Duke Ellington-Money Jungle

Herbie Hancock-Blow Up Soundtrack

Sun Ra-Sound of Joy

Jimmy McGriff - Red Beans

The Deuce Coupes-The Shutdowns (a split? maybe...)

The Bob Seger System-Mongrel

The Royal Guardsmen-Snoopy vs the Red Baron

The Frost-Frost Music

Al Green - Let's Stay Together

Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Club

Otis Redding - Live in Europe

Marvin Gaye- What's Going On
Sodom - In the Sign of Evil

Satan-Into the Future

Warfare - Total Death ep

Exciter - feel the knife

Jughead's Revenge - Unstuck in time

Speed Kills - (V/A speed metal comp)

Exciter-Heavy Metal Maniac

Exodus - Pleasures of the Flesh

Death Angel - Ultra-Violence

Top 10 things I despise about records and record collecting

2009-03-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

1. Colored Vinyl – Yeah, sometimes it looks cool, but I don’t buy records to stare at them, I buy them to listen to. I’m not totally convinced about the argument that colored vinyl sounds worse, I just don’t have a setup where I think I could tell, and there are so many other reasons why a record is going to sound shitty that are likely more important. I just think it looks cheap, and makes me think the band/label are more concerned about selling a cool looking collector’s item rather than a functional product. It costs labels more to press on colored vinyl, and serves absolutely no functional purpose, spend the damn money on the recording or the artwork. Thankfully I don’t buy a whole lot of new records where this is an issue, but I’m annoyed when I have to pick between 4 ugly colors, and none of them are black.

2. Picture Discs – I like to buy metal on vinyl, but it seems more prevalent among metal bands and labels to release picture discs. They tend to cost more, look like garbage, and don’t even have covers. What is the fucking deal? Of the few I have, they always come in already split plastic sleeves, so even if one wanted to buy these abominations, they are a pain in the ass to take care of and store with other records.

3. European Pressings – Talk about low quality knock offs, why does vinyl pressed in Europe always sound bad, come on paper thin vinyl, and come packed in the cheapest possible jackets? And this isn’t just ethno-centrism, the Japanese press great quality vinyl and use sturdy covers just as well as Americans.

4. Single LPs longer than 45 minutes – Hell, even 45 minutes is pushing it. Some examples might be the Cure’s Disintegration, Death’s Symbolic, and the new reissue of Sepultura’s Beneath the Remains. These records sound worse than cassettes soaked in water. Do the companies who press these even care about what their records sound like? Are they under the impression people don’t listen to records?

5. Bonus tracks – Some bands like to put extra tracks on either the vinyl version of their album, or the cd. Why? Can’t they decide on what the album should be? Are they trying to make their fans buy two copies? A bonus track is like a big kick in the face to a bands biggest fans. I also tend to appreciate an album as a cohesive whole. When there is an extra track unique to a particular format, it messes with that cohesiveness, or suggests the band doesn’t give a fuck.

6. Records that are anything other than 7”, 10”, or 12” – All those stupid punk and hardcore labels that think 8.5” records, and skull shaped discs are cool, just stop it. Anyone who has tried to play a 5” record knows what a joke this novelty crap is. Make good music, don’t hide it by putting out some crazy package trying to mask the garbage inside.

7. Double LPs where the 1^st record has sides 1 and 4, and the second record has sides 2 and 3 – If I ever listen to these albums, I almost never listen to them in order. Off the top of my head, I can think of John Coltrane’s Live in Seattle and Miles Davis’ Live Evil that were pressed this way. What a pain in the ass. Someone once told me they used to make record players with two turntables, so that is why these double LPs were pressed with the sides out of order. Is that true? I have no idea, but if that was case, how many people could afford these? I even have a Leadbelly triple LP box where the records have side 1 and 6 together, sides 2 and 5 together, and sides 3 and 4 together. Totally obnoxious.

8. Elaborate packaging – I don’t want to work to get the LP out of the jacket. It just makes me want to not listen to these records. I’d prefer to just slide the record in and out of the jacket, I don’t need some triple gatefold design where I have to open up the whole thing to get to the music (I’m thinking of the Black Angels Directions to See a Ghost), or some type of annoying clasp (like the original pressing of the Los Crudos/Spitboy split LP) that just leads to wear on the jacket over time from opening it.

9. People that don’t collect records telling me they have a bunch old Beatles records – I don’t care, and there is a 99% chance they either don’t play or are later worthless pressings. Just because it is the Beatles or it is old does not mean it is somehow valuable.

10. Mold and cat piss – I know record collectors are a weird bunch, but come on, don’t show up at a record show wearing a shirt your 10 cats sleep and piss on. Also, what is with storing records in dirty places? I’m not a freak for cleanliness, but having black and grimy hands after a good day of digging is just gross. Record collecting may be damaging to my financial and emotional health, I’m ok with that, but I don’t want to end up at the doctor because I caught some weird disease from touching a bunch of dirty ass records.

Honorable mentions:

The waiting period between record shows – Its like the day after the Super Bowl, knowing there is no football for another 8 months...

The credit card bill – This is my own fault, but its not quite so bad if I resist the urge to add up all the frivolous music purchases I make each month.

I just won Sodom's Agent Orange LP!

2009-03-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

For $9.08 on the 'bay. Hot damn! I don't know what this is really worth, I guess the stupid picture disc version that comes in a tin can is valuable, but I just won the normal LP version. I am excited though, Sodom vinyl is generally hard to find, and their Agent Orange album is awesome.

Today's finds

2009-03-14T20:57:00.001-07:00

Yardbirds - Little Games (1967)

Killing Joke-s/t (1980)

Linn County-Fever Shot (1969)

I found all of these at the local store, We Buy Music. I was basically just bored today, so I spent a couple hours just browsing the store, and as I was about to leave, the store owner mentioned to me he had this pile of boxes, full of records, that he hadn't yet gone through to put out on the floor. There was a ton of stuff in there I was interested in, but I found this Yardbirds record and the first Killing Joke album. The Yardbirds record is ok, it has Jimmy Page on it, so that is what made me purchase it, but there are a number of amazing songs on there mixed with weird and mediocre psychedelic songs.

I was more excited about finding the Killing Joke album. I have been keeping an eye out for this record ever since I began collecting records. The only reason being is that it has the song "The Wait" that Metallica covered on their $5.98 Garage Days Re-Revisited ep. I have always wanted to find the original vinyl versions of all the songs that Metallica covered on that ep, since it was the first thing I ever heard from Metallica, and also one of the first metal albums I ever heard. The Killing Joke record is only the second one I've managed to get. Having the Misfits Last Caress and Green Hell on vinyl is just too easy (well, at the least the reissues anyways), so I was never that motivated to seek out the other songs by Diamondhead, Holocaust and Budgie, but now that I have the Killing Joke record, I might be more motivated to finish off this search.

The rest of the Killing Joke record is actually pretty amazing too, its very hard and gritty, mixing post-punk, industrial, and metal, which would probably turn out incredibly shitty if done today, but sounds great when its from 1980. I recently saw that this record was reissued and had been pondering picking it up, but I got lucky today in finding an original EG pressing.

The Linn County record was free, its pretty beat up, and I had no idea who they were, but I was curious in hearing it. It had the look of a late 60s hard rock/heavy blues album, a style of music I really love, so I figured I would take a chance. When the owner told me it was free, I was surprised as hell. Sometimes this guy is pretty weird about pricing, but maybe the terrible economy is hurting him and he needs to encourage more business? The record isn't bad, and I guessed correctly on the style. It sounds a lot like a mediocre version of the first Allman Brothers Band album, but not a bad find for free!

Broken Hope

2009-03-14T20:32:00.001-07:00

God damn I have not posted in a while. Not only have I been super busy, but I sometimes find blogging to be annoying and self-indulgent. Since I have been listening to almost nothing but metal for the last couple months, I decided I would post this 7" record from Broken Hope that came out in 1993. This record is one of the first records I ever purchased at my first ever show. I more or less remember the show, but I can't remember at all what the first record was that I purchased, I have a small collection of records I know were among my first, but its all a blur now.

So my first show was at the Thirsty Whale (I think?) in Chicago in 1993. The headlining band was Unleashed from Sweden, and Demented Ted and Broken Hope from Chicago. I only knew who Broken Hope were, and loved their cd that had just come out at the time, The Bowels of Repugnance. I think this was the first death metal band I really got into, the cookie monster vocals and the extremely disturbing lyrics were just the coolest thing to me when I was 13-14 years old. Now, I have a hard time listening to this album, but it does have a lot of sentimental value for me.

My first show was not supposed to be this death metal show. My parents were really hesitant to let me go to a show, but for my 14th birthday, they bought me tickets to go see the Butthole Surfers and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the club (the Riviera in Chicago, if I remember correctly), the show had been canceled at the last minute. I was really disappointed, since I also was really into the Independent Worm Saloon album by the Surfers that had just come out. The next show I could find that I wanted to see was this Broken Hope show. Me being a dumb 14 year kid, and my parents being completely ignorant of the type of music it was, agreed to it, so I went to this show with my dad. I was a slightly puggy, nerdy looking kid, and I remember wearing this ridiculous Chicago Bulls Starter jacket to the show, and my dad was the only normal looking person there. Everyone else was dressed completely in black, had long hair, and to me at the time, were frankly just scary people. The club was gross and dirty, and I felt like everyone was just staring at us the entire time.

But, the show was awesome, Unleashed were incredible, I eventually picked up one of their tapes, and Demented Ted were good too. The singer in Broken Hope actually talked like he sang in between songs, which was just the best thing at the time, and as souvenirs for the show, I picked up this 7" and a shirt. I maybe listened to the record 2 or 3 times, there was never any reason to play it since the songs were all on their album, but the shirt I got had the cover of the record on it (I can't believe my dad let me buy that, I don't think he was really paying attention...). I wore the hell out of that shirt through high school, occasionally having to turn it inside out when a teacher would look at it closely.

I really have to give my dad a lot of credit, I don't remember him ever saying anything bad about the show, it was a little bit of a crazy experience, but no one bothered us, he had a beer and I just enjoyed the hell out of the bands.

I wonder if Blogger is going to now flag this site for posting objectionable material, let's hope so.

Saints and Sinners...

2009-02-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

No, not the terrible Whitesnake album, but Charle's Mingus' magnum opus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. I just got this in the mail today, and I'm super excited to finally have a copy. And a mono white label promo copy to boot.

The loss of a record collection.

2009-01-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

This is an extremely sad and depressing story about a man who hired a moving company which lost most of his record collection. Last time I moved, my records sat in the passenger seat next to me in a moving truck. Now, that would be impossible because of its size, but I would never let someone else touch them. What was this guy thinking??

Phoenix Hunting Trip

2009-01-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a nice trip with my wife to Phoenix. We basically just spent money, drank, and ate (and some other things...). Last year we went to Phoenix to primarily go to Ikea, and I found a bunch of decent record stores then. This time I went back to the better ones I found, as well as a few new ones. Luckily for us, the new light rail just started running the day before we arrived and was free the entire time we were there. Many of the records stores were within walking distance from one of the metro stops. I also brought a pile of records to trade with me, to not only cut down on costs, but also to get rid of stuff I probably couldn't get rid of here in ABQ. Amazingly, I got rid of everything I brought to trade.

1. Stinkweeds

Stinkweeds is an ok store, not my favorite, but since it is just across the street from Tracks in Wax, it doesn't hurt to stop in. I did pretty well here, scoring the 1st 88 Fingers Louie 7" for $2, after just selling it a few months back for much more than that. I also got a nice copy of Herbie Hancock's Empyrean Isles. Not an original, but I'm pretty sure its either a late 60s or early 70s pressing (it has the dark blue Blue Note labels). Mostly, Stinkweeds is a hipster record store, lots of punk, indie, hip hop, and small selections of jazz and other styles. They carry a lot of new vinyl, and a lot of cds so if you are looking for for that its worth checking out. The one plus is they seem somewhat selective with what they carry, so there is no wading through hundreds of bad classic rock and 80s synth pop to find a treasure.

Since I was on the light rail, I wasn't able to bring many records with me on the first record buying trip to Stinkweeds, Tracks in Wax, and Revolver. I traded in a copy of Guns n' Roses-Appetite for Destruction, and Mike Heron's Smiling Men with Bad Reputations, but I didn't get very much for them so I wouldn't recommend trading in records here.

2. Tracks in Wax Records

I went here on my last trip as well, and its also just across from one of the new light rail stops. It is almost all used records, with 1000s of rock lps, and large country, comedy, soul, and jazz sections. They also have a large 45 collection, and carry a good amount of pretty rare records that are hanging on the walls. Unfortunately, there $150 copy of Gene Vincent's Bluejean Bop was out of my price range as well as some Sam Cooke lps. I did ok here as well, the Lighting Hopkins record was an excellent find. The John Coltrane-Expression, and Herbie Hancock-Maiden Voyage are both later pressings, but I'm glad to have found these for cheap.

Here, I traded in a copy of Captain Sensible's Women and Captain First, and Plainsong's In Search of Amelia Earhart. These aren't bad records, but I never listen to them, and thought they deserved a better home. The owner traded me these two for the Coltrane record, which was ok with me, but still on the low end. I probably wouldn't trade here again. He originally offered me $3 for the two records, but then decided he'd do the 2 for 1 deal. In general, I like this store, and they had a lot of other records I wanted, but the condition on a number of records was not great. Definitely a store to return to, but it seems a store like this should either have better quality control or have a vinyl listening station.

3. Revolver Records

Near the end of the 1st trip out hunting, I went to Revolver. I think this is a relatively new store, and I had not been there before. It has a large new and used rock section, and decent sections for soul, jazz, and punk, plus smaller sections for prog, blues, and metal. I think there was large classical section, but I don't remember. This place is really tiny and its hard to move around the store, but I'd definitely come back here. It was a little over whelming and my wife was mad by this point, so I didn't have much time to look at everything. I was really excited to find Aretha Franklin's 1st album for almost nothing. Maybe its not worth much, I don't know, but I also recently found her 2nd album and fell in love with that. The 1st one is just as amazing. I also picked up new reissue copies of Jimmy McGriff's Soul Sugar and Roland Kirk's left and right. I'm increasingly trying to move away from buying the new reissues, but these were pretty cheap and I wanted to support the store. The one plus Revolver has over other stores in Phoenix is that they have a vinyl listening station, which helped me put back a crummy James Brown lp I might have purchased if I hadn't been able to listen to it. The listening station itself is pretty crappy, the headphones were taped together and it required some acrobatics to get things to stay on my head, but at least they have one. No trades here.

EDIT: I obviously have no idea what I'm talking about in regards to the Aretha Franklin album. It was her second for Atlantic, and the other one I was talking about, I Never Loved A Man the Way I Loved You, was her first for the label. She had several previous albums on Columbia, and her first came out in 1956. These early Atlantic albums were her first major hits.

4. Hoodlums Music and Movies

Hoodlums may also be new, I don't know, but I didn't go there on my last trip. Its located in South Tempe, fairly far from the light rail, which may affect my decision to go back there if we go back to Phoenix in the near future. They have a large selection of used (and some new) rock lps, and a good amount of jazz and soul records. Not much else in terms of punk or metal, but I did see a few. Since we were in the car, I was able to bring a decent haul of records to trade, and I thought I did well at Hoodlums. This store is definitely a great place to trade in records, I came close to getting what I had paid for everything they took.

I was able to get rid of:
Weather Report-Mysterious Traveller (absolutely horrible record)
McCoy Tyner-Enlightenment (I thought it was boring)
Miles Davis - Dig (a later reissue, and it has Sonny Rollins on it, but this is one of the first recordings for both these artists and does not compare to their later work)
Chick Corea-Three Quartets (ok, but I only listened to it a couple times)
Alice Coltrane-Trancendence (I just got this record, but I don't like it much)
Stanley Clarke-Journey of Love (just ok, a decent dollar find from Krazy Kat, but not worth listening to again)
Bjork-Alarm Call 12" single (I used to have 3 different versions of these, and this is the last one to go. I'm slowly purging my Bjork singles collection because I never ever listen to this stuff)

I was happy to find the Wayne Shorter lp, which I had never heard of, but its pretty good. I'd been wanting to get the live Coltrane record for a while, and I'm glad I found that as well. The Utopia record was only $1, and friend of mine had turned me on to them over the summer. I finally found one of their earlier records and its definitely some great prog rock.

The owner here (I think) saw me checking the condition on a number of records and asked me what I thought about the condition of his selection. I kind of started rambling, but generally their records were in decent shape. I did find a Return to Forever album that they were asking $5 for that I thought should have been a dollar because of a pressing flaw and told him so. I also asked him it would be easier to make decisions if they had a listening station and said they are working on it. I got the impression they just started carrying vinyl so maybe this is a place to check out in the future after they get their feet on the ground.

5. Eastside Records

This place is located right across from ASU, and was my favorite store from the last Phoenix trip. I'm not so sure I'd say the same now, but it is definitely worth a visit. I picked up a pretty trashed copy of Booker T and MG's Hip Hug Her, but it does play well. I also got an original of Roland Kirk's Volunteered Slavery, and an excellent reissue lp of an early Maytals record.

I was able to trade in a copy of High on Fire's The Art of Self Defense, a punk comp called Hysteria from Lengua Armada Discos, and I gave them a copy of this Norwegian hardcore comp I had called ... and they have tears in their eyes. I gave it away because I have two copies that were leftover from my punk distro days, and I haven't been able to find anyone who wanted this in the 6+ years I've had them. The same is true of the Hysteria comp, but this is a much better record and I wouldn't give this away for free. In addition to Hoodlums, Eastside was the other worthwhile place to trade records as they gave me a good deal. Eastside has good selection of punk, rock, soul, and jazz records, plus smaller sections for reggae, metal and hip hop. The condition of a lot of their records is somewhat questionable, but there are definitely some good finds here.

6. Zia Record Exchange

I wasn't planning on going here, but my wife had to return some pants she bought on the morning we left, so I waited here at the Tempe location. I found a used copy of the Frodus/Trans Megetti 7" which I was happy about, but in general the vinyl selection here isn't great and its almost half new lps. (I'd show a picture of the 7" but I haven't been able to figure out how to upload more than 5 pics per post). A better place for used cd's and movies, but its definitely at the bottom of my list of places to return to.

Christmas Eve Finds

2008-12-25T12:36:00.001-08:00

Ahmad Jamal-Freeflight

War-The World is a Ghetto

Leadbelly-The Legend of Leadbelly

The Supremes-Where Did Our Love Go

The Astronauts-Everything is A-OK!

The George Benson Quartet-It's Uptown

I found all these records yesterday. The Jamal disc was a mailbox find (from ebay) which I wanted because its the first disc where he uses the Fender Rhodes, my current favorite instrument of choice. The War, Leadbelly, Supremes, and Astronauts albums (along with the Alex Keack record from the previous post) I picked up from Krazy Kat for a whopping 9 bucks. The Supremes and Astronauts records were also 25 cents a piece but these records surprisingly play very well. The Astronauts disc is the most thrashed, with the cover basically held together with a couple pieces of scotch tape and the vinyl has some pretty bad scratches, but no skips and barely a pop. The Supremes album has one bad pop (luckily on a bad song) but plays very well. The Keack record is actually in decent shape, the vinyl is clean and the cover is still very much intact. I'm not sure I really needed another Leadbelly record, I do have a nice vinyl box set of his Library of Congress recordings, but it doesn't have the song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." This one does, so I'm glad to have it.

The George Benson record is surprisingly good. He is another one of those artists where their records just litter dollar bins, but I had never run across this record until now. It came out very early in his career, and has a great upbeat swinging jazz feel accompanied by Lonnie Smith on organ, as well as baritone sax, bass and drums. Benson even does a couple vocal tracks that have more a soul vibe to them, but don't feel out of place on the album.

I picked this up at the newest vinyl spot in town, Natural Sound. Natural Sound has been around for a while as a new and used CD shop, but just starting carrying vinyl in the last few months. I'll have to dedicate a post pretty soon to some of my finds there, there have been some really great ones. Hopefully the vinyl will help the store stay open, as it never seemed to have much business when I went there. It never really was one of my favorite places because their cd prices can be worse than mall shops, but its an indy shop and I'd hate to seem them pack it up. But, now that they have vinyl, I think I've spent more money there in the last two months than I have in the over four years I've lived in this town.

Christmas Eve playlist

2008-12-25T12:06:00.001-08:00

Back to the vinyl! Yesterday my wife and I made a nice dinner to celebrate Christmas Eve. Not that we care so much about the holiday, but it is a great excuse to drink and stuff our faces. Here is what accompanied us throughout the cooking, eating, and cleaning up.

While we were cooking, we were listening to some Madness and Carl Perkins. The Madness record my wife brought to the collection, and the Carl Perkins record I picked up a weeks ago from a flea market my suegra suggested I go to to check out the vinyl they had. Usually when we cook a big meal it takes a long time, but the preparation went pretty quickly and we didn't even finish the Perkins disc.

While we ate dinner, we listen to a couple more mellow albums. I actually just found the Alex Keack record yesterday from Krazy Kat Records for a quarter, and it was the best 25 cents I spent in a long time. I was expecting a surf record, but this is more lounge/exotica along the lines of Esquivel. It was a great surprise from Crown records, which I had blogged about in my first ever post. The Perez Prado disc was probably not the best dinner music, the voodoo suite is great but a little dark and my suegra hated it.

After we finished dinner, we jammed out to a little Yardbirds while doing the dishes. I also just recently picked this disc up at Charlies for a meezly ten bucks, original mono issue and all.

The menu:

-Spinach salad w/feta, olives, and red onions

-Cheese plate with and Irish cheddar, some kind of white cheese from Seattle's Pike Place Market, and smoked mozarella

-Penne pasta with pesto, roasted tomatoes, kalamata olives, and portabella mushrooms

-Veggie casserole with zucchini, mushrooms, onions, green chile, marinara sauce and cheese

-Garlic bread

-Champagne (we didn't want to wait until midnight, so why not for dinner?)

-Dessert: Apple Pie and Chocolate Mousse cake from the local Flying Star cafe.

Over-priced reissues

2008-12-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

As I work on a response to my previous post, there is a short article over here about all the recent vinyl reissues of old records. I definitely agree with the author that recent reissues of records easily available at most used record stores is really a greedy scam to get people to pay much more for something worth much less. Yeah, artists don't make anything off the used record market, but also many of these artists don't depend on the sales 20-40 year old albums to make a living, if they are even still alive.

EDIT: Case in point, some decided it would be a good idea to re-release Weather Report's Heavy Weather. Not only is this album a complete turd, it litters virtually every record store I have walked in to. I picked this up in close to NM condition for about 75 cents about a year ago. I'd have a hard time giving this away, but maybe I can now play the vintage angle, instead of getting the new reissue for 18.99 why not get the original vintage press for the same price? Hell, I'll even sell it for half the price of the new reissue...

I want my 75 cents back.

In Defense of Piracy: Democratizing the Public Library

2008-12-17T08:51:00.001-08:00

Music is primarily an art form, not just a product to be consumed. I mean this in two ways. First, the logic of music creation follows that of other art forms, literature, painting, sculpture, theatre, etc., not the logic of supply and demand. Music has always been and will always be created as a form of expression regardless of the economic circumstances surrounding its distribution. Artists create because they have to create, not because it is profitable. Writers continued to write, painters continue to paint, musicians continue to play, not because they know they will receive a paycheck every two weeks, but because of something inside them that requires this form of expression. Second, the enjoyment of art should not require certain financial resources, much like public sculptures and murals, free access to public libraries, taking pictures of anything found or created that one considers art, etc. Art has been maintained in various ways, including certain styles of music (i.e. jazz, classical) not because it is profitable, but because it is considered something valuable, something that represents the beauty and the absurdity within us all.

Free access to museums and galleries (in many places), and free access to books through libraries has not destroyed other forms of art. Why has it come to the point where free access to music has been considered a crime? The absurdity of this crime becomes all the more incomprehensible when we view music as art, not as a capitalist product with a copyright. The fight to restrict music to those who can pay has a striking similarity to those who ban books, to authoritarian regimes who restrict internet access and censor cultural production. Is music revolutionary? Music can be powerful, but I’m not so idealistic to think the message of music will destroy the dominant forms of power. What are they afraid of?

For years, music has been available for free through public libraries, although the selection was somewhat restricted due to budgetary and other constraints. Libraries have not killed music, artists still create, labels still produce music, people still attend concerts. Home taping was considered the death knell of music in the 80s. But surprise! music is still around.

Think about what it is that libraries provide to our societies. I can go to the library, check out a book, read it, return it, and never have to pay a penny. I can do the same with a compact disc, a vinyl record or cassette (for those libraries that still have them), or a DVD or VHS. Nothing stops a person from copying any of these works, yet a campaign to shut down libraries to protect copyright laws would be unthinkable as many have come to depend on library access or consider it a right.

While through libraries and other public institutions, many people have access to the greatest literary and artistic creations, for some reason, it is considered inappropriate to have access to the greatest (and no so great) musical creations. To become educated about literature, about painting, and about other arts, requires very little in terms of financial resources. However, to become educated about an equally valid art form, music, regardless if you think that applies to Mozart, John Coltrane, Morbid Angel, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Kanye West, Albert King or the Dead Kennedys, is extremely difficult without a significant financial investment. Music is a record of the human experience, to protect this form of art for the benefit of all, for enjoyment, for enlightenment, for educational purposes, does not require making everyone pay for it, it requires making it available to as many people as possible.

File sharing, music blogs, mp3s, home taping, burning CDs, these are all ways of democratizing art, of creating a democratic library of music that ensures everyone can enjoy a popular form of art. Lovers and appreciators of music have taken it upon themselves through the internet to revive lost musical creations to educate the young and the old about all they missed because of the absurd idea that only one art form can be enjoyed if you pay for it (while others can be free). The nameless and anonymous individuals who provide music for free are creating a historical record of music that could easily be lost or only enjoyed by a very few. Libraries and other public institutions have failed in this regard, appreciators of music as art have come forward to not only protect, but revive and share what should be available to everyone.

Black Friday finds, part 2

2008-11-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

Alice Coltrane-Journey in Satchidananda

Funkadelic-One Nation Under a Groove

Isaac Hayes-Shaft Soundtrack

So Black Friday was almost over, but my wife and I happened to notice that a local comic shop was having a sale, so we decided to check it out. I've been going to this shop for a couple years, but I tend to skip it on my normal digging routes because the vinyl selection hardly changes, the owner doesn't give a crap about condition, and a lot of records are really overpriced. But, this time I was pretty lucky and scored the above three records. The Coltrane record is a reissue, but a very nice one and much cheaper than an original anyways. Besides the records, we also picked up a few Godzilla toys, to add the collection sitting atop my Expedit where most of the records are stored.

All in all, not a bad day of hunting.

Black Friday Finds, part1

2008-11-30T17:00:00.001-08:00

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express-Second Wind

Billy Cobham-Shabazz

The Galaxy Trio-Saucers over Vegas

Charles Brown-Legend!

Venturing out to record stores on Black Friday isn't nearly as exciting as waiting in line at 5am to get into a Wal-mart, but there were sales nonetheless and I had an alright digging day. The first stop was Mecca where they were having a 30% of all used merch sale, so I pulled all of the above 4 records for cheap.

Shopping through the interwebline

2008-11-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hoover - s/t

The Crownhate Ruin - Until the Eagle Grins

I need to bring a little balance to this blog. Most of the posts up to this point have been in the jazz/fusion/blues/soul/funk vein, which is somewhat representative of what I've been currently listening to, but not at all representative of everything I listen to, nor what I've listened to for many years.

I recently acquired the above records through a couple online shops that I frequent incessantly, even if I don't always purchase that often from them. The Hoover record I picked up from Vinyl Junkie Distro based in South Dakota, which carries a lot of punk, indie, and hardcore, including a great selection of used records. I've come into the Hoover camp relatively recently, and all of their records are somewhat hard to come by. I was lucky enough to snatch this up out of the distro's used section. I'm currently waiting on another shipment from the Vinyl Junkie of a shotmaker 7", a three penny opera 7" and the guyver-one lp.

The Crownhate Ruin record I found through Armageddon, a record shop in Rhode Island that also sells records online. I've made several purchases from this shop over the last year or so, and I've gotten some great deals.

While I didn't listen to either of these bands when I was actively involved in the hardcore scene, I did listen to a lot of other bands in a similar vein, such as Twelve Hour Turn, The Red Scare, and Shotmaker. There is something about the style of all of these bands that really grabs me. It is hard to put into words...

Shopping online for records is a weird feeling. In one sense, I can really get the records I want, although many times I've been less than satisfied with the condition of the record I purchased. When buying a record from a local shop, I know exactly what I'm getting, there is no false advertising. Plus, the hunt online for a record is not quite as satisfying as the shock of finding some unheard of but amazing record at a shop, or finding something I've been looking for for years. The online hunt is a little too sanitized for me. I dread the days when nothing arrives in the mailbox, but I don't get the same type of satisfaction as I do after digging in a shop for a couple hours and coming home with some new finds. Even so, my online hunting has become somewhat fanatical, I'm always checking ebay for that great buy it now deal, or hoping that my major wants have all been posted for auction in the hour since my last check. There is a list of online shops I visit almost everyday, if not several times a day, to see if somehow the holy grail of records has been posted since the day before. A lot of this fanaticism is due to my work. I work on my own in front of a computer all hours of the day. In between entering data, reading journal articles, keeping updated on the news, or writing a paper, I constantly check my list of vinyl sites. It's not healthy.

Friends selling their records!

2008-11-21T19:01:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago I found out a friend of mine had decided to sell off his record collection. It took a little while before I was able to check out his records, but this was what I came away with.

After spending most of the night with another friend at the Dragonforce show, we headed over to a small party where some friends were trying to play the board game "Class Struggle." Luckily, the guy selling off his records had hauled them all over the party so I could flip through them and ignore the game. Unfortunately, he also had a Prince Buster record that he wasn't ready to sell, so I'm still waiting to see if I can get my grubby hands on that. But, still an fairly decent and cheap batch of records.

The Stevie Wonder record is just ok, but it does have this great song Superstition on it. About a week ago, my wife had a found a bunch of Sesame Street videos, and one of them was an amazing live performance of this song. If only I could buy a record of the Sesame Street performance...

Anyway, I feel a little bad for my friend selling off his records. I went through a similar phase several years ago, and somewhat regret the decision to purge so many records. Hopefully he doesn't regret it down the road.

Organ sounds from Venezuela

2008-11-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

Tulio Enrique León Ordoñez - Este es el ritmo

I know almost nothing about this record, but it is a pretty entertaining disc of organ music of Latin standards by a Venezuelan artist, and 2 originals. My guess from the back cover is that this was released in the late 50s or early 60s. The title track is definitely my favorite, as it has a sort of creepy lounge feel reminiscent of lucha libre movies from the 60s.

I picked this up about a week ago from a local thrift store that my wife and I happened to notice on our way to dinner. Generally, I stay away from thrift stores when hunting for records, but since my wife loves thrift stores, I always end up checking out the pile of shitty and unplayable records that typically inhabit these waste dumps. The last time I actually bought a record at a thrift store, about a year and half ago, I picked up some terrible Moody Blues record that I still regret purchasing. I may make it my goal someday to collect as many Moody Blues records as possible and invite all the record collectors I know (all three of them) for a cathartic burning of the plague of every record store.

Anways, this most recent thrift pickup wasn't too bad. I picked up this record, which is in great condition considering it is a Latin American pressing (anyone who has shopped for records in Latin America knows that Mint does not actually exist here), another record from Colombia of a group called Los Corraleros that is absolutely wretched, and a pristine copy of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Today's finds, part 2

2008-11-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Chicago Transit Authority-s/t

Alice Coltrane-Transcendence

I found these records and the local Charlie's Records and Tapes. Right when I walked into the store there was really loud, Korn looking guy, that was talking to everyone he could in the store. As I started digging, he began talking to me and ended up being pretty nice, but a little too intense. Record digging is a very solitary activity that requires intense concentration, and talking to someone means I'm not looking at records. I found out this guy was in town from Alaska to see his friend fight in the Fightworld International match that was going on at the local convention center. Seems like a long trip to check out a fight, but I guess I can understand his enthusiasm at the record store as digging in Alaska is probably pretty disappointing. He told me the best thing about digging is meeting people and talking about records, and learning about new music from other diggers. Nope. The best thing about digging... is digging. If there is something great to be found, I don't want some other schmuck to find it before I do, or miss out on something while making small talk with some stranger.

Ok, so I'm being a little sarcastic, but record store jabber is some of the most awful conversation that takes place in this world. This is a sample:

Korn dude: "Aww man! They got some Grace Jones records!"
Me: "that's cool..." (but thinking, I don't give a shit, don't talk to me)
Korn dude: "I wonder if they have any Kraftwerk records here, they got everything in this store!"
Me: "I doubt it, I occasionally see Kraftwerk records around town but its pretty rare." (but thinking, why don't you just look and shut up about it, besides the selection is pretty lame)
Korn dude: "Yeah, I bet everyone keeps those all locked up."

Then there is the awkward silence. Is it appropriate to turn my back on the guy so I can look at more records, or do I just dart for the counter and be happy with what I have in hand?

Anyway, the records I found were decent. I really dig the Chicago record, which is something 18-year-old me would have broken my kneecaps for saying. But, it has a great mix of catchy pop songs, hendrix style guitar jamming, all thrown in with some varying mix of soul, funk, and jazz/rock fusion. The Coltrane record was a little disappointing, her earlier material is much better, but its worth at least a couple more spins.

Today's finds, part 1

2008-11-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Quincy Jones-Walking in Space

The Ramsey Lewis Trio-Another Voyage

Miles Davis-My Funny Valentine

Milt Jackson-Sunflower

Freddie Hubbard-Red Clay

I had a really good day of digging today in some of my local shops. These five all came from We Buy Music. This store was originally going out of business starting last spring, but then ended up moving his store across town because he needed to get rid of more of his records. The owner had a pretty decent sale going on for about the last six months, but now its ended, so it seems he is no longer retiring. I'll have to ask him about it next time I visit. But, lucky me, he said since I'm a regular he'll stick hook me up with the discount, I just have to wink and nod and say obscure things to him if there are other customers in the store until he remembers to give me the discount. Should be interesting... although there are hardly ever any customers in the shop, I can't wait to ask him about that one thing he talked about that one time he did this other thing, and so on...

Anyway, the real gem of this bunch is Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay. I had never heard any of these records before I picked them up, which is always somewhat exciting and nerve wracking. There is nothing worse than picking up five records that are all terrible. Red Clay is from 1970 and features most of Miles Davis' sidemen. It is a somewhat unique bridge between the hardbop of Davis' earlier quintets and the fusion of the late 60s and early 70s. While most of the tracks are in the hardbop vein, Herbie is playing electric piano on most tracks and there is the occasional funk and rock beat. I haven't been blown away like this in a while by a random find. I would definitely put this up there with other classics like Coltrane's Giant Steps, Rollins' Saxaphone Colossus or Davis' Round About Midnight.

The Quincy Jones and Ramsey Lewis discs (along with the Miles Davis disc) were all dollar bin finds, and are pretty amazing themselves. I was completely unfamiliar with any other works by these artists, but I picked up the Jones disc based on the presence of Roland Kirk and Freddie Hubbard, and the Lewis disc had some electric piano. I am currently a sucker for anything with electric piano right now, and the Lewis disc does not disappoint.

The Milt Jackson disc is definitely the weakest of the five discs. I hate the vibes, and I knew I wasn't going to like Jackson's vibe playing here easier, but I thought the presence of Herbie, Freddie, and Billy would make up for it. Not really. Its not a really bad record, but for me, the vibes are about as classy as blowing in coke bottles, and they are way too loud in the mix. Freddie's playing is decent, but Herbie is barely audible.

Drunk blogging with Brian Auger and the Trinity

2008-10-30T21:28:00.001-07:00

Today was a very long day, I took my second and last comprehensive exam before I move onto the dissertation stage of my degree (I'm working on a Ph.D. in political science). I had to answer three questions and I had nine hours. I turned in a 41 page essay and finished in 6 hours, which meant I had time to decompress at the record store before going out drinking with my fellow exam takers. I ended up spending quite a while at one of my favorite local record shops, Mecca Records and Books, listening to a bunch of random records before deciding on bringing home this album by Brian Auger.

I have never listened to anything by Brian Auger before, but luckily Mecca is one of those stores where you can actually listen to most items before you buy, so this sounded pretty good after checking it out. I didn't really feel like picking up a bunch of records today, since I also received in the mail my Flower Travellin' Band-Made in Japan and a copy of Miles Davis' On the Corner. The trip was more about getting my mind off of political science, and there is nothing better than just flipping through records and listening to a bunch of unheard of albums. I was thinking about also picking up a Lydia Lunch record called Honeymoon in Red, and a Fred Frith record, but Brian Auger's psychedelic rock/fusion thing caught my attention.

Right now I jamming to it as I write this post, a little buzzed after going out with the other poor souls that had to suffer the exam process as well, and after having a slightly less than coherent argument over voter registration and voter id with my wife.

88 Fingers Louie

2008-10-27T19:59:00.001-07:00

This is 88 Fingers Louie's first 7" from 1993 on Go Deaf Records. I just sold it. Why? Its absolutely horrible, but rare. I love this band, and I picked this up years ago used in a Chicago record store, but its only gotten a handful of listens over the years.

When I was growing up in the Chicago 'burbs, I was introduced to punk rock through going to VFW shows of bands like 88 Fingers Louie, the Bollweevils, Slapstick, 30 Seconds Deep, Hashbrown, and other Chicago bands of the mid-90s. I think 88FL was one of my favorites because their guitar player was an obvious metal head, with long hair and white tennis shoes, and definitely stuck out from the rest of the band and the scene.

I have this really bad habit of needing the entire discographies of my favorite bands, despite the fact that most bands only have a few good records, and if they stick around, manage to put out garbage for years on end. This bad habit explains why I actually own the 80s albums by Deep Purple and why I continue to buy all the new Cure albums. Selling off this 88FL record was somewhat therapeutic in that I let go of an absolutely awful record that for some reason I felt like I needed for the "collection." Hopefully I don't regret it, but I am at least consoled in the fact that the money went towards the purchase of one of my major wants, the Flower Travellin' Band's-Made in Japan. When it arrives I'll post some pics of my FTB collection.

The psycho geography of record fairs

2008-10-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

This was posted over at waxidermy, but definitely deserves a read. Here's a sample:

So thank god for record blogs, where you can hype your recent finds, and attempt to increase their worth through the osmosis of the sound-file. This sometimes back-fires as records described as KBD punk monsters on the blog or in the Ebay description have sounded a bit like poorly played REO Speedwagon to these ears, and described “Acid Folk masterpieces” have come across like James Taylor or the hippie couple in Mike Leigh’s “Nuts In May”. Pure gloating is also an option. An obsessive Swedish psychedelic fatso posts photos of his latest rare record finds, like others post photos of their cats or their grandchildren. This comes across as a bit sad, lonely and unhealthy.
I’d rather hang with the goths and their frikandellen.

Black Mass Lucifer

2008-10-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

This Black Mass Lucifer record has a lot of sentimental value for me in terms of my personal evolution as a record collector. My entry into record collecting really started with punk rock and hardcore, primarily because when I began going to punk shows, most bands at the time only had seven inches for sale, or if they had full lengths, their LPs were always cheaper than the CD. What does this have to do with satanic moog music? This record was the first important addition to my collection that I had picked up more as a collector than because it was cheaper than a CD. I had absolutely no idea what it was when I bought it, and it was the real loner in my collection for a long time afterwards before I began to branch out musically and become a more serious collector. Even after several purges of my collection, this record has stuck around and still gets the occasional play.

I bought this record probably about 10 years ago, maybe longer, at Dodd's Records in Grand Rapids, MI. This shop was always a strange place for me when I was younger. I don't think the owner had realized music was still being made after the mid-1980s, and so I typically had no idea what most of the stuff was in his shop. It was stuffed full of LPs of all genres, as well as a lot of cassettes and a handful of CD's. I primarily went there to buy record supplies, like sleeves and the occasional record box. The one thing I never liked about this shop is that all his records were sealed (I have to look at the vinyl before I purchase), even though I never did get anything here that wasn't mint. I'm not sure how much longer this store will be around, or if its even open now. I was there two years ago and picked up a few unspectacular records, but the owner is incredibly old and works by himself. Its amazing to me Mr. Dodd has kept this store open; I wish I could go interview him and find out the history of the store. Its almost like a time warp walking into this place, and I bet he has some great stories about Grand Rapids and the changes he has seen over the years just working at his shop.

The record itself is a black mass performed by Mort Garson on a moog synthesizer that was released in 1971. I know very little about this record, but Garson did release a number of other moog-based records based on other (non-satanic) themes. Its a fairly enjoyable record, if you are into dark-sounding electronic music. It definitely has the feel of a soundtrack to a cheesy slasher flick from the 70s, but its worth a listen if you can find it.

In Search of the blues... pt. 2

2008-10-18T18:53:00.001-07:00

If you haven't yet, read part 1 of this post first.

This sleeve came with my recently purchased copy of Miles Davis' E.S.P. and served as a faux newspaper for Columbia Records to promote other artists on the label. The short description of Leadbelly, intended to promote an upcoming record of his and other blues artists, is telling in what it leads readers and listeners to think of as the black experience and what the blues is supposed to mean.

"Leadbelly is generally thought of as a folk singer. But one look at the man and you can tell that he lived the blues. He had a scar on his neck, ear to ear, from a knife fight. The fight ended because he was left for dead. In 1917 Leadbelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing a man in Texas. He literally sang his way to freedom eight years later by writing a song for the governor and obtaining a pardon. Instant Replay. In 1930 Leadbelly was sentenced to ten years in a Louisiana prison for assault with intent to kill. He composed a song for the governor, and by 1935 he was out of prison, making his first commercial recordings. They were blues (What else?)"

Besides the somewhat racist overtones of this description, the selling point for Columbia was that Leadbelly was an authentic blues musician, because he had experienced misery and violence in his life. Hamilton spends a lot of time in her book on Leadbelly, and suggests the above story is highly implausible, but was embellished to promote a certain image.

The liner notes on these records of Robert Johnson, the most famous of delta blues singers, does not deviate from the above script. In the liner notes of Vol. 1, it states:

"Robert Johnson sang primitive blues about women. His references were earthy and only thinly disguised. He lived the life he sang about and which ultimately killed him."

Nevermind the fact, as Hamilton discusses, we know very little about Johnson's life and the evidence surrounding his death is more myth than fact. Even the liner notes go on to say how little is known of Johnson, but somehow we are led to believe he sang about his experiences, and this makes his music authentic and primitive.

Even more telling is an interesting footnote at the bottom of the liner notes of the same record:

"Country blues artists are usually distinguished from city blues artists by almost exclusive use of guitar accompaniment or other semi-legitimate instruments like kazoos, harmonicas, jugs, slide whistles, washboards and washtub basses. City blues artists are generally accompanied by piano, and guitar, bass, drums and occasionally one or more brass and reed instruments. The style of a country blues artist is generally more primitive and direct than that of a city blues performer."

Even here, we are lead to believe that city blues is less authentic and "real", the country blues artists, such as Robert Johnson and Leadbelly, are more primitive and better representatives of the "authentic" blues. Somehow, the black experience in the cities is implied here to be less valid. As Hamilton mentions repeatedly in her book, The white pilgrims and record collectors tended to denigrate black popular music and attempted to keep "true" blues musicians from moving to the city, as this would somehow corrupt their abilities to transmit the primitive black experience from the countryside.

In search of the blues... pt. 1

2008-10-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Several months back I read Marybeth Hamilton's In Search of the Blues. Here is a brief synopsis (courtesy of Amazon):

Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton-we are all familiar with the story of the Delta blues. Fierce, raw voices; tormented drifters; deals with the devil at the crossroads at midnight.

In this extraordinary reconstruction of the origins of the Delta blues, historian Marybeth Hamilton demonstrates that the story as we know it is largely a myth. The idea of something called Delta blues only emerged in the mid-twentieth century, the culmination of a longstanding white fascination with the exotic mysteries of black music.

Hamilton shows that the Delta blues was effectively invented by white pilgrims, seekers, and propagandists [i.e. record collectors] who headed deep into America’s south in search of an authentic black voice of rage and redemption. In their quest, and in the immense popularity of the music they championed, we confront America’s ongoing love affair with racial difference.

I found this book fascinating unlike most music-related books out there, primarily because its theme of the search for authenticity is relevant beyond an understanding of the blues or the manias of record collectors. In this book, white record collectors and other researchers had preconceived notions of what black music was supposed to represent. To them, the blues represented the uncorrupted black experience, and they had little tolerance for the nuances, subtleties, contradictions, and emotions that are not only part of life, but that did not fit into a rigidly constructed idea of authentic black music that is only about oppression, sorrow, and misery.

According to the reviews on Amazon, it seems some people are pretty upset about Hamilton's claims and attack her for supposedly lacking real knowledge of the blues. But, this book isn't really about the blues per se, but about those who recorded, collected, listened, promoted, and marketed the blues.

Looking at some the blues records I own, I am now struck by how much Hamilton’s story rings true. Much of the liner notes that accompany the records tend to stress the authenticity of the artist as a selling point, rather the music on its own merits.

Some examples:

On the back of this John Lee Hooker records released on the Everest Records Archive of Folk & Jazz Music, there are several telling quotes:

"John Lee Hooker is one of the few authentic blues artists left in this country today.... While Jazz is still a struggling infant and spirituals are on the uprise in America, authentic blues is being sung less and less throughout the county."

There is no deliberate snubbing of this art form; on the contrary, it is most welcomed. The truth of the matter is that the authentic blues of the John Lee Hooker type was spawned and nurtured in the misery, ignorance, and destitution of the Negro in a particular American society. "

The notes in their entirety are in the picture above, they should be readable after clicking on the image.

Next up is Howlin' Wolf's Moanin' in the Moonlight.

This record also has some pretty choice quotes.

"In contrast to the ballad, which tends to present an over-idealization of life, blues presents a factual accounting which more often than not is sad rather than happy. The blues tells of trouble, of faithless men and women, of disaster. But with a true human touch, it also tells of hope...."

"Many of the aforementioned aspects of folk music and blues will be readily discernible in these sides by Howlin' Wolf. His primitive quality, it may be stated, goes hand-in-hand with the authenticity of his material. Like all folk artists, Howlin' Wolf is a songwriter too, and the songs in this album are all his own. In the true folk tradition, the story each song tells is straight from the heart of Howlin' Wolf."

In both cases, these records make the claim that these singers are authentic, leading the listener to believe that the artists have actually suffered the events in their songs. Unlike other forms of music, the blues is about "factual" events, it is presumably more true, more historical, than other forms of music and it is because of these qualities that the blues should be appreciated. Whether or not these two artists, or blues singers in general, are singing about actual things they have felt or experienced is beside the point. The point is we as listeners are led to believe so, which somehow makes us feel more connected to what is "primitive", "authentic", and "true."

to be continued...

"You must be one weird guy..."

2008-10-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

At least that is what the clerk at one of my local record shops said when I bought this:

Right, and he listens to the Swans and kinda looks like this guy:

In all seriousness though (no intent here to insult a local clerk, he's really nice!), I've sort of been keeping my eye out for this Michael Jackson record. A few months ago while having dinner and drinks with some friends, they played Off the Wall for us and I really dug it. My love of Michael goes way back to my childhood when another friend and I would blast my Bad tape and take turns jumping on the bed and singing along at the top of our lungs. And no, we didn't have any other friends at the time as you might guess.

After leaving the store, I also found that Michael has his own special surprise for me, a dead spider in its web. (The record store in question re-shrinks all their records, so while I always ask to check the vinyl before buying, I rarely open gatefolds to see what dirt, tags, and other weirdness lay inside).

Also on this visit, I managed to pick up the following records. Davis' ESP has been on my hunting list for a while, as well as the Maiden album. Living in New Mexico, Iron Maiden is the equivalent of the holy grail, so I was somewhat surprised to see this available at a reasonable price. Not sure why I got the Gentle Giant record, I'm a sucker for cool fantasy covers. I guess that explains why I have a pile of Yes records that are extremely painful to stomach.

those krazy kats of jazz fusion

2008-10-15T19:41:00.001-07:00

These are some recent finds from Albuquerque's Krazy Kat Records. For as long as I have lived here, I have only recently started my rounds at Krazy Kat. For some reason, I never thought about checking out this place, and it wasn't until a recent news story about the store being raided by the police and representatives of the RIAA for pirating CD's that I thought I should see what they have (before the close down??).

I think it was back in August that I first went down to the store, and I ended up spending about 3 hours on my first visit. Krazy Kat is actually two separate stores, one is a regular store of new and used records and CD's, and the other is a discount store full of records from $1-5, cassettes and old VHS movies. In the regular store, underneath the displayed records and the cd's are shelves upon shelves of unpriced and largely unorganized records. After quickly flipping through the records on display, I decided to make the gargantuan effort of going through the mass of unorganized records and ask for prices. Most of these where behind other boxes of empty jewel cases, cardboxes and other garbage the store had laying around, so there was a lot of moving junk around to make space and trying to get out of the way of other customers trying to walk around me. After hours of sitting on the floor, my pants were filthy, my hands were black from going through so many dirty records, and my back was telling me cd's and mp3s are not as hazardous to my health. One of these days when I don't feel like working and am feeling slightly masochistic, I will dig through the massive number of boxes of 45s they have sitting around. At least they were nice enough to let me wash the black grime off my hands in their employee bathroom, although the employee kitchen/bathroom area was so disgusting it made me imagine what Amy Winehouse's apartment might look like.

On the first trip, I came away pretty happy, with a nice minty copy of an early pressing of John Coltrane's My Favorite Things, the double LP set of Syd Barrett's two albums, a cheap copy of Mercyful Fate's Melissa and some other things I can't remember right now. The pricing process was pretty frustrating. I have no idea what they were doing when they took the records away to be priced after I pulled out those I was interested in (maybe checking ebay??), but they'd come back with trashed copies of the non-gatefold version of the Allman Brothers-Eat a Peach for $10-12. I just wanted a listening copy, and just because they taped the completely split and water-stained seams for me, I wasn't gonna fork over that much money for it. Not to mention $8-9 for a junky copy of Bad Company's first album (somehow the images on the inner gatefold were completely torn off).

While their idiosyncratic pricing policy was laughable, they also have a great selection of good records in fairly decent condition in their discount store. I recently walked away with the above four records for under $10, and the vinyl for each plays great with only a few surface scratches. I'm pretty new to the whole fusion thing, but it was great to walk away with some classic fusion albums for such a low price. Next time I may have to grab one of the ten copies of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's tapes they have there.

Hot Roddin'

2008-10-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Here are two records from Crown Records: The Winners-Checkered Flag, and The Hot Rodders-Big Hot Rod. Both of these records were picked out by my wife at the most recent Albuquerque Record Show held on September 28th.

Here's some info on Crown Records courtesy of Both Sides Now (more here):

Crown Records was a budget label for the Bahari Brothers, who ran Modern and RPM labels. It started in 1957 and continued for about a dozen years, earning itself the reputation of the king of the junk record labels. Aside from endlessly reissuing the legitimate hits that were on Modern and RPM, and the B.B. King material, what Crown had to offer was musical junk food on plastic plates. The covers and the vinyl were cheaply made, fell apart almost instantly, and the records sounded worn out right out of the package.

Neither my wife or I had any idea what these records were, they were picked up on a whim, but it generally was a good choice. Another seller actually had the same records for sale but they were completely trashed, these are in great condition keeping in mind the low quality of the records on this label. While the records we found are in great shape, the covers are exceptionally thin and the vinyl has a number of pressing flaws in the form of dimples that don't affect play. I couldn't find any information on either of these Hot Rod bands, but my (somewhat uneducated) guess is they were studio creations put together by the label in the early 60s. Nevertheless, both bands are fairly decent, garage-style rock and roll with sax, dubbed in race car sounds, and lyrics about cars.