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.
