11/27/10 Waterloo

Hungry for Turkey. COME ON. You're hungry for music!

Spread Butter/(Into) Somethin' (Else) by The Dead Presidents -- 4
The Crawling Distance by Robert Pollard --11
Let's Get It On -- 6
Out of Our Head by The Rolling Stones --4
Smile by Laura Nyro --3
Velvet Underground and Nico -- 13

Let's start off with the Pollard. Robert Pollard is just too damn prolific. Every time I see one of his records used I have to snatch it up. Last time I was at waterloo I passed this one by for Elephant Jokes. I definitely made the right decision. However, there is some madcap brilliance to each one of his records so it's always worth a shot.

The Nyro wasn't as bad as I thought, sure it lacks any fast rip-roaring songs such as Sweet Blindess and Lu, but what's here is steady and consistent. All the songs are mid tempo, but they sound better than some of the slower ones in her earlier work.

I got the dead presidents disc because it had K on it. Yes that's stupid, and the more I look into K's back catalog, the more I realize that my vision of twee=K is not working out. It's a hip hop single that had enough tracks to look like an album. The songs (yes all two of them) aren't bad, but I don't need four versions of them.

Let's Get It On... Along with the Barry White, my record collection is now prepared for erotic nights.

But.... I can't get no satisfaction. I'm out of our heads. This record is a bunch of covers with a couple of originals tossed in, which is to say it's where the Stones started.

My brother got me VU+Nico. I love this album, and all of the velvets' stuff (well not counting sqeeze and White Light/White Heat is my least favorite but...) The cool thing about this record is that it has the original mono mixes which sound a whole lot different than what is on most cds. It's weird.

Well... that's it.

Oh I did get Exile on Main St. and All the Young Dudes. Both are pretty sweet. Special thanks Lauren.

10/16 Waterloo Twice

Yeah... so I initially went to waterloo to get a copy of Sufjan Steven's new album on record, but they didn't have it so I got these records

What's Going on --12
Jardim Electrico by Os Mutantes -- 14
E Seus Cometas No Pais Do Baurets by Os Mutantes --14

Then I went with A friend and got these
Volunteered Slavery by Roland Kirk -- 8
Elephant Jokes by Robert Pollard --11

You should know about What's Going on...

For the mutantes, I was really feeling let down by their latest (I mean Sergio Diaz's latest)... A paper will follow about how the Tropicalist project has become irrelevant. I hadn't heard those two so I got them... I was not disappointed.

Roland Kirk- 1 man, 3 saxophones. Cool little live set.

Elephant Jokes also makes up for some disappointment over GBV Stuff (Looking at you Isolation Drills and Do the Collapse)...

REDEMPTION ALL AROUND

David Bowie, Shawn Philips, and other observations

Ok... This is sort of strange. I'll be doing a cd review. I don't always like spending money so I get cds from the library, fun stuff right. Well the cd I want to talk about is David Bowie's Diamond Dogs. I sort of feel bad smack talking it because this album, along with Pin Ups, are sort of a low point for DB. These are very much of a period in between abandoing Ziggy and becoming the Thin White Duke. This much seems apparent: if Pin Ups saw Bowie looking back on his days as Davy Jones with such groups as the Mannish Boys, Diamond Dogs shows him trying to grasp what he will become. Simply put, Bowie doesn't know what alter-ego he wants to be. The theme of the album (i.e. Orwell's 1984) and the disturbing dog penis point to that glam rock persona we are all familiar with. However, after Aladin Sane, which cannot be denied as a very small and safe step away from Ziggy Stardust, this option seems tired. The increase of strings and saxophone, in my humble opinion, do point towards a Young Americans. The result is a "concept album" showcasing Bowie stretching himself. There are, however, a couple of good tracks, but if you own this album, you probably do so for one song: "Rebel Rebel". It's everything that's right about Bowie and it's not surprising that it is still a staple of his live shows.

The other Bowie album I want to talk about is Low. First off, the cover is great: it's otherworldly (a still from the movie "The Man Who Sold the World") and it's a visual pun (Low Profile ha ha...). On side A he takes the sound of Station to Station and ups the ante. The songs here are more bizarre and, oddly enough, more poppy. Side B finds Brian Eno helping create various song-scapes which fit in nicely after side a. Largely this album succeeds in all the places diamond dogs fails: Bowie takes on ONE alter-ego intensely, he focuses on the sound more than a concept, and there is new territory being explored.

For my last record of the post I want to talk about Shawn Phillip's Second Contribution. I bought this record because it has a guy in a CAPE with a 12-string guitar. The review on AMG says the sound is dated but that is an understatement. It starts off with a couple of songs that sound like the sort of stuff Frank Zappa loved to parody (see we're only in it for the money). Also the title for the first song is "She Was Waitin' For Her Mother At The Station In Topino And You Know I Love You Baby But It's Getting Too Heavy To Laugh"... what the hell... If you have to abbreviate your song title on the record it's probably too long. Who would guess what the hell "SWWFHMATSITAYKILYBBIGTH" stands for. But he is from Fort Worth and the record is a grower. At the end I found myself enjoying it despite the dated sound.

Michael Cera is the new dandy. I know it's weird but check it out... He's Twee as shutyomouth. He tries to wear nice clothes. And he's really sexually awkward. He's so stuck in this role, it's weird. He needs to get out of it or else people will be like "Hey, you're the same in every movie so that's who I think you are. We're Cousin's... Marry Me." yep...

Review again

Ok lauren.... another two.

I originally thought that Edgar Winter's White Trash would be a good sleazy funk album... I was wrong. First off it's a Blue Eyed Soul album and while I love that genre (well sometimes) as much as the next this record has some problems. The first of which is a pretty big one--- There are really only 3 songs. Maybe studying computers has made me a nihilist reductionary but it's true. The first is the sort of classic horns good time feeling one. The second is the piano with the gospel-esque chior in the background with a bunch of soloists shrieking. The third is a combination of the two. It just ends up feeling really awkward. A lot of people hate on young americans but I feel like that album is much more substantive than this one.

Now on to Kimono in My House by Sparks. This album is great because it's from when the Sparks Brothers were back in their prime. Let's face it, my first Sparks album, Angst In My Pants, has several weak spots (I'm looking at you "I Predict", "Nicotina", and "Tarzan And Jane"), but in the jolly old UK the Sparks aren't sparking around. Each song is zany and the band is in top form. Also the guitar-keyboard conflict is not at an all time high (i.e. the synths haven't made their move yet , so much so that the guitars must strike back in the previous album mentioned). Bravo brothers mael, way to freak out those glam rock kids.

Reviews and stuff

Let's start off with the easiest one, Goat's Head Soup. I like it enough to buy a better copy... bam done.

Help!, and yes the American one. Let's see how pissed off I am by it's butchering (ha ha...) Well "I've Just Seen A Face" isn't here. Am I pissed off? Not really, Rubber Soul really benefits from it's inclusion. I don't really care for Ringo so "Act Naturally" isn't a big loss either. "It's Only Love" is also on Rubber Soul so eh... I don't care for old school r&b covers so "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" isn't bad either. It does hit me in the gut to know that "Yesterday" was taken away as well as "You Like Me Too Much" (another harrison joint but I am partial). However, I don't mind the Indian interludes so it's all good.

Stevie Wonder's Talking Book is great. It's just a classic motown record. That's pretty much all there is to say about it.

Hunky Dory by David Bowie's pretty bitching too. It's usually compared to The Man That Sold the World (because Hunky Dory is not heavy metal) and Space Oddity (because it's similar). But it's great. It's got classic bowie moments and it seems he's trying to taking on music hall and velvet underground stuff.

Ok well those are four yo.

10/1/10 Half Price and Exchange

Ok so I got a bunch of records from my friend and I also got some from half price clearance. I won't go through all of them (or most of them) in this one sitting but I will go over all of them eventually.

Lauren Records--
Hunky Dory by David Bowie --10
Low by David Bowie -- 10
Kimono My House by Sparks --18
Red Apple Falls by Smog --13

1/2 Price
Help by the Beatles -- 8
Goat's Head Soup by the Rolling Stones -- 6
Talking Book by Stevie Wonder -- 4
Edgar Winter's White Trash --1
Second Contribution by Shawn Phillips--1
Live Peace in toronto 1969 by the plastic ono band --1
Shaved fish by the plastic ono band -- 1

So I'll go through these as I get time... yeah

7/24 1/2 price north lamar

So I needed some exercise so I decided I'd actually go through clearance at a half price. I've learned that austin stores know more than stores in the suburbs so they are less likely to throw you a bone (who puts a perfect copy of shaft in clearance?). Anyways

Records (non clearance)
Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus by Spirit -- 3
Pisces, aquarius, capricorn & jones ltd. by the monkees -- 6
Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 -- 6

Clearance Records (all 1 dollar)
Gumbo Millennium by 24-7 Spyz
Like a Version by Two Nice Girls
Ow! Ow! Ow! by Barrence Whitfield and the Savages
Belafonte at Carnegie Hall
Shh by Ten Years After
A Space in Time by Ten Years After
The sound of Boots
The Ways a Woman Can Be by Teresa Trull
The Sound of Music by The dB's

Ok... Let's start of with Mendes. This album is what introduced Brazilian music to American audiences. Don't get me wrong, I definitely prefer the tropicalia lot over mendes but if you're going to get a classic "Brazilian" record this is it.

The interesting thing about the Monkees is that they had a lot of great song writers behind them, namely Harry Nilson. This one's cool because it's supposed to be more psychedelic.

I bought spirit because it looked psychedelic (more on this later). I got a feeling I'll enjoy this one. There's horns on a couple of tracks!

Ok... There is no possible way to know if you'll like an album or not if you don't listen to it. But, there is a good chance that if you like the cover that you'll like the record in some way. What I look for in covers can be broken down into a couple of areas--- 1. Does it look like it's trying to be psychedelic or rip off the beatles? 2. Does it look like punk (not new wave)? 3. Is it absolutely hilarious? 4. Does it look like a weird singer/songwriter thing? 5. Do you actually know what it is and want it? So obviously #5 is what you're looking for but you know... beggars can't be choosers

24-7 Spyz looked like a De La Soul (in the 3ft high and rising era). I mean there are flowers everywhere and there's a map of the world, and they have hearts on the back. Well I was sorely mistaken. They're a Living Color rip off band. So yeah... hard rock 90's stuff.

When I saw OW! OW! OW! I thought what the hell is rerun doing on an album, why did someone choose to have this album look like a highlighter heart attack, and why is he so excited? Well, it's sort of a classic r&b thing going on.

The dB's looked sort of punkish on the back and (I realized this later) VAN DYKE PARKS PLAYS KEYBOARDS. Yeah... Van Dyke Parks is a bad ass. So they are supposed to be the link between Big Star (R.I.P.) and Rem. I think they live up to it. AMG says that their earlier albums are more interesting but this is still a nice slice of pop.

What can I say? I'll take any madonna pun. Like a version is a cover ep. It's got a sonic youth cover (cotton crown) so what's not to like. Apparently two nice girls were a lesbian country rock band, and it shows. They're definitely sporting the Rosie O'Donnell look on the back.

Harry Belafonte is real cool. Most people know him for Day O. This live concert is great because it has all of his good stuff from the first couple of lps.

I got two lps by Ten Years After. Both looked like the sort of typical psych stuff. So far I haven't been disappointed. Apparently they played at woodstock. AMG says that the lyrics are going to suck though... that sucks.

The sound of Boots looked like it was a rip off of a serious sort of jazz things. Turns out it's a white guy from Nashville. Still seems cool but it's really poppy for jazz.

Teresea Trull is really good. She's sort of like if laura nyro rocked harder. Apparently she's a lesbian (olivia, the record label was a part of the women's music movement in the 70's) as from the first lyric "I'd like to make love with you 'cause you're a woman and I am one too." It's really really cool that I found this record. Also everything is translated into spanish too.

7/22 Antones

I felt bad because I walked there and bought a plastic 7' sleeve with pennies. They don't have any paper sleeves two weeks later.

Records
Odessa (again) by the BeeGees -- 20
Bringing It All Back Home by Dylan -- 13
Who's Next -- 8
Wild Honey by the Beach Boys -- 8
Young Americans by Bowie -- 15

How can you say no to a double album with a felt cover? yes felt! I got this one already but it was only a one album version. Who cuts down a double album on a reissue? Anyways, Odessa (with Blonde on Blonde and the White Album) is the essential double album of the 60's. Finished the 80's. Now I need to discover the 70's.

Bringing It All Back Home is sort of the start of bob dylan going electric. Sort of the first of the trilogy the other two being highway 61 revisted and blonde on blonde. So yeah... good stuff.

I feel like Who's Next is sort of the only who album I'm interested in. It's a classic. But I might feel like my desire to hear the garage rock genius that is pete townshend might endear me less to it.

I've been looking for Wild Honey ever since I heard a friend's and friends do a raunchy cover of it. It's a really good album though. This album was right after smiley smile. I mean by this time Brian had totally freaked out and you can tell by this album that there was going to be a huge difference in the beach boys.

I've recently discovered that since bowie changes styles so often that each album can be described thusly: Bowie does (insert genre here). For example, ziggy stardust is bowie does glam, alladin sane = bowie does glam, AGAIN, berlin trilogy=bowie does Kraut Rock (part 1,2, and 3), etc... Well young americans is bowie does funk/soul/r&b. Yeah... Fame was co-written by John Lennon and james brown ripped it off. Also it's got luther vandross (fo those in the know). So check it out.

later

7/14 End of an Ear

End of an Ear is awesome. They have a huge selection and a lot of rare records (they had music to eat by the hampton grease band and an original out to lunch by eric dolphy). So the question becomes is it better than waterloo? Waterloo is still your store if you only want reissues and that sort of thing, but end of in ear's used record selection doesn't suck like waterloo. What I'm saying is end of an ear is a great place if you looking for a record and you don't care if it's a reissue or not. Yeah... it's pretty much the best store in austin. By the way... I think Snake Eyes Vinyl and Friends of Music are gone... I drove by but I couldn't find them.

Oh if you spend about a 100 bucks they'll give you a tote bag.

Records--
Reissues--
Phonography by R. Stevie Moore --20
Double Nickles on the Dime -- 14

Used--
Heroes by David Bowie --7
New Tijuana Moods by Mingus -- 6
Brilliant Corners by Monk -- 8
Island of Living Puke by Zoogz Rift -- 5
Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround part 1 by the kinks -- 10
One Nation Under A Groove by Funkadelic -- 6
Highway 61 Revisited--12


Ok.... Lets start off with the reissues.

During the 90's the term "lo fi" was thrown around alot, but have you ever wondered where it came from? R. Stevie. Moore is the answer. As early as 1976 he has been releasing home recorded albums and has shown no sign of letting up. Phonography is his debut. Check it out, the residents will recommend it to you.

What else is there to say about double nickles? I mean that along with zen arcade and daydream nation, it's a definitive 80's double album. Pick it up on record because some of the cd pressings leave off songs.

Now on to used stuff.

Really looking forward to Heroes. It's one of the three Berlin Albums. David Bowie originally was supposed to do the soundtrack to The Man Who Fell to Earth (starring David Bowie) but contractual obligations prevented him from doing so. He was hanging out with Brian Eno and thus Low was born. Heroes follows the same format (Pop songs on one side Instrumentals on the other).

The copy of New Tijuana Moods I got is interesting because it doesn't have the saucy hispanic wench leaning up to a jukebox (which I would prefer) HOWEVER it does have a shit ton of alternate takes and stuff like that. But it's one of mingus' better albums.

Usually when people play jazz piano there are two approaches: the first is attempting to play as many notes as possible in the time allotted, the second is choosing your notes carefully and sparsely. Theolonious Monk was sort of the founder of the second. This album is great, I mean dig that celeste on Pannonica. But the greatest part of jazz records such as these is that nothing's overdubbed but the music is still challenging. On the back it jokes about how much the musicians complained.

Anyways. On to Lola. What is there to say? It's the album that put the kinks firmly in the arena (har har) of stadium rock.

Zoogz rift is more interesting. I actually saw this one on the floor. From what I remember he's into zappa and beefheart... and apparently wrestling. Wikipedia says this "Keyboard Magazine ... described Rift's album The Island of Living Puke as 'moments of outstanding free-form rock, sandwiched between scrupulously obscene interruptions'" Yep.

The final one was a steal. They had this one with a "stuck" gatefold for 6 and another one that wasn't stuck for 12. I figured for 6 bucks I could unstick it. Parliament and Funkadelic are pretty much the same band on different labels. They eventually exploded to more bands than you can shake a stick at so I'm not going to get into that. Anyways if you're looking to get started into p-funk stuff go with this one or Maggot Brain.

Highway61.... bought it for a friend.

Liz Phair Funstyle Review

Ok... it seems no one will touch the thing except with adjectives like "batshit weird". So I'll do it.

First off though, if you're expecting it to be guyville just stop reading. Liz Phair will probably never put out another album as good as Exile. I've said it before, but it's still true, one of exile's strengths is that since it was her first album she had her pick of every single one of the girlysound songs. She's had five years to do this one and I doubt even if she had as many songs as she did then that it would be as good.

But, I think girlysound is a good comparison point. On girlysound there were songs about elvis and cows for goodness sake! With that in mind it makes more sense that a third of the tracks are "joke" tracks. I mean how can you take liz seriously when she's wrapping over a tabla beat or when she's impersonating a hardass east-coast soccer mom? So if you didn't like bollywood, don't worry, it's not the best track on the album by far. However, after repeated listens I found myself looking forward to these tracks the most just because they're more interesting instrumentally than the other more "serious" tracks. But yeah... Smoke, Bollywood, Beat is Up, and U Hate It are all pretty much throwaways much in the vein of Say You taken to the extreme.

So you might say, what of the other tracks that aren't blatant jokes... Well some of them are good (a few maybe could pass as Whip Smart throwaways), and some are just mediocre. Bang! Bang! sort of reminds me of some of the cuts off of Beck's Modern Guilt but I just find it too bland to bring me in. You Should Know Me is also sort of meh.... I feel like she's written better lyrics in the past. Does she really have to go back to nursery rhymes to get material for choruses? I'm looking at you And He Slayed Her.

However it's not all bad, which is the most surprising part. Miss September is one of the more promising tracks. I feel like the production is a little cliche but I feel like the sound of this song isn't an attempt to recreate the sound of guyville but more of an extension, more mature I guess. I think My My is interesting because it seems like she's dipping into sort of Midnite Vultures era Beck not as funky though. But the best part is that it's not a total joke, she's clearly capable of branching out without resorting to humor. Oh bangladesh is a nice slice of indie rock (and the winner of the closest to something on Exile). It's great to hear her multitracking her vocals again. However my favorite song on the album is Satisfied. Sure it's the song that probably sounds like something she'd put out on a major but tell me those synth lines and choruses aren't great. And the lyrics are better, though far from her best.

In conclusion, everybody has a lot to be confused about. I mean this whole thing could be a giant joke (she did have 4 "joke" tracks, that's a lot even for her). She did have 5 years since the last album so there could be more/better stuff out there. The best possible case would be that it IS a joke and these are just the throwaways from her actual album. However, I'm too pessimistic to believe that so what's left is an album of throwaways and jokes with some redeeming moments. It may not be her best work but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

7/6 Waterloo and WTF

WTF NEW LIZ PHAIR ALBUM.... I don't know what to make of Bollywood. I listened to it like twenty times and I didn't know if I liked it or not. I mean I know it's her sense of humor, but what if she actually thinks this is a good song to start off with? I mean if it's a throwaway then the rest of the album could be great? I'm so confused... I'll be "borrowing" a "friend's" "copy" then deciding later.


Records--
Highway 61 Revisited -- 20
Zen Arcade by Husker Du -- 13
New Day Rising by Husker Du -- 10
Clear Spot by Captian Beefheart -- 12
Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks -- 20

All of these were reissues.

Yeah... I feel like I need to sort of have more "classic" albums and I'm severely lacking in the dylan department. I would have gotten Blonde on Blonde but they wanted 30 bucks for it. So I got this one instead. Someone said that this is the album where dylan gave up being a troubadour for becoming a hipster. I heart hipsters.

Ok... Zen arcade is one of the three most important double albums of the 80s. The other two being Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation and the Minutemen's Double Nickles on the Dime. SST has been reissuing all of their stuff really cheap lately so it was a good find. New Day Rising is the album right afterward. It's more poppy. I want to say Zen was recorded in a ridiculously short amount of time, like two weeks. The minutemen were jealous so they did double nickles in like 3 nights or something like that. I think "Take That Huskers!" is somewhere on the album. Then sonic youth jumped on the bandwagon because they wrote too many songs for a single after listening to dinosaur jr.

Clear spot is another beefheart record. It doesn't have drumbo on it, so that's unfortunate but it does have a lot of good songs on it such as Low Yo Yo Stuff, Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man, and Big Eyed Beans from Venus.

Song Cycle is one of the greatest albums of the 60's if not all time. The songs fly around in a chaotic beautiful mess. Van Dyke Parks is a genius, that's the simplest way to put it. However he can be too smart for his own good, I mean was it really necessary to have a song called Van Dyke Parks by Public Domain as well as Public Domain by Van Dyke Parks? Anyways... it's lovely.

6/26 Antones

Yeah... I wanted to get some exercise and pick up some paper sleeves so I went to antones.

I got the 5th dimesion by the Byrds for 5 bucks. It's sort of more psychedelic (I think there's the sound of a jet on one of the tracks). How cool!

And I got a secret record for swapping with my friend. Let's just say that this band traded their big green album for a big yellow album from a band from Olympia.

Greatest American Garage Band of the Sixties?

Ok... so I listened to Da Capo and it was pretty good. As I've previously noted, the jam is stupid... I mean who wants to listen to a four minute song over twenty minutes. I only got about half way through before I gave up. Jams are never a good idea for recorded music. NEVER. Anyways, it got me thinking... What was the best garage band of the sixites? So I've decided to find out. However, there are some conditions: The majority of the band members have to be American (if this works out maybe I'll do British bands), the band's debut album had to be released during the sixties, and they had to have an album. Singles are great but I'm not going to try to track down obscure singles. I just don't like singles that much. I'm going to start with all the bands of Nuggets. I'm sort of weary about bands like Captain Beefheart, but I mean I guess I'll trust Lenny Kayne's judgment. Still there are some bands that weren't listed that definitely count. I mean how can you ignore the stooges, the mc5, and the velvet underground? Well anyways... I'm making a list. I'll update it as I review more and more stuff.

6/25 Backspin Records

How do you know if you've gone to a good record store? (I know it sounds like a bad joke) Well if you come out with an armful of classics, that's usually a good sign.

I was driving around and I saw this record store (it was too late for me to go in there when I was initially). They're pretty good, everything is priced really good and they have a pretty big selection. Every record store has to have it's thing and this one is all about DJ stuff, so if you're into that stuff this is the store for you. Still they have a wall dedicated to rock. There were some things that really bugged me though... They didn't have any captain beefheart or david bowie. Sure beefheart is more understandable, but no bowie? Come on...

Anyways... the records
Beggar's Banquet by the Stones -- 10
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) by the Stones -- 5
Da Capo by Love -- 5
VU by The velvet underground (reissue) -- 13
Terror Twilight by Pavement (reissue) -- 12
Trans-europe Express by Kraftwerk -- 9

If you're new to shops remember these things.
1) Always play the record to check for condition (Although this store's records were really really really clean)
2) Always go through the new arrival bin. I swear, really good deals are always in there. This time both beggar's banquet and trans-europe express were in there.

Ok so Beggar's Banquet. This record marked the end of early stones and the beginning of classic stones. Sure the early stuff is great but this is the first album that's on a higher level completely. I mean how can you go wrong? It starts off with sympathy for the devil, and mid way it gets more energy on street fighting man and it caps off with the glorious salt of the earth. As I said, this album returns to a more bluesish sound after the psychedelic their satanic majesties request. Still a great record. (I got the 1986 reissue with the intended cover, the 1968 was just white with letters on it).

Big Hits is a compilation from their first five albums. Eh... it's sort of a stand in until I find those first five albums for decent prices... Hell how can you not have I can't Get No Satisifaction or get off of my cloud in your collection.

Terror Twilight was pavement's last album. It was produced by Nigel Godrich who frequently worked with radiohead and beck sometimes... It's so much different from slanted and enchanted and you can really tell how much they've grown up. It's got some really mellow tracks but some classics too. I don't know if I'm impressed by Nigel... he called cut my hair "the special haircut song"...

The first three velvet underground albums were on Verve/MGM. Verve dropped them because they weren't selling (surprise). But they were in the process of working on the fourth album for Verve... these are some of those tracks and some others. It's pretty cool, stephanie says is great. Oh... speaking of the velvets, Backspin had their fifth offical release "Squeeze". If it wasn't so expensive or mediocre I would have gotten it. But how good could an album with only Doug Yule, Mo Tucker, Sterling Morris, and some other guy be? I mean it sort of falls apart without lou. Oh... and the price for this record was great because the label is selling it for 17.

I was really surprised at seeing kraftwerk. If you don't know who they are, let me explain kraut rock. During the 70's in germany a lot of bands starting coming up with an emphasis on continuous chugging rhythm. Kraftwerk fits in but they're more interested in electronics so they're pretty influential to techno and the like. I haven't heard this album before, but I'm looking forward to it.

Da Capo (or the other love record) is one of those records that you always see reissues of. Arthur Lee's sort of interesting because, besides Jimi Hendrix, He seems to be the only black musician into psych rock during the 60's. Anyways, this album has the classic Seven and Seven Is. I was sort of freaked out when I was looking at the record though. The second side is one track! Apparently it's a jam... oh boy.... Oh... once again, the original of this record is FAR cheaper than the reissue (20 bucks). Sure it's not 180 gram or virgin vinyl, but that shouldn't cost four times the amount.

6/22 Half Price Books N Lamar

Yeah... I listened to Exile In Guyville all day at work. I couldn't help but get whip smart and I've known it was there for quite some time.

Records--
Whip Smart by Liz Phair -- 20
Scott Joplin (performed by Dick Hyman) -- 3
Count Meets the Duke First Time by Count Basie and Duke Ellington -- 10
Blaze by Herman's Hermits -- 5
Hello Dolly by Louis Armstrong -- 6

Ok... So Whip Smart is totally underrated. It's hard to follow up from guyville but, guyville had the advantage of taking any of the songs from girlysound so it's not really fair (no pun intended). Still, if you're going to complain that the version of whip smart is "ingenuous" or "ironic" because it has animal sounds, you should be complaining that phair totally didn't do the second section of Girls! Girls! Girls! or she didn't mimic the stones on Shatter. So it's sort of give and take. If you want the girlysound versions, listen to that, but if you want something else, give Whip smart a shot.

Scott Joplin... yeah. I went through the jazz section because there was a guy hovering over the s' (he was looking for styx... ew....) Anyways. It was pretty cheap and it's pretty good.

Yeah I really dig duke ellington and this collaboration is pretty cool. It's got both band's sort of signature tracks (take the A train and jumpin at the woodside) so it's cool.

I think the best one of the jazz records that I got was Hello Dolly. I mean sure it's not the classic armstrong of the twenties or anything like that but it is really good all around. It's sort of weird to think that Louis was 63 years old when he made it, but it's whatever I guess.

The herman's hermits album is a little bit harder to explain. I got it for two reasons: 1) Joey ramone once described punk as "a sixties rip-off band" and mentioned HH and 2) The cover is bad ass. I've been really digging the 60's lately and the kaleidoscopic cover got me. Music wise it's pretty standard for the time which isn't bad, although expected.

6/18 Breakaway

Ok... I've been looking for revolver but I haven't been able to find it anywhere, I figured they would have it. They didn't... But they did have some cool records...

Holland by the Beach Boys -- 6
Sunflower by the Beach boys -- 1
Queen by Queen -- 5
1st by The BeeGees -- 7
Nothing Scary by Wild Man Fischer -- 8

Ok... So Holland and Sunflower aren't the Beach Boys most well known albums, but they're really good. After pet sounds the beach boys started getting real interesting because Brian wasn't at the helm any more. So all of the band members started writing songs. Don't get me wrong, Brian was definitely the best song writer of the bunch but it's all more strange. Sunflower isn't in the best shape, but it was in the 1$ rock section so I'll take it.

Yeah... I think queen's debut will be interesting. I'm looking forward to it.

Now the BeeGees are more interesting. First, I found a single in the sleeve by the Meters. I had looked up the Meters before (and I had heard these songs before) so that was cool. I don't know if the clerk threw it in (breakaway is known for their big selection of soul/r&b singles). Anyways... on to the actual album. It's really good. All except for one song... I don't know who sings on "I Can't See Nobody" but they shouldn't sing any more... I mean come on... all of the other guys have pretty nice voices. Oh... If you a fan of Guided By Voices, definitely pick this up. It really shows where some of their sound came from.

Wild Man Fischer. Why would anyone want an album with 34 tracks, each of which performed by a guy who screams his songs with a scarily excited joy? I mean looking at the record is hillarious... there are about 18 songs on each side. Still, you can't find this album anywhere. It's from the 80's, and I think it was only released on cd as a bundle called Fischer King which was released ten or twenty years ago. Still, any album by wild man fischer is truly one of a kind.

6/15 Antones Records

I hadn't been to Antone's in a while, I had a coupon, and I was feeling down... so I went.

This time they had a lot of good stuff in new arrivals.

Records---
Let it Be by the Beatles -- 10
Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds -- 8
Goat Head Soup by the stones -- 8
Horses by Patti Smith -- 13

Yeah... I guess I'm really digging the beatles right now. I really want a copy of revolver though.

Mr. Tambourine Man was a pretty sweet find at that price. They have had a reissue for about a year for 20 bucks so I'm glad I got this one cheap.

Now I've been looking for Goat Head Soup for a while, it's pretty sweet that they had a copy in pretty good condition. I look forward to star star.

Horses was the real find though. I don't usually see punk records so it's cool. Turns out it's a original pressing on artista which is cool too. Lenny Kaye, the guitarist, made nuggets. Ah... just looking at the back makes me think of the whole scene, especially sonic youth. "kool system of destine wax sculpt" reminds me of them.

I guess I'm just looking for classics, which isn't a bad thing. I'm sure I'll need something to cancel out really obscure records like the verlaines... ah well...

6/11 Waterloo Records

First off let me start by saying that waterloo records is my favorite record store for reissues. They've got a really good selection and their labels make it really easy to go through stuff really fast. However I do have some problems... I don't understand how they can have every other reissue by 4 men with beards, except judee sill... come on! Also... what is it with reissues costing more than 15 bucks? I saw a reissue of cat steven's Mona Bone Jakon going for 20 bucks when they had a perfectly good used copy for 4. I can understand profit, but did it really cost 15 bucks to make a record? Cat stevens isn't that hard to find, so there's no reason for a 20 dollar price tag.

Anyways on to the records...

Wowee Zowee by Pavement -- 14
Brighten the Corners by Pavement --10
Dreamy by Beat Happening -- 14
Blues and Roots by Charlie Mingus -- 12
Odessa by The Brothers Gibb -- 5
Who Are You -- 4
Jump! by Van Dyke Parks --4

Ok... so I think the pavement albums are the most obvious. What's not to like about pavement? Lo fi-ish... Fun... Indie rock... What more could a girl want? Anyways, Brighten the Corners is my favorite, Wowee's number two. I'll probably pick up Terror Twilight sometime in the near future.

Dreamy. The second to last beat happening album. I really liked You Turn Me On, Black Candy still but less so. I figure this album should hopefully be a nice in between.

Now for the kicker. That's Right... A JAZZ RECORD... I NEVER see Mingus anywhere, but he definitely is my favorite jazz musician. I got this one because it was the one I was least familiar with (I had already heard the clown and Philanthropus erectus). Anyways it has moaning so I'm looking forward to it.

Now for the used records. This copy of odessa is freakish. Odessa was a double album but this is a single lp. It turns out in the late seventies when they did another pressing, they decided to cut down to one disc. I guess that's what you get when the original has a felt cover with golden letters.

Who are you? Who couldn't use some more of the who? "The last reasonably interesting who record"--AMG

Ok... now for the real find. Jump! by Van Dyke Parks. I got into VDP when I was into smile, the brian wilson album where vdp wrote the words. Song Cycle is really good just because it makes you think about structure. That album is due for a reissue!

see you in two weeks!

Seizure Chris Knox Song by Song Review

Ok.... Chris Knox has gotten a lot of press lately because he had a stroke and Jeff Magnum did a song on his tribute. Anyways, I'm going to review the album Seizure. This one's notable because the cover is the one Stroke is based on. Anyways... On to the songs

1.Face of Fashion
Sort of lackadaisical opener. Sort of freakish

2.The Woman Inside Of Me
A stupid song about being a guy. Knowing that he has a woman inside of him makes him feel superior because he thinks women are. However, most people don't think women are superior, so he's good either way.

3.Statement Of Intent
Piss off about New Zealand music industry.

4.Filling Me
Another slower song like the opener. Good flow

5. Not Given Lightly
A song for the morning after. You'll listen to it over and over and over again.

6. Break!
I can't make out what he's saying half the time. It seems like another angry song.

7. Uncle Tom's Cabin
Quiet. Alot of stuff about being brutally tortured and just taking it.

8. Wanna!!
Louder. More stuff about torture. Response to before?

9. And I Will Cry
About doing crazy stuff to not break up

10. Rapist
Well hopefully you should be able to guess what this about.

11.Grand Mal
Lyrics are obscured but it's a killer frying pan groove!

12. Voyeur
An invitation to Participation.

13. Honesty's Not Enough
Honesty doesn't change anything!

14. My Dumb Luck
Chris Knox is lucky...

15. Ache
This song makes a great closer. Pain of the ending.

5/30 Half Price 5555 North Lamar

Ok... so hopefully this will be my last post in a while. This blog has made me realize that I spend way too much money on records. But then I laugh and ask myself what else I'm going to spend it on... So EVERYBODY IS A FOOL! but I'm the biggest fool of them all so it's ok.

Anyways... This store has a ton of good stuff. I think they are a little pricey though. I mean is Whip Smart on record really worth 20 bucks? Is Rain Dogs really worth 25? Anyways... they were have a 20% off sale so I don't feel so bad.

Records---

Magical Mystery Tour -- 12 (with sale)
Between The Buttons by The Rolling Stones -- 7

Once again, there is nothing to say about the beatles.

This stones record looks pretty good. Although I find it hilarious that the drawing on the back references a song that was not on either release of the album (Have you seen your mother), if only to be released on flowers.

Well.... see you in two weeks, hopefully!

5/29 Breakaway Records

I know I've already talked about them, but they have a really good selection. I mean every time I go in they have kinks, beatles, and stones. And on their expensive rack there is usually something I want. I don't remember if I said this or not but... at Breakaway, you get what you pay for. Case in point, I was looking for the white album for a friend of mine. They had two, one was ten dollars, one was four. The ten dollar one was in much better shape than the four dollar one.

Ok... so the records:
Abbey Road -- 12
White album --10
Surf's Up by the Beach Boys--5
Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens -- 5
Darkhorse by George Harrison -- 3

There is nothing I can say about the Beatles that you don't already know. I'm most interested in about help onward. I don't know, out of the 3 big british groups (beatles, kinks, and stones), I don't find myself interested in any of their really early stuff. Sure there are some good singles but eh...

Surf's Up is a more interesting subject. It's sort of a forgotten album of the beach boys (let's admit it, everything before and after Pet Sounds and not a single has been pretty much forgotten.) But it's pretty sweet because after Brian Wilson's freak out, all of the beach boys have so much more character. I mean you get to see people like Carl stepping up to the plate more, which is really cool. Also, the one track from smile (the title track) is an excellent addition as well.

Tea for the Tillerman is the album Cat Stevens is most known for. In recent years it's gotten more press because the flaming lips got sued for Flight Test sounding so similar to Father and Son. Over all the album is a pretty solid folk affair. Did you know cat stevens drew the cover????

Lastly, Darkhorse. Remember when I said you get what you pay for? Well a bunch of the jacket is ripped off... it's really weird. But anyways. This album was after a couple albums-- Live in Bangladesh, Living in the Material World. It was mediocre.. Sure it has George's signature slide work, but he had laryngitis at the time of the recording. Still... I'll probably end up listening to it a couple of times, and three bucks was pretty good, I've seen it go for around 10.

If you go to breakaway go through their recent arrivals section, they get a lot in and I found most of the records there.

Twitter Review New York Tendaberry

New York Tendaberry by Laura Nyro is music for IM/texting your lover on a cold winter night. Lurv you Kanye!

5/25 Half Price South Lamar Austin Texas

Well... Let's start off with the store. They do NOT have a big record section. But they did have some pretty interesting records (which will be discussed later) such as ice cream for crow by captain beefheart. What is it with stores not having any beatles or stones records? You should have more than undercover, period. Anyways...

The records:
Rock and Roll Animal by Lou Reed -- 8
The Works by Queen -- 6
God Bless Tiny Tim -- 4

So The queen. I don't know why, but I've been really digging queen a lot lately. Anyways... this is later in their career (I do not count any albums made with half bands after the fact). Interesting because a chick who listens to the radio too much is running the airwaves.

Rock and Roll Animal is a live album. After berlin, so way past the velvets. I was watching a couple of videos of lou reed doing sweet jane. While I do like the one on loaded the best, this version doesn't suck like more of his later ones, in my opinion. Also heroin lacks cale's distinctive viola, but at this point you know if you're a fan of the velvet underground or a fan of Lou Reed, and if you see this album as a Lou Reed album, you won't be disappointed.

Ok... The find o the day. Tiny Tim is sot of what every outsider artist wants to be: unknown but on the edge of everything. Sure most of you that grew up in the sixties know him from Laugh In, but for those younger, remember the first episode of spongebob squarepants???? Those songs are by him. Anyways, he was the son of some immigrants in New York City. He knew a lot of tin pan alley songs and he eventually got a record deal with Reprise. God Bless Tiny Tim is the first, and it contains his signature "Tiptoe Through The Tulips". Yes, this joke is used all the time in christmas carol plays/movies/tv specials/etc... But back to Reprise... Reprise was a pretty cool label in the 60's because it had more mainstream stuff like the Kinks but it also had really wierd shit like Tiny Tim, Zappa, Beefheat, etc...

Well, that's it for me.

Oh and the record o the day at allmusic is Van Dyke Parks discover america. After being a psychedelic song structure genius he decides to do calypso!

5/20 Half Price Bedford

I had an all right run tonight. I've been going to the Bedford Half Price books for years. It's sort of the only place I buy records back home. This is the store with the pricing and selection I'm most used to. It was really wierd today though. They had no beatles records and no rolling stones. But they have been more organized recently. And of course, you can find every kenny loggins record ever made in clearance.

The Records:
Emotional Rescue by Stones--4
Misfits by Kinks --4
I Was Made To Love Her by Stevie Wonder -- 1
Abandoned Luncheonette by Hall and Oates -- 1
Main Course by BeeGees -- 1
Children of the World by the BeeGees -- 1

So let's start with the kinks. As previously mentioned, Misfits is around the era of the kinks trying to be arena rockers. The most common ones that you find are around this era which is unfortunate. While, as a friend pointed out to me, Ray Davies' songwriting didn't change dramatically after Everybody's In Showbiz, I still like the juicy late 60's period the best. Though this album sounds good thus far.

I've seen Main Course so many times that it's impossible to count. If you every pay full price for this record you should just send your money to me. Known as the album where the brothers gibb went disco. Children of the world is the album immediately afterward. Once again, main course and many of the albums afterward can be found in clearance pretty easily. Unfortunatley I just discovered that my copy of main course is warped. Which brings be to a good point, ALWAYS PLAY THE RECORDS BEFORE YOU BUY THEM. Unless you're fine with losing a dollar... which I will probably make my brother pay.

Which brings me to another point. I recently got a Vestax handy trax turntable. It's pretty sturdy and it has pretty much everything you would want in a portable unit. I've read reviews that are critical of internal speaker but I'm ok with it. If you want you can hook up headphones.

Abandoned Luncheonette is Hall and Oates' second album. It's pretty cool. I mean hall and oates are the bad boys of smooth music. HALL AND OATES!

Emotional Rescue is exactly the sort of album that you would expect the stones to make pretty much after exile with the exception of tattoo you and some girls... i.e. a couple good songs but pretty much average. I really wanted some stones but they didn't have any besides this one and Got Live If You Want It and I'm not really in the mood for live recordings, especially one of that era stones for 15 bucks. It was real unfortunate because this other place I went to had a copy of goat's head soup, which I would have preferred over emotional rescue.

The real find o the day was the stevie wonder record. Sure they had a lot of other albums, but this early one was in clearance so it's all the better. Interestingly enough they had a copy of the Beach Boys Wild Honey, which has a cover of the titular track. It's classic motown.

Well that's it.

5/11 Breakaway Records

Yes... another post. Anyways... This store was pretty cool. It's vinyl only so if you're looking for cds you're out of luck. They had an ok selection (better than half price worse than waterloo or antones) but they did have a lot of good records and, more importantly, their prices were really good. They also have 2, count 'em, 2 turntables for listening. Seems sort of weird for such a small store but whatever. The are pretty balanced as far as music genres: the rock/pop section was as big as the jazz and soul sections. They also had a very small punk section which included a record by the Nervebreakers. When did they get so big? it seems that every store I go into has something by them (excluding hp). They were this small punk band from the Dallas area and I have a compilation (called "Are We Too Late For The Trend") with them and a couple of other punk bands of the day. Also they did open for the Sex Pistols when they came to Dallas. Anyways... it's strange that they're getting more popularity.

Anyways on to the purchases. The white album for 12 bucks. They had a lot of early beatles records but the white album is my favorite so there you go.

I think I have a serious problem. If I go into a record store, there is a handful of records I will buy no matter what the price. Such was the case with The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society. Before I saw it I was going to get the white album, Let's Get It On, and Flowers by the stones, then I saw it. The sky parted and light doth shown down on it. Let me remind you that this is in NO WAY an exaggeration. I gladly handed over thirty dollars for said record and caressed it as I would my first born child as I left the store. A review shall come another day.

5/9 Antone's Records/CVS Austin

Ok so the major part of today was record maintenance. Often clearance records are in playable condition but they are beat up/missing inner sleeves etc... The other day I saw a guy at Antone's fixing an old Sinatra record with rubber cement. It works really well if you apply it right. Rubber cement is sort of a glue and you can find it at cvs. It has a brush in the cap so you just dip it and spread it around (usually around the edges). Let it dry and the jacket is no longer falling apart. Also, sometimes cheap records don't have an inner sleeve. The ones that do are pretty interesting. On a Carole King record sleeve there was an ad for budget compilations including a lot of artists on warner brother/reprise records. I got a kick out of seeing Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Fugs next to The Kinks, Neil Young, America, The Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix etc... But anyways you can get some paper sleeves real cheap, I got 20 for 3 bucks. Sure these sleeves cost almost as much as a clearance record on sale (more on this later), but they do give your records an extra layer of protection, which is great.

Speaking of the kinks, I got a copy of Muswell Hillbillies by the Kinks. It's really the last Kinks album I'm interested in finding, although I would consider picking up Misfits if the price was right. This album was their first album (not counting the percy soundtrack) after Lola, so it should be interesting. I haven't seen a lot of kinks records ever, probably because they weren't as popular due to being banned from performing in the US, and they are definitely due for a reissue. I'd highly recommend checking out anything between Something Else and Muswell Hillbilies. However, The Village Green Preservation society is considered their classic album by most fans, but they are all pretty good.

As for Antone's, it's definitely the legitimate record store I go to the most. It's within walking distance of the UT campus and it has a pretty good selection. However, it is primarily a USED RECORD STORE, and while they do have some reissues, don't go there expecting them to have a lot of new records. They have a good size clearance section and they do occasionally slip in finds. For example, on record store day (April 17th) they always have a sale, and I found Tim by the Replacements for only twenty cents (compared to the 15 cent sleeve). My advice is, if you're looking for good clearance, check the milk crates around the l-z section in the back, they do have it somewhat alphabetical all around, but I think that they put the newer ones in those crates.

Hopefully, I will go to Waterloo records, which is my favorite record store in Austin thus far, but that's a story for another day.

5/7 Half Price Parmer Lane ATX!

Ok... So here's a new blog for you. I'll go to record stores and tell you what I get.

Today I went to the half price books on parmer lane. They didn't have a lot of records in comparison to other 1/2 price books, but all of the ones on the shelves were in really good condition. I did notice a lot of records that I usually find in clearance were up on the shelves, i.e. rod stewart, barry manilow, doobie brothers, kenny loggins and all the yatch rock ilk. They only had one beatles record (magical mystery tour for 50 bucks???), one stones record (emotional rescue), and one byrds records (best of). Also, the pricing seemed more unusual. I saw laura nyro's fourth record for 8 bucks, a record I usually see in clearance for a dollar. But they did have some newer records which surprised me such as the silver jews latest.

Anyways... to the records.
Here, My Dear by Marvin Gaye ---5 bucks
Cities In Dust by Siouxsie and the Banshees --- 4 bucks
Like a Prayer by Madonna --- 8 bucks
First Songs by Laura Nyro --- 4 bucks

Of these, I have only heard Laura Nyro's First Songs. Laura Nyro was a Brooklyn songwriter who garnered attention when other acts, most notably The 5th Dimension and Peter, Paul, and Mary, covered her songs. As far as this album goes, it's actually a re-issue of her first lp "more than a new discovery". The songs are pretty standard for what will become her style, however, she did not have as much creative control as Herb Bernstein. However, her next couple of albums are really good, especially if you enjoy people like Carole King and Judee Sill i.e. female singer-songwriters. If you're looking to get into Laura Nyro, pick up her second album Eli and the Thirteenth Confession.

Like a Prayer is really cool. I haven't seen any copies before going to this half price, so I definitely wanted to pick it up. It's got some good songs such as the title track, express yourself, and cherish. I can't wait to listen to it.

I bought the Siouxsie and the Banshees record because I knew they were a punk band and I thought it was an album. However, it is a 12 inch single and apparently their first single in the US released by geffen. Judging by what I've read it sounds like it may be a cure-ish song, but who knows. I thought pavement was a heavy metal band when I first heard of them.

The real find of this trip was Here, My Dear. I've wanted to hear this record every since my good friend Chris recommended it to me. I haven't seen a lot of Gaye records through my years of searching, maybe because I go to stores in the suburbs, but that's how it is. Marvin Gaye recorded this album while he was going through a divorce with Barry Gordy's sister, Anna Gordy. The artwork on this album is phenomenal, so definitely check out some images of the cover. The only problem I have with this purchase is that one one side of the jacket the bottom is torn... but that can easily be fixed with some rubber cement or another adhesive.

Well that's all for the first time. I hope you've enjoyed it.