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
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, June 25, 2010
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.
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.
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