The 8 Records I’m Most Excited about Not Buying for Record Store Day 2017

I tried Record Store Day for the first time last year, and was woefully unprepared for the task; by the time I made it to my local wrecka stow, everything I was remotely interested in had already been snatched up by more enterprising/experienced shoppers. This year, I won’t be making the festivities at all: my family plans for the morning of April 22, unfortunately, do not involve any crate-digging. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look at the list of special releases and sigh wistfully at what might have been. Here are a few highlights:

“All Together Now” by André 3000 (7″, ltd. to 5000)

I did not know the most delightfully weird member of OutKast covered one of the most delightfully goofy songs by the Beatles. Now I do know, but there’s no way this thing is gonna stay in stock past the ten-minute mark. At least I can listen to it on YouTube.

“Strawberry Fields Forever”/”Penny Lane” by the Beatles (7″, ltd. to 7000)

Speaking of the Beatles, there’s no rational reason for me to own this. I don’t even particularly love 7″ singles: if I’m gonna buy a piece of plastic with two songs on it, it’d better be at least 10″ in diameter. But I was a Beatles fanatic as a preteen, and seeing that 1967-era picture on the sleeve hits me straight in the nostalgia zone.

BOWPROMO (box set, ltd. to 5000) and
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74) (3-LP set, ltd. to 5000)
by David Bowie

Now these I do actually want, but to be frank, I doubt I could afford them: new pressing, multi-LP sets are a little rich for my blood, especially in limited editions. But come on: raw mixes of Hunky Dory-era Bowie? A live set I haven’t heard from the Diamond Dogs tour, one of his most fascinating and underrated periods? If I was even slightly more comfortably middle-class than I am, I’d be all over these. But I can take comfort in knowing that all 10,000 of these records will be hoovered up within minutes anyway.

“Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite (12″, ltd. to 3000)

If you catch me in the right kind of mood, I might make a wildeyed claim that “Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite is the greatest song of all time. And while I probably wouldn’t be right, I also know I wouldn’t be wrong. I would love to own this on vinyl and hear that slide whistle hook in superior fidelity. Alas, this April, it’s not meant to be.

“Little Red Corvette”/”1999” by Prince (7″ picture disc, ltd. to 5000)

Does anybody actually like picture discs–listening to them, I mean? I don’t especially care for them–I like playing records more than I like looking at them–but god damn if I don’t want this one. Sadly, I might as well just print out the inner sleeve pic from 1999 and découpage it over a regular 7″ single, because with Record Store Day falling the day after the one-year anniversary of His Purple Majesty’s passing, there is approximately no way in hell 5000 copies will survive a single day’s demand.

RSD 2017 Tote Bag by Run the Jewels (ltd. to 2500)

This isn’t even a record, but the artwork is dope and it would go great with the T-shirt I picked up from Run the Jewels’ Run the World tour back in January. But now I just have to hold back my jealous tears when I see some lucky asshole walking around with it.

What Time is It? by the Time (LP, ltd. to 2500)

Are you kidding me? The motherfucking Time?! This actually pisses me off for two reasons, because an album like this deserves a full-fledged re-release, not a limited-run one-off for Record Store Day. But I can’t promise that if I saw a brand new pressing on April 22, I wouldn’t be doing “The Walk” out of the store with it in hand. Fortunately–or unfortunately–that won’t be an option for me.

In all seriousness, though, missing RSD this year isn’t that big a deal: after all, there are approximately 364 other equally good days in the year to patronize our local record stores. If you’d like to see a few of my favorites, from Northern Virginia to Reykjavík, Iceland, check out my Wrecka Stow video series on Dystopian Dance Party. And if you make it to the stores on the 22nd, buy yourself something nice in my honor.

Crate Digging in Reykjavik, Iceland

For the last several days, I’ve been on vacation in Iceland. Mostly, that means the usual things: visiting hot springs and gorges, eating overpriced (but delicious!) food, traipsing around landscapes that look straight out of Game of Thrones. But for a remote island nation with a relatively small population, Iceland also has a surprising amount to offer for the travelling pop music fan: including several record stores as good as any I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Here are my thoughts about two of them.

We visited the aptly-named Reykjavik Record Shop on our first day in the city, and it was a highlight of that (admittedly dreary, jet-lagged) day. Located downtown near the main restaurant strip, it belongs to the “small but curated” school of record stores, with a selection of new and used vinyl that is much more diverse than one would expect from a shop of its size. We picked up a very nice pressing of Parliament’s Chocolate City, complete with a misprint of Bootsy Collins’ name (“Bootsie”) that I initially assumed was European in origin, but upon further research seems to be a worldwide error:

It’s probably worth noting at this point that records (among other things) are expensive in Iceland, owing in large part to the fact that pretty much everything in the country is an import. New records seem to cost upwards of 5000 kroner (approximately $50), which is steep even by 2016 vinyl standards. But even in Iceland, it’s possible to score some sweet deals–like this German Colonel Abrams 12″ we picked up for less than the equivalent of a fiver:

There were even more finds to be had at the following day’s stop, Lucky Records on Rauðarárstígur. If Reykjavik Record Shop belongs to the “small but curated” school, then Lucky is the opposite: it’s a sprawling beast of a store, which I have to admit is slightly more to my taste (it’s also heavier on used than new–another completely subjective preference of mine). Honestly, Lucky Records might be my favorite record store I’ve ever visited. It’s the only record store I’ve seen where the soul section is as large or larger than the pop/rock section–plus there’s a whole separate room devoted to 12″ singles, where I found this beauty:

We also picked up some very reasonably-priced copies of Hotter Than July by Stevie Wonder and Don’t Be Cruel by Bobby Brown; and despite leaving with a bag full of eight records, I still felt like I’d barely even scratched the surface.

My personal preferences notwithstanding, both Lucky Records and Reykjavik Record Shop are world-class stores, and I’d love to visit them again if I’m ever back in Iceland. If anyone out there is considering a visit, consider both shops highly recommended. And for more on vinyl shopping in Iceland, look out next month on Dystopian Dance Party for new entries of my “Wrecka Stow” video series.

Record Store Stories: Another Sunny April Afternoon From Behind The Racks

One of the ongoing points Henrique Hopkins and I have in our conversations about shopping for records has to do with my experiences with the record stores in coastal Maine towns. Whether it be Acadia Nation Park (the location of the famous vacationing town of Bar Harbor) or the mid coast region that includes Belfast,Camden and Rockland there is nearly always a brick and mortar record store to hang out in and find new grooves. These are also areas that flourish with great appreciation for the arts. Doesn’t matter of one is a painter,musician,writer or stone mason. These are usually wonderful places to enjoy,purchase and especially create new works of art.

Camden was always a favorite place to go. It was once the home of Wild Rufus. This is where a lot of my immediate pre and post millennial crate digging sessions took place. That store’s been closed down for some years now. However today I met the man who started it up before I was even born. His name is Matt Brown. He and his wife Karyl share a store front. He sells the music/music related media and she sells homemade jewelry and clothing. The music part is called Manny’s,the other is Karyl’s Handmade Jewelry. My father told me to go investigate this new store a couple of weeks ago while he was in Camden with my mom. So she  and I decided to venture  there today.

These are the four CD’s I picked up from Manny’s today. Mr. Brown sells modern vinyl as well as new and used CD’s. Many of his used items are actually from his personal collection. And they account for Larry Carlton and Billy Cobham albums I picked up. He professed to love jazz and blues,and even commented on how strong a guitar player he felt Carlton was upon seeing my purchases. We also talked about my seeing B.B. King with Dickey Betts five years ago at the Bangor waterfront. And how great it was to see Muddy Waters perform with Eric Clatpon,Albert Lee and Muddy’s band at the Augusta Civil Center in Maine on May 25th,1979.

This coming Saturday is National Record Store Day. It’s been a couple years since I began this “record store stories” concept for Andresmusictalk. Meeting this Matt Brown was a great experience for me. And am looking forward to future encounters in his record store. I’d like to conclude this article by saying something to every jazz/funk/blues/soul/rock crate digger/record collector reading this. If you travel and decide to visit mid coast Maine this summer,stop into Manny’s and Karyl’s if your in the town of Camden. They have a growing collection of records he Brown makes it a great experience for anyone interesting in music.

*Below is a link to an article in the Penobscot Bay Pilot about Matt Brown and Manny’s:

Wild Rufus founder opens new record and CD shop in Camden

Anatomy Of THE Groove for 12/11/2015: “Let It Ride” by Jermaine Jackson

I’ve over-viewed Jermaine Jackson’s music here before. Still,the man made some seriously funky albums from the mid 70’s up through the early 80’s. For being a key instrumentalist as the bass player of the Jackson 5? Continue to find it interesting how I had to discover Jermaine’s rather hefty discography not from literature, but purely from my own renowned crate digging in the 99 cent vinyl bins of Maine record stores. The vinyl was usually pretty beat up. And most of them were DJ copies with stickers on the lower front cover. But the musical content never ceased to excite me and get my mind wandering.

One of the latter albums I discovered in this way was a 1978 album called Frontiers. At this point? The only music I had by Jermaine came via an older CD compilation entitled Greatest Hits & Rare Classics. While it was unique in presenting a lot of album tracks? They weren’t in chronological order,nor labeled by album or year. So it wet the appetite for more of his music with me. Not to mention a rough guide for seeking out his full albums via familiar song titles. The opening track on this Frontiers  made an immediate impact on me,and it’s title “Let It Ride” actually said it all in terms of the music.

Jermaine opens the song with brushing high hats and two accompanying bass lines. The main line is a thick,hard grooving one and that is punctuated by the second-a quaking  Bootsy style “duck face bass”. This intro also showcases a high pitched,processed electric piano before the descending main bass line goes into the horn chart that opens the first refrain of the song. This maintains the basic instrumental flavors of the intro with a harder drum sound. The first chorus of the song goes into an one the one rhythm guitar,while the second refrain and chorus add harmonic horn charts-with a like minded sax solo on a bridge before a final chorus.

Having listened to a lot of Jermaine’s music over the years? This is one of the funkiest numbers he’s ever done. It showcases how much the older Jackson brothers,while in their teens,were inspired by George Clinton’s P-Funk. Especially with the powerful double bass attack that defines the groove itself. Jermaine also has a sizzling lyrical flair on this as well. Even asserting to his lover in the songs chorus “I don’t care what you do/just don’t mess with the groove/just let it ride”.  I truly appreciate Jermaine’s embrace of hard funk as a key bass player. And this is one of the finest examples of that in his catalog.

 

Record Store Stories: A Sunny April Afternoon From Behind The Racks

 m

Today I decided that instead of offering up another volume of my Amazon Archive column, it would behoove me to take this time to introduce a somewhat less regular segment that may have the effect of enhancing the overall content of this blog.  Also it is nearly National Record Store Day,so it seemed appropriate to celebrate that somehow. As with many people in today’s world, I do some shopping online. Especially rare music-usually on Amazon.com, Ebay or reissue labels such as Wounded Bird or Funkytowngrooves. However with the return of the brick and mortar record stores within the last decade or so? My interest in perusing record shops,which has always been part of the musical experience for me,has been revived to an enormous degree. In this column, both myself and Henrique have the opportunity to discuss meaningful trips to record stores. In particular the locally owned ones I just spoke about. On a personal level? I will be avoiding any of the cynical, lovelorn’d  cliches of the stereotypical dysfunctional record collector/music admirer. Of course that having a lot to do with that stereotype having nothing to do with myself. So without further ado, here is such a story that happened less than a day ago from this writing.

Recently I had been browsing through my vinyl collection-much of which is in plastic crates in the basement of my family with whom I live, to see if there were any records that could eliminated from the collection as I had replaced them with CD versions. Please note that I collect vinyl based primarily on availability,not on credibility or any musical format elitism. I managed to collect about twenty records that matched this criteria in my hand. Carrying them up from the basement into the back of one of our family cars was literally a heavy load. With my parents work schedules being so intense and my emphasis on photography during this much anticipated springtime? It was finally bought to my attention by family that these vinyl records were taking up valuable space in the back trunk of the car. And that something should be done with them. For a short time I considered selling the lot on Ebay. But their selling policies have become so convoluted, to the point where you actually have to pay unless your item(s) sell, that it was having them assessed at the local vinyl buying record store would be the way to go.  And luckily I’d be right on time to have access to such a thing.

                      

Above is a sampling of some of the album covers to the records that I was looking to give away or sell off. I elected to go to the the record store who sign you see pictured above you-as it’s currently the nearest available and the one of which I am most familiar in the long term. In its previous location in the collage town of Orono,where it’d been for over a quarter of a century, Dr.Records has turned out to be the picture of endurance. Once a thriving haunt for record buyers and collectors during the 1980’s and into the early 90’s, it continued to operate well into the new millennium in this location selling used vinyl,45’s,cassette tapes and CD’s. But at the time it was located in the basement of another building and wasn’t greatly accessible to many people. On February 7th of this year, the stores owner Don Menninghaus moved the store to a new location on Hammond Street in Bangor. Its a far more centralized area-near the highway enough for both people from nearby towns and even tourists will have access to it. This new location is a much brighter and exciting looking place-with a distinctly 60’s/70’s era independent record store flavor about it with eye catching record sleeves and posters displayed on the walls.

At first,I was very concerned that Mister Menninghaus would have little to no interest in the lot of 70’s and 80’s era soul/funk/jazz/R&B vinyl I was trying to unload. There is a feeling this genre spectrum is not a huge seller in this area. Even on vinyl. Luckily when I entered the store yesterday afternoon, I was instantly greeted by the sounds of the song “Cane” from the 1978 Gill Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson album Secrets,which Don Menninghaus was playing on his turntable. So that helped me to feel more at ease. Because of my discomfort with the situation? It was my own mother who actually used her stronger business acumen to ask Don if was interested in any of the records. For his part? He set aside a small stack of several records from my lot,including the ones you see above you and offered $10 dollars for them. By that time I had been browsing the bins and found a new stack of vinyl to buy from him. In the $1.99 bins (always my favorite spot to find funk and soul vinyl generally),I noticed two collage age men looking through the bin and snickering at the very idea of albums by Little River Band and Pablo Cruise being in that bin alongside some early 80’s post punk records. Realizing Don Menninghaus is ever the reserved baby boomer? The generational difference between the quit,thoughtful store owner playing Gill Scott-Heron on his turntable and the display of the 90’s “credibility war” mentality from the two customers told its own meaningful story.

Upon checking out with Don,he immediately took interest in one of the vinyl records I was buying and this led into a discussion of our mutual admiration for the documentary film 20 Feet From Stardom, in particular the presence of the strong musical personality Merry Clayton. Don also inquired as to how my own personal music demos were going, something even I’d forgotten had been discussed with him. On that note he also mentioned that a recent record seller from Oregon had unloaded  a number of vinyl albums that he thought I would be very interested in. These were all late 70’s funk albums that were in very good condition and by and large included the original sleeves as well. Although I did spend probably more money that I ever had on vinyl yesterday? It was more than worth it-considering the relative unavailability of a lot of these records and the amount of time I’d been searching for them. In the end, this trip to the record store was not only successful for my own purposes. But also led to some very positive conversations with the store owner and the opportunity to tap my feet to Gill Scott-Heron’s “Third World Revolution” while looking at the vinyl at the store.  Not to mention Don’s understanding,after knowing me most of my life, in my established musical interests. It was a wonderful revelation that, even in an area such as this where rugged individualism is often more celebrated than anything else? That something like music can create bridges of understanding between people.