The Vinyl Adventure. Episode V: Afternoon Sounds

I just wanted to read the other afternoon and putting the needle to wax was the perfect way to get back to this "adventure" that was supposed to happen throughout a single month last year. I'm five adventures deep into this thing and have listened to like ten records. I'm kind of bad at projects...

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First up is Kid Koala's Some of My Best Friends are DJs. I've been on a kick of revisiting the Kid. He's definitely one of my biggest influences as a DJ. He's one of the last of the true turntablists. He's one of the last djs I saw using the turntable as an instrument. He was the first person I'd ever seen sample a vocal live and scratch it right in front of my eyes (a kind of hidden trick that you can still do on Serato, but is highly underused). Beat tapes aren't really on my radar anymore (not that this is merely a beat tape), but Koala's roots in that style of recording shines through here.
I've always loved his jazz style of warped clarinet sounds and frantic fader shuffling. The definitive statement of why I love Kid Koala was from some interview where he told the reporter how he searched for four years for the perfect clarinet C-note. The depth and dedication involved in that hunt for something so specific blew my mind.
I've been rinsing "Stompin' at Le Savoi" for the last couple of weeks and I'm really happy with playing it out right now. I've always found Kid Koala pieces to be more well structured than the madness of J. Dilla and that set of producers. I think his tracks are easier to listen to than those sorts of artists and so incorporating his horn-stab-filled jams into a set are a lot easier than Dilla et al.
This album came out post Nufonia Must Fall his graphic novel, which I consider more like a silent film since it comes with a soundtrack with page numbers as track names. I'm pretty sure I saw the tour come through, but I can't really remember. This paragraph is filled with boring.
Best Friends comes with a 50-page comic that I didn't read this time around. I just know it's annoying having stuff in the sleeve when you're trying to put records away.
Um...yeah...next!

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I used to be able to tell you the date, what the weather was like on that day, and, at the very least, where I bought my records. This one, Leadbelly from the Archive of Folk Music, I have absolutely no idea where it came from. I'm wondering if it was something I just found in my basement, but I don't know why anyone in my family would've bought it. Well, maybe my sister did. It's an anomaly I found in my collection one way or another. It blew me away though and I was happy to have put it on that afternoon.
I was telling my homie, the doorman at the bar I play at, this story just the other day. We started talking blues music and I mentioned to him what was on this, "It had this really interesting version of Black Betty."
He replied, "It's probably the original."
See, I know far less about music than most people assume. I know sample history and that's about it.

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Alright, I started writing this because I was bored with today. Now, I'm bored with writing this. So, that's it!

Thanks for reading and whatever.

The Vinyl Adventure, Episode IV: The Godfather

The Vinyl Adventure, Episode IV: The Godfather

This is obviously not happening on the regular by any means. I do have a lot of procrastinating to do now, so maybe I'm wrong and it'll happen more often. I'm sure you're really concerned...

_onward

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DJ Z-Trip and DJ P's seminal mix Uneasy Listening Vol.1 is a prized possession in my collection, so the label here is pretty accurate. Have you ever heard music before? I mean like every and all musics... played at the same time? Did you enjoy that experience? Well, then this is right up your alley. I don't know why I'm trying to sell you on this. It's not like I get paid to advertise this mix that's over a decade old at this point. Just know that if you're not really into this, I truly hope you have other redeeming qualities about your personality.

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My first encounters with this were never as a whole. I would hear bits and pieces of it here and there and be like, "WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THIS?!" I think my first endeavours into seeking it out were for the blend of The Eagles's I Can't Tell You Why and The Pharcyde's Y?. The problem was, for some reason, I thought Pat Benatar did I Can't Tell You Why. My searching was super frustrating, especially because the blend just before this is Pat Benatar's Love is a Battlefield and The Pharcyde's Passin' Me By. Most of my searches were the same rollercoaster of excitement that would end in disaster. The Eagles/Pharcyde thing isn't even that long of a blend, not even long enough to consider it a full on track, but the Battlefield/Passin' Me By mix is something that could stand alone as a single track.

Because of this, the latter is always what I ended up finding. I would've hated it so much more if it weren't so good. Old hard drives would show just how many mp3s I had of the same wrong mix. I have an EP of snippets from this; each of them not being the bit I was looking for. I'm sure you're thinking, "Why would you keep downloading the same track?" or "Why didn't you just listen to it before you wasted your money?" Questions I answer with: mp3 downloading was different at the time; I'm not a savvy consumer, as in, I just buy lots of possibly good stuff and hope it works out; and I was sure I was right with my formula of "Uneasy Listening by Z-Trip and DJ P + Pharcyde + Pat Benatar". (P.S. You're such a dick for questioning my research methods. Who are you?)

I got around to finding a copy of the whole mix (not this record) somehow and finally heard the bit I was looking for and was pretty relieved to know I was right... sort of. Um... I only realized that The Eagles did I Can't Tell You Why right now as I started writing this. I had totally settled in with my assumptions since I kind of got the answer I was looking for. You'll have to forgive me, but, I mean, the question never was "who sings this song?" it was, "how can I listen to this bomb blend?" Isn't that how it goes? An answer will come up, but, really, need to know the question to ask.

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I just watched Z-Trip's episode of Crate Diggers, which was what led to revisiting this mix. I don't know why I don't listen to this more regularly anymore. It's what set off the mash-up movement, something I was huge on; it pretty much has every record you ever needed in some form; and it still slays to this day. Rhinestone B-Boy, Tom Sawyer, that Brazilian version of Girl from Ipanema: all of it is just so damn good. Nothing will ever touch this mix in its impact and nothing will compare to how it blends such a span of genres and how it does it with such a wink and a smile. This was two DJs' dissertation on how pop music works, how far reaching a beat, a rhythm, or a verse can go. I for sure learned something out of it.



 _adventure complete

The Vinyl Adventure: Episode 3: Promotional Records

Episode 3: Promotional Records

Pardon the delay of like two months on this, but I got drunk and lazy. C'est la vie, correctement? Non? French? bluuuuh...

Aight here it comes...

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I'm not typically a fan of using records as anything else other than for having music on them. Fuck the urbanly outfitted who've put album covers into frames (why cage your gems and make it that much harder to get the discs onto the plate?). Please fire your designer, you bars and nightclubs with vinyl all over your walls (it's all random music the designer found in dollar bins that your clientele aren't going to be interested in anyway). I get it: the aesthetic is "cool"; album art is "cool"; but still...I just fucking hate the reappropriation of something that can still serve its intended purpose.

These jams I've kept for some sort of sentimental value I put on them long ago, which has been lost and forgotten.I probably just attached something to them, but really I was thinking, "Man I'm cool for having these."
I feel like these don't fall into the same category of misusing records as the junk I'd described a few lines upward. These just used records to promote special nights. I remember getting the Halo ones like, "these are way better than any flyer," and it really makes you think that the night is being set up to be something other than just another weekend. These aren't like, "oooOOooh look a record!" These cover up all the labeling and simply promote the nights (I don't know if it was exactly that effective though, because I don't think I even went to either of these events...)

--blah blah blah...I'm bored with talking about why I specifically don't like some things and not other things. (I really prefer just having no sense or bearing to my opinions). Let's talk music!

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Let's start this the way the BeeGees love you: inside out.
I'm not going to explain the Red Bull ThreeStyle competition to you, but that's what this was promoting for, the very first one that was held here in Edmonton. When I had initially posted the photo for this post, it ended up sparking the conversations of how awesome this event was; conversations not only about the night itself, but what a push it gave for the local heroes here.
This piece of vinyl itself, is the best of this episode. A pair of songs by Bobbie Gentry, a singer I'd never heard of in my life until this point.
-Sweet Peony is just a beaut of a song to the point I don't really have a point of reference for. Country? Dolly Parton? It's music like this that makes me feel I need to keep digging more and more to figure it all out.
-Flipped over Hushabye Mountain is an eery track that has that feeling of 70s children's movies that fucked you up and made you never want to sleep. Spine tingly, but good and will make you feel alive.

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I actually have four of these Halo anniversary 45s. So, um...I guess...I'm talking about four records...

-Robbie Nevil - Wot's it to ya. This is a terrible 80s song, that sounds like it's by a fluent American English speaking singer. Wot the fuck is wrong with his spelling? The worst part of this 45 is that the B-side seems to be like an extended version of the song! This was a record rightfully used as a free giveaway because really it's just garbage...that I now consider in my possession...

-Next: more garbage. Greg Kihn Band - The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em) /  When the Music Starts. The Breakup Song is that Bryan Adams sounding song that has that "aw uh aw uh uh aw aw aw" hook in it. You know it. You for sure will. And I dare you to not look it up and then have it obnoxiously stuck in your head for a forever. When the Music Starts is when the music should have ended! You see, because this song is terrible. I'm not even going to keep writing about it.

- Kim Carnes Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes) / Oliver (Voice on the Radio). Kim Carnes, that unmistakeable voice behind Bette Davis Eyes. Oliver is a pretty boring typical 80s ballad that I listened to once and didn't try to figure out what it all meant. Crazy though could maybe be pushing for like the number five spot of my top 80s female songs. I may just be going delirious from having gotten out of bed so early today and I'm sure this song would annoy the shit out of me if given 5 more listens. I think I'll stick with Bette Davis Eyes. So, again...I've got some garbage here.

-Finally, the only record out of these four really worth a few listens if it weren't for unfortunate label placing and a crack somewhere in the grooves: Wilson Pickett - Search Your Heart / Hey Jude. Some great old soul right here. Search Your Heart is a big, bad plea for a girl to let him back in. Horns, check. Choir, check. Big ol' voice, check. You can't really go wrong. Then the flip is his cover of Hey Jude. It's motherfucking Hey Jude, ya dink, not that hard to fuck up, and he doesn't, I guess.

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This took a lot of energy and I'm sure you can read me losing my hold over my ADD by the end of it, but fuck [hehehe re:butt fuck] at least it's done.

Thanks for reading, you big dumps. Go do something!

The Vinyl Adventure: Morning Light

Day 2: Morning Light
Here's what I put on the plate today: The Charlie Parker quintet & sextet vol. 3, Roy Ayers Ubiquity Everybody Loves the Sunshine, and The Calvin Jackson Quartet Rave Notice.

 

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This Charlie Parker collection is probably one of the first jazz records I ever owned. For obvious reasons the names Miles Davis and Max Roach jumped out at me and it didn't hurt that someone had placed a sticker on it that said "Great Music". Records, at least old and random collections like this, are the one thing I don't ever apply my completist nature to. I mean with comics, it's like, I need to have the full miniseries or the full run of a certain writer's or the whole series of a failed title. As great as this record is, I just feel like it'd be too overwhelming to try and hunt down volumes 1 and 2. As many collectible records as I own, and as much free time as I may have, it's just exhausting looking through dusty dollar bins. So, for stuff like this, I kind of just take what I find. Of course if it's touted as a must have, then maybe I'll put in the work and look for more. But realistically, I don't know enough of which records had the smallest runs and what pressings to look for and what differentiates some records from others, so it's too much more clutter in my head to deal with things that'll just collect dust on my shelf. Another great afternoon easy listen and I'm happy to have picked it up.

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Everybody Loves the Sunshine, as well as Rave Notice, I know for a fact I've never dropped the needle on. For this record, I bought it at a crazy time and it just kind of got forgotten about. I was getting ready to DJ a wedding and was looking for old polka records because it was a Polish wedding and they said polkas would be heavily requested (more on that in the future...maybe...). I went out of my normal path to dig some of that polka up and this caught my eye at the shop. I had work to do though listening to accordions and this got lost in a pile of records I kept buying and never listening to.
Who doesn't love that snippet off the title track, "my life - my life - my life...in the sunshine! Everybody loves the sunshine! " This album, though, is not the typical clunky piano jazz that I'd used to. It's a lot more frantic and erratic. I actually had to take a break from listening to it before flipping it over. What it lacks in smoothness of the early days of jazz, it makes up for in its more modern experimentation. Plus, this cover just makes me happy!

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Finally, The Calvin Jackson Quartet Rave Notice.
Bluntly, I have no idea who these people are. The sleeve says Calvin Jackson, at the point of this record's release, was living in Toronto because he toured the area and grew to love it. One of the quartet's members was actually a Toronto native. This I've learned strictly from reading the back of the cover. My own reasoning for picking this up: I bought this purely because I liked the juxtaposition of 1950s piano-based jazz versus the modern idea of a rave... I was trying to figure out what exactly a Rave Notice was though. It doesn't really seem like a common phrase of the time that's just gotten lost as language grew. I think it simply means exactly, and to be honest kind of boringly, what it says. This was the quartet's third or fourth album and they were referring to the enthusiastic response of their getting recognized. As well as these dudes strung notes together, they for sure were not in any way wordsmiths.
Besides the title, what drew me in to picking this up was how it features the classic Stompin' at the Savoy [sidenote: remember how great Savoy was before it changed ownership and eventually died? I miss that spot]. This record was a lot more upbeat, as you'd expect with a lead in track like Stompin' at the Savoy. If I knew how to Charleston better and had the energy in the afternoon and were in the midst of a hot summer day in the 50s reeling off of the excitement of having successfully built a time machine, I might dance to this.

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Well, that's it for this edition. I promise tomorrow I'll veer off the jazz path.

Keep listening to good music!

The Vinyl Adventure: Talkin' All That Jazz

So, I've decided to make February a month dedicated to listening to every record I own. It's a perfect time, I figure: my laptop's messed up (I'm writing this from my old desktop); I'm not really working; and I'm getting a little tired of watching TV and playing iPhone games. Really, the point of it is to eliminate distractions and read and write more. Also, I don't want to berate my social networks with photos and status updates about what's playing. So, in turn, bing, bang, boom, I've decided to write about what's playing on this ol' thang.

If it actually happens, I'll talk about where the records came from, why I bought them, what the songs or artists mean or meant to me and I'll get to make fun collections and sets of records (i.e. picture discs, records I didn't pay for, records from trips). It's really just High Fidelity-biographically organizing my records. I've always had stories for my records and wanted to share them, but I'm sure that no one wants to come to my house and listen to me blabber on about why I have each of the 300 or so records I have.


blah blah blah...
Well, as you can see by the eloquence of how I've introduced this whole thing, I need to get back into the flow of writing, because one, I haven't done it in a while and two, I really need to get my bearings back. So, let's get to the fucking point. Here we go.

The Vinyl Adventure

Day 1) Talkin' All That Jazz

In order to read a book, I figured I'd start with a quiet bang. Plus, there was a one night showing of a Thelonius Monk movie that I skipped out on. So, with those two things in mind I whipped these out.

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I don't think I've ever listened to Ella and Oscar in its entirety. I blame this completely on the timing of when I bought it. I remember it completely: a random pickup from the record shop on a sweaty summer day. I ran into two homies looking at shoes in the shop next door, one of whom, a self-professed amateur jazz singer, the other knowing full well that the first person was a self-professed amateur jazz singer. The latter asked me what I'd bought and reacted with, "oh cool!" and showed the former, who reacted like any young elitist would with a shrug, a "yeah, I guess that's cool," and a I'm-going-to-just-keep-looking-at-shoes-and-pretend-like-I'm-really-not-into-that demeanour.
None of this actually tarnished the record for me. What actually kept me from listening to this all the way through is the fact that the second track on it is Miss Fitzgerald and Mr. Peterson playing How Long Has This Been Going On. I don't think I could ever get through this song without deciding to immediately switch gears and just put on the Verve Remixed albums. Those motherfuckers were the heat at the time and I will stand by them to this day even though they get played at like every Second Cup now.

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Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill is one of those diversity hires in my record collection. I bought it out on a trip to Vancouver while I was determined to make my collection more than just hip hop and electro. [BTW, I do know it isn't jazz by any means. I'm just listening to records, you dick. Are you going to take that enjoyment away from me because of the title of a blog post?! You're a terrible person. WAIT! If you didn't think that, then you're not a terrible person and hopefully we're still cool and you keep reading.]
This album has some Creole spice all over it. Like, to the point where while I was eating a bowl of ice cream, Jambalaya came on, and I felt so odd because jambalaya and ice cream don't taste good together and I was freezing yet so warm at the same time. It also made me think about how much simpler times were when songs about just kissing hit the tops of charts whereas now songs are just about straight up fucking. Then I realized times weren't simpler because while Fats Domino could sometimes break into the top 40, his songs would be propelled to number ones when covered by artists like Pat Boone. Oh, racism...

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I don't really have much to say about Miles Smiles. It's a jazz record. I have it. I actually have absolutely no recollection of buying it. I listened to it. It's one of those records you put on on a Sunday afternoon and read a book to.

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Well, that was kind of fun. Until next time!

Chicken Lil'

After a bunch of convincing and a need to stop some lying-on-the-couch boredom, I went and watched Skyfall. I'm not one for reviews, but I'm still bored, so I'm going to write this, which isn't so much a review, anyway, as it's more my own experience and observances. If you don't want to read on and have your time wasted, on a scale of 1 to 10 I give it a "S'Aight" and on the At the Movies scale of thumbs I give it the Fonz, two thumbs out a little more up than halfway, Eyyyyyy.

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I'd been getting word that this movie is amazing. Every voice was saying this from people who don't really like action movies to the people who believe the hype and rave about every major blockbuster; from people whose opinions on movies I respect to people whose movie recommendations I will make a point to avoid completely (like the movies they love I won't even waste time watching and I do NOTHING except waste time). So, I'm going into this expecting the mediocre. It's better than that, but, maybe it was my lack of wanting to do anything with my life today, it didn't blow me away like the blowing everyone who's raving about this movie got. I ain't hating(!), but like I said, it was aight.

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This was my first time using the Run Pee app, which has gone unused for far too long. This thing, for my small bladder bredren, works beautifully. It gives you a little timer that you start at a given cue point (like for this they were like, "Start when the MGM lion roars"). If you're prepared enough and don't mind reading what's going to happen, each pee point is given a little run down of the scene you should be expecting to see when you need to start getting up. It's discreet and gives you little buzz notifications of, "yo, get to peeing" and "I hope urine your seat" (my words. the app just buzzes like you got a message and your phone's on silent).
At one point I doubted it and skipped my opportunity. Had I gone when I wanted to, though, I would've missed one of my favourite parts of the movie (I'll get to that in like a minute). Luckily, I was just testing things, didn't actually have to pee, and enjoyed watching.

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I forgot how great James Bond opening sequences are; opening sequences are generally pretty rad. This one is straight up visually appealing; it keeps in line with the classics; it does great things with the kaleidoscope effect (which has gotten super annoying with people who've just discovered this effect on their Macs).
It fucked with me though. It was fun to watch throughout the movie how it truly lays out stuff that happens, but more than once I was asking, "what the fuck?" The Chinese dragons? The deer? It seriously looked like the aforementioned people on their Macs and whoever did this sequence had some mad ADD. With a sigh of relief, it all came to make sense.

This sequence also made me privy to the not so private title track. I'd avoided Adele's song, for really no reason besides, I guess, disinterest. I like Adele; I like James Bond themes; should equate to a proper track. I think I just saw too much praise on this song and as a non-believer of hype I steered clear. I'm kind of glad I did (a little because I like believing I make the best decisions but mostly...) because it completely did what it was meant to do. When a song is specifically written for a movie and it's heard in that exact moment that it was created for, it's like a perfect moment in time. The Bond horns chiming in to make you tune in and get ready for the adventure you're about to take part in; her big voice echoing over the orchestra; the slow build and rollling tone that let you choose whether to just watch the opening sequence, solely keep your ears alert, or just put it all together and enjoy all were just on point. I straight up got chills (and I don't get excited about much). Well done. [I think I may be ruining the possibility of this same experience for some people in the next room as I listen to the track on repeat right now]

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Though in one conversation tonight I said my spirit animal is an octopus, I have on two occasions said my spirit animal is the komodo dragon. Sure, I was told that was second grade-ish, but yo, that's almost about when I gained a place in my heart for the lizard. So, this part was pretty awesome to me. I won't spoil the movie with any details other than it was pretty great.

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SPOILER ALERT!!!

As the opening sequence does with things like places they go, the whole movie pretty much gives away everything that's going to happen. It's way too thinly veiled too! That's kind of my only real problem with the movie.

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I kind of feel there could've been more of a lot of stuff: more Bond girl, more Javier Bardem, more gadget-y things (and not hipster Q pretty much saying, "gadgets, you ask? over them...")

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I know nothing about cars. Apparently though, EVERY dude in this theater loved cars. Especially Bond cars. Ok, I'm ruining this scene for you, but whatever it's not that big a deal [most of you haven't read this far anyway].

Scene:
Shady garage with secret vehicle -
Bond reaches down and lifts garage door -
Classic Bond Aston Martin is revealed.

Theatre reaction:
Every dude but me: UNNNNHHHH yeeeeeahhhhh [car boners!!!!!]

I felt violated but laughed at the sincere collective appreciation of what was just shown to them.

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All in all, a nice enough time out. Enjoyable. Dug.
If you got through this, thanks for reading and it's nice to know there are people who waste time in lamer ways than me [see because you're reading this, this which I wrote to waste time. Time Waste game Human Centipede]

Version 3.0 (beta testing)

Maybe I'll give this a go once again.
I'm too lazy to edit my layout and whatever so deal with the look of this for now.
I'm also too lazy to get a make a new blog name, so I'm sticking with this one.
The idea's different though. The idea is the 5-disc changer. Lists of 5 in the vain of Top 5 Records, but not always the "top" or "best" of the genre. I'm open to conversation and tired of Facebook [stati]. Also, I'm tired of thinking by myself.

 First up 5 songs to kill zombies to:

Track 1) Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

Track 2) Major Lazer ft. Andy Milonakis - Zumbi

Track 3) That "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" song they used to always play during wrestling. I don't know what it's called and it's terrible, so I don't want to look it up because I have that paranoia of someone looking through my personal computer's search history.

Track 4) Kid Rock - Bawitdaba because I feel like thinking about what I would listen to were I killing zombies is something only junior high kids should really dream about.

Track 5) DJ Khaled - All I Do is Win because by the time this part of the playlist comes around I will have escaped unscathed and alive (that time includes skipping through most of Track 3.

Discuss...