Making records
A lot has been said, recently, about the resurgence in the popularity of the record. NPR just did a story about how records get made. I thought I would share a link showing how records get made....
No CDs
It's not that I don't like CDs--I do: they sure beat MP3s! However, CDs were part of the reason why underground music got mainstreamed: all those record stores in malls had so much extra space in their bins.... something had to go there.
And we lost album art. We lost the tangibility of this big 12x12 thing to hold in our hands.
And remember the great lie: CDs don't get scratched, CDs don't warp, CDs sound better.... Play Black Flag's Jealous Again on vinyl and CD and you tell me the CD sounds better. It's too damn clean.
And CDs led us down the compression path so now our music has no depth--MP3s...
So on this blog, I talk about records. Vinyl. Gatefold sleeves and insert posters and lyric sheets with drawings and text you can actually read without the little magnifying glass that the O.E.D. supplies when you buy that dictionary in the one volume set.
I like records. Sure they're a pain in the ass to move. Sure they take up a lot of room. But they look great and sound better.
Buying Vinyl
Let's talk record stores. I have favorites: A-1 on Sixth Street in NY (between First Ave and A) is one of them. Flat Black and Circular in East Lansing. Cheapo's in Austin. Vertigo Music in Grand Rapids. I can put a big list up, and then there's the definitive list of 25 as published by Rolling Stone.
But why not tell us where we should go: what are the hidden gems? I travel a lot, so I need a guide. Tell me where to spend my money....
Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…
Well, not exactly. Working class. And taste, well my taste is eclectic. These days I play "real punk rock and roll," but I grew up listening to the Grateful Dead and Zappa and Neil Young and 70s AM radio and swing music and Sinatra. I came of age in the early 80s New York hardcore scene, played in a ska band in the early 90s (and executive produced the first three American Skathic CDs). I love music.
If you're coming here to find the definitive punk rock record collection--you won't find it. I could do it, but that seems boring. I want to sit and spin some wax and talk about each one: whatever it is. I will take requests, though, so let me know what you want to hear.
Let me be your DJ
A small part of the record selection.
This is not my rec room, but my record room: over 2000 albums and growing. Enjoy a taste, and tell me what you think.... These are mini reviews, loving tributes and so much more.
This is where I'm spinning from.
