Going, Going, ...

The House Of Records is now down to 40% off, with two weeks left to go. The pickings are definitely getting slimmer, but they are working fast to "price" all the CDs they still have piled up in boxes around the store in order to get them on the shelves and move them out again. So believe it or not there were many more finds. I will have to check back one last time before they close their doors.

Today's acquisitions:

Blur -- 13 ..... $6
(special "boxed" edition that includes a poster)

The Subways -- Young For Eternity ...... $4
(I bet you haven't heard about this band unless you've read about them here!)

The Warlocks -- Surgery ...... $1.20
(Not their best album, but for $1.20?)

The Wonder Stuff -- HUP ...... $3.60
(the album with the song "Don't Let Me Down, Gently")

But I won't get to listen to any of these for a while, because I picked up one more thing that trumps it all: in preparation for Morrissey's big tour, I bought a Best Of CD. Put out by Rhino Records, it runs the gamut from Viva Hate to Maladjusted and includes extensive liner notes. I might have all the Smiths albums & early Morrissey albums on record or cassette, but my later Morrissey collection is a bit lacking. So I will be listening to this non-stop for the next week so I can catch up on all the lyrics in time for the show! It was put out in 2001, so there will be a 2 album hole in my knowledge, but that's not so bad...

"Sing Your Life"
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But How Good Are They With Maple Syrup?

My quick trip to Trader Joe's today turned into a sad yet fruitful trip to the record store next door. The House of Records, "L.A.'s oldest record store," on Pico is closing! Right now everything is 30% off (and the prices are cheap to start with). It's a great little store -- they have a huge vinyl collection, lots of CDs under $5, and a listening station that can accommodate as many people as are ever in the store at one time (hmm.. maybe that's not such a good thing?). But their best asset is (presumably) their access to promos. They are just a couple doors down from The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and as one might expect, they have tons of "for promotional use only" CDs and LPs on their racks. It's always fun to look at the extra info the companies provide on those disks -- blurbs to read on the air about how great the band is, suggestions about which songs to play, details on release dates, etc.

Once I saw the huge "closing" sign I knew I had to go in. So today's playlist is a collection of new acquisitions. I didn't notice until I sat down to write this, but I really do seem to stick to themes when I select music, whether I am aware of it or not. Today's theme is Britian (esp. britpop):

The Soft Boys -- Nextdoorland (promo CD -- 2002)
The Charlatans -- Tellin' Stories (1996)
Blur -- The Great Escape (promo CD -- 1995)
Oasis -- Interview Disc & 120 page book (1996)
New Order -- Waiting For The Sirens' Call (2005)(yes, I finally got it)

and the one "local" album:
Marky Ramone and The Intruders -- The Answer To Your Problems (1999)
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A Great Musical Resource Masquerading As A Clothing Store

So I finally got around to reading the Bratmail email from last month. They have a bunch of band recommendations in the email (promoting upcoming shows). Of course, all the shows have long since passed, but most of the bands have myspace pages, and some of these guys are cool! So here are a couple of bands that I might just go see sometime:

The Shakes -- 60's garage punk sound

The Tiki Tones -- I don't know how to categorize this one, but I'm hooked!

One of these days I need to make it over to see the store: Brat

Bessie 2.0

You won't believe this amazing site:

http://www.radmonkeycowbells.com/

Electronic cowbells. Yes, that's right -- not only can it digitally amplify the sound, but it can reproduce "12 of the world's most sought after cowbells." How cool is that? Don't forget to visit their test page, which includes detailed descriptions of each of the 12 sounds and lets you test them out with the click of a mouse. You must try it (and post a message letting me know your favorite one!).


Oh, and if you like this product, you should really check out their Dead Quietenator, which digitally reproduces "various pure silences" that you cannot get anywhere else (you can even listen to 3 of those silences on their test page). Of course, I prefer the Virtual Studio Visitor that lets you digitally create the annoying presence of unwanted drop-in visitors to your studio (just in case you like how the uninvited guests affect your creative process but you don't have enough friends to drop in on you and produce the effect in the old fashioned way).

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