Recent Finds

Thought I'd do a post listing some of the albums I've come across lately.  A little wrap up of the newest collection additions.

1) Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum (1968)

Saw this one at Zulu Records in the New Arrivals section.  I had been looking for this one for a while so had to grab it.  Some people say it is one of the founding albums of heavy metal.  Rhapsody online lists it as one of the 10 Essential Proto-Metal Albums, and go on to say they not only invented the term 'Power Trio' but practically invented heavy metal.  Listening to it, it really is more of a loose garage blues album run with a lot of distortion.  Their cover of Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues is great.

2) Booker T and The MG's - Melting Pot (1971)

This is the bands last album on Stax Records and also the last with the original line-up.  You owe it to yourself to try and pick this one up.  It has some longer instrumental jams on it and the title track is awesome.  Got this one at Carson Books

3) Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! (1972)

Another Zulu purchase.  A buddy of mine (Gord) posted a request on facebook for people to keep an eye out for this one.  Saw it, bought it, now I'm not sure if I'm gonna give it up.  The live version of Buddy's 'Them Changes' is superb.  Side 2 of the album contains only one song.  'Free Form Funkafide Filth' is a 25 minute jam that is the perfect background to any vinyl listening party.

Now for an example, I'm gonna go back to the first album on the list and play the Cochran cover. Enjoy!

Shout At The Devil

When it comes to this band I prefer not to think about the recent history.  The porn movies, reality shows, fights and all the other drama that has taken up a huge portion of their time these days.  Instead I like to remember their youth, and by extension, my youth.  Because when this album was released in 1983 I was 12 and was just starting to spread my wings musically.  I had been a Kiss fan for a long time but a group of us were starting to embrace the 'metal' of the time.   I still remember when a friend of mine played it for me.  It was heavy.  It felt like the type of music that our parents wouldn't approve of, hell they had a pentagram on the cover.  We would all listen to it on whatever 'ghetto blaster' was around at the time and thought it was the coolest stuff ever.  

As far as the imagery that went along with the music, well we thought that was cool too.  I mean this was what the inside of the gatefold looked like.

What the hell!!  I was never quite sure what to make of it.  They looked bad ass but they were wearing a hell of a lot of makeup!?!  In hindsight I now see that it was just an extension of what bands like Kiss, Alice Cooper and the like were doing, creating a persona that would leave an impression.  But forgetting that, if you focussed on the music, you got to hear what I consider one of those milestone albums.  Maybe not their best.  I think as he matured, Nikki's songwriting got better.  Also they got better as musicians in later albums, Dr. Feelgood being a good example.  But you will never find another album of their's that affected me as much.  I listened to it all the time, and from this album branched out to other metal bands.  In fact the whole genre was my focus from the age of 12 til I was about 15.  This album, along with a few from other bands, influenced everything.  We wore jean jackets with back patches cause we thought that was metal.  We proudly displayed our allegiances with band shirts and we all had the necessary posters on our walls.  We all thought we were 'metal'.  Maybe, maybe not, but at least the music was great.

I first had this album on cassette but recently picked it up on vinyl.  Let me tell you, it still sounds heavy.  I brought it into work the other day to play it for a buddy's birthday.  Real metalhead.  The following Monday, he commented how great it was to hear it again.  He was right, hearing it again really felt good.

Now as far as posting a song from it, there really is a lot to choose from.  You got the title track, Too Young To Fall In Love, Looks That Kill, the Beatles cover Helter Skelter.  So which one?  I'm gonna go rogue and pick Red Hot.  Enjoy!  Oh, and go out and get this album if you don't have it!

PS: On the cover that had their pictures on it, they were doing a tribute to the Beatles album 'Let It Be'

Just like the did with their debut album 'Too Fast For Love'

Is vinyl dying???

I've been going back and forth with this one for a while.  Reading various websites, blogs and articles, I get mixed messages.  Stats say that vinyl sales are increasing: according to Nielsen Soundscan, in 2010 vinyl sales increased 14% from the previous year while overall album sales dropped 13%.  But I've also read that a lot of record store owners are questioning how long they can stay in business.  Also at the last record fair I was at I overheard one of the vets saying he lost his store and might not keep coming to the fair because he isn't making the money he used to.  Then recently a local record store, Zulu Records, removed some of their CD racks and converted half their store to vinyl.  So it's mixed messages at best and utter confusion at worst.

What I do know is back when I was actively buying CD's I basically bought from two stores, AandB Sound and Sam The Record Man.  There was a couple of other places that I would go to occasionally but that's it. Two.  And in Vancouver they were side by side.  So I would make one trip and hit both.  Done.  No traipsing around the city, just hit Seymour Ave and start buying.  In Victoria I bought from AandB Sound and Lyle's Place. In Nanaimo it was AandB Sound.  Noticing a trend.  AandB was the go to place for music back then, and they were strategically placed everywhere I happened to need to buy music.  Convenient to say the least.

Well now AandB is gone, couldn't compete with iTunes and the box stores that sold things other than CD's like Future Shop and Best Buy.  Sam went extinct as well, same fate.  Lyle's Place is still around but they have an almost legendary following in Vic and they sold used CD's and vinyl so they weathered the storm.  So as album sales plummeted in the late 90's early 00's, the shops people used to go get CD's died.

So fast forward to how I purchase music now.  I pretty much exclusively buy vinyl and I don't go to just two shops like back in the day.  On the side of the blog is a partial list of record shops in Vancouver.  I haven't finished adding everyone to the list but as you can see we have a good selection.  I go to everyone on the list.  I've also bought from everyone.  So now that I'm buying only vinyl, I buy from more places.  Not because I have to but because I want to.  These shops each offer me a different buying and crate digging experience so I frequent them all.  I also go to used bookstores, thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist ads and flea markets to get my digging fix.  So when you add it all up, even though overall album sales are down, vinyl is rising and the amount of shopping around I do has also risen.

So is vinyl dying?

I guess I'll let you know when I've bought the last record from the last store left open.