Seven Inchers Galore

Decided to use a $20 gift certificate and the $20 i had from my frequent buyer card to raid the Last Vestige 7" bin. Right before I went over to it, I had about 10-15 jazz/prog records in my arms (brand x, billy cobham, etc.), but they all went back once I found the REM. Here goes:

7 INCHERS
REM - Tongue (Limited Edition 1995 Tour Souvenir)
REM - Crush With Eyeliner (Limited Edition Calendar, Orange Vinyl)
Pearl Jam - Off He Goes
Love Battery - Foot (green, sub pop singles club #37)
Bruce Springsteen - I'm Going Down
Echo & The Bunnymen - Bedbugs and Ballyhoo
Weird Al Yankovic - Like A Surgeon
Men At Work - Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Dreaming
The Outfield - All The Love In The World
Eurythmics - There Must Be An Angel (playing with my heart)
INXS - What You Need
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam - Little Jackie Wants To Be A Star
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - If You Were A Priest
Handsome - Swimming/Can't Connect (sub pop '95)
Sister Double Happiness - Don't Worry/Wheels A' Spinning (sub pop '90)
Ithaca/The Color Turning - Split
Carrison - The Bend Before The Break
The Raymond Brake - New Wave Dream

Totally taking chances with that last bunch, but they were mostly a dollar, so worth a shot. Lots of Sub Pop singles in the bunch. Just reviewed their discography online and I am now realizing that I left a couple from the singles club back in the bin - Green Magnet School and Gorilla... there were like four copies of the Green Magnet school though and I never really got into them when I checked them out waaaay like a year ago, so I'm not too stressed about it. What I am stressed about is the possibility of not making it to the Albany location tomorrow on my way out of town, sadly, to go back home. Total Bummer. I really like it here in Saratoga for sure and if only I could spend a few more hours searching through bins, completely void of outside world thoughts. That is The Brilll (with three els). Oh, one more Vinyl to add:

David Sylvian - Gone To Earth (double import)

Been meaning to get into him for ages now and the Frippage on their will hopefully help.

Future post coming up in the next day or so: records I got for Christmas. Have I mentioned that it has been a good trip?

Last Vestige Freakout.

Glorious find after glorious find! And most of it didn't come until after I checked out and went BACK to the $1 section (which ended up being .50 cents each yesterday = sweet). It is an addiction...

Regularly Priced
Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know It's True
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - The Pacific Age
A Flock of Seagulls - Modern Love Is Automatic/Telecommunication 12"
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (Picture Disc!!!)
The Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good
Al B. Sure! - In Effect Mode
Johnny Gill - S/T
Ready For The World - Long Time Coming
Sting - Nothing Like the Sun
Paw - Death To Traitors
Gas Huffer - Mole 7"

.50 Cents Each Section
Go West - Dancing On The Couch
Belinda Carlisle - Belinda
Caterwaul - Beholden
Icehouse - S/T
Howard Jones - One To One
Kiss - Hotter Than Hell
Shadowfax - The Dreams of Children
Roman Holliday - Cookin' On The Roof
Rick Springfield - Beautiful Feelings
Phyllis Nelson - I Like You
Simple Minds - I Travel 12"
Rumble Fish - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Stewart Copeland)
Paul Young - No Parlez (track 2 is a Love Will Tear Us Apart cover!!!)
Billy Ocean - Love Zone
Real Life - Heartland

Can I tell you how excited I was to see that Real Life album? One of those finds that makes you go "No way!" or "Yessssss..." or "hahahaHAHAHAhahaha" or "Oooooooohhhh..." and you hope no one is actually around to hear you geek the freak out over a .50 cent synth pop record. But the same happened for the Lauper picture disc and the Go West, and the Paul Young, and the Howard Jones... sometimes it pays to love what most people might consider irrelevant music. Fine by me though, left me more money to pick up that Sugarcubes piece of gold. And totally psyched to dig into Paw... Definitely think there will be some great, obscure, longtime friends to be had when I get this batch home to the safety of my shelves, where they belong. Now only one more stop to the location in Albany where I have read on their site that they have Prefab Sprout's If You Don't Love Me 12" and A-Ha's Stay On These Roads LP... if I could find both of those it would be like finding 3/5ths of a Last Temptation of Christ Soundtrack... fingers crossed!

Some crazy news that I found out after I left the store... Apparently Last Vestige will be consolidating into their Albany location and closing the Saratoga store... pause to watch heart sink to the bottom of the ocean... continue reading - but the longtime Saratoga manager will be renting the space on her own to open up her own record store. Sweet. I am up for that. Especially if it can bring some new vinyl into that shop. The one thing that plagues me about their stock is that the new release availability is horrendous. I always want that option when I go into a record store to pick up some new stuff that I've been obsessing over while I search through the past time and time again for the few new discs that have been placed among the ages... and the dust. Or if you would like the exact formula, one We Were Promised Jetpacks to each Milli Vanilli... And a side note to Adam - I almost picked up Yessongs and Fragile, but ended up putting them back. Wasn't sure what the going rates on either of them are. Yessongs was $18 and it had a notch cut out of the lower left hand corner. Think I would rather spend that kind of money on the 180 gram reissues at this point and hope to find them both for less at another time. Twas pretty darn awesome to see Yessongs fold all the way out though. No luck on finding another Close To The Edge to replace my warped copy. Pollacks... Jackson Pollacks...

Oh, and I had some totally basic, bland, whatever pancakes at the Latham 76 Diner the morning after I got into town at like 5AM. Might have been the most average pancakes to ever pass my lips. And can you believe they didn't even offer blueberry? or strawberry? or any berry for that matter? Waste of my time except to fill up the ole cake tank. I will have to find better before I leave.

Oh (x2), I have been meaning to post up two of the records that I snagged from my Uncle's box o records in his basement in Glocester, NJ. Normally, I could never ever EVER raid another person's record stash even if they say "take anything you want". Because of the way I feel about my records, I know that I could never take any bit of music that could have possibly been the soundtrack to a moment in someone's life, thus rendering them incapable of putting the disc on, reliving that wonderful nostalgia. Just can't do it... BUT, when he told me that he got some of the records from someone else and that he totally doesn't care about them, I went into "Well, if you insist!" mode... Let's just say that in a box full of Perry Cuomo, I doubt he will miss Kiss Double Platinum and Kiss Rock and Roll Over, both in perfect condition with vintage inserts intact. WON DER FUL. I swear, if you have never been a Kiss fan, go get double platinum. That shmurph is OFF THE HOOK. Except for Strutter '78. Wha the WHA were they thinking... other than, hey guys, you want to make some more money? Sure what the heck... Long story short, thanks Uncle Richard!

Now I shall drive into Saratoga, get a cappuccino at Uncommon Grounds and begin my last day of Christmas shopping. I Like Vacation.

Pumcakes and Records

I took a trip to Williamsburg this weekend. (More about that to come on my blog.) Mostly just for the hell of it, but I also wanted to go to a performance of Messiah at Bruton Parish. But that's here nor there. Because on the way down I stopped at Plan 9 Richmond. On the way in I stopped at Plan 9 Williamsburg. And on the way to go to sleep I stopped at IHOP. Glory. Predominantly P&R Friday.

Plan 9 Richmond was the greatest as always. I was actually mostly going there to see if I could find this CD that my brother has been bitching about never being able to find for well over a year now. I could've ordered it from Amazon a while ago, but I kind of wanted to put Plan 9 up to the challenge. And have an excuse to go there. Well, they delivered on that end, so that was awesome. Of course then it was downstairs. The dollar section has gotten even bigger, which is excellent. The three dollar section has gotten bigger. The regular "these are albums people look for and we price them accordingly" section was actually miniscule. Personally, I like that. I never buy anything from that section anyway unless it's an absolute must-have, shit's just too expensive. Mostly what I wanted was Yes. I've been listening to Yes a LOT lately, and yet all I have on record is Fragile from way way back. One of the first records I found in my basement. So I managed to find Close To The Edge, The Yes Album, and of course 90125. But no Yessongs, Relayer, Going For The One, or Tales From The Topographic Oceans unfortunately. I had kind of counted on Yessongs being there, but oh well, I can deal with what I got fer shur. Also picked up first albums from Booker T. & the MGs and The Mar-keys, which I was very excited about. Ultimately pretty successful, especially considering how much I put back. I rarely ever put anything back in the dollar bin. I convince myself, "It's just a dollar. How can I leave it?" But I was able to tell myself this time, "I came for Yes. I'm sticking with Yes this time. Settle down. Put it back."

This was the first time I'd been to Plan 9 Williamsburg since they moved to the Big Lots shopping center. I guess the space is about the same size? Maybe? I have a hard time remembering. But it seemed like they had a lot less stuff than they used to. The racks just seemed to have pitifully few albums in them, and that goes for CDs too. I was looking through the records and thought I had wandered into a bust. "Oh, S.O.S. Band, that's okay. Sade Stronger Than Pride, I can deal with that. Best of Minnie Riperton, I kind of want that." I get into a weird mood when I stumble into a place like that. Even though there may be stuff there I'm willing to spend a dollar or three on, I get into this mood where unless I feel like you're trying to give me some real reason to get excited, I refuse to go to the cash register with anything. So, almost a complete bust when I get to the 5 dollar section and find a pretty good copy of Sign 'O' The Times. Then I got excited. And of course, when I got excited, I went back and picked up the other three I was sort of interested in. I'll call it a success.

Then pancakes. This concert I was going to started at 8, and somewhere I got the idea in my head that it was going to be 2 and a half hours long. So pretty much from the time I decided to go, I had also decided that my stop afterward was going to be the old familiar IHOP right near the old townhouse. (More on my blog about the old neighborhood. Jesus christ!) And, by golly, the time had come, I was going to get some of those Holiday Pancakes! But how to choose?!? As has been noted, I was keen on all four choices. I had pretty much ruled out Egg Nog, just wasn't interested enough in those. When I got there and looked at the special menu, I immediately got a little stomachache just looking at the pecan pie pancakes. Those look a lot better in the commercials than they do on the menu. So it was between gingerbread and pumpkin. Gingerbread looked to have a lot more going on in terms of ingredients, and I kind of consider pumpkin the underdog of the bunch. It's the only one that gets no mention whatsoever in the commercials, and it's sort of no frills. They just look like regular pancakes. No confectioners sugar, no goop. There is some whipped cream but that's as far out as it gets. And being that pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors of anything, it was pretty much the favorite going in. Well, they didn't blow me away. When the plate came out, the smell was overwhelming. I mean it really smelled of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger. Biting into them, the taste was not quite as powerful. It tasted like something to me. Wasn't quite pumpkin pie. I realized later that it was this pumpkin cake I had made in my microwave using pumpkin, egg beaters, and powdered peanut butter. For real. Tried them with and without syrup. Without syrup, the pumpkin flavor was evident but not mind-blowing. With syrup, it was hard to tell this from a regular pancake. Ate 'em all up fast though. After all, they were pancakes. End of story.

Oh. Oh my.

OK...



OK.

When I think about getting pancakes, and as I've explained before I think about it a lot more than I actually do it, I tend to think of it in terms of finding a small local place I've never been to and giving them a chance to wow me with their cakes. Finding hidden treasure. But then IHOP comes out with these and I immediately want to plant myself in the big chain at least three times. Except for the Eggnog, I want all of those. Pumpkin Pancakes. Pecan Pie Pancakes. Gingerbread Pancakes. I could have let the picture speak for itself as to what the flavors were aside from Eggnog, but frankly I wanted to write the words to make them real. These might make the entire Thanksgiving/Christmas season for me.

Slowly, But Surely

So just as a preface, I wrote this draft like a month ago, so just put yerself in that mindset and deal... Here goes...

June 18th... that's when I pre-ordered the Touche Amore full length. Got it yesterday. The same day I learned they are playing somewhere in Fairfax on Nov. 5th. Crazy. I think Vinyl Collective has some sort of wire tap into my brain cause the last pre-order I received from them, As Tall As Lions, got to me on the exact day of their show at Jammin' Java. Talk about some supreme marketing!

...and that wa
s all I wrote... Pretty ground breaking...

So In between my last record purchase post, I went to NC, Seattle, had a wonderful DC record day, got shut out of photoing an As Tall As Lions show, missed the Touche Amore and got the preorder of the new Converge. Besides that, I really haven't been purchasing much online. Don't get me wrong though, I have loaded up plently of carts at Barsuk, Sub Pop, Amazon, and Vinyl Collective only to chicken out at the last second. Someone should create a massive shopping cart program that tallies up the sum of all the shopping carts that you never follow through with so you can then go back to it at a later date when you have the money and then you can just work through them at your leisure. That would be hawt. Here are the records:..

CD Alley: Chapel Hill

PEARL JAM: The Fixer 7" (white vinyl)
M83: Teen Angst 12"

Smash Records

OVER THE TOP: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
YANNI: Keys To Imagination

Red Onion
Records

HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SOUL ASYLUM: Hang Time

Vinyl Collective

CROOKED FINGERS: Forfeit/Fortune (white vinyl)
MODERN LIFE IS WAR: S/T 7"
MODERN LIFE IS WAR: Stagger Lee 7" (clear/blue haze vinyl)
TOUCHE AMORE" ...To The Beat of a Dead Horse (brown vinyl)

Easy Street Records

THOM YORKE: All For The Best 7"
THE LA'S: S/T
KILLING JOKE: S/T
PET SHOP BOYS: Love Comes Quickly 12"

Deathwish (online store)

CONVERGE: Axe To Fall (blue/gold/black segmented)

At Shows

CROCODILES: Summer of Hate
THE RACE: Exiles

Tons of all time favorites in there... Some that I have wanted for a while, others that have grown on me exponentially over time. I am beyond excited to have the All For The Best 7", which is probably my favorite song of the year. Crushes every time.

Until A Short Stack Is Identified... (Human Harvesting Coming Soon)

Whoa there...

How do you stay impartial to a friend's homemade pancakes? How do you break it to them if they are crap? Where do you draw the line between critical integrity and maintaining friendship? Luckily I don't have to consider any of that, because Adam Kisscake makes incredible pancakes. I've found out that I'm a crazy indecisive person when I go out to eat. It takes me forever to decide what I want and where to go to get it. That's why I love grocery stores with bulk foods sections, places with sampler platters, places that put together small portions of several entrees to make one meal, and so on. These pancakes that Adam made were pretty much the best of all worlds, a one-stop shop for all the things that make pancakes great. Some people like crispy pancakes. My only problem with crispy pancakes is that they usually get their crispness from being too thin. These were not, that was the first thing I noticed about them when they came out of the oven. FAT cakes. Beautiful. Stuffed with berries, fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside. And the crisp combined with confectioners sugar made them reminiscent of funnel cake, more in terms of looks and fun than taste, if I remember what funnel cake tastes like, haven't had one in a while. Doesn't really matter. This is what it comes down to. I have a major sweet tooth. An insatiable sweet tooth. And these hit it in about half a million different directions. Sweetness from the berries inside, sweetness from the berries outside, sweetness from the confectioners sugar, sweetness from the maple syrup. All set in a puffy cocoon that gave me that comfortable feeling that could put me right to sleep, like good pancakes do. (Side note: if professional chefs don't top their pancakes with berries using a move that somehow all at once violently forces them onto the plate AND delicately coaxes them into place, they could take some lessons.) Summing up by comparing them to the only other pancakes I've had recently: way better than Perkins because the berries were not hiding insubtantial pancakes, there was heft to both the pancakes and the add-ons. Better than Dick and Jenny's because they were way more involved. Slam cakes with the Kisscakes.

A couple other notes: with the couple of posts Adam has made on the coffee blog, it's obvious to me I'm way underqualified to write reviews of coffee. The most I can usually tell is if a coffee is too bitter. That's basically because coffee will usually taste passable to me because I like it with sweetener. The coffee we had with the pancakes was the first cup in a long time that I've had with no stir-ins, and I did not miss it at all. Very tasty. AND the mango juice. Here's the weird thing about me and mango. LOVED that mango juice, I love dried mango, but for some reason I am just not a fan of fresh mango. But that's way off-topic. Pancakes + coffee + mango juice + bacon + sausage? Basically perfect breakfast.

Back In The Pancake Game

Adam's post got me psyched again to eat some pancakes. I have to admit, I have been out of the game ever since that Horrible Herndon Amphora Blueberry Disaster. Left such a bad taste in my mouth that I have stayed away from ordering them in restaurants in fear of being completely let down, breakfast ruined. Then I read about glories of fruit infused stacks and decided to pull out an extreme pancake dinner last Thursday night. I made three types, blueberry, raspberry, and blueberry/raspberry. You wouldn't think there was much distinction between the three, but you would be wrong. As much as I like a good blueberry pancake, the clear winner was the combo. And I actually had them with maple syrup (something I usually do not do). The time away from that has made it all the more sweet of a return. Cooked up the remaining batter this morning for breakfast. Nothing beats good pancakes on a Saturday w/ fake bacon, fresh ground french press coffee and some fancy juice (which was strawberry apple today). I am already psyched for the next excursion. Hey Adam, can I make you a pancake dinner and/or breakfast for your birthday next weekend? You better be free.

RECORD TALK!!!

I finally got in one of my pre-orders from Vinyl Collective and coincidental enough, the As Tall As Lions record got here on the exact day of their show at Jammin' Java. Kahwayzee. Only took 3 months! Still waiting on my Touche Amore pre-order, which there have been zero updates on... Two other label orders came in, Ghostly and Half Machine. Totally in love with Banjo and Freakout and the Real Estate 7" just makes me more pumped to see them again. Super impressed with the Ghostly package. Got stickers, a couple of posters and even a free 12" from Lusine (which is insanely good and sounds pristine). I really hope Deastro tours around here soon... and finally, my annual Labor Day trip to Last Vestige (second only to my annual Christmas week trip). Slick finds this time including the Manowar, Soul Asylum, and Mr. Mister. The multitude of Janet 12 inchers is just icing. Totally jealous of one of the workers there though who snagged the Black Cat 12" just before me. It will be mine! The rest is just collection rounding out. Pleased to have the Adams big time. Great record and it feels right that it is now in my collection after having to pass on it last time I was there, in December. I had planned to go to the Albany location too, but I just ran out of time. Come Christmas there is some Bolton, A-Ha and Prefab Sprout that has my name on it... in the meantime, I am doing my best to resist dropping a FAT sub pop order on the internet. Barsuk as well... good grief...

VINYL COLLECTIVE
As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You
Killing The Dream - Fractures

HALF MACHINE RECORDS
Banjo or Freakout - Upside Down
Real Estate - Fake Blues/Green River 7"

GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL
Lusine - Push EP 12"
Deastro - Moondagger
Deastro - Vermillion Plaza 7"
School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms

LAST VESTIGE (saratoga location)
Bryan Adams - Waking Up The Neighbours
The Knack - ...But The Little Girls Understand
The Knack - Round Trip
The Boomtown Rats - In The Long Grass
Bangles - Different Light
Janet Jackson - Escapade 12"
Janet Jackson - Miss You Much 12"
Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do Without You 12"
Manowar - Sign of the Hammer
INXS - Listen Like Thieves 12"
INXS - Suicide Blonde 12"
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic
Down By Law - punkrockacademyfightsong
Mr. Mister - Go On...
Soul Asylum - Let Your Dim Light Shine
U2 - Boy

About time

I finally, FINALLY, have some pancake reviews. What can I say? I love pancakes but the opportunity just doesn’t often present itself for me to get pancakes. Pancakes aren’t as conducive to take-out as so many other kinds of food, and I usually just don’t feel like going to a pancake house by myself. I’m a cereal person anyway, so I don’t go out for breakfast too often. So while I was traveling with my mom up to the Niagara Falls area last month, we did stop for breakfast a couple times, and jumped at the chance to eat me some. I think it’s a pretty good sample too, because one is from a wide-spread chain, and one is from a really small local place.

My first pancakes came from a Perkins in Williamsport, PA. Here I chose the strawberry pancakes. Five pancakes with a strawberry topping and whipped cream. Most overwhelming thing about these was as an exhibit of the power of strawberry topping. I am not a real big fan of dry pancakes. I love syrups and toppings and stuff. Strawberry topping is one of my favorites. This was a decent one, like a combination of a syrup and preserves. I liked it, and combined with whipped cream, it’s a winner. But it ran out before the pancakes did, and after that, these were some disappointing pancakes. One measure for me of a pancake is what it does under maple syrup. When you put syrup on these, it absorbed in a way that made the pancake stiff. Not great. It reminded me of what McDonald’s cheap-o pancakes used to do as soon as syrup touched them. It also reminded me of what would happen if I put syrup in my hair and played with it. It took it in like a sponge in such a way that it was now just a cake with some maple flavoring. I don’t like that, I like to be able to recognize the syrup as a liquid still, or at least a goop, like you would expect if you put ketchup on fries. Plus they were pretty thin. Thick and fluffy, that’s what I like.

Second pancakes came from Dick & Jenny’s Bake & Brew on Grand Island, NY, a small place on a small island between Niagara Falls and Buffalo. It was basically a coffee shop/bakery, mostly coffee and muffins, but they also have a rotating menu available for breakfast. This time I got the blueberry pancakes. No topping on this one, blueberries were baked in. No blueberry flecks here, they were big and juicy. And the pancakes had to contain them, so they were a decent thickness. These did what they were supposed to with the syrup too. Dipped it in, absorbed it a little, but still stayed drippy.

Perkins couldn’t have been that bad though. I got the strawberry pancakes again on the way back. I could eat truckloads of strawberry topping.

I don’t think I’ve bought a record in a few months. I’ve put myself on a minor CD buying regiment, trying to get myself to listen to music and get familiar with albums I’m buying, and pursuing jazz more than anything else.

Metallica - ...And Justice For All LP Reissue

Worst sounding record I own??? Quite possibly. I was so psyched to unseal this mother to max volumization, but the result? Garbage. Total Garbage. Horrible level = cranked volume = ridiculous surface noise = really upset. Made it to the beginning of the second side and just had to remove it. I have instead turned to Bitte Orca to give my ears the vinyl chills they deserve. Disappointing.

SMASH Records

Lovely but brief afternoon stop to Smash Records yesterday in between appointments. Went in hoping to find the first Killing Joke record, but I will definitely settle for the Requiem 7" plus their second. This is the kind of store where you can go in with an agenda for a specific genre, sound, or band and come away totally satisfied, almost instantly. Their selection of solid records is huge, meant for rounding out collections and it's about time I started on The Cure... sad but true, Disintegration is my first and rightfully so. I pulled the following and put back a bunch of D-mode 12 inchers... next time my friends, next time...

Killing Joke - Requiem 7"
Ray & Porcell - S/T 7"
New Order - Thieves Like Us 12"
New Order - Murder 12"
The Cure - Disintegration (finally!!!)
Killing Joke - What's THIS For...!

I Think Heaven Just Exploded

WOW.

Terrible Blueberry

First of all, never get the blueberry pancakes at the Herndon Amphora. They make it with blueberry batter and it tastes like a freakin' doughnut. It's terrible. Second, I bought a ton of records in Alabama and North Carolina:

PEGASUS RECORDS (Florence, AL)

Metallica - ...And Justice For All (Half Speed Remaster)
A-ha - Scoundrel Days
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard / A True Star
Candlebox - Candlebox/Lucy (both albums in a double LP)
Rush - Permanent Waves
Bulletboys - Bulletboys (Sealed)
Bob Dylan - Infidels
Bob Dylan - Empire Burlesque
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key Of Life (w/ Booklet & 45)
Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado
R.E.M. - Green
Loverboy - Live from Dayton, OH (w/ Autographs Etched Into Vinyl... wow)
The Plimsouls - Everywhere At Once
Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain
Boy Meets Girl - Reel Life
Al B. Sure - Missunderstanding 12"
Father MC - Lisa Baby 12"
The Jets - Make It Real 12"
The Jets - Rocket 2 U 12"
Trixxx - Remember 12" (amazing cover on this one)
Then Jerico - Fault 12"
Cathy Dennis - Just Another Dream 12"
J.A.M. '86 (Jersey Artists For Mankind) - We've Got the Love 12"
Chico DeBarge - Talk To Me 12"
Stacey Q - I Love You 12"
Pet Shop Boys - Domino Dancing 12"
Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin 12"

I am in love with Pegasus. There are so many incredible 12" finds there for next to nothing. I mean, two Pet Shop Boys singles for a buck each?? Then Jerico, The Jets, Chico DeBarge, Boy Meets Girl (album), all in great condition for a buck??? It's a pop lover/crate searcher's dream. And there is plenty more to grab for the next time and the next time and the... I'd say the best find though was the J.A.M. '86 Jersey Artists For Mankind single. It's all E Street band/Stone Pony musicians doing a We Are The World knockoff. And they are all on the cover in a group photo, everyone except Springsteen who is listed in the credits with a guitar solo, but I guess was too busy touring the globe as a walking american flag to stop by a truck yard under a bridge in Jersey to take a picture w/ Clarence, Max, and Nils. HILARIOUS. The Candlebox literal double album and Songs In The Key of Life w/ 45 are pretty cool too. Actually, I'm super psyched to put each and every one of those records on my turntable for one reason or another. Especially that half speed remaster of Justice... whoooo boy is that gonna RIP.

After Alabama, it was on to Wilmington and CD Alley. Unfortunately, I didn't get to make it over to Gravity Records because I was w/ my Parents and I'm pretty sure they only wanted to wait for me to shop for records once. It was probably a good thing though, because I didn't need to spend any more money than I did. This time I picked up three newer ones that I've been meaning to get, a Fastbreak LP that I have put back the last three times I've been there, two older Michael Bolton LPs (someday, I WILL have them all), and a couple others... good stuff. It was also the beginning of getting all of the Nada Surf records, in reverse. The List:

CD ALLEY (Wilmington, NC)

Obits - I Blame You
Nada Surf - Lucky
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Michael Bolton - Everybody's Crazy
Michael Bolton - Michael Bolton
Desmond Dekker - Compass Point
Fastbreak - Whenever You're Ready
Electrelane - This Deed 7"

And finally, the stuff I've been getting at shows. Nothing more satisfying than coming home with an LP or 7", except for both.

SHOWS

Engineer - The Dregs
A Cosmonauts Ruin - The Inverse of Man 7"
Talbot Tagora - Lessons In the Woods or a City
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Abe Vigoda - Skeleton
Jay Reatard - See/Saw 7"
Middle Distance Runner - The Unbeliever 7"

Good times... Can you believe I didn't eat ANY pancakes on my trip though??? I'm kind of ashamed of myself. As you can see on my personal blog, it seems like I ate everything else, but for some reason, I was craving more Spanish type breakfast materials (or waffles) in the AM. If I could do it all over again, I think I'd get the pancakes every time. But that's just another reason to go back.

Updates

So quick updates w/ pancake review... first the review:

The Gazebo in Williamsburg, VA

Very satisfying. This was my second time there, the first being the morning I got married, July 29, 2006. This time, I was down there for my annual running of sound for local graduations so I can make money to buy camera gear extravaganza. It went well and so did this celebratory breakfast at noon the day I left to come back.

Blueberry Buckwheat Cakes: Large Stack
Coffee: Short Stack
Home Fries: Medium Stack
Service: Medium Stack

Also chowed on a good veggie omelet and biscuit. Sounds pretty good right now actually.

As for records, I have been doing a lot of purchasing at shows since I've been trying to photograph much more live music. Mostly 7 inches cause they be the cheapest. The only actual record store I've been in the last couple of months has been Plan 9 in Williamsburg, which afforded me a sawheet deal. Thank you Scott. ;) Here's the rundown of what I have acquired since California.

7"

Rogue Wave: Lake Michigan (import)
Fleet Foxes: Mykonos
Real Estate: Fake Blues
Love Is All: Wishing Well (with a sweet FNM Epic cover as the B-side)
Title Tracks: Every Little Bit Hurts
Joey Cape & Jon Snodgrass: Who Wants To Get Down?

LPs

Cut Off Your Hands: You and I
Blue Giant: Target Heart
Jon Snodgrass: Visitor's Band
Husker Du: Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Phil Collins: Hello, I Must Be Going!
The Waterboys: S/T (my second copy)
Queen: News of the World
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Pack Up The Plantation LIVE!
Queen: Live Killers
The Who: Tommy (took me long enough)
The Church: S/T
Modern English: After the Snow
Men Without Hats: Rhythm of Youth
Talking Heads: Little Creatures
Lindsey Buckingham: Law and Order
Simon and Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends

Yep, pretty happy with all of those. Next update should hopefully be after I get a shipment in from Vinyl Collective of some sweet hardcore. Until the next time, go eat some pancakes.

The California Pancake Adventure

I literally ate pancakes every day in California.

IHOP (1)
Sheraton (3)
Jerry's (1)

I have to say that the cakes at the Sheraton were pretty kickin'. Not as good as the french toast, but they most certainly held their own. Coffee was whatever, browns were whatever and the sevice was decent. But it was a buffet, soooo whatever.

Sheraton @ Disney

Cakes: Large Stack
Coffee: Short Stack
Home Fries: Short Stack
Service: NA

Now for Jerry's on Ventura in Studio City. I was expecting more from the diner vibe. Cakes were pretty sog, lacking the necessary crisp. Home Fries were on level w/ The Sheraton, grilled potato cubes. Eggs were good. Coffee was enjoyable and the refills were perfect. Oh and the OJ was fresh squeezed goodness. Paid out the waz for it, but it was HQ. But having an extended breakfast with friends I rarely see made up for any portion of the meal that was lacking. Can't wait to go back and try the rest of their extensive menu. And I will absolutely get the onion rings. Shared some and woah were they good.

Now for Amoeba. Holy cow. I was in there for about two hours and I think I covered maybe 1-2% of it. EXTENSIVE. I'm talking black metal vinyl section. I'm talking dubstep vinyl section. I'm talking entire rows of selections from an artist instead of just a few choices. If I lived near there, I would need no other record store. But I would need a second job. Cause I might as well star in The Money Pit, Part 2. Hopefully I'll get to visit their San Fran location sometime in the near future.

Purchases:

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
Madhouse: 8
Down Foundation/Dead Thirteen 7"
Disfear/Doomriders 7"
The Kind That Kills/Anchor 7"

If I had more money I would have picked up Meshuggah's Obzen as well as Royksopp's new one Junior, which is total stellar all the way through. Next time...

Out of State Cakes

I have to say, it's pretty exciting to have your first meal in a state you've never spent any time in be pancakes. That state this time was California. Now, it was nothing too original, Harvest Grain 'N Nut cakes at an IHOP in Anaheim, but whatever - those were some fine 'n tasty cakes when you factor in the 3-hour time delay. Coffee was horrendous.

IHOP #2 in Anaheim:

Pancakes - Large Stack
Home Fries - Short Stack
Coffee - Extra Short Stack
Service - Large Stack

It has been quite a while since I've talked about records. Shame... Picked up a few here and there - Killers Spaceman Picture 12", M83 Before the Dawn Heals Us, Bell Magic Tape 7"... Other than that, not too much to report. I am hoping to hit up some Mega stores tomorrow, specifically Ameoba Music. I'm almost guaranteed to find some awesome stuff there, but at what cost, we shall see... It has been faaaar too long since I've searched some bins. Definitely looking forward to it.

Quick Note About Online Purchases

Got the reissue of Screeching Weasel's My Brain Hurts a few weeks ago from Vinyl Collective. I preordered that thing months ago. Either way, it's genius. And about a week and a half ago I got an order in from Equal Vision Records - Modern Life Is War: Midnight In America and One King Down: God Loves, Man Kills 7". Lovely hardcore sounds. I can't see myself ordering anything from their new bands cause they are mostly neon screamo comedy shows, but the older portion of their catalog is killer.

I've got a Best Buy gift card burning a hole in my wallet right now, but I think I will save it for the vinyl release of U2's No Line On The Horizon, which is quite fantastic (but you didn't hear that from me).

P & R In Wilmington

Went to Wilmington last weekend, which was great because I ate pancakes and bought records.

First off, the purchases at CD Alley...

James Brown: Live at the Apollo (180 Gram Reissue)
Tones On Tail: Lions/Go! 12"
Billy Ocean: Tear Down These Walls
Naked Eyes: Fuel For The Fire
Heavy D & The Boyz: Nuttin' But Love 12"
The Family Stand: Ghetto Heaven 12"

I am not all that familiar with the "Back To Black" vinyl reissue series, but I love the Apollo record, so I'd rather have a reissue now to listen to until I can find an original pressing. Although, according to the 33 1/3 book on it, there were a ton of different pressings including different running orders and track cuts. So I guess it's time to get collecting to figure out which original is the best. Worth it though, as is the 33 1/3 read.

All the Tones On Tail stuff is great, but I have only heard it digitally. I need to pick up Pop and any other singles I can find. And I also need to listen to some serious Bauhaus and check out the rest of Love and Rockets. So far I only have the S/T.

Totally psyched about the Billy Ocean. His singles blaze my pop soul. Tear Down These Walls was produced by Mutt Lange and Arranged by Teddy Riley, so you know there's some golden musical veins ripe for the listening. And speaking of Riley, can I just take some time to bow before his greatness? Kool Moe Dee, Heavy D, Keith Sweat, Johnny Kemp, Bobby Brown, Al B. Sure, Big Daddy Kane, Wrecks-N-Effect, Funkin' Michael Jackson's DANGEROUS... and that's all before he was 25. Ridiculous.

Now, on to the pancakes.

The Dixie Grill on Market Street - RATINGS:

Pancakes - Extra Large Stack
Home Fries - Large Stack
Coffee - Short Stack
Service - Extra Large Stack

Pancakes were perfect. Nice and crispy on the outside and supremely cakey on the inside. The home fries were tasty, but left a bit to be desired, mainly with the spices. One of the flavors was off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. But the onion to potato ratio was great, so that saved it. Coffee was so-so. SO, I drank a lot of it to make up for it. That is truly the only solution. Lots of refills on the drinks = good tips. And they were playing a some really fantastic 80s-ish Dylan over their stereo, but I can't figure out what it was. One of the tracks was super Joshua Tree. Maybe that's why I liked it so much.

I feel like the most difficult part of the Perfect Pancake Place is going to be a good cup of coffee. The focus is on the grill and not the percolator. As long as they keep it flowing, you get so high off the caffeine and the rocking cakes that you forget about the quality of the brew you are guzzling. I would like a place that combines the quality of a local coffee shop with the perfection of diner cakes. If I could get a large stack of supreme blueberry goodness and a solid cappuccino then they would have my business every weekend. Throw in a variety of fresh juices and some vegetarian bacon/sausages and I will flat out double my tip. I have a feeling I am not going to find that anywhere around here.

Consolation? Billy Ocean rules.

Just when I think I've got these things under control

I knew well before Christmas time that my grandfather was going to get me some kind of gift card. That's what he always does. He asked me what kind of gift card I'd like and I mentioned Amazon to him. I guess he couldn't figure out how to do that so he got me one of those cash cards instead. $50. Not too shabby. But anyway, I knew something like that was coming, so I've been trying to put together a list of what I'd like to spend it on. Of course, records were tip-top of the list. I also got from my Dad a $50 Best Buy gift card. I needed to get a USB 2.0 card for this old computer I'm scrapping together to use as a desktop, but after that it's all going to music. THEN, my mom gives me this birthday card from my brother from 4 months ago that I had left at her house and forgotten to get back. And somehow I never realized there was another Best Buy gift card in that! Another $20. So I am trying to maximize my music getting with these now, and I thought I had a good plan. I was going to get two Tribe Called Quest records, The Low-End Theory and Midnight Marauders with the Best Buy cards. It made sense because it adds up to about what I have left between those two cards and for some reason Low-End Theory is significantly cheaper through Best Buy than it is through Amazon. Then through Amazon I was going to get these two Jazmine Sullivan 12-inches, go and buy an LP copy of The Milk-Eyed Mender through a third-party seller on Amazon, but after that I've been confusing myself endlessly. How to make the most of it?! I kind of want to get the Janelle Monae Metropolis EP. A portion of it is kind of off-putting, but it also has some really gorgeous vocals on it. Like it a lot. Then there's Jazzanova. I've been putting off listening to that entire album because I really want to buy it before I hear it all, because what I've heard so far has absolutely blown me away. Blown away George! Blow-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoan! But I can only get it on CD! Do I really want to use precious Amazon free shipping to get a CD? AND there are ways I could get it on vinyl, but it would cost close to $30, and I think would be shipping from overseas. So torn! And another album that I'd really like to get before I listen to it all, Reel People's Seven Ways To Wonder. Also only available on CD, and LUDICROUSLY priced. $22.98 for a single CD?? A CD?!?? You must be kidding me! (Actually I think I can get it for far cheaper if I go through a third-party seller on Amazon, even when the shipping is added.) Same situation with Little Dragon's album. So all of that's been floating through my head since before Christmas. And today, add more! I'm reminded today that Platinum Pied Piper's Abundance and A.C. Newman's Get Guilty are both coming out on LP next Tuesday. I don't think I can pass those up! Not only because they're pretty sure to be excellent albums, but as far as I can remember it would be my first experience getting brand new albums on brand new records. Also, apparently there's going to be a release in the next month or so of Van Morrison's recent live performance of the entirety of Astral Weeks. ON RECORD. Something else I don't have money for. How can I possibly choose?

Also, a guy at work showed me these two websites the other day: Global Electronic Music Marketplace and MusicStack. Oh geeeeeeeez.

Questions: Answered

I needed to make myself take a break from watching The Shield so I decided to take the opportunity to answer some of the questions Adam posed a little while back.

how do you feel about Promo copies with promo stamps or holes or other various shapes to denote the promotional qualities of them. Do you wait to find a real deal copy? What if the promo copy is special on its own?

I've never had any problem with cut-out, cornered, or punched cover records. I've known some record buyers that avoid them like plague, will not buy a cut-out record no matter how much they want the album. I've never understood it. From what I've read, cut-outs, at least in terms of older records, were often records that couldn't be sold by a retailer so they were sent back to the distributor. Then when they got sent back out by the distributor, they were marked in that way with the intention of selling at a discounted price. So, basically the only difference between a cut-out and any other record is some deliberate damage done to the cover. Actually, when it's put in those terms, it kind of sounds undesirable, but then again, every record has a hole in it. I'll buy a record with split seams, ringwear, old glue, I've even bought some records without their covers. So a little cut-out or punching, I'm not going to let it bother me.

Now, records that are promo copies or DJ copies that may come in plain white sleeves and are otherwise packaged in a completely different way than the actual album, those I have had to come to grips with. Knowing that somewhere out there is a copy of this record with legit artwork makes me pause before buying the record. But I've gotten over that too, at least when the price is right. The record itself is what really matters to me and as long as that's in good shape I can get over just about anything else. Plus I would be willing to bet that some of those DJ copies get albums put onto vinyl that otherwise would not have been. So basically, I would much rather have a record with all the packaging that's supposed to come with it, but no, it wouldn't stop me from buying the record. It would just make me buy the record a second time later.

How many versions of a record are enough? Do you like to collect multiple pressings? Colors? Etc.

I have a few different answers for this, so let's get started.

Generally, my answer is one. One record in decent shape that will play through without an obscene amount of skipping per album is basically all I need. But, it depends on the album, and it depends on pricing, and it depends on exactly how different the package is. I can't think of an album I'm really into that has come out in multiple colors or with multiple covers or something else that is a slight repackaging of the exact same album. I want to say that I wouldn't buy into that kind of marketing and that I would be more than content with just a standard copy, but who knows. If Drag City decided to re-release Ys in a version where Joanna's hands moved on the cover and another version where the background was a hologram, I can't say I wouldn't be moved to find copies of those. But it would definitely have to be an album I'm bat-shit insane over rather than a “have 'em just to have 'em” kind of thing, because special vinyl is something they love to jack up the prices on.

That said, there are some albums that I have several copies of, for varying reasons. There are some albums that I simply cannot leave in a store if I come across them at a decent price. Elvis Country is one example. From Elvis In Memphis is another. Those are the two that immediately come to mind that I have more than one copy of, exact same record and packaging, that I was well aware I was buying a second copy of for no reason other than I simply could not leave it sitting in the store when it could be coming home with me. That's more obsessive behavior than collecting though. I get the feeling that if I considered it sought after once, and I found it, then it should be leaving with me, no matter how many times I've bought it before. But I'd probably put a 5 dollar limit on that. If it's going to cost me more than 5 dollars, I could probably convince myself to let someone else have it this time.

Then I also have three copies of Pet Sounds that are all a little bit different. The first one I got was a reissue, which I would probably have been fine with for the rest of my life. But at a library booksale I found what I think is an original, or at least has nothing on it to tell me otherwise. That's not the reason I bought it though. I bought it because it was a dollar and I couldn't leave it there under those circumstances. Then I have a third copy, but that one came as part of a two-fer package with Carl and The Passions-So Tough, which at the time and in that package was the record I was really after. But again, none of that is really being concerned with what issue of a record I have, if I'm getting a reissue or an original, or if it's a special package. A Beach Boys fan could really get wrapped up in that stuff and go crazy over it. Especially the pre-Pet Sounds records, they'd been repackaged through the 70's as two-fers, under different names, with different tracklistings, completely different cover art, it's a little bit horrendous. I had to give up on being exclusive to original packages and just be happy with the record as it was, and I expanded that beyond the Beach Boys to all the record kingdom.

Anyway, long and the short of it, I'd say one is enough, and the rest is indulgence. I'd much rather spend my money on an armful of different records than a few versions of the same record. The multiple copies would just seem like something to look at, and that can't be what records are for. That's for collectors.

What is your favorite pre-record hunting routine?

I don't really have one. Usually when I go out hunting for records it is with a search in mind and that's all that's on my mind. But, if I go to a thrift store or a record store that also has CDs or whatever other merchandise I might be interested in, I'll probably take a look at that stuff first. I'm not really sure why. Maybe just being practical, so I don't have to be carrying armloads of records while I look at other stuff if I were to do the records first.

Favorite Finds of 2008: One would have to be finding INXS's X at Crossroads in Staunton. That's as a pure find, because first of all it was a complete shock, I wasn't even completely sure it existed. And also, here's the way it went down. I was over there in October when I first saw it, but it was 8 dollars. For some reason I decided I thought I could get it for less, so I went back and started looking on eBay to get an idea. And eBay wasn't showing me much at all, aside from Argentinian imports, I wasn't seeing it show up very often, which made me think, “This is not an album that is going to be found very often. Very stupid to leave it sitting there.” So I was pretty upset about that for the next month, until I went back over there for Thanksgiving, stopped back in, and luckily it was still there. But aside from it being a good find, it's basically a nostalgia trip for me in that it was my second favorite album from my favorite band in the 80s, so musically it wasn't going to blow me away.

But then there's find in terms of ratio of surprise to price to music contained therein. I'll have to pick two of those, and those two would both come from thrift stores this year. First one was from the latest Goodwill to hit the area, which the first time we looked through was extremely disappointing. There was basically nothing there but empty sleeves of thrift store standards. Next time I went back to check it out, I guess a DJ had gotten rid of his records, because there were a lot of promos and 12” singles in generic sleeves. BUT, one of those was Erykah Badu's Worldwide Underground, which I was bowled over to find, as I was just getting into her at the time and had my mind opened up a little to think her stuff was being released on LP. And of course it was the Goodwill standard $1. Then I would have to give second place to the Jr. Walker record I got yesterday. It was kind of sitting there, amongst a bunch of dissimilar records, in beautiful shape, and it's an outstanding album. And it was 50 cents. Hard to beat.

Best deals of 2008: I'd have to give that award to the Salvation Army on Lafayette this year. Most days I will go in there and find absolutely nothing but the same old shit that nobody else wants to buy either. But when they get new stuff in, can't touch 'em. A standard price of 50 cents per record, and very often running specials at 10 cents a record. So that's one way of looking at a deal. Another is that I just bought Astral Weeks, a record I've been after for close to a decade, for one third of ten dollars. If there's a love to price ratio on a deal, that would win hands down.

To address the plastic outer sleeving controversy, personally I love them. In fact I almost bought 50 more when I was at Plan 9, but decided against it because I need to investigate pricing a little more. Ever since I've been buying records, I've been using them to both protect against cuts and tears in the seams and point out to me quickly where a record is in the shelves. Generally I only put them on my favorite records, or records I find in especially good condition that are worth a little extra protection. So, if I need to go find a particular record, I'll know whether I'm looking for a plastic sleeve or a naked outer. But mainly keeping my favorites in the outer sleeves is tradition with me, because the first records I bought came with those sleeves and I always considered it prudent to keep them. But, having said that, the only reason I have so many of those sleeves is because my friend Tom who I used to roll to all the record stores with didn't like keeping his records in them either and would give them all to me. I don't really remember his reason for it, probably just a personal preference. I've never really paid much attention to it, but I would kind of wonder how many people make much use of the plastic sleeves. I think it would take a really obsessive person to put every single one of their records in a plastic sleeve and then I also think most people would take an all or nothing view of it and avoid the sleeves for all. Or maybe they'd just keep the sleeves on the ones that came with sleeves like it's part of the package. I'm not sure, I might do some asking around about that.

Proof: It never ends

I made a trip to Plan 9 Richmond yesterday in what was supposed to be absolutely my last hoo-rah for the year. I couldn't in good conscience end the year with that sad outing to Plan 9 Harrisonburg. And, give me the time off work, what else am I really going to do? I'd say it was pretty successful, I walked out with 28 records. Nothing mind-blowing, though I did pick up a couple Elvis records that I don't already have. Most of the rest of it was out of the R&B/Soul dollar bins. Like I say, nothing life-altering, but definitely a lot that I'm excited to listen to. Already I've listened to Minnie Riperton's Perfect Angel and it is a thousand times better than I expected, and I expected pretty good things from it. Amazing album. (I think later tonight or tomorrow I'll put up a post with some reasoning as to why Plan 9 Richmond must surely be the greatest record store in the universe. I can think of very few ways to improve on it.) So, add those 28 to the 6 or 7 I got between Christmas and while I was away (and It's Too Late To Stop Now came in the mail today) and I had some listening to do, certainly enough to keep me busy until, say, January 2nd. Right?

Apparently wrong. Earlier today I went to the Salvation Army looking for some shelves. I've got a little bit of a desperate shelving situation going on and records are extending out onto the floor right now. Anyway, no shelves. But I was impressed they were open on New Year's Eve regular hours, so I thought I'd do some looking around, and walked out with 8 more records. 50 cents each, no chance I was leaving them behind, including a copy of Jr. Walker and the All Stars Play Shotgun that is in unbelievable shape, and which I am playing right now and it is ear-sexingly good. It never ends! But now I seriously need to take a break from buying records, because it is not only going to deplete my monies but it's taking up way too much of my time lately. Not that I'm abandoning the records completely, not at all. Because I still need to solve this shelving problem. And since I can't seem to find what I really want anywhere, I think I'm going to have a go at making them myself.