Nashville Record Stores

Nashville... "Music City"... stands to reason that the music shopping would be good, and Nashville did not disappoint.

Ernest Tubb's 

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a country music expert (which is not to say that I'm not a fan, but aside from some alt-country stuff like Robbie Fulks and Jeff Tweedy, I haven't moved much beyond the Dixie Chicks in terms of my depth of knowledge about the genre)

The great thing about not knowin' shit is that you can't go wrong!  Thusly, I picked up a "grab bag" to advance my study in the ways of Country Western :-)

The friendly clerks chatted me up about being from Chicago ("there's been a lotta' y'all down here recently...") and referred to my laptop bag as a "satchel"... it was all I could do not to hug them.

Copped (via the grab bag):

• Comedy for the Road feat. Red Sovine, Johnny Bond, Ben Colder, and Others (CD)
• Live Ones: Classic Country Radio Hits (CD) - Compilation featuring tunesfrom the likes of The Gatlin Brothers, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson
• Men in Bluegrass (CD)
• Loretta Lynn - Making More Memories (Cassette - that's right, we keeps it real!)

 Third Man Records

The headquarters of the Jack White's (as in, the White Stripes) record label, with a super-tiny, almost museum gift-shop-like retail annex.  Even though it was tiny, it was a blast.  All of the merchandise was Jack White/Third Man related, but was made with such care and attention to detail that it was great just window shopping.  And the clerk reminded me of a taller, cuter, Meg White, seriously.

Copped

• The White Stripes - Elephant (CD)
• The White Stripes - Icky Thump (CD)

Grimey's New and Pre-Loved Music

"best for last" is perhaps a bit trite, but Grimey's most definitely deserves its rep as one of the best stores in the Region.  If you believe Rolling Stone, it's one of the best shops in the country.  A broad, deep and well curated selection... and, as is a hallmark of all the best shops, I had to force myself to leave.

Copped:

• RZA - The Man with the Iron Fists Soundtrack (CD)
• RZA - The Man with the Iron Fists Score (CD)
• Sliver Convention - Save Me  (Vinyl)

I'll keep the musicology brief... but even if one is steeped in different traditions (for me, it would be the lineage of blues to R&B and its offshoots, hip-hop, disco, what have you...) it's undeniable that in the delta lies the beating heart of what we know today as American Popular music.  Game recognize game.

Stockholm Hearts Detroit (even if it thinks it's Chicago)

I had the good fortune to be in Stockholm last summer. Went out for work.

After I finished my work out there, I spent the weekend checking out some Museums and Record Stores.

I visited this Record Store called Pet Sounds. After being greeted in Swedish, and sheepishly admitting that I didn't speak the language. I had a chat with the record store clerk, who amiably switched to English for me.

He asks me where in the States I'm from, I say Chicago... the following dialogue ensues:

Clerk: "I love Juan Atkins!"

Me: (smiling) "I love him too, but he's from Detroit."

Clerk: "Oh! Right! Moodymann is awesome!"

Me: (smiling more) "I know, he's great. He's from Detroit too!"

(I'm glad he didn't mention Theo Parrish or it would've gotten really confusing, lol! I tick off the names of few chicago folks until I mention Marshall Jefferson and his eyes finally light up.)

Clerk: "Marshall Jefferson, Ten City! Great Stuff!"

It's great to see how much love Detroit gets, even when it's misplaced by a hundred miles or so :-)

5 Really, really well flipped samples (and Record Store Day 2011)

This has not been the most productive record store week for me with regard to blog posts, in previous years I've tried to add a few top 5 lists leading up to the Big Day (which was yesterday 4/16/11). Could only squeeze out one post this year... c'est la vie.

This year's Top 5 list: 5 really, really well flipped samples

Sampling is a foundation of hip-hop... won't belabor that here, but what exactly does it mean for a sample to be "well flipped"? To me it means that a sample is:

a) used in an unexpected way... bringing out elements of the source material that might have been unconsidered or only hinted at in its original context, or

b) used in an obvious way, but so perfectly executed that you gain an appreciation for the source material, as if hearing it for the first time.

In no particular order, here's a list of 5 really, really well flipped samples, with links to listen to the tunes

• Edie Brickell - What I Am sampled by Slow Down (Artist: Brand Nubian - Producer: Grand Puba, Brand Nubian)

• Jackson 5 - I Want You Back sampled by H to the Izzo (Artist: Jay Z - Producer: Kanye West)
  

• The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You sampled by Zealots (Artist: The Fugees - Producer: The Fugees) This is perhaps my favorite of the list as the Fugees track places the source material in a completely different context. Also I think Lauryn Hill is as dope as she's ever been on this track.. I mean, come on... sings her own hook *and* drops a ridiculous verse? Bananas.
  

• Soul II Soul - Back 2 Life Acapella sampled by Ha Ha (Slow Down) (Artist: Fat Joe - Producer: Scoop Deville)

• Lou Reed - Take a Walk on the Wild Side sampled by Can I Kick It? (Artist: A Tribe Called Quest - Producer: A Tribe Called Quest)

Plus 1 more...

• Stan Getz - Saudade Vem Correndo sampled by Runnin (Artist: The Pharcyde - Producer: Jay Dee)

This year's shop: Waterloo Records, Austin Texas

A standout shop in a town with a fair number of really good shops... I was honored to celebrate Record Store day here!

Things I copped from Waterloo Records:

• Lucinda Williams - World Without Tears
• Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
• book: Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to the Record Store (by Graham Jones)
• Waterloo T-Shirts (for me and the munchkin)

Bonus List: Bands I was hipped (or re-hipped) to by my Austin host Clint Bishop

• Band of Horses
• Songs:Ohia
• Godspeed You Black Emperor

Top 5 DJ sets / What I got for Record Store Day

April 17th - Haight St. - San Francisco, CA

.. Well record store day is finally here, and through quite pleasant coincidence I'm writing this having just come from Amoeba San Francisco... I cannot think of a better place to have celebrated this holy day. In honor of the day, I'm hitting you with a double list

Top 5 DJ Sets I've Seen:

#5 - Lil Louie Vega - Winter Music Conference, Miami - 2001

Lil Louie Vega is a master of House... Great weather, amped Winter Music Conference Crowd. Great Set... on the roof of the Sony Building in South Beach, the location was just insane. Louie played a bunch of old school stuff in his set, including Fantasize Me an old school Chicago classic. It was at this point that I lost my sh!t. Good times.

#4 - Lovebug Starski and Pete Rock - Sonotheque, Chicago - 2007ish

Saw this set with my man Chris... If you ever have the opportunity to see Lovebug Starski spin, do it. You won't regret it. Famously name-checked by Biggie on the track "Juicy", Starski just turned Sonotheque into a straight up party! Rapping and Singing in addition to his spot-on song selection and cutting, he was amazing. After seeing him, I finally understood why so many east coast DJs talked on the mic so much during their sets (Funkmaster Flex, Kid Capri, and the like). Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay is that headliner Pete Rock seemed just "really good" in comparison... and Pete Rock is more than just really good.

3# - Gilles Peterson - Plastic People, London - 2001

I think it was Plastic People... it was some club near Picadilly Circus. Regardless, Gilles Peterson absolutely blew my mind. He provided a master class in song selection during his set, eclectic and wide ranging, but unerringly funky. He didn't mix. Let me say that again, he didn't mix. The idea of rocking a party without mixing songs was just a foreign concept to me. (I guess if I look back at the history of party DJing, it shouldn't be so foreign as it was commonplace before the 70s... but still!) I've also rarely seen a DJ in such control of the room. It was about a 2 hour set I think and no one left the floor.

#2 - Lil Louis - Medusa's, Chicago - 1987

This was the night I heard French Kiss for the first time (that track was officially released in 1989 or so, but Louis would play all sorts of unreleased stuff during his DJ Sets) Also making this a classic was the fact that Medusa's was a juice bar, basically a night club for the under 21 set (try doing that in Chicago today) so the energy of the crowd was just phenomenal. I should also say that Lil Louis was and is an extremely on point DJ. He killed it

#1 - Ron Hardy - The Music Box, Chicago - 1988

Number 1 with a bullet, baby. It's actually kind of interesting, if you listen to recordings of Ronnie's sets today, they have a raw feel to them... in the 20 plus years since he was on the scene, the technique of DJing has advanced and become more polished. Ronnie went beyond technique like Jackson Pollock or something. I've heard many many great sets since 1988, but none has ever captured every ounce of my being in the way that Ronnie did on this night. Mind you, this was just a regular night at the box. The influence that Ron Hardy had on many of the early House DJs and producers... and just lovers of House music... is just phenomenal. The flashbulb memory I have of this night is that after playing ridiculously deep and banging house for several hours, he then proceeds to drop Ice T's L.G.B.N.A.F ... it was just the most unexpected, yet most perfect selection... we all went nuts. He's a big reason why I started DJing and have spent so much time in record stores over the years. Which brings me to...

What I got for Record Store Day

- Amoeba Records Hoodie
- Freeway and Jake One: The Stimulus Package
- D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q-Tip: Lynwood Rose
- The Oscar Peterson Trio: We Get Requests (thanks to Bobby Newton for hipping me to this)
- The White Stripes: The White Stripes
- Wang Chung: To Live and Die in L.A.
- Anita O'Day: Anita O'Day's finest hour
- Weezer: The Blue Album
- Meshell Ndegeocello: Devil's Halo

Chicago Record Stores: Mr. Peabody's

I know I'm sounding like a broken record (bad pun *not* intended.. but there you go) but Chicago is an absolutely awesome city for record stores.

This was reinforced by my visit to Mr. Peabody's out on the South Side, or "South Siiiiiide!" as we native sons say :-) First, I must tell you that I thought Mr. Peabody's had taken over operations from Beverly Records, a south side institution that opened in the 60s. I figured that we were at least treading water in keeping record stores around in the city...Beverly Records gone, Mr. Peabody's arrives, and so goes the circle of life.

Imagine my surprise to learn that Beverly Records was still around and going strong (it'd been forever since I'd been over that way, so I conflated the addresses)
A twofer, sweet... I'll write about Beverly Records in a separate post

Back to Mr. Peabody's... I loved the interior! Decorative records all over the walls... a huge autograph wall on one side of the store.... and the records, oh my.

I was in there for maybe 30 seconds when one of the proprietors drops this wicked mix of Dee-Lite's Good Beat (House heads might think it sounds familiar, the remix is by Pal Joey who did certified-classic Hot Music) Anyways, I snagged the dee lite right away.

I also picked up a couple of other things:

Gonna take a miracle, by Laura Nyro and Labelle
Outline, by Gino Socio

Had a nice chat with Mark Grusane, one of the owners. He helped me ID a track I'd been looking for forever (Sylvester's "I Need You")

A great store holding things down on the far south side!

Mr. Peabody's Records: http://www.mrpeabodyrecords.com/

Record Stores in the Movies

It's Record Store Day Eve, I'm *so* excited :-)

Here's a quick list of some of my favorite record store moments from the Silver Screen






High Fidelity: Jack Black as a snarky record store clerk... John Cusack as the store owner... more great lines than I have time to recount. I still need to read the book by Nick Hornsby. The Cusack character is who I aspire to be (minus the relationship issues)




Empire Records: Plot isn't this film's strong suit, but the main setting is the coolest imaginary record store ever! Liv Tyler and Renee Zellweger don't hurt either.




- - - Honorable mentions - - -


Love Jones: Dr. Wax from Hyde Park is name-checked, although the record store scene occurs in some other store. As an aside, if you want to see some sexy black folks (of either gender) this is good choice.. Nia Long & Lawrenz Tate star... it's a pretty good love story. The soundtrack is killer, highly recommended.

Mo Betta Blues: The scene where Wesley Snipes' character tries to kick-it to Cynda Williams' character is cool. I'd cut my record shopping short if Cynda Williams was waiting on me.

I am Legend: Huh? You heard me... This movie proves that like cockroaches, record stores will still be around even in a post-apocalyptic nightmare vision of NYC.

Chicago Record Stores: George's Music Room - Out of the Past Records

Started on the photo essay project. After some hemming and hawing, the warm weather convinced me to leave the crib and start visiting (and revisiting) shops to take some snaps. Before getting into the store details, I've noticed that two stores a day seems to be a comfortable pace. So, what I thought would be 1 or 2 posts will in all likelihood be an ongoing series. I guess that's good for my blogging frequency!



George's Music Room (RIP?)

Made it out to George's around 3:45pm and they were closed... on a Saturday? I could see promo materials inside, but it was too dark to see if they were still carrying product. There as also a PODS container in the back... not a good sign. Going to try contact them by phone this week and will report what I find out. (I did take a couple of pix of one of DZine's murals (before he got all "high art" on us! just kiddin' bro!)

Out of the Past Records

Took the bus up Pulaski to Madison and started walking West (about 5 blocks to Out of the Past). Wow, this stretch of Madison is a rough neighborhood! I grew up on the South Side in a somewhat rough neighborhood and I felt like a white kid from the suburbs. It's been a minute since I've seen folks on the street selling loose "squares" (cigarettes, if you were wondering). I'm not kidding, I think I saw about three drug deals (not to mention the brother drinking beer on the bus on the way back). But, I also saw an 11 year old girl proudly carrying her framed Barack Obama poster home from the store... the juxtaposition gave the "Change" campaign slogan some powerful resonance for me.

Was I on an Obama tangent? My bad... Back to the store. You know good things are in store when Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness is playing through a speaker on the sidewalk as you walk up! Amazing amounts of records... I walked in and in 2 minutes had found the group Change's 2nd Album Miracles (R&B fans will be aware of their first LP, Change which contained the classics A Lovers Holiday, usually referred to as just "Holiday" and Glow of Love... "Glow of Love" featured a then young and unknown singer named Luther Vandross who just... puts. it. down!). So, I immediately broke my "no purchases!" rule, but I was highly disciplined otherwise (full disclosure: I also bought a poster of the Maxwell St. Market (aka "Jew Town" as we called it back when I was growing up.)

Everyone was helpful a the store, there were folks hanging out, a little kid in there (who stayed underfoot... watch out, little man!). Great vibe. The kicker? These guys probably have close to a hundred thousand records and their online presence? Under construction... Hey, I know a bit of computer stuff... I smell a barter arrangement down the road!

Spoiled for Choice - Chicago Record Stores

Inspired by a book I recently read, I'm planning on getting around town to take some pictures of the remaining independent record stores in Chicago.

figured it'd be a fun little project for my upcoming Zoe-less weekend. As I started compiling my list of places to hit, I figured I'd be able to knock it out in a day. I was happily wrong... It's going to be a two to three day project! (despite the dire straits of the mainstream record industry, we've still got over 50 independent retailers holding it down in the Chi)

Granted, this map will probably be a little less crowded next year... but then again, it may be *more* crowded... stranger things have happened.

Anyways, the map-points on the South Side are the target for Saturday, I just have to keep telling myself: pictures only! no buying! (a brotha's got some personal IMF-style austerity measures going on)