With Liquid Kitty closing its doors decades before its due time (by far LA’s finest cocktail lounge), they will be hosting one last Punk Rock BBQ extravaganza. One final, drunken sendoff, which is scheduled for Sunday, August 7th. As the flyer reads, there will be six bands, cheap booze, and free hot dogs. RIP, Punk Rock BBQ, and RIP Los Angeles’ most colorful lounge.
Monthly Archives: July 2016
Looking Back
I could go for some rural dirt beneath my fingernails right about now. Big city life woes gettin’ the best of me these long, sleepless days. Nothing that a cold beer and some Don’t Look Back from Tom Wopat can’t fix. Tonight’s spin. Cheers.
Beastie Boys Fan Club
Ok, so it MAY be 30 years old, but below is the address to the License to Ill era Beastie Boys fan club. Pre-Grand Royal, pre-Nathanial Hornblower, this is Brass Monkey drinking ruffians doing the drunk ruffian thing. Take heed.
Beastie Boys Fan Club
298 Elizabeth St.
New York, NY 10012
The Turning Point
My first John Mayall album, The Turning Point was, for me, indeed just that. Recorded live on July 12th, 1969, The Turning Point featured Eddie Kramer at the recording engineer helm (of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix fame), with Mr. Mayall acting as producer, album art director, and a stellar offering on keyboards, tambourine, slide guitar, harmonica, and vocals. The multi-hat-wearing Mayall kills the harmonica blues sound for what feels like a room of 10,000 eager fans, and should be deemed necessary listening material for any fan of modern blues rock. The Turning Point may not be the best place to start, given Mayall’s extensive library, but it sure is a damn entertaining ride.Band
The Budos Band debut is something of dark jazz magic. Neatly cut, proportional cubes of underground R&B nestled tightly against salt roasted soul, lovingly pierced onto a rotating skewer, marinating over a raging, violent flame of furious funk. Yeah, that about sums it up. Arguably my new favorite band, and one receiving HEAVY spins as of late. Start with TBB (their first), and bloody knuckle your way up their discography ladder. You’re welcome.
Flippin’ Floppies
BS 2000’s debut album (same name) is 19 years old… let that sit for a moment. 1997 is 19 years ago. Anyway, to no one’s fault by my own, presented here is one side of BS 2000’s insert sleeve featuring old school 1997 floppies. There is certain beauty in dinosaur technology, kids.
Best of the West
After 15+ minutes of careful consideration, I finally voted Record Surplus as the “Best Record Store” for Westside Los Angeles. Shameless self promoting hipped me to the link w/ survey while purchasing Mr. Belafonte’s debut album (for $1, remember), but none-the-less! She’s a good shop. The listening stations are a huge plus. The selection often feels picked over, but it’s always worth the time to stop and peruse. 31 years is certainly worth taking note of, and if you find yourself on LA’s Westside, do yourself a favor and pop in. PLEASE tell them they need more Tim Hardin, Rocket from the Crypt, and The Kinks. Best Record Store on the Westside? You got my vote!
$0.92… Folk That!
I was a little apprehensive upon finding Harry Belafonte’s first album in the $1 bin at my local brick & mortar today. I mean, she’s been widely distributed, enjoyed, and redistributed over the past 62 years (1954 -2016), and as a result, she’s a bit beat-the-shit-up. SEVERAL skips marinate the vocal forthcomings of this majestic record, but I still don’t question the trade of my GW. Not only because it’s Mr. Belafonte’s first, but because it’s that damn good.
Coast to Coast
Shamefully, this is the first G. Love album I’ve ever owned on vinyl, and it arrived just two days ago. Having had his first three albums back in high school and early tech school, I found it necessary to track down these once owned compact discs in vinyl form. Coast to Coast Motel shines the light on a much more blues focused GL&SS, which, if you ask me, makes it their best, although not my favorite output. They’re all but dead to me now, but these first three albums are, without question, impactful strokes of genius.
Seductive Sophomore
Bauhaus’ sophomore effort isn’t as head-splitting as their monstrous debut, which would be an impossible feat in and of itself, but 1981’s Mask is certainly deserving of the same analytical repeated listening treatment as 1980’s In the Flat Field. I can only speak for these two albums as, within them, exists the limits of my exploration, but I will say, albeit obviously, that I’ve not heard a Bauhaus track that I didn’t absolutely adore. Dig it.
The Back of the Hand
I hesitated, wrongfully, at obtaining both extremely limited copies of the Mike Watt & the Secondmen / Bernays Propaganda split 7′. Asian Man Records went all out with this 2-track release, offering only 150 pressings on black cherry, and 150 on raspberry vinyl. Spun them both the other night, and am very happy to have obtained both variants. It’s solid, angry, in-your-face Watt, and it’s essential listening material.
Resist
My first Suuns records annnnnd, I’m a little excited about it. She also doubles as the first record I purchased after discovering a new sound off Shazam, so there’s that. Resistance was the track that grabbed my ear (you should really check it out), but the album is solid straight through. I’m curious to see what Pitchfork gave it (“it” being 2016’s Hold/Still, the band’s fourth album)… and they gave it a zero, because they haven’t reviewed it yet (sigh). Well, (raises glass in hopeful anticipation) here’s hoping they get around to it in a timely fashion, and that they dig it as much as I do.
KKFC (Meow)
I vaguely remember ordering this… let alone two copies, but I’m a bit intrigued to spin this Kitty Kat Fan Club 7″. Pressed 300 times on purple, and 200 times on red, this Asian Man records release (AM311) arrived in our mailbox last evening, or at least, that’s when I retrieved it. Regardless, I’ll leave you to your evening, or very early morning, and spin these playful ditties and enjoy some (several) glasses of whiskey. 4.5 stars out of 5.
Einstein on the Couch
When Einstein on the Beach makes a late night appearance, one can be certain that one of the following two things are present. 1) an over-tired listener and 2) whiskey has been consumed. Both were the case in last night’s presentation of Philip Glass’ mind-melting masterpiece.
Give the Gift of (Mystery) Music
The perfectly wrapped mystery gift sits on display for a few additional days. Its impeccable wrapping, a work of art in and of itself, is both a thoughtful gesture, and a display-worthy presentation. Thank you, mystery gift givers!
Camp Firewood
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, the original music to David Wain’s 2001 circumcised classic, Wet Hot American Summer has, finally, received a proper, 12″ vinyl pressing for the first time, EVER (I feel like we’ve already been over this, but that’s cool). Released by Mondo as a pre-order a few months ago, this bitch just arrived the other day, and boy-oh-boy, are we happy about this release! Haven’t listened to it just yet, but shit, she’s next in the rotation.
Vinyl Me, Insert
Ok, so I may not love this insert simply because it’s reminiscent of inserts 50 years its junior, although that helps, but what really stands out is its simplistic, yet effective layout, not to mention its frame worthy design. This modern takes on vintage art, recently discovered last night, is just one of the things that makes this shameless collector secretly grin.
Rogue Double
So I placed my Vinyl Me, Please order for an unforgiving friend and I got double copies of this exclusive. Do I keep, or do I sell? Hmmm…
Clutter Be Damned
I am a man who despises clutter. Be it in my iTunes library with all the inconsistent meta data, be it my Discogs collection with incomplete listings, and more recently, (sigh) the “catch all” corner. 78s, 45s (all of them), recently damaged albums, Record Store Day goodies, slipmats, stickers, and random inserts all need a place to stay, and it kills me, on a daily basis, that this corner of the office is that place. Every collector eventually gets to this point, some several times throughout their collecting tenure. Getting into this fix is easy. It’s getting out that’s the challenging part.
The Room is Waiting
She may be remastered, but she’s nothing short of an essential staple of any, and every modest collection. Dear Fugazi, please and thank you dearly.
The Prudent Groove 