Tag Archives: record collecting

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‘Round the World

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SkankinSka may suck… Ska revival may not be cool, says this stupid schmuck* (smuck**), but this comp, 1988’s Skankin’ ‘Round the World – The International Ska Compilation – Vol. 1, unveils itself under a dusty cloud of pleasure-toned, reggae-influenced, Caribbean-minded melodic good-time, happy-go-skankin’ Monday evening mood-music, that’s perfect parts nostalgia, groove, and global badassery. It’s a pleasurable head-bobbing, foot-tapping comp. Check it out.

* Propagandhi’s 1993 track, Ska Sucks off their debut album, How to Clean Everything.

** Ishtar, you know, the 1987 comedic masterpiece?! One of my personal favorites.

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Nostradmus He Ain’t

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AuditThere was a time when the only Hot Snakes I listened to was 2000’s Automatic Midnight. 2002’s Suicide Invoice came and went, and so did 2004’s Audit in Progress, their last “proper” studio album. Fast forward to 2014 when I got my grubby mitts on a few Hot Snakes tickets (Alex’s Bar, Long Beach, CA). And during my homework / listening prep, I absolutely fell in love with Audit in Progress, specifically the first four tracks, Brainstrust, Hi-Lites, Retrofit, and Kreative Kontrol. Rocket from the Crypt (another John Reis outfit) holds the candle to the best one-two opener for any album with 1995’s Scream, Dracula, Scream!, but Audit in Progress may be the crowned king of an album with the best one-two-three-four track opener. Automatic Midnight was outstanding, but Audit in Progress is downright spectacular. Seek it out if you haven’t already.

P.S. RFTC at Alex’s Bar (back to back nights) later this month…

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Mr. Lif

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FarmhandStar Wars references in sub-indy hip hop back in the late 90s were kind of a fanboy treat, and are almost immediately featured on this record’s b-side, Settle the Score. The third in a four-part series titled, The Blow Up Factor, Mr. Lif offers 3x versions of Farmland, the a-side, the previously mentioned Settle the Score, and a track I don’t remember ever hearing, You Don’t Knowstrumental. Released in 1999 on Grand Royal Records, this little 4-track is worth more to the diehards than to avid collectors of the medium, but for only $1.49 on discogs, this pressing is a steal!

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1×1

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1x1I’ve been listening to a lot of Freispiel lately. You know, the 2001 Faust remix album? No, well anyway, it’s a worthy listen, especially in 20+ minute increments commuting to and from work. It’s beat-y, repetitious, a little industrial-ly, and overall a surprisingly good listen. I don’t own Faust’s Freispiel, but I do own Motor’s 1×1 / King of USA remix 12”. About the only similarities between the two records, aside from the remix factor, is that they’re both pretty badass electro listens.

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Hey! Let’s Party

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HeyThis cover couldn’t be more immediately deceiving… a bunch of privileged white kids dancing to brown-eyed soul from the great Afro-Cuban genius, Mongo Santamaría. With 1967’s Hey! Let’s Party, Mr. Santamaría fashioned a thick-lined afterparty staple with his horn-heavy deviance into the wonderful world of (a blanket term) Latin Jazz.

Pryor dug him (in both his screenplay contribution to Blazing Saddles as well as his empowering standup), as so you shall too.

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W E F U N K

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Mom ConnectionMake my funk the P. Funk… and not just because the King Ad-Rock brags and boasts in 1989’s 3-Minute Rule, the following unforgettable slew of syllables:

Mothership connection, getting girls’ affection

If your life needs correction, don’t follow my direction

(I was listening to the Beasties today, so I had to tie that in somehow…) Parliament, and their 1975 masterpiece, Mothership Connection need no introduction. The 4th album for the band featured the mighty George Clinton as Producer, Writer, and frontman vocalist, but again, this is all but painfully obvious for lovers of the Funk.

Make your Tuesday evening an untamed mass of street-talkin’, booty-rockin’ Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication (track 1, side 2).

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Orange Marbled (Guilty) Pleasures

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OrangeGuilty pleasures are certainly fine… on occasion, and in moderation. Such is the case with Alkaline Trio’s 2000 comp, Alkaline Trio (read: soundtrack to my early 20’s). Pressed on a variety of colors, this version (orange marbled) was part of the first, vinyl pressing (back in 2008), and was limited to 500 copies. Last night got a little crazy, and this here guy was sitting on the platter when I woke up this morning. Moderation, kids.

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Like a Lighthouse Overhead

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MorningWith the incessant noise from the rotating blades of a nearby helicopter, passing, then again, dipping, diving, and vacationing overhead for the past hour and a half, one can’t help but dig through local news outlets in needed search for the informational cure. With no worthy news to be shared, the mystery still remains, but with decent, drowning-out, attempt-to-ignore-the-violent-disruption-overhead-music desperately needed, one turns to the Canadian psychedelic rock, jazz-infused outfit, Lighthouse, and their 1971 album, One Fine Morning. Here’s hoping the blades of mystery solve themselves sooner, rather than later (and that nobody nearby is seriously, or otherwise, in risk of danger).

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By Ruth White

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RuthWhat can be more magnificently majestic than the backside of Ruth White’s collection of “Electronic Realizations and Performances” of the following, incomplete, list of classical composers: Verdi, Chopin, Debussy, Rimsky-Korsakov… the answer… absolutely nothing.

Short Circuits by Ruth White.

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Doh Nuts

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LikeA gorgeous Christmas gift from the SO, this 2x gift cert from Donut Friend (Mark Trombino’s Los Angeles-based sweet-house… the drummer of Drive Like Jehu, k’mon), will afford this here guy a delicious “Chocolate from the Crypt” and a “Drive Like Jelly.” A proper post to follow, post-donut-consumption, but all are happy campers here at the PG with this amazing, sugar-laced gift cert.

(Also, happy friggin’ new-friggin’ year!!!)Button

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Oh, Loverboy

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loverboyEverybody’s working for the weekend. This couldn’t be anywhere closer to the truth. This, and truth, are skin to skin here… touching… connecting, and letting onlookers know, that what is right, is indeed right. Everybody IS working for the weekend. That’s when we can get all our shit done. Haircuts? Oil changes? Taking the kids to get their throats cultured? Everybody works for the proverbial weekend, and for me, that weekend starts tomorrow. Happy holidays, kiddos! Christmas, for The Groove, begins tomorrow.

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The Pink Album

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PinkSo, I’m still trying to figure out The 45 King. Mix Dan the Automator, J-Swift, Jam Master Jay, and DJ Muggs into a violent apparatus that spins (turntable, blender, woodchipper), yet, predate all of these by at least a year, and you’ve got yourselves one heavy weighted, out-mutha-fuggin-standing collection of offhanded, subtly pleasing breakbeats. I’m dumbfounded! I honestly never know, but now, I’m on the hunt for the King’s entire Lost Breakbeat discography.

(Personal note: I’m digitizing this album as I type this. PG = fan of 45 King)

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The Yellow Album

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Tuff_CityImagine my surprise upon discovering 45 King’s The Yellow Album, at a thrift store, sealed, and for only $3 bucks! $3 for a thrift store album is asinine, but this one was well worth the 300 pennies. Bronx DJ and remix producer (among other things well produced), Mark James, aka The 45 King, released six colored albums throughout 1990 in The Lost Breakbeats series; White, Grey, Green, Red, Orange, and this, Yellow. Having not heard of Mr. 45 King’s work prior to forking over my $3, I was both excited with this album’s overall quality, and dumbfounded that I’d never heard of this guy, or this album before. If you’re into quality hip-hop beats from back in the day (circa: late 80s, early 90s), then The Yellow Album is pure listening satisfaction.

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Country Death Song

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hallowed ground… is an amazing tale of simpleminded, cold-winter-sickness, enveloped within a nightmare of rural, solemn depression, and disguised as a folk-pop song from the great state of Wisconsin (phew… I’m getting too old for the run-on sentence). Arguably the Violent Femmes’ best, most well-rounded track, Country Death Song depicts the extravagant path, a 1000mph highway drive straight past the gnarly gates of hell, and tells the tale of a one-way ticket of blameful sorrow for a troubled father and his shameful, selfless, fatherly actions. Is it a good song? Ye-ah! Is it a happy song? Nope! Merry Christmas eve, kiddos!

Well

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Thrifties

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ThriftiesAn unexpected find during an unexpected trip to the thrifty on my way home from the office, Cypress Hill’s 1991 debut and a sealed, bootleg, double LP of the Beastie Boys’ Hip Hop Sampler comp were a surprise upon these weary eyes, to say the very least. Having already owned copies of each (two-times over, in the case of Cypress Hill), I didn’t once hesitate to question the overpriced $3 Records sign above the frail shelf. Yoink, and yoink.

Gotta’ love the thrifties. Also, RIP Joe Cocker.