The Vinyl District Record Store App For iPhone, Android

Fellow vinyl-loving blog The Vinyl District rolled out an app in late 2011 that record collectors should definitely know about. The TVD App is a GPS-based record store locator for iPhone and Android phones, a very exciting development that catapults TVD to a whole ‘nother level in the world of vinyl blogs.

Sure, Turntabling  brings the snark about bad album covers and related things, but TVD has really given something back with this mobile app for record store hunters–it looks like a thing of beauty indeed! With plans afoot for our next Vinyl Road Rage, the cross-country record-buying spree we blog about every year, the TVD app could not be a more helpful or appropriate part of that planning.

How does the app work? We haven’t had time to test it yet–we WILL be doing an extensive field test in a post or three to come, but according to The Vinyl District, it’s fairly simple to use. “Have a 5 hour layover in an unfamiliar city? Hit the “All Stores” icon for directions to the nearest indie shop and while away your time between flights digging through the crates. You can also check in and share your finds on Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare.”

That is pretty awesome. Of course, this app is best served by crowd-sourced information. Did a brand new record shop open in your ‘hood? Did one close down? You can add new details in the app for the benefit of vinyl junkies all across the USA. The Vinyl District adds, “The TVD app also allows you to discuss your finds within the app’s social network—and we’d have been remiss if we didn’t allow you to follow TVD with real time updates—so we tossed that in too.”

This app is currently useful for record shoppers in the USA only, but if that changes, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, learn more or download the app at The Vinyl District-and please feel free to share any experiences you have with the app in the comments section, we’d love to know how you like it.

Chicago Record Stores: Permanent Records

The best record stores know the in-store performance is where it’s at, and Permanent Records is no exception. Get an earful of the uber-noisy and fun Ty Segall doing “I Wear Black” at Permanent Records. Best part of this–noise and enthusiasm aside–is the bit right at the end where you can hear “…should play like that all the time!”.

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I’ve only managed a single visit to Chicago’s Permanent Records (located at 1914 Chicago, Chicago Illinois, open 11-9 daily) but really enjoyed the vibe of the store, the selection, etc…recommended! Plus they have a pretty good selection of podcasts and other downloadable media which you can enjoy at the official site.

Vinyl Record Reviews: Ceasar Pink & The Imperial Orgy, The Explorers Club

Lately there have been more records coming to our inbox–review copies for new music are always welcome as long as they are on vinyl. Turntabling makes very few exceptions to this rule (Chris Joss releases being one–damn, how can you say no to another Chris Joss record regardless of format?) so please understand, indie bands–vinyl review copies only!

Two records came last week, Four Legs Good Two, Legs Baaad by Caesar Pink and the Imperial Orgy, plus Grand Hotel by The Explorers Club.

There’s more than just a hint of 70s-era singer/songwriter vibe floating out of Grand Hotel. From the packaging with its simulated record jacket ringwear, the ghost-of-George Harrison riffs on Weight of the World, and the bongos-n-Herb Alpert horns of Run Run Run, this is time capsule rock, and well done at that.

In some places, The Explorers Club comes across as a more freshly-scrubbed Smithereens, except there is absolutely no trace of the melancholy that made Smithereens records so enjoyable. Elsewhere there are nods to J.D. Souther, Todd Rundgren and the Beach Boys.

Many reviewers name-drop Burt Bacharach when discussing The Explorers Club, and it’s true that his influence is felt on this album, but stylistically the band is a bit more unfocused–there is a lot of room for all sorts of sonic nostalgia on the album, and in the group’s live performance videos on YouTube. One of their standout moments as a group isn’t on Grand Hotel–the group’s Kind Of A Drag cover, originally recorded by The Buckinghams, could be considered source code for the group, as is another cover sadly not on this record, Stormy by Classics IV.

There is some really strong material on Grand Hotel. On Side Two, Summer Days, Summer Nights elevates this record to something higher than a tribute to the analog golden age. This is a recording by a group full of confidence in the material–the vocals are much stronger than on the fun-and-bouncy Run Run Run or Bluebird. Not that they don’t sound confident on tracks like Any Little Way or Acapulco, but Summer Days, Summer Nights sounds like the song they could barely wait to record.

Here’s a band that sounds very much like it might like to go in a Classics IV direction but can’t decide whether they’ll lose their way in doing so. There’s equal enthusiasm on the Grass Roots-y Go For You, but listen to the entire Grand Hotel record and you may agree, Summer Days, Summer Nights is THE standout track–it deserves plenty of attention.

Make no mistake–this is NOT the record for anyone currently grooving exclusively on reissues of the Chrome back catalog or interested in unreleased rarities by Christian Death, but for anyone with retro damage (guilty) or a love for the pre-Yacht Rock singer songwriter sounds of Classics IV, Janis Ian and the like, this is a record worth checking out.

(Those of us fortunate enough to be able to listen to Chrome AND Classics IV think Grand Hotel is a bit of all right, too.)

Caesar Pink and the Imperial Orgy offer up a vinyl record called Four Legs Good, Two Legs Baaad. It’s important to review a vinyl record on its own merits rather than compare it to the one you just reviewed, so it took a bit of time to shake off the retro goodness of The Explorers Club so Four Legs Good, Two Legs Baaad could get its due.

Caesar Pink and the Imperial Orgy play a type of music that can only be described, however inadequately, as “rawk”. The lyric sheets reads like a hardcore album, but the music is ranges from sub-Chili Peppers funk attempts to chirpy jangle pop…but without the jangle. The most embarassing part on this is the psuedo-rapping of Rabid, which tries to blend machine-gun delivery with moody keyboard riffs.

There’s even a psuedo Black Crowes moment on this, which wears out its welcome very quickly. Sorry, Imperial Orgy folks, but it’s true.

The band doesn’t do itself any favors by writing on the back cover of the LP, “Recorded and manufactured without funding or interference from any corporations large or small”. This sounds wonderful and anti-authoritarian until you discover the MP3 version of this album for sale on Amazon.com. Ummm, Caesar? Your contradictions are showing.

The lyrics talk a good game about Disney, corporations, religion, and other easy targets, but the album fails miserably by delivering bland instrumentation and been-there-done-that arrangements. Dressing up like angry arty types might be a visually strong fashion statement, but you need more than a wardrobe change to pull it off…and lyrics aside, there’s not a whole lot that’s angry or powerful here.

Joe Wallace reviews vinyl records for Turntabling, but urges bands NOT to send review copies unless they are on vinyl. It’s a vinyl-only review column here, savvy? Send your 12-inch, 7-inch or full length vinyl record albums to Turntabling care of:

Joe Wallace 4520 N. Oakley First Floor, Chicago Illinois 60625

How To Grade Vinyl Records: Another Point of View

Recently I posted an introductory post about grading vinyl records. A lot of people don’t care about vinyl grades; “Good”, “Very Good”, Near Mint” and other ratings don’t mean anything to some as they prefer just to pull the album out of the sleeve and run an eyeball over it.

Which is great until it’s time to buy a record sight unseen on eBay, Discogs.com or elsewhere, and then suddenly those vinyl grading terms mean a hell of a lot more.

This video is one point of view on grading vinyl records, and the background music is fun, too. There is a great amount of personal preference built in to grading vinyl records, but once you get used to the grading systems and know what to look for this whole topic is much easier to deal with. Again, some of this is really down to personal preference–how much wear is acceptable to you?

–Joe Wallace

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass…On Fire

This video is supposed to be funny, but today it just seems a bit depressing for some reason. Maybe if there was an explosion involved or a bit of shrapnel-related head trauma? I have to admit, I DID laugh at the point in this video clip where the guy felt the impulse to explain that they weren’t actually setting fire to America itself, just a record with a SONG called “America”. Thanks, boys–glad we got that cleared up and squared away.

Jack White: Vinyl Junkie

One of the stops on Vinyl Road Rage 4 in Nashville was the most excellent Third Man Records, the boutique record store and home of the record label of the same name.

Jack White started Third Man after his recording contract expired with V2. The White Stripes signed with Warner to record Icky Thump, but Jack White pulled off a shrewd deal to keep the rights to vinyl pressings…and Third Man wasn’t far behind with reissues of the back catalog, plus new releases by bands like The Dead Weather.

If you’re into learning about the entire saga of Third Man, have a look at this excellent interview with one of Third Man’s major players, as published by Collector’s Weekly. It’s a pretty interesting look behind the scenes at Nashville’s prime iconoclast labels/record stores.

Strange Wax Vinyl Documentary

I admit it, I’m a sucker for a good documentary. Strange Wax is well-shot, a visual candy store for vinyl lovers, to be sure.

Lovely to watch, isn’t it?

My major complaint with most of the vinyl documentaries I’ve seen over the past year and a half is that the filmmakers all seem compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time discussing why vinyl is superior to digital. This is completely unnecessary and really sounds like a sales pitch. But that doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of this production in the long run…

And while I’m feeling feisty, additionally vexing to a nitpicky writer/editor is referring to more than one record album as “vinyls”. People! “Vinyl” is both singular AND plural.

–Joe Wallace

The $650,000 Turntable

I am told that this Dereneville VPM turntable, by AV Design Haus, is priced at $650,000. Deutchmarks or dollars? Does it even matter?

Is this the most expensive turntable ever built? If it’s not, it probably was at one time. But with all that fine, precision German-built analog attention to detail, can it really compare to the ultra-high tech wonder that was my first record player ever?

Really, no amount of $650,000 high-tech inventiveness could ever create the thrill of discovery comparable to what I had as a kid plopping down this Power Records vinyl (see below) down on the Close ‘n Play and hearing the psuedo-Morricone Italian crime soundtrack music blasting out of those crap speakers.

I realize now that the music on the following clip was the gateway drug for my now-insatiable soundtrack collecting obsession when it comes to Morricone, Stelvio Cipriani, Piero Umiliani and others. Strange that you can pin down a lifetime of music obsessions to a single, very obscure record heard as kid:

P.S. The story on the Batman: Stacked Cards vinyl is HILARIOUS. Listen all the way to the end to hear Batman ruminating that a frontal lobotomy could return The Joker back to “normal society”! Hell, yeah–let’s save time and bother and lobotomize EVERYBODY!

–Joe Wallace