Category Archives: Blogs

The Lost Turntable

Blogs, , , , ,

Face it, blogs about vinyl are very few and far between when compared to their “anything goes” counterparts, so I was very pleased to find The Lost Turntable. It bears mentioning that I am a new fan of this blog not because of the MP3s from 12-inch singles and remixes, but because the writing is wonderfully caustic and fearless. In a review of Lollapalooza–which you couldn’t get me to at gunpoint because of those insane crowds–there is plenty of angst directed against Radiohead for a bewilderingly fan-unfriendly stage show, and some spleen venting at Rage Against The Machine. I quote now, only half-recovered from this. It made me laugh, depressing as it is…truer words were never written in a music blog about any one group…ever:

“Hey Rage, you do know that 90% of your fans don’t even give a shit about ‘the revolution,’ social injustice, political reform or the vanishing working class right? They just want to hear ‘Killing In The Name Of’ and start some shit. Nice message you got, too bad it’s falling on deaf ears. Time to call it a day.”

This sentiment is one I’ve had for a 13 years now and I am glad I’m not alone in the universe. Sometimes you don’t go to a show–in spite of how much you want to hear the band tear it up live–because you hate the FANS OF THE GROUP. I’d never go to a Nine Inch Nails show or a Ministry set for this reason. (Never mind that Ministry’s best days were when Al Jourgensen was in the inbetween period from pretending to be a gay disco maven to being the brain-dead industrial metal steelworker he became.)

But I digress. The Lost Turntable is all about bringing much-needed exposure to 12-inch vinyl and related sundries. I am a new convert…glad I found you, TLT.– RECOMMENDED

Neon Musical Insight

Blogs

I was clicking on a series of random music blog links tonight when I stumbled across Neon Musical Insight‘s list of the top five albums of the 80s. It was great seeing a list that was ALL VINYL, at least in terms of what the original releases was. I agree with many of his picks –not necessarily in his order, mind–but the thing that caused me to spray single malt scotch out of both nostrils was the image which represented the album cover for The Clash’s London Calling.

I don’t know if that image is on purpose, if the site’s been hacked, or if there’s an inside joke I’m missing as a newcomer to this blog, but after reading the entries, scrolling down and hitting THAT ANIMATED GIF, I was in tears. The use of the word “revolutionary” in reference to the album seems to be a direct pun on the, er, motion of the GIF, so perhaps this is not the work of pervey-pants hackers.

I am sending this guy my hernia bill. Too funny in all the wrong ways. The Python-esque shock was probably a “you had to be there” moment, but STILL. I have yet to scan the rest of this blog, but I will do for certain, I can promise you that….

Personally I would put Elvis Costello and DEVO in that top five, but that’s just me.

RecordStoreFinder.com

Blogs, Record Shops, , ,

A quote from RecordStoreReview says it all:”There’s nothing better than finding a new store to search through.” Those are the words of RSR webmaster Gunnar Van Vliet, and I couldn’t have put it better. RecordStoreReview.com has listings for more than 1600 record stores in 53 countries including Iceland, Canada, and Greece. Since 2002, RecordStoreReview has user reviews to complement this listings–always a good thing. Funniest listing was from the dude who wrote “I would bang all three owners of Hyde Park Records.”

Just to see if RecordStoreReview was full of it or not, I looked up my all-time, hands-down favorite record shop in the USA (since 33 Degrees in Austin closed, that is…). Lo and behold, the reviews for Dusty Groove America say what I’ve known for a long time. Dusty Groove is the best! Check them out online, but I beg of you do not buy up all the Easy Tempo albums before I’ve had a chance to fill the gaps in my collection. Leave a FEW left over, eh?

Back to RSR, this is a GREAT idea and I am shocked that I’m just now discovering it. Great site. The best use for this site I can think of? Prepping for overseas travel. The next time you think about hopping a plane for Germany, France, Iceland, Japan, do yourself a favor and check this site out—many stores have maps or you can use Google Maps to find your way to the treasure trove.

The Vinyl District

Blogs, ,

I’ve been searching for blogs like this with little success til now, but I am chuffed to see The Vinyl District, another music blog that is focused on the big blackfrisbee as much as Turntabling. Music blogs abound, but very few of us are interested in needles, cover art, and the anachronistic fun of spinning platters when we could be downloading MP3s.

The Vinyl District is a fellow traveler–here’s a blog that recognizes that some of this stuff is either never coming to the shiny disc or download format in any official way. Or what’s worse, if it does, it’s coming tweezed, tweaked, and otherwise interfered with. Bowie’s Diamond Dogs is a beautiful example. There are TONS of things on that vinyl album that just…don’t…sound…the…same on disc. The vinyl really does the job where the CD falls flat.

Besides, any blog that features Big Audio Dynamite tasty vinyl tracks gets my vote. TVD also shares my enthusiasm for the Mick Jones and Tony James project Carbon/Silicon, looks like we have much common ground here sonically. Great stuff. I am loving TVD, and you should too. RECOMMENDED.