More Mastering For Vinyl

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Yes, at Turntabling there is a fascination for ALL aspects of vinyl–and that includes home studio recording, mastering for vinyl, pressing vinyl records and much more. Collecting is definitely a massive part of what we do here (and by “we” I mean “ME”, your humble owner/operator here and the occasional help from friends, family, etc) but vinyl is a whole world unto itself in a lot of ways.

So that’s why I keep posting the technically oriented and gear-related items–there are plenty of others out there who relate to this sort of thing every bit as much as the collecting and I am very happy about that. This is a clip on vinyl mastering that was shot at SXSW in 2011 and I’m definitely on the prowl for more of these…

–Joe Wallace



Nashville Record Stores: The Groove

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For our newest readers–Vinyl Road Rage is our annual cross-country road trip to find great indie record shops, strange & rare vinyl, and all the odd experiences you have on a prolonged drive. In December 2011 Vinyl Road Rage went from Chicago to San Antonio Texas, and these posts are the record store reviews of all the places found along the way.

Nashville, Tennessee record stores are not scarce by any means, and the city should be considered a vinyl collector destination city. One of the highlights of our Nashville visit was the smaller, scrappy independent record store, The Groove.

Situated in a converted house in/near what an outsider might rightly call the bohemian district of Nashville, The Groove was fun to shop, friendly, and apparently getting ready to expand with a new stage planned. There’s nothing like a good in-store, and it’s easy to see how this record store would be even more fun to shop by bringing the bands in.

There’s a sizable jazz collection and plenty of oddities and obscurities. One of the best finds of the trip came courtesy of The Groove; the Black Mass album by Lucifer. It was a real thrill to score that one, so The Groove definitely took a big step higher in the Turntabling book for supplying such an exciting find.

During the visit to The Groove, something became apparent–a seemingly unifying thread between several really amazing record stores found in various places all over America.

At present it seems that some of the best record shops, the most friendly and fun stores are those found in converted houses. You couldn’t say that the ONLY great record stores are in former homes, but most of the shops IN houses seem to have more care lavished on them, more attention given to the atmosphere and the organization; this would be apparent again and again during the trip.

The Groove is obviously one of these and the homey environment you find yourself crate digging in is great. And of course, the unusual vinyl finds (lumped in with all the other great records by groups you already know and love) are a huge part of that.

 

The Groove is definitely on the Turntabling must-revisit list for next time, it’s fairly easy to find and chances are good it will be your first stop on the way into town if you’re also looking for Third Man Records or the Lawrence Record Shop on Broadway. Out-of-towners, be sure to check their website for info as The Groove frequently does listening parties, giveaways and other in-store events. You might just find something awesome happening around the same time as your visit.

–Joe Wallace

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WTF Album Covers: Rodney Carrington King Of The Mountains

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Never mind how appallingly, redneckity-sexist this album cover is. Forget about how stupid the album cover concept might be, and dispense with all your well-founded objections over it being simple-minded and flat out DUMB. Just for a second.

See if you can guess what kind of a record this is just by looking at that idiotic “please laugh at my jokes” expression on Rodney Carrington’s southern-fried face for a moment.

That’s right, kids, Rodney Carrington is perched on a woman’s breasts in order to sell his particular brand of “comedy”, which seems to entail a sort of sub-Jeff Foxworthy redneck-in-the-city schtick, complete with an “aw, shucks” delivery in the most contrived tractor pull accent he can muster.

And to make things worse, he’s a SINGING comedian, too. Oh, lord, please kill us all now in a torrent of nuclear fire so that we never, EVER have to endure another listen to this crap. It’s not just funny, it’s offensively not funny. As in, these jokes are so stupid you’ll actually get offended that someone is trying to sell an album full of them.

Here’s a direct quote: “”The zoo is so dayumm boring, they need to make it more exciting…take a Slim Jim, stick it in the ayuss of a death row inmate and haive heyum rum thraw the lion cage widdowt geddin beeyut.”

Effing HILARIOUS, to somebody somewhere, probably. But not anywhere near an area with a population greater than three.

Don’t get the wrong idea–we’re not in favor of whitewashing comedy in favor of an all PC landscape free from anything that might be “wrong”. Transgressive humor is funny because, well, because it’s not supposed to BE funny. But there’s a big difference between pushing boundaries and brick-in-the-face DUMB, which really gets the hackles up for certain writers who discover these things while idly surfing the internet for bizarre recordings.

The Turntabling Collection: Latest Vinyl Titles for Sale

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The Turntabling Collection is our ever-growing curated vinyl record collection–some of which goes up for sale to finance the site and help our fellow vinyl junkies fill holes in their collections. Here’s the latest, and don’t forget that every time you buy vinyl from The Turntabling Collection, you’re not just buying rare, hard-to-find, or just plain cool vinyl records and CDs–you’re also helping to keep Turntabling alive and kicking. Thank you for your continued support!

Various – Aquarius Rock: The Hip Reggae World Of Herman Chin-Loy (Double vinyl LP)

A double LP compilation of reggae sounds including Augustus Pablo, Herman, The Aquarians, and many  others. There’s a definite obsession with dub and reggae round the Turntabling office and this record is two slabs of awesome.

 

Sound Dimension Mojo Rocksteady Beat (Double vinyl LP)

Soul Jazz presents Sound Dimension doing two albums worth of rock steady reggae. If you know Soul Jazz, chances are good that you’d be willing to take a chance on this unheard and unseen–as we did. The Sound Dimension are described as the overseas equivalent to Booker T and the MGs or The Funk Brothers–they did the same kind of daily grind studio session work. Hear them in top form here…

Billion Dollar Brain Original Soundtrack Vinyl LP

Richard Rodney Bennett’s soundtrack for the Michael Caine spy thriller. Some people are completely into this soundtrack, while others are completely unaware of it. It’s a bit overly symphonic in places, but the tracks Anya and Love Scene are Morricone-esque enough to get the attention of Maestro fans, and that’s good enough for us! Nice stuff indeed.

Francesco De Masi Inglorious Bastards Soundtrack Vinyl LP (Quel Maledetto Treno Blindato)

This is NOT the soundtrack for the Quentin Tarantino movie Inglorious Basterds. Instead, what we have here is a sealed, new reissue on Get Back Records of the ORIGINAL movie Inglorious Bastards, directed by Enzo Castellari, with soundtrack music by Francesco De Masi. Italian soundtrack lovers, here’s a treat for you!

Again, when you buy from The Turntabling Collection, you’re supporting the site directly, so thank you for choosing Turntabling. There is much more to choose from, these are just some of the latest additions.