Tag Archives: Blogs

Vinyl Lounge Hut–A Retro LP Paradise

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vinyl lounge hutVinyl Lounge Hut may not have been updated since May 09 at the time of this writing, but that shouldn’t stop you from drinking in the heady cocktail of great lounge LPs and commentary by the very retro-minded Rich. Please, Rich, come back and update again!

The archives for this completely awesome site go back as far as 2007 so there is a lot to pore over. I love that Rich includes images of his audio setup and retro-outfitted living space. Simply awesome.

And let’s not overlook a good collection of links so lounge lovers can further fill up their hard drives with all those torrent, rapidshare and other files of ripped-from-vinyl goodness. The music itself is fun, but the VISUALS are a real treat. I’m a sucker for the great covers, colors and textures from this era–especially the image above created by BlueHipster, which is very reminiscent of Shag but with its own distinctive look and feel.

If you haven’t seen Vinyl Lounge Hut, stop wasting time and get over there…you just haven’t lived.


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Attic Beats

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attic-beats

I am really digging this collection of podcasts on Odeo.com called Attic Beats. Sadly, all these are three years old and there don’t seem to be any updates, but if you’re looking to get a headstart on exotica, Italian horror, and other fun, dusty genres, Attic Beats is a nice way to go.

There are one or two episodes that didn’t work for me, but the Turntablism ‘cast was pretty tasty and the one called The Worst Music I Own is a painful listen. Remember, kids, he actually OWNS this crap. A shame there aren’t new shows coming, but the archive is a lot of fun to wade through.

The Rising Storm

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13th-floor-elevators

My new favorite music blog is The Rising Storm, which has some interesting trivia on the so-called “Live” 13the Floor Elevators album pictured above. I haven’t heard this one, but The Rising Storm recommends this for several reasons including a few covers–one of Buddy Holly’s “I’m Gonna Love You Too” and Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”.

“Live” had fake crowd sound dubbed over to mask the fact that it was a poorly recorded studio effort, which puts some (me included) off completely, but then again it would be worth one listen at least to hear Roky Erickson’s best Buddy Holly impression.

The Rising Storm also earns points with me for writeups of outside-FM-radioland bands like Death, J.K & CO. and Brave Belt. There’s an entire undiscovered universe out there in psych/rock vinyl…The Rising Storm unearths plenty to obsess over. This is a great, ambitious vinyl blog that should not be missed.

Battle of the Bands: Facebook Vs. Twitter

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adweek-logoAdWeek’s March 4 article on the March 11 rollout of sweeping changes to Facebook makes me–and many others–wonder if Facebook is about to start another user revolt. On March 11, Facebook trots out changes that will force companies and advertisers to start behaving much more like regular Facebook users. That means more frequent updates to company pages rather than creating unchanging sites used as a basic ad for the company or service.

What does that mean for bands using Facebook? Unsure at this point, but there seems to be a growing number of bands who are migrating to Twitter because of the ease of use. I think the simpler the medium, the more valuable it is–especially for busy indie bands who don’t have time to maintain a Twitter, MySpace and Facebook site all at once. Twitter is simple, it’s fun, and it’s a growing outlet for bands. Hell, even Turntabling has a Twitter account. I have to admit, it’s easier and more fun than Facebook. I don’t like the idea that I might have to do even more work to maintain a Facebook account for Turntabling or the bands on Turntabling Records.

If you ask me, Twitter is the future. Facebook’s previous flap over its terms of service has left people like me unwilling to put up with much more crap from FB. It’s unsure how the March 11 changes will actually affect users like me and indie bands, labels and promoters. Maybe AdWeek’s article has me whipped into a frenzy of bed-wetting fear over nothing. Then again, sweeping changes mean a learning curve, and who has the time to deal with that nonsense? It was goofy enough trying to figure out how to add GOOP to the ReverbNation Facebook widget.