Tag Archives: vinyl

Call It…Pathetic

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I am ashamed to admit this. I was scouring the net this evening looking for online vinyl shops for a new feature I’d like to start on Turntabling.net…basically a regular spotlight on vendors selling albums online and in local shops where I find them in my travels. Here in Chicago, there are more stores than I can count, all selling albums of every description, and I know plenty of other shops across the country also in the business of catering to obsessives like me.

Hell–I even looked on Amazon.com to find vinyl–admittedly just for laughs–but turned up a 180 gram repressing of a couple of Velvet Underground records and some new pressings of Beatles albums. Not that I’d buy THAT stuff–the Velvets sound just as low-fi as ever on CD and while I’d love to hear em on wax, I would be more intrigued by an original pressing.

Tonight I found an online record store claiming a massive collection of albums…but they failed to pass my acid test. It’s not elaborate, it’s NOT that snotty “Oh, you don’t have the infamous Beatles “butcher cover” Yesterday and Today in stock? How sad for you” attitude. Quite the opposite really…but I just couldn’t take them seriously–any record store that stocks more Ted Nugent than Gary Numan just doesn’t have the right obsessions for me.

I realize this sort of thing is pathetic and sad. Why should I care that this shop had KISS in abundance, but no KLF? Still, I felt the contempt of the hopeless album addict rising within me. And me, a GROWN ADULT! Allegedly. This shop has more Elvis than you can shake a pill bottle at, but no Hawkwind. When you stock so many Monkees records that it takes an effort to scroll through them all but don’t carry the Mystic Moods Orchestra, I just can’t carry on. I am filled with shame to display all the worst qualities of the uber-album fanboy.

I didn’t think I was THAT far gone, til I ran across this site (which I won’t name)…but now I know that I am doomed to live in the land of the vinyl nerd-boys forever even if I don’t consider myself one of them. I buy records to PLAY them, so at least I’m not fussing over collector’s items or nicks and dings on the cover art and all…

They Could Have Been Bigger Than EMI

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Oh, damn! What a great concept. This book is a labor of love put together by Joachim Gaertner, who is responsible for the late, great Germany-based Get Happy!! Records. This label released a CD by Crevice, a Texas-based psych/experimental group I performed and recorded with from on and off from 1997 to 2002. I have many fond memories of Crevice and will always have a fondness for Get Happy!! Records…but that’s not the reason I’m posting now.

In its second edition, They Could Have Been Bigger Than EMI is a collection of discography info on defunct indie labels that released vinyl. This massive, 567-page book has information on more than four thousand labels, with thousands of images. Want to know all about Stiffwick? Unicorn? Crass Records? Green Fez? Small Wonder Records? It’s all here. For the record–I have NOT read this book yet, but I am totally excited by the idea of it. What an amazing accomplishment!

These days Joachim Gaertner runs Pure Pop For Now People, his small vinyl label and mailorder. I’ve not heard any of the groups on his roster except for the great-sounding S/T, but I am sure the others sound equally delicious. I am very happy to see him still at it after all this time and doing it on vinyl to boot! Check the book out, drop him a line at the PPFNP site to get ordering info.

Dawn of the Dead/Zombi OST Vinyl

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Goblin is one of those scruffy dog groups you either love or hate. Horror movie buffs in love with Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Joe D’Amato and other Italian fear-flick directors are often total fanboys of Goblin. Me personally, I love the excessively dated sound of the 70s and early 80s soundtracks by this group, especially the bizarre mix of acid rock guitars and 80s techno synth riffs.

This album is great–it’s all over the map and has some extended sounds you only heard for a few moments in the actual film. There’s at least one totally misguided and wrong cut on this piece of wax–which somehow makes it all the more endearing for the music that DOES work.

The Dagored album is on 180 gram vinyl and the fold-out sleeve is fun. I love the grainy stills from the movie, especially the back cover with all it’s splattery 70s zombie blood flying everywhere. Aim for the head, youze.

I lust after all the albums in the Dagored back catalog. One look at the cover art for these albums will tell you why. I own many of them on CD, but it’s just not as much fun. Just look at that cover art for Revolver and The Beyond… you can’t tell me these wouldn’t be a joy to play on a turntable while gazing at those covers and foldouts.

While hunting for Dagored (i was hoping to order direct from them, but alas they seem only to have archives available for viewing-no shopping!) I discovered a lovely, seemingly ancient site chronicling a series of Dawn of the Dead soundtrack releases. Worth a look.

The World’s Most Expensive Record Needle

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It’s not OFFICIALLY the world’s most expensive record needle, but at 10K, the Clearaudio Goldfinger is squarely in Donald Trump territory. Sold by NeedleDoctor.com, the Goldfinger is 16 grams of pure gold, with a boron cantilever. Are you going on one knee for some sweet, sweet DJ? Don’t waste your cash on one of those useless finger trinkets sold in shopping mall diamond shops, get this bit of precious metal instead. It’s functional, it’s beautiful, and it probably sounds like nothing on earth. Too bad it costs nearly as much as you’d get selling a kidney. What’s the first thing you’d play after scoring one of these? For my money, it would have to be the More Beer album by FEAR.

Just kidding.