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Over the course of the past few weeks and in the weeks to come, we've been blessed with whip-smart, take-charge coordinators at each label we've highlighted who've helped us put together and navigate our Record Store Day 2010 Label Showcases.
The odd this is though, we've yet to hear from one on the blog—until today as we're joined by The Honeydripper,Daptone’s right hand (wo)man and Soul DJ.
Big City Records is responsible for a huge portion of my record collection. Run by the previous owners of the original “The Sound Library” which was located on 13th street in the LES…Big City Records is just around the corner and opened in 2006. They are the place to go for Hip Hop, Jazz, Soul/Funk and Latin LP’s and 45’s, and they also carry a good amount of our catalog.
The guys running the place are DJ’s themselves and have an incredible taste and knowledge in music, nothing more important when running a record shop right? They are also very out-going and are known to pay attention to the stuff you like to buy and make sure to throw stuff your way to check out next time you’re in which is exactly what I hope to do when I’m record shopping…find new records that are up my alley and in great condition. If you have a record you’ve been after, mention it won’t be forgotten until one comes in.
They are located on a quiet street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. But don’t let the small size of the shop fool you, there are no fillers, you won’t find a bad record in there making it a favorite stop for many hi-profile producers as well.
The LES is home to two other record shops you should absolutely hit up after Big City Records and that’s Academy Records (415 East 12th St. - They also have a Brooklyn location) and Good Records (218 East 5th Street ). Big City Records is located on 521 East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B and below are some of my favorite purchases made there, all for a whole lot less then I would have paid had I gone to ebay.
The Four Puzzles “Especially For You Baby” Deniece Chandler & Lee Sain “Hey Baby” Carl Carlton “I Can Feel It” The Harvey Averne Dozen “You’re No Good” O’Jays “Shattered Man”
It's no understatement—we're hooked on Imperial China's latest, 'Phosphenes' which our friends over at Aural States championed with, "Phosphenes is a testament to Imperial China’s distinct sound, meticulously alloying innumerable flavors of rock and pop into something both fresh and familiar. . .overall the album is a confident, well-developed debut of a unique and vibrant voice in a somewhat stagnant scene. A sign of a fertile future for both artist and label, and if we’re lucky, one of the first major volleys in a bonafide new movement.
No faint praise there, hm?
The band is fresh off the road and ready to rally the locals this Friday night at Velvet Lounge and they're bringing alongCephalopods, (including Hugh McElroy, Fiona Griffin, and Wells Bennett), Busses, and Lo Moda (from Baltimore).
Now, typically this is where I announce that we've got a pair of tickets to give away - and we do. But the band's also tossed in the new 'Phosphenes' CD and your choice of one of the two tee shirts shown below in the:Mother of All Imperial China Giveaways.
You know you want to be there Friday night with the tee shirt on your back and the CD in your pocket. Let us know just how much the Mother of All Imperial China Giveaways would complete your weekend and the most over the top of you with your plea in the comments to this post—with contact email info!—takes it all home.
"Other people write about the bling and the booty. I write about the pus and the gnats. To me, that's beautiful," the late Vic Chesnutt told an interviewer in 2005.
Does more need to be said, really?
Vic's last gorgeous LP is Week 7'sRecord Store Day Vinyl Giveaway...
The rules can't be any simpler for our RSD2010 Vinyl Giveaways. All you need to do to enter to win is to leave a comment in the comments section to that week's giveaway letting us know why you deserve to win that week's LP.
Be creative, funny, incisive—whatever it takes to grab our attention to deem you the winner. Most important however is to leave us a contact email address! You can be brilliant as hell, but if we can't track ya' down, you're out of the running.
All winners will all be notified on Monday (3/29) upon the launch of the next RSD2010 Vinyl Giveaway!
Our Record Store Day 2010 Label Showcase with Daptone Records continues, and today we're joined by Thomas “TNT” Brenneck, one of the guitar players for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings,The Budos Band, and Menahan Street Band.
“TNT” Brenneck also founded Dunham Recordswith Homer Steinweiss who joined us yesterday with our first Daptone installment. Their latest project is a hip hop 45 by three 9 year olds—The 3 Titans—rapping about going to college!
Around about a year ago I drove along Route 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco. No doubt I was high on some pot brownies some girls had given to me the night before at a Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings concert.
Sure enough, it was a great road trip. With the beautiful Becca Bernard as my co-pilot, we charged up the west coast in a black Dodge Charger. Why were we going to San Francisco? "Rooky Ricardo's Record Shop" also known as "Rooky's."
Rooky's is conveniently located in the Lower Haight, right across the street from the hell storm of a bar, "Toronados" (great sausages next door.) Rooky's is my favorite record store in the USA. Why? because it's right across the street from Groove Merchant Records? Nope. Because Dick is the man. A gay man who owns this fantastic record store and loves soul music (especially girl groups.) Anyway, we arrive. Crash at a friends. Breakfast. Roll over to Rookie's.
No Dick. Where's Dick? I drove from LA! No Dick? "Dick doesn't work on Tuesdays" says dude. Great. So I shop at my favorite record store without saying hello to my favorite record store owner, but got great records regardless:
The Fabulous Impressions- LP 4.00$!! The Dells - Hey Sugar (Don't Get Serious) 45 (Vee-Jay) King Floyd - Walkin' and Thinkin' 45 (Original Sound) Little Richard - I Don't Know What You've Got (But It Sure's Got me) Vee-Jay 45 featuring a young Jimi Hendrix copping a young Curtis Mayfield. Topthat!
The most cherished band of their generation, Teenage Fanclub return in May 2010 with a brand new album (yes, out on vinyl) entitled 'Shadows,' a headline slot at Camden Crawl, and a UK tour.
It has been 5 long years since their last album, 'Man-Made', was released to universal acclaim, so it is no overstatement to say the new album is keenly anticipated. While most bands are lucky to have one great songwriter, Teenage Fanclub are blessed with three, hence 'Shadows' is overflowing with the kind of gorgeous, harmony driven classics you'd expect to find on a greatest hits album.
...and we've got the debut of the first single, 'Baby Lee.'
I had Earl Greyhound's track 'SOS' on constant rotation back in early '06...then after some touring...nothing.
But the band is back indeed with a new drummer and their sophomore release 'Suspicious Package' out on April 13th on Hawk Race Records...and ya'know, seemingly primed for peak rotation once more. Earl Greyhound - Ghost and Witness (Mp3)
If there's one label who are most proud of their vinyl output, it's Daptone Records. Never mind that they're responsible for some of the tastiest Soul, Funk, Gospel and Afrobeat discs out there.
I mean, how's this for a mission statement?
"Hand-made and heart-stirred, our records are manufactured from the highest quality vinyl available. Our limited pressings can be purchased directly from us or from your local distributor at reasonable prices. Each record is carefully recorded and mixed by the illustrious Bosco Mann to ensure only the hardest, truest sound found this side of the Atlantic."
This week, we're hanging out with the funky denizens of Daptone—as we have previously with the bands and artists from Sarathan Records and Vanguard Records—to get a beat on their most favorite record stores as we continue to beat the drum for Record Store Day 2010.
"It is mid-March in Austin, and the cacophony known as South by Southwest is in full effect. I take a break from the madness to visit one of my favorite record stores, Friends of Sound Records at 1704 S. Congress Street. This place is not too big but it has a great selection and lots of new inventory coming through all the time.
Walking in, you are greeted by a nice collection of soul, funk, and reggae 45's. I go through the 45's first and continue on to a well-categorized LP section. The store deals mostly, if not all, in used records. It's got a listening station (key when digging for records), the prices are reasonable, and the staff is always kind. The overall vibe in this place is great, not mention the fact that it is around the corner from Guero's for delicious Tex-Mex and Allen's Boots for all your western outfitting needs.
Unfortunately, this time around I only have a half hour to dig as I have to get back to 6th street for a show—still enough time to pick up 3 good finds. First off is "Irma Thomas Sings," a great compilation of Irma Thomas classics released on the Bandy label. It's hard to find most of these great tunes, so this album is a real gem.
Next is "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia. As the title suggests, this is a record for lovers. Its smooth soul from New Jersey and it doesn't disappoint. Finally, I got Hank Ballard's 45, "How You Gonna Get Respect (when you haven't cut your process yet)." This song is a riff on the James Brown Classic "Licking Stick" with a more political message. I have always loved this song for its quirky arrangement and powerful vocals and I finally found the original 45.
Allow me to just point out that press releases rarely come better written or more - shall we say - intriguing:
"A man once said: "To say that you know what Francis is about without having experienced it face to face is like saying that you've had sexual intercourse when you actually only have seen porn"."
Take that, I say! Here's another quote:
"Francisare blowing my mind. Swedes rocking big-band and blues like from the back of a speakeasy in the heyest heyday of the Roaring 20s? Yes, please. Driving drums and bold, harsh vocals belie their rock and roll sensibilities. ALSO THEY ARE SWEDISH! God bless globalization, you guys." - Music For Misanthropes
Suitably intrigued to see what Francis is up to? Well, lucky you. We've got two pairs of tickets and their debut CD for two winners for their appearance this coming Monday night (3/22) at the House of Sweden.
Your steamiest analogy or response left in the comments to this post —with a contact email address!—gets the tickets to she show and the CD. We'll choose two winners by noon on 3/22!
“Pirate Love mixes a delightful refreshing blend of garage, punk, rockabilly and goth, in the veins of The Cramps, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nirvana and The Stooges.... a primal sound with references to hate, drugs, revenge and violence in a gorgeous package. Sincere sounding, and one can only surmise that the songwriters have had some serious misadventures along the way......"Black Vodoun Space Blues" is an excellent debut from a band that has chosen a path that hasn't already been trampled to pieces.—ABC News
Hm. Since when did ABC News have its finger on the 'in-the-know' button?
But—they're right. And we've got a pair of tickets to put you right up there with the hipsters in the ABC Newsroom.
Pirate Love sails into Silver Spring tomorrow night (3/23) so you have to ask fast! Grab the tracks, check out the vid, and when you come down, hit us up in the comments to this post—with contact email info!—and we'll get one of you the pair of tickets for Tuesday night's show.
The idea of making “travelin' music” is a loaded concept. We all have a “sound” we like to ride to. I created this mix thinking about the journey to Austin ahead.
SXSW has been an annual pastime—not only the music conference itself but for the listening prior. The weeks leading up to SXSW are always filled with intense listening. It’s a time to refresh the palette so to speak, and I challenge my current “pile of records” to either stay or leave. I take in as many new releases as I can and dig back in my crates.
Finally for my muse, I posed myself 2 questions: When it comes to music, what does Texas mean to me and what’s the reason we make the schlep to Austin every year for SXSW?
The simple answer is in this mix…cool bands and great songs.Enjoy...
We’ve had a blast taking over The Vinyl District this week. To leave our mark and part on good terms, we’d like to share some of our recent and upcoming artists with you all…
I grew up in Arkansas, in a town called Malvern, a town of about 9,000 people. We had this one little record shop in town, Paula’s Records. It was the only place you could buy records. The old lady that ran it, Paula, used to chase us out of there because we’d stay all day, just looking at the records. We couldn’t really afford to buy them.
The first record I ever bought was in Paula’s, it was “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles. I bought the 45 and it was the time I’d ever bought anything with my own money. To this day, that record is the thing I credit as being the catalyst for me wanting to be in the entertainment business, particularly in a band.
When we went in there, we’d just look through everything. We would thumb through the 45s in those paper sleeves and look at the pictures. We had these fan magazines in those days, and we’d see the bands and then there we were, looking at their records. Most of the time we couldn’t afford to buy them, so we’d just stare.
I remember every label, and that’s one of the things I miss, even about CDs. CDs are fine, its what we have now, but, in those days the labels were so important to us, to see Vanguard or Columbia or RCA or Capitol or Verve or any of those.
The spirit in that store was so incredible to us. It was like walking into the Magic Kingdom. We didn’t care about going to Disneyland, but we loved to go to the record store.
She sold a few musical instruments, not much stuff, but enough for us to stare at. We’d look through the Dave Clark Five records, the Beatles, the Stones, Tom Jones, and some of the country records, but when I was a kid it was all about the British Invasion and the 60s pop rock records, and we’d stay so long that Paula would chase us out, make us leave. She’d say “If you’re not gonna buy anything, you gotta get outta here.” She was a nice woman, at least when you first got there, but she could be a little cranky. Still, that store, to me, to this day, is just a magical memory. We don’t have those stores much anymore, and the ones that are left are the only remnant of that childhood that was so beautiful.
Hopefully Independent Record Stores will stick around. I hope the corporations don’t obliterate every one of them. I’m a big fan of actual record stores. I wish they’d bring vinyl back, period. I wish we didn’t download songs, but that’s the way it is. Hopefully that spirit’s going to be here from now on no matter what we have. Just don’t close the doors. Don’t close the doors to our history.
If I had any advice for young musicians coming up it’d be to learn the history of music. Study what came before, in the 40s and 50s. If you don’t know that stuff, the foundation of what you’re doing is built on, then you’ve really got no business doing it. Rock and Roll, and music period, were created a long time ago, its not something that just came up yesterday. Music is too attached to fashion now. It always has been, but now it’s mainly the fashion, and a little music. So hopefully people are going to look back and see where it all came from. There was a period in rock and roll from the mid-fifties through about 1973 or 1974 when they did pretty much everything, so don’t try to reinvent something. Have your own mind, but do study where it came from, and the independent record store is where you can do that.
For those of you in Austin, join us tomorrow (it’s free and everyone is welcome - no badges or wristbands required) for our Vanguard/Sugar Hill Records and Paste party at The Belmont sponsored by our good friends at Ful Luggage and Arbor.
Stop by pick up some swag, take advantage of some great drink specials and oh yeah—hear some awesome artists/bands play live. Be sure to RSVP to Stephanie@vanguardrecords.com.Hope to see you there!
1:00 | Bobby Bare Jr. w/ Special Guest: Tribute to Shel Silverstein (Album coming June 8)
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