Vinylese

What's The Best Needle For 45's?

2012-02-10T13:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a very interesting YouTube video from Bad Edit Pro :

Very useful if you plan on listening to a lot of 45s.

Long live vinyl.
:)

Now PLAYING on my Turntable

2011-10-04T11:26:00.003-04:00

Dif Juz - Who Says So? (1983 Mini LP, Red Flame Records, RFM 24, UK)

Side 1:

Roy's Tray
So Shy
Song With no Name
Tabla Piece

Side 2:

SWNN Part 2
Pass It On Charlie
Channel
The Dub Song

The label has a Cheap Thrills stamp on it, so I've had it since my days in Montréal, way back in the 80s. Cheap Thrills was my personal vinyl "temple" back then. I still like to pop in whenever I'm in downtown Montréal. A true LEGENDARY record store.

Anyway, back to the record now playing on my turntable. An instrumental band from the UK, Dif Juz put out very few records, but everything I've heard from them is fantastic. Head music, I'd call it.

This one, Who Says So?, features a heavy dose of dub, clangy guitars & saxophone. Really nice groove to it, with a hint of mystery. The music has an almost cinematic appeal to it... "visual music", perhaps?

There's not one bad track on it, but, for my tatse, the last one - The Dub Song - is the killer track. Hard-hitting dub topped with healthy chunks of guitar and a bass line to kill for.

A keeper, for sure.

More on Dif Juz.

Dif Juz, Who Says So? - Front cover

Dif Juz, Who Says So? - Back cover

Long live vinyl.
;)

Quick Visit at the 5th Ottawa Community Record Show

2011-10-03T11:11:00.004-04:00

Yesterday (Sunday, October 2) was our first visit at the Ottawa Community Record Show, which may seem odd since we've been selling vinyl records on eBay since 2005! This marked the event's 5th edition.

For a certain number of reasons, we've never had the chance to attend the Ottawa Record Show in the past, so we decided to check it out yesterday. We mainly wanted to find out if it would be worth, eventually, to take part in the event as sellers, as a way of promoting our "Chez LouLou" virtual store to the local community.

First, we had a chance to meet a Twitter "friend" in person (@swanpr), who was there selling records for a friend of hers. A delight to finally meet her in person. She was selling amazing records, but definitely out of our price range. Among other things, very cool Contemporary & Electronics stuff: loads of John Cage, Steve Reich, Xenakis & other "take-your-breath-away" items. Some Punk items were also quite interesting.

The event seemed to be fairly well organized, but here's a tip: don't bring a 10-year old at the event, with little to no interest in vinyl records. I probably would have stayed there a LOT longer, but our son just wanted to get out of there after 20 minutes.

One small criticism, though : I'm not sure why they need to charge a $3.00 admission fee. It always pisses me off when I need to PAY to get into an event where I'll probably be BUYING stuff from vendors. I just don't see the logic.

All in all, what I found there was a good mix of sellers (record stores as well as individuals), and lots of interesting vinyls to be had, and for a wide range of prices. Most of the local record stores that sell vinyl were represented there, namely Vertigo Records, the Record Centre and Birdman Sound.

We're definitely considering renting a table for the next Ottawa Record Show (April 22, 2012). It's not like we don't have enough records we could sell (10,000 + LPs, over 4,000 45s)! We'll see...

Didn't buy much, though, but I did manage to pick up these nice items at a low price ($3.00 each), including two SEALED Tom Mawhinney LPs!

Not a bad afternoon after all!

Long live vinyl.
;)

Bit Rebels – A Roof Shingled With Vinyl Records: A Different…

2011-09-29T12:51:00.001-04:00

Now, THIS is cool!

Bit Rebels; "A Roof Shingled With Vinyl Records: A Different Kind of Retro"

I think I'd have enough junk records to do my roof!

Long live vinyl.

;)

The revival of vinyl records | 6abc.com

2011-09-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

Nope, vinyl's NOT dead!

Here's an interesting read (+ a video of the news report):

The revival of vinyl records | 6abc.com

Long live vinyl.

;)

Now PLAYING on my Turntable

2011-09-23T09:22:00.001-04:00

Hawkwind - "Doremi Fasol Latido"

Great record, great sound. I have the 1972 German pressing, and it is so much more enjoyable on vinyl than the later CD re-issues, trust me.

The liner notes are hilarious, all spacey-galactic bullshit written by someone who may have smoked too many bongs on a cold Monday night or something. We are reminded that "Lemmy the Lurch" (of later Motörhead fame) played bass and 6-string guitar on this space rock masterpiece, and may have contributed the odd vocal here and there.

Both sides start off really strong ("Brainstorm" on Side 1 and "Lord of Light" on Side 2) and the onslaught goes on from there until the needle hits the end of the record.

A wonderful piece of wax.

Long live vinyl.
:)

Another GREAT video featuring vinyl on a turntable!

2011-07-26T19:56:00.000-04:00

Sonic Youth - "Dirty Boots" (from Goo, 1990)

Sonic Youth music was MADE to be played on vinyl. "Dirty Boots" is a great song, no matter the format, but it's just that much... awesomer on vinyl.

'Nough said. Listen & enjoy:

Long live vinyl.
:)

Video: Sealed Beatles Record Collection

2011-07-25T14:48:00.001-04:00

This'll make any Beatles fan drool with envy. The guy's showing off his collection of SEALED Beatles records. Holy crap!

Interestingly enough, the guy really knows his stuff and provides fascinating comments about almost every album he presents. Really cool!

Long live vinyl.
:)

Gary Bartz/Ntu Troop -- Harlem Bush Music/Taifa, Part 2

2011-07-25T11:16:00.001-04:00

My $0.10 Find of the Week from last week is turning out to be quite a gem. There isn't a bad track on this amazing piece of wax.

Produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews (who most notably produced Monk's wonderful albums on Riverside) it features some really great and groovy playing by the likes of Gary Bartz himself (on soprano and alto saxes), Andy Bey (vocals), Juni Booth (bass), Nat Bettis (percussion) and Harold White (drums, awesome,awesome drums!).

Check out this INCREDIBLE track:

Long live vinyl.
:)

GREAT Find of the Week!

2011-07-20T15:29:00.001-04:00

Gary Bartz/Ntu Troop -- Harlem Bush Music/Taifa

Hard to believe, but this cost me a whopping $0.10! What a steal!

A fairly rare record of contemporary Jazz featuring great pieces, such as "Drinking Song" and "Du (Rain)".

A keeper, for sure!

Here's a sampling:

Long live vinyl.
:)

Another GREAT video featuring vinyl on a turntable!

2011-07-20T15:22:00.000-04:00

The Rolling Stones - "Shattered"

From 1976's great "Some Girls", a great song and a great single.

Long live vinyl.
:)

GREAT Finds of the Week! Cost: $0.00

2011-07-07T14:14:00.000-04:00

Well, we didn't find 'em, they found US! A close friend of my wife and me came by yesterday with a surprise: 5 boxes of 33RPM records, AND a box of 45s!

We had a ball sorting through everything, naturally.

Here's what we kept:

Here's what we'll be giving away:

And here's what we'll be throwing away:

Out of this whole mess, we did manage to find a few gems, including these:

MC5 - Back in the USA

MC5 - Kick Out the Jams

The Fendermen - Mule Skinner Blues

Wilburn Brothers - Side By Side

The Amazing New Electronic Pop Sound of Jean Jacques Perrey

Alan Stivell - Journée à la maison

The Troggs - Wild Thing

Jerry Lee Lewis & Linda Gail Lewis - Together

We're still sifting through the piles, and we'll probably end up throwing away and giving more stuff away.

The 45s box had a few nice Beatles singles and other cool stuff, inlcuding a very nice copy of Zeppelin's "Black Dog/Misty Mountain Hop" single.

Nothing better to make your day than getting a surprise crapload of vinyl!

Long live vinyl!
:)

Another GREAT video featuring vinyl on a turntable!

2011-07-06T14:11:00.000-04:00

Electric Light Orchestra - "Mr. Blue Sky" (from "Out of the Blue")

Great song! ELO at its most Beatlesque! Love everything about this song.

Enjoy!

Long live vinyl.
:)

Forbes: "The Record Album Re-Turns"

2011-07-06T13:14:00.000-04:00

"The Record Album Re-Turns"

Great piece in Forbes on the resurgence of vinyl:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0718/life-vinyl-cd-music-dom-ratatat-david-shebiro-record-re-turns.html

Must-read article!

Long live vinyl.
:)

New Blog Name

2011-07-05T12:44:00.005-04:00

I decided to scrap the old name "Les Vinyles invisibles", which I like a lot, but felt was not relevant anymore, since my blog is now an English-only publication; it started out as a bilingual blog, but that proved to be too much of a challenge, for various reasons which I won't go into. I am thinking of starting a new blog, eventually, which will be in French only.

I'm going with a short 'n' sweet title, nothing fancy.

So here it is: welcome to "Vinylese".
When I talk vinyl, I speak... "Vinylese".

Long live vinyl.
:)

The WTF Gawd-awful Record Cover of the Week

2011-06-25T16:35:00.000-04:00

"Music to Massage Your Mate By"

Oh boy... From the "What-were they thinking" category of 70s vinyl slabs, here's a frightfully terrible-looking but exceedingly funny cover.

That guy is scary. The look, the pornstache, the ugly sleeveless tee-shirt, the cut-up jeans masquarading as shorts, the hairy legs... Sort of a sleazy Burt-Reynolds wannabe having a bad day.

The cover says: "Explicitly Illustrated Instruction Booklet Enclosed". I'll spare you that part. Really, really cheap.

But hey, guess what? It's highly collectible! I've seen it go for $30-$50 on eBay, if you can believe that.

Long live vinyl?
;-)

Another GREAT video featuring vinyl on a turntable!

2011-06-24T17:31:00.000-04:00

The Hollies - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

One of the great Hollies song. A bit cheesy, but still, hell, it's the Freakin' Hollies, man!

I dedicate this one to my Big Brother, Mike. Go check out his blog at: http://mikeyboy50.blogspot.com/

Awesome bird photos!

Long live vinyl.

Finds of the Week

2011-06-24T12:45:00.000-04:00

Not much happening this week, as crate-digging goes, but I did manage to get a beautiful copy of Jackie Mittos's "Reggae Magic":

I got it for $7.00, which is a GREAT deal, considering it usually sells online for $50.00-$100.00.

Sort of a cheesy-sounding instrumental reggae album, but it does have some great break beats. I can see why it's such in demand among turntablists.

Also picked up two AMAZING Deutsche Grammophon box sets for $2.00 each... a steal!

The boxes and the vinyl records are in pristine condition, and they feature the old DG Tulips labels.

Great collectibles!

Long live vinyl.
:)

MORE Great Finds of the Week! Cost: $0.00

2011-06-22T17:12:00.000-04:00

9 Albums by Gordon Lightfoot

I've never been a Gordon Lightfoot fan (sorry), but when I get vinyl for free, I just can't pass it by. So I now have 9 more Lightfoot vinyls in my collection. Some of these I already had, others I didn't even know existed.

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is still a great song, like him or not, anyway!

Awesome video for Lightfoot's classic "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald":

Long live vinyl.
:)

GREAT Finds of the Week! Cost: $0.00

2011-06-22T15:05:00.001-04:00

6 Records By The Ventures

I LOVE the Ventures. I used to have one of their "Play Guitar With The Ventures" records, with the tablatures and instructions on how to play some of their well-known hits. I was totally horrible on guitar, so it did me no good, but boy, I found these guys so cool. Still do.

The guy was throwing these away, so I grabbed them, of course.

Long live vinyl.
:)

Now PLAYING on my Turntable

2011-06-22T14:04:00.003-04:00

Sandy Denny, "Sandy"
A&M Records (SP 4371)

For my money, she had the greatest voice ever. A beautiful singer. This album contains some great tracks, with the stand-out being "It suits me well". And let's not forget the killer rendition of Dylan's "Tomorrow is a long time".

Oh, and it just so happens that Richard Thompson plays guitar and mandolin on it.

Great stuff.

Here's a YouTube video, if you're curious:

I've got it on vinyl, but you may need to settle for the CD re-issue:

Long live vinyl.

A Slightly Cranky Meditation on Vinyl Records

2011-06-21T15:45:00.000-04:00

Here's a really nice piece about vinyl records in the Good Men Project webzine. I share a lot of what the author is saying.

Enjoy!

http://goodmenproject.com/arts/a-slightly-cranky-meditation-on-vinyl-records/

Long live vinyl.
:)

Another GREAT video featuring vinyl on a turntable!

2011-06-19T14:24:00.002-04:00

Bruce Springsteen - Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

The great Clarence Clemons died yesterday at age 69, from complications following a stroke he suffered last week. Springsteen shows will never be the same.

R.I.P. Big Man.

Long live vinyl.
:)

Another GREAT video featuring vinyl on a turntable!

2011-06-17T18:07:00.001-04:00

Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting (45 RPM)

Yup, that's right. This is the VERY first record I ever bought on my own, with my own money, and I'm NOT ashamed to admit it! Loved that album. Had some great soul songs.

Ah, memories...

Long live vinyl.
:)

YouTube Video: "RCA Dynaflex: vinyl that bends"

2011-06-17T12:56:00.001-04:00

Ah! yes, the dreaded "Dynaflex" vinyl record which RCA tried to pass as a higher-quality product (it wasn't). Just another way to use less vinyl per album. Cheaper, perhaps, but in no way a higher-quality record.

See for yourselves:

Long live vinyl.
:)