LOCALS ONLY: LA Sales

Along with the Amoeba and Origami Vinyl sales this weekend, be sure to check out one of my favorite record shops, The Record Parlor, for their weekend sale:

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SATURDAY, July 26^th

1. 1,000+ NEW ARRIVALS* coming out Tomorrow!

2. Bonus Buying Deals – While Quantities Last

• Spend $40 – Includes a FREE $20 Record Parlour 2014 Club Card
• Spend $60 – Includes a FREE $30 Record ParlourT-Shirt
• Spend $80 – Includes a FREE $40 Record Parlour LP Crate

3. FREE Concert Ticket Giveaways for Lucent Dossier on Saturday and Foxy Shazam next Thursday presented by Goldenvoice – Find them in our New Arrivals Section

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They're great place to get awesome deals on used LPs. Super friendly staff and lots of great hidden gems (got a used ATLiens for $8!). I always go here after I get my haircut next door at Rudy's Barbershop. Their $1 bins have some really great finds!

LOCALS ONLY: LA Sales

Being an LA guy, I wanted to share a few sales going on this up coming weekend that you might want to try and jump on.

The first big one is the store wide sale at Origami Vinyl this Friday Saturday and Sunday (ignore the dates on the picture). 10% off the whole store and online store if you're not from LA. I know I'll be there checking to see what I can get my hands on. Origami Vinyl is one of my favorite record stores in LA (and my go to first store for Record Store Day). Friendly staff and great deals. Mostly filled with new pressings, they do have a great corner in the back from some older cheap vinyls to dig through. Also, KCRW members receive 10% off every purchase (though I don't know if that would be in addition to this sale). A must check out if you are in the area!

Also, this Sunday, as apart of Amoeba's on-going summer sale, you can get turntables for 20% off! If you need to update your small portable Crosby player, or want to even start collecting vinyl, you should definitely check this sale out and try and snag a great price on a turntable. This sale applies to all stores!

Hope you get some great finds this weekend!

Grizzly Bear - Horn of Plenty

Most fans of Grizzly Bear know them for their amazing album Veckatimest (which if you haven't listened to yet, you really should checked out), but I wanted to dive into their debut album, which some may have missed out on. Though it wasn't as widely received, it's still a great listen.

Fans of Grizzly Bear's later work will see this as a more stripped down humble beginning. This psychedelic folk album won't really bring life to your party, but is great to throw on when you are unwinding from your day. The opening song Deep Sea Diver prepares you for the slow melodramatic, yet hypnotizing songs that will proceed. Don't Ask will bring back nostalgia of early Radiohead, while Alligator sounds like a lullaby with the sounds of heavy bass crashing as waves. My favorite song on the A-Side is probably Fix It, which is a bit more playful and has a great outro. Flipping to the B-Side is where the album really shines for me. Merge, A Good Place, and Service Bell are all great songs to listen to, that dive deeper with unique beats and percussion. While this whole album should really be listened to through headphones, you should definitely throw some on for La Duchesse Anne to get the full experience of the vocals. The album ends on high note (figuratively speaking) with This Song, which really shows what is soon to come from Grizzly Bear.

Now, I don't think this album is for all, but if you like early Radiohead or Animal Collective, I think you'd enjoy this album a lot. Another somewhat rare find online (Amazon has it for 73.99 New) and ebay doesn't seem to be much cheaper (again, I was lucky enough to get it for $10 on ebay). But if you stumble upon this at your local record store, I would definitely snatch it up!

The Pipettes - We are the Pipettes

This UK pop band's first album is full of catchy hooks that give a modern twist to a very dreamy sound. The version I am listening to is the US version, which was remixed by Cherrytree Records and includes two previously unreleased tracks Dance and Boogie and Baby, Just Be Yourself. The album starts off with the commanding anthem We Are the Pipettes, which tells you exactly what you're in for. Then you can't help but shake your butt to Pull Shapes, which is one of the singles off the album (other's include Dirty Mind and Judy). Another great song on the A-Side is Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me, which features a very soothingly haunting chorus. Switching things to the B-Side starts you out with the Mo-Town-esque Tell Me What You Want. ABC is another groove track that makes you want to do some sort of bop motion. And to close is a teen dream bonus track Baby, Just Be Yourself, which unwinds the album nicely.

If you like Phil Spector inspired pop, then you'll like this album. It's versatile enough that you can throw it on during a party or while your just sitting on the porch. Though it's a bit of a rare find now a days ($69.99 used on Amazon), you should search your local record store or scan ebay (which is where I got my copy for $4.00!)

First Post! The Back Story

Number 1 Record. That was my first vinyl. I bought it at Amoeba in Hollywood. From there, it's been a slow building addiction. From digging through $1 bins, to standing in record store day lines, to surfing ebay, to finding surprisingly cheap deals on Amazon.com, I've been building up my collection (which, after 2 years, is currently at 544 12" 2 10" and 14 7").

I love music, both live and recorded. Although it really didn't become a large part of my life until middle school. I would just listen to top 40 hits on radio (whatever Rick Dees was spinning) and it wasn't until middle school that I started to actively go out and search for new music. My first CD that I bought was blink 182's live album The Mark Tom and Travis Show. It was a combination of dirty lyrics and raunchy jokes that caused my 11-year-old self to barely listen to it all the way through without the fear of getting in trouble. Oddly enough, it was that feeling of "I shouldn't be doing this" that sparked my interest in music discovery.

I spent my adolescents in the era of the Emo/Softcore boom. Some of my favorite bands included, but weren't limited too, Brand New, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Mae, and Death Cab for Cutie. Along with this new genre came going to live shows, a place where my music library exploded to bands that I still enjoy today. Be it Frightened Rabbit opening for Pinback, Mates of State opening for Taking Back Sunday, Stars opening for Death Cab for Cutie, or Brand New covering Neutral Milk Hotel, I gained a more eclectic ear for music.

Fast forward to today. Living in LA, going to at least one show a month, big or small. Reading various blogs, attending free shows, and running around festivals to see as many acts as possible have given me my music knowledge today.

And so, not to take up anymore of your time, I wanted to share what I know and what I recommend, so that you can also build up your vinyl collection with albums you may or may not know. I am not claiming to be an Audiophile, I can't tell the difference between listening to a 180 Gram vs and a clean normal vinyl. I'm not a DJ, I don't have any special speakers, no pre-amp, no fancy head phones, but I do know what I like listening to. I just consider myself a fan of music, and a casual listener.  Though I don't think you should take my opinions unbiasedly and hope that you discover something new and interesting, refine your musical taste, and that some of my recommendations help build up your collection.

Thanks for reading!