New Posts Coming Soon! +Locals Only Sale!

Hey All,

Sorry for all the radio silence. Hope everyone had fun at the different events going on. Maybe you were lucky/savvy enough to check out the Record Parlour's super 1 year anniversary sale. I know I had a pretty good time at FYF Fest, despite all the technical difficulties. Highlights included Darkside, Slowdive, Presidents of the USA, and the Blood Brothers. Or maybe you went the free route and did Echo Park Rising or saw the Zombies. Either way, we are winding down to the last few days of summer and I am getting back into the groove of things. Right now I am typing from Virginia for a wedding, but when I get back, I'll have new vinyl reviews (including $1 bin finds, my first Vinyl Me Please, and tons of swag from FYF), tons of sales and free shows to look out for, and will start doing monthly contests for followers! So be sure to check in. Sept 4th. And, my posts will have a new, more streamed lined format, so you can get to the good stuff quick!

In the meantime, why not wind your summer down with my favorite vinyl spot in LA, The Record Parlour! This labor day weekend they have another mega awesome sale:

When: Sat and Sun (Aug 30-1)
The Deal:
LPs ranging from 2.98 - 15.98 now priced at 1.98
20% - 50% off Clearance Posters
Vintage Rock Pics and Magazines are 50%

Spend $30+ and get a $20 Guitar Center Gift Card! (while supplies last)

WHAT A DEAL! I am jealous I'll be out of town for this, so get down and get that gift card!

See you all again next month and happy hunting.

LOCALS ONLY: Outdoor Screening of Purple Rain and Chicano Batman

Photo from Chicano Batman's Facebook

Free tomorrow night? Why not check out an outdoor screening of Purple Rain, the iconic Prince movie as apart of the EatSeeHear series. Opening the movie is Chicano Batman. Picnic or try the numerously delicious food trucks at Griffith Park's Autry National Center. Tickets are here. $10 for general admission and $20 for reserved seating.

See you there!

LOCALS ONLY - Free Dilated People Show at Amoeba

Photo from Dilated People's Wikipedia

Tomorrow is another great free show at Amoeba. Dilated People will be doing a small warm up set before their show at Whiskey A Go Go and to promote their new album Rhymesayers out tomorrow. One of the underground best rap groups in L.A., they've been in hiatus for about 8 years but are back. Don't miss out! Get their early, line starts at 6pm but will fill up fast.

Sick Hiatus

Hey All,

I have a few automatic updates coming in about free shows and sales this next coming days, but I am going to take a few days to a week off as I am fighting off some sort of sickness. Hopefully I'll get better soon and be able to bring you more vinyl joy.

In the mean while,

Happy Hunting.

The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away

This album is in honor of Paul McCartney's return to L.A. and seeing him tonight at Dodgers Stadium. Why do the numerous Beatles albums that everyone already knows, or Wings, or NEW. A part of me thought of doing it on Billy Preston, the 5th Beatle, but I thought I'd keep that one in my back pocket for later.

It's hard not to hear the Beatles in all these songs. Opening the album is a very Beatles-esque song, and it's no wonder, because it's Ringo. The song I'm The Greatest was originally written by John Lennon. The Strangers with Mike Shannon give a slight surf rock feel to One & One is Two, written originally by McCartney and Lennon. From A Window was preformed by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and give a dreamy feel, a L&M original piece. Nobody I Know (written by L&M)  is preformed by Peter and Gordon and has a Beach Boys type feel rather than a Beatles feel. Like Dreamers Do (L&M) performed by the Applejacks has a bit of a China Girl feel. I think this album could of used more Cilla Black, giving Beatles songs a soulful female voice, which is what she did with Love of the Loved. Instead of going on about the rest of the songs on the album (and their are a bunch) I am going to let you guys find out when you listen to it for the first time!

I got this copy in a $1 bin sale and have no regrets. If you want to avoid the hunt, then you can get it Amazon for a pretty penny ($99 used) or Discogs for $80. So dig my friends, dig through, and hopefully you'll get luck too!

Pair With:

As mentioned earlier, the perfect pairing to this would be hearing the songs Paul McCartney kept live at Dodger's Stadium. Tickets are sold out but you can check Craigslist tonight for people looking to get rid of their unwanted or unused tickets (and hopefully avoid any scalpers).

Photo from Oh She Glows

Can't make it to the show? Besides Paul McCartney playing Dodgers stadium tonight, another great perfect pairing would be unlocking your inner McCartney and making an awesome veggie burger. Angela over at Oh She Glows has a really delicious recipe for a Spicy BBQ Chickpea Burger which will make even the most meat loving person drool. Be sure to check out her other delicious and inspired recipes! This would be a perfect way to get into Meat Free Mondays, a way to be healthy and earth conscious!

Photo from meatfreemondays.com

Radical Face - Ghost

Lazy Saturday morning, sorry for the late post. But this record is great for a lazy morning. I saw Radical Face at the Hollywood Forever Masonic Lodge and it was by far one of the most funny depressing amazing shows I've seen, maybe the best show I've seen there, and I saw DeVotchKa and tUnE-yArDs there. Ghost is maybe their most well known album simply due to the fact that Welcome Home is on it, a song that numerous people don't know, but have heard on commercials or in movies. We're talking Chevy Volt and Nikon commercials to movies like Humboldt County, Forks Over Knives, and The Vicious Kind to TV like Graceland and Blacklist. This song has gotten around. But a doubt few have really dived into the album it's on, because it's full of other amazing songs that have a great magnitude and catchy hooks.

Opening is the haunting instrumental Asleep on a Train, which starts off with a chair squeak, a sample he does bring with him during touring. It's disturbing as it is peaceful. Then the big hitter, Welcome Home, there isn't too much you can say that hasn't already been said up there. It's catchy, it'll get you singing, and it feels good to listen to when you are homesick. Let the River In is spooky, hell the whole album is spooky, like a creepy ass lullaby, but what do you expect with an album called Ghost There is something pretty and unsettling about the line "don't scare me off now I'm your only friend." Glory begins with the sounds of army soldiers marching and whistling into battle, and why the song contains a very pretty piano, it's about a solider who defected from the army and went into hiding with his lover, only to be turned into the authorities by her after a fight and watch as the whole town stoned him to death. Grim as hell, but sounds beautiful right? He tell's you the song meanings during his shows which are all very grim and borderline disturbing, but their is a weird beauty to them too, because they all sound so hopeful and up-lifting. Strangest Thing embraces the spookiness of the album and dives you into a dark melodic song filled with crows and thoughts of madness. Turn it over and you have what I think is my favorite song on the album, Wrapped In Piano String. It has a great melody and great hooks, again it's morbid because it's about committing suicide and haunting your family, but you'd honestly never tell. Back comes that creaky chair for Along the Road, which sounds like a glorious piano resolution. Then you have Haunted, with its simple repeating piano hook, it feels like you've opened a music box filled with old ghost. The mood continues to go down a dark rabbit hole as you get to Winter Is Coming, and no it's not about Game of Thrones, it's actually about a man who discovered that the seasons are people and sensed a bad Winter was coming, so he kidnapped Summer and kept him locked in his basement until winter eventually came anyways and the man and his family had to flee before they were destroyed, pretty imaginative. Sleepwalking is a slow and mellow as it sounds, bringing your through the motions of the nocturnal act of unrest. Ending the album is Homesick, a raw acoustic recording that perfectly brings the album to a close.

Great for rainy days, Halloween, spooky nights alone in a giant house, or if you like really good music. You can get the album on Amazon for $20. You won't be disappointed, if you like dark lyrics or uplifting melodies, there is something for everyone. And to prove that Radical Face aren't full of nothing but despair, here is their cover of Robin Hood's Not In Nottingham:

Enjoy and happy hunting!

FOLK FRIDAYS: Harry Dean Stanton - Party Fiction OST

Harry Dean Stanton is a major badass actor. His career in film has spanned over 50 years! From cult films like Repo Man, to indie films like Seven Psychopaths, to major studio films like Cool Hand Luke, The Godfather II, or The Avengers. His latest escapades involve a documentary which dives into the amazing life of Harry Dean Stanton and his untapped career as a folk musician. He breathes new life into classic folk songs, giving them a piece of his raw soul. The music comes out as both wondrous and heartbreaking.

This album is majority cover songs, but they display a level of raw painfulness that Harry Dean Stanton's voice just nails. Opening the album is a bit of banter talking about how this is just a raw recording, which just makes Blue Bayou even more magical, giving you the feeling of that the recording is happening right in your living room, really capturing a Roy Orbison feel to it. Next is a cover of Fred Neil's Everybody's Talkin' which has been covered numerous times (most noted is Harry Nilsson's version which was used in Midnight Cowboy), his version stays a little truer to the folk sounds of the original. She Still Thinks I Care was made popular by George Jones, by was covered by the likes of Elvis and the Moody Blues. Harry Dean Staton's voice really gives this song it's resonating feel of hiding hurt feelings. The Mexican Cancion Mixteca has a very poetic intro as it goes into beautiful spanish lyrics. The song was used as the theme to a film he stared in called Paris, Texas. When I Get My Rewards is a very bluesy country song, made popular by Levon Helm with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. On the flip side, Promised Land (Chuck Berry) delivers more umph to the album. He'll Have to Go is a beautiful rendition of the Jim Reeve's song. Help Me Make It Through the Night was originally preformed by his friend Kris Kristofferson, giving this sad ballad a bit of glee. Roy Acuff originally preformed Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, but Willie Nelson made it famous, and this version is soulful whisper. Tennessee Whiskey (David Allan Coe) is a hopeful song you could share with someone tender. No Hands On The Wheel isn't the Schoolboy Q track, it's Bill Callery, and it's as somber as it's peaceful. Closing the album is the classic Danny Boy, which is the unofficial Irish national anthem, and he is able to pinpoint the poetic aspect of the song.

Perfect for a rainy day, or maybe you are one of those people that like to listen to sad songs when your sad. Either way, you should not miss this album. First few pressings are done on an orange vinyl. Consider it a great compilation album if you are just getting into folk and country music. You can find it on Amazon for $18 ($12 used). Don't miss out!

PAIR WITH:

Obvious choice, check out the documentary! Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction played at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year. Throw it on your Netflix queue, or watch it now.

Not a fan of documentaries? Why not check out Harry Dean Stanton breakout movie Paris, Texas. With a Rotten Tomato score of 100% Fresh, 94% by Audience, it's a sure hit. You can rent it for 2.99 on iTunes! Low on dough? Check out Harry Dean Stanton's other works on Netflix and Prime!

Speaking of films about growing up in Texas, have you seen Boyhood yet? You really need to get out there and see Boyhood! I'd love for this soundtrack to come out on vinyl.