Crate Diggin’ in Oregon

November 25th, 2010

I am in Oregon to visit my mom for Thanksgiving, but my mom knows me (thank God one parent does) and she knows that whenever I go anywhere I want to find the nearest record stores and raid them all. So on Tuesday we made the trek to Portland to visit as many record stores as possible.

Okay…Portland kicks ASS when it comes to record stores. Holy crap. We went to eight different stores that day, and we still didn’t manage to make it to all of them. It totally blew my mind. Whoever said the indie record store is dead sure as hell hasn’t made it to the Pacific Northwest.

The stores were so amazing that I feel the need to share just how bitchin’ they are. So now I present to you The Lost Turntable guide to Portland/Salem/McMinnville record stores. Enjoy.

Everyday Music
 There are at least two of these in Portland, but I only went to the one by Burnside. Wow. This place is massive, easily the second biggest record store I have ever been in (next to Jerry’s), with a little less than half of its epic floor space dedicated to nothing but vinyl.  Not only do they have a shitload of vinyl, but they got it organized. Everything is in alphabetical order, and with no “miscellanous” sections. If they have a record by a band, then it gets a placard. So its possible to browse their hundreds and thousands of records in just 30 minutes or so. Most of their focus seemed to be on new vinyl LPs, not much in the way of used stuff or 12” singles, but I did find a few. That’s not an insult on the place though, it was truly amazing. I didn’t even scratch their CD section, but it also looked pretty impressive. To top it all off, the staff seemed very nice and friendly. A truly excellent all around record store.

Jackpot Records
 There are two of these in the greater Portland area, and I went to both of them. Both are excellent stores, with a small but diverse selection of rock and electronic LPs and CDs. I cleaned up at both locations, scoring some excellent new and used records that might be featured here in the coming weeks. I also bought an awesome 7” of Nirvana’s “Sliver” at one of the stores, which made my day. I didn’t really search their CD sections, but my mom (who has totally awesome taste in music, even if she does like Paula Cole) found stuff she liked at both stores, so that bodes well for them. The dudes at these stores were very cool, and even helped me locate other record stores in the area. A great store.

2nd Avenue Records
 This indie store (located on, shocker, 2nd Ave) is very uneven. I was able to score a crapton of Erasure singles at prices ranging from 2 to 5 bucks, which was awesome, but the Bjork singles cost $25! So the uneven pricing kind of annoyed me. Still, their selection of LPs is pretty stellar, with a good diverse inventory of rock, rap, electronic, soundtracks and even reggae. They have CDs too, but they were all under glass and seemed to mostly be punk and rock. The woman  behind the counter, who I assume was the owner, seemed very nice, but also a little quiet. This store was very good, but their pricing left a bad taste in my mouth. But depending on what you’re looking for, it could be quite the find.

Platinum Records
 This isn’t really a record store for the everyday consumer, it’s a DJ supply store that just happens to sell records. Their selection is obviously skewed towards this demographic; hip-hop, house, trance and pop for the most part, with some dnb and other electronic genres fleshing it out. Their shit is expensive though, I spent about 10 bucks per 12” single. Still, it was stuff I would have never found in any other store, so it was still worth it. The dudes working there were pretty cool, but they seemed confused as to why a big white nerd and his mom were browsing their progressive trance section.

Music Millennium
 Wow. This place is amazing. The entire second floor is dedicated to vinyl, and they have a pretty stellar collection of both new and used records. The first floor had much more, from CDs to DVDs to toys and all kinds of other stuff. This is definitely your all purpose record store, with something for everyone. I didn’t buy a ton here, but I sure as hell could have! One of the clerks called 7” singles “those funny little records that only have two songs,” so they aren’t all what I would call “knowledgeable” but they were all very nice and fun to talk to.

Crossroads
So this place is a little crazy. It’s one store, with one clerk/employee, but over 30 individual dealers have their own little areas with their own records. So its about as organized as my brain (so not at all) and a real crate digger could get lost forever in there. I didn’t go through everything, but by just skimming I spent about 50 bucks on records that cost anywhere between 3 to 12 bucks. It also has an amazing ceiling.

Ranch Records
 There are a few of these in Oregon and Washington, I went to two of them, one in Salem and the other in tiny little town called McMinnville. Judging from the massive collection of Elvis Costello bootlegs at both locations, and the Elvis Costello stained-glass window at the Salem location, I’m willing to bet the owner of this chain really likes Stiff records. Both stores had a great selection of newer vinyl as well as some choice older ones. They also had great collectibles, like a $250 Sub-Pop box set I’ll never own. Good CD selections as well and a very nice staff. Much like Millennium Music, this is a great all-purpose record store for both new and old music and it gets my highest recommendation.

Harvest Records
Quaint for sure, this tiny little hole in the wall in Salem doesn’t have a ton of records or CDs, but what it lacks in inventory it more than makes up for in charm. One dude runs the place, and he looks like he hasn’t left the store since 1977. I have a feeling that if you mention you like Pink Floyd or Rush to him he might become your best friend in the world. Shit, after talking to him for 10 minutes he invited me to hang out with him on Thanksgiving! Really cool dude. And while the store doesn’t have the greatest selection in the world, it does have a lot of quality shit. For example, everything from tonight’s post was taken from CDs bought at this store!

Information Society
Running (Calderone Leather Radio Edit)
Running (Robbie Rivera Diskofied Vocal Edit)
Running (Calderone Leather Mix)
Running (Robbie Rivera Smooth House Mix)
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Pure Energy 2001 Edit]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Boris + Beck Exit Edit]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Junior’s Blue Zone Club Mix]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Boris + Beck Exit Mix]
What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) [Sugarpussy Psychic Funk Mix]
Wow right? These are from two CD singles that I paid a whopping combined seven bucks for! Good deal huh? Most of these mixes are crazy long too, so this is about an hour of InSoc. Give thanks for that shit when you’re scarfing down turkey today.

Daft Punk
Burnin’ (Ian Pooley “Cut Up Mix”)
Burnin’ (Slam Mix)
I bought two Daft Punk singles at Harvest. Burnin’ and Digital Love. Unfotunately for all of you, all the remixes and b-sides from Digital Love are available on either Discovery or Daft Club, so I’m not posting them. These remixes for Burnin’ remain out-of-print however, so enjoy them while your stomach burns from indigestion and I’ll see you all again after the holiday.

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Posted in Daft Punk, remixes | 6 Comments »

Oregon Housin’

November 22nd, 2010

Well, I have bad news for those of you hoping I would be groped in the airport (you sick bastards), when I flew out of Pittsburgh on Friday the new scanners were not yet set up at the checkpoint I was at, which meant no need to worry about radiation, and no need to opt out and get my balls cupped by some asshole glorified rent-a-cop.

I did however, get struck with the worst headache of my life when the plane landed, thanks to my lingering head cold. I seriously felt like a giant sword-wielding dragon was going to burst out of my head and light my flying ass ablaze. And yes, I know that’s a weird mental picture, but I’m still under jetlag so my brain is only working at about 70%.

Anyways, the wi-fi in my hotel is shit covered in ass. But thankfully I anticipated this, and uploaded some tracks before I left. I have to spread them out over the whole week though, which means a few posts only a couple or so tracks. But hell, it’s free music, so don’t complain.

Death In Vegas
 Opium Shuffle (Monkey Mafia Mix)
Twist And Crawl (Dub)
I always think Death In Vegas was the act responsible for “Detachable Penis,” but that was King Missile. I don’t know how that happens. I also get King Missile mixed up with King’s X. I’m confused a lot I guess, even without the jetlag. “Opium Shuffle” is an odd track, and in case anyone is having a hard time recognizing the “Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me” vocal sample, it’s from Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power.” These are both from a 12” single.

EPMD
I’m Housin’ (U.K. Mix)
I know very little about EPMD, in fact I was entirely ignorant of them until Rage Against The Machine covered this track for their Renegades album. So, if anyone could tell me how exactly one goes about the practice of “housin'” I would appreciate it. I’m going to assume its not the same thing The Jungle Brothers are talking about in “I Wanna House You.” This remix is from a 12”.

Posted in Death In Vegas, EPMD, remixes | 3 Comments »

My Thanksgiving Groping

November 19th, 2010

I’m flying out to Oregon today to spend Thanksgiving with my mom.  I am stoked for that. What I am NOT stoked for are those lovely new TSA security guidelines. You know, the ones that violate your personal freedom while not actually making your flight safer? Ugh. Is there a bar in the ticket area? If I’m getting felt up by a fat man with a mustache I want someone to buy me a drink first…

Anyways, expect a full, possibly explitive-filled first-hand report of said possible molestation in my next post. Until then, we dance!

Alison Moyet
Whispering Your Name (Extended Mix)
Rock And Roll (Live)
F. O. S.
As you may or may not know, Alison Moyet was the lead singer of Yaz (or Yazoo, for my European listeners). I’m not that familiar with her solo career, but if “Whispering Your Name” is any indication, I can’t understand why she didn’t breakthrough into the mainstream. “F.O.S.” is a B-side and sounds as such, but the live version of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” is pretty fucking amazing. All three of these tracks are from a CD single I bought for two bucks.

Chip Chip
 Never Say Goodbye (Extended Vocal Version)
Never Say Goodbye (Instrumental Version)
I have no idea who Chip Chip is. I bought this 12” single because it was on the ZYX label, and I pretty much buy everything ZYX released from the 80s, because almost all of it is crazy synthpop or electro. This is crazy Italo disco, and while that’s not as awesome as some wacky electro, it’s still pretty damn good. If anyone wants to fill me in on who these ladies are, feel free!

Posted in Alison Moyet, B-sides, Chip Chip, remixes | 5 Comments »

1988 Was a Good Year for Goofy Shit

November 12th, 2010

I believe I am getting ill. I blame Enter The Void.

Really quick, review time!

Nitzer Ebb – Industrial Complex: Holy shit. This album is amazing.

Mini-Mansions – s/t: QOTSA side-project. If you like Beatles in your Beatles you make Beatles this Beatles-sounding CD. Beatles.

All four of the tracks below are from the year 1988. I didn’t plan that, but I like to think I did.

I Start Counting
Lose Him (Pascal Gabriel Remix)
See How It Cuts (Limited Edition Extended  Club Dub Dance Remix Version)
Both these tracks are from a weird 12” I bought. Okay, so a lot to explain here. Firstly, I Start Counting is a horribly-named  80s synthpop duo who is still recording today under the much better name Komputer. They are, sadly, the least interesting thing about this release. You may recognize the remixer’s name, Pascal Gabriel. Even if you don’t, you probably have some music he produced on your computer, especially if you download music from this blog. The dude has produced music dozens of dance acts I’ve featured here, including Kylie, New Order and EMF. The dude is freaking prolific. Check out his Discogs entry to get an idea.

But what I really want to talk about is the name of that second remix. The “Limited Edition Extend Club Dub Dance Remix Version.” Before you ask, yes, that is the actual name of the remix, taken from the label of the record. I can’t figure out if that’s impressive or just stupid. Is the “version” really needed? Furthermore, is the “limited edition” really needed? And surely they could have chose either “club” or “dance”? So many questions I’m never going to get answered…

Oh yeah, the music. Yeah. It’ s not bad. You like Art Of Noise’s first album? You’ll dig this stuff. Its very “let’s sample a note and put it on our new, really expensive keyboard.”

Robotiko Rejekto
 Rejekto (Presentation Mix)
 Rejekto (Layout Mix)
 This track is also known as “Rejekto!” but I am against needless exclamation, so I am not calling it that. Besides, it’s not that exciting. This is German electro from the 1980s. And it is German as shit. Its also pretty stupid, basic and dated as all hell, but I dig it anyways. It’s like the soundtrack to a West German factory that makes funky robots. These too are from a 12” single.

Posted in I Start Counting, remixes, Robotiko Rejekto | 8 Comments »

Exit the Void

November 11th, 2010

Movie review time.

Pittsburgh is currently hosting the Three Rivers Film Festival. It’s a pretty amazing fest. Years past I’ve gotten to see Guy Madden’s Cowards Bend At The Knee, the amazing flick Bronson and a documentary about concert posters, the name of which escapes me now. The Three Rivers Film Festival is an amazing festival, and I’m so glad I live in a city that has stuff like it. This review is not a knock on the Film Festival. I didn’t like the movie that much, but I’m still glad I got to see it.

Enter The Void
Anyone here familiar with Gasper Noé? The dude likes to make very fucked up movies.

Now. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some fucked up movies. I’ve built much of my professional career off of my knowledge of fucked up film. But Gasper Noé takes things a bit too far sometimes. His most well-known movie is Irreversible. Which features a man getting beaten to death with a fire extinguisher and one of the most brutal rape scenes ever committed to film. I wouldn’t say I enjoy films like Irreversible, but I do think Noé made some interesting points with that movie. It wasn’t shocking for shock value. He was saying something with the gratuitious sex and violence.

Enter The Void doesn’t do as good a job with that. The movie is about an America drug dealer named Oscar who is living in Tokyo. About 15 minutes into the film he dies, and the rest of the movie flashes back and forth between him seeing his life flash before his eyes and him observing his friends and family from beyond.

The movie is shot amazingly well. The entire opening 15 minutes is done in first-person, which is a gimmick I always enjoy. The rest of the movie is either shot from behind Oscar’s head (think Gears of War, but with drugs) or still from his point of view, looking down from above. I don’t know how they got some of the shots they got in this movie. It really looks incredible.

But looks can only get you so far. The movie is 137 minutes long. And there’s about 90 minutes of good movie in there. The rest is nothing but long, drawn out shots of nothing, or extended sequences of painful flashing lights that will seriously cause seizures in some who see the movie. I get that Noé was trying to show how Oscar’s spirit is disorientated and traveling through space/time, but it just got old after a while. We can all tell you’re an innovative filmmaker Gasper, now get on with the story already.

Another aspect of the film that really put me off was the explicit sexuality and other graphic scenes. It didn’t offend me. Don’t get me wrong. I have rarely, if ever, been offended by something I’ve seen in a film. I enjoy seeing movies that push boundaries and shoot for the stars when it comes to showing messed up shit. I own Ichi The Killer okay? But I have a problem with movies that show graphic, unsimilated sex. I just don’t see the point. The only movie I have ever seen that has pulled that off was Shortbus, and since that was actually about letting go of your sexual hangups and being uninhibited doing anything less than actually showing full-on hardcore sex would have really been a cop out.

But in this movie its just stupid. It’s exploitive, but I’m willing to bet Noé would never admit that. He wants his exploitive smut to be taken seriously. Well, I got word for you dude, you can set up all the special crane shots you want, and you can add all the special effects in the world, but a cumshot is a cumshot. Get over it. And the graphic abortion scene? That just seemed like an excuse to trauamtize an actress who was desperate for work. I respect movies that are exploitive with the purpose of being exploitive, there’s a purity that you have to admire. But don’t show me a 10-minute sex montage and tell me you’re doing for any other reason than to shock/arouse the audience.

But even with all that, I’m having a hard time dismissing the movie completely. Like I said, it looks AMAZING. I have never seen a movie that looks like this. And while the second half drags to a near stop, the first half is near-brilliant. I guess I have to half-heartedly recommend the movie, but just go in knowing that its a rough ride, and it really has problems.

I just wish someone would grab Noé and reign him in a bit. He’s his own worst enemy.

Also, if you are looking for movies to watch while on acid, here you go.

Oh, and one more thing. This movie has the best opening credits I have ever seen. An odd comment I know. But DAMN.

Green Day – Live In Tokyo
American Idiot
Jesus Of Suburbia
Holiday
Are We The Waiting
St. Jimmy
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Enter The Void also annoyed me because it just reminded me how much I want to go to Tokyo. I’m planning to go there before I turn 33, so I got about a year and a half. I’m going to geek out like crazy there. Visit all the video games stores, buy more obscure vinyl than humanely possible, and  try to go to some concerts too. Ever since I saw X Japan I’ve been dying to see another Japanese band with a Japanese audience. Those mothers are insane. I would also love to see an American band with a Japanese audience, like this Green Day show that came the Target limited edition of 21st Century Breakdown.

Posted in Green Day | No Comments »

Linux and Ponies

November 9th, 2010

The following is really nerdy and has nothing to do with music at all. Its me musing about operating systems (Linux even!). You have been warned. I thought this might be interesting to anyone out there who is thinking about switching operating systems and/or experimenting with some Linux.

So after I got infected with a damn trojan simply by clicking on a link, I’ve been thinking about saying “fuck all” to Windows and finally jumping into Linux. Now, for those who don’t know about a lot Linux, there are about a billion different versions (or distributions) of the open-source OS. It can be a little bit daunting when it comes to choosing one for the first time. Since I used a Ubuntu Live CD (a version of the Ubuntu Linux you can run from a CD) to backup data on my hard drive after the evil virus attack, I thought I’d give that a go first.

I’m doing all this on my laptop, by the way, since it has two hard drives, making it possible for me to switch between Windows 7 and Linux.

So, installing Ubuntu was pretty easy, you can even do it in Windows. So that part only took a few minutes. But once I got it booted up I found the OS a little less than intuitive. Getting my network connection set up was a breeze, but when it came time to install Flash shit got sour. I am not yet familiar with Linux terminal, so I tried to install it like you would a program in Windows. Yeah, that didn’t work. Then when I finally did get it installed, playback was choppy as hell. Turns out the 64-bit version of Flash (I have a 64-bit motherboard btw) is in beta for a reason. Rather than try to figure out how to uninstall Flash I thought I’d give another Linux distro a go, since I was not enjoying Ubuntu.

Next up was Kubuntu (this time sticking with the 32-bit version), a variation of Ubuntu that is supposed to be simpler. Well, after spending about 20 minutes trying to get wireless to work on that I gave up. I was about to just say “fuck all” to Ubuntu and go for Fedora when I decided to give Linux Mint a try.

Linux Mint is the shit! Everyone goes on about how easy Ubuntu is to use, but Mint (which is a variation of Ubuntu) is way easier! Everything you need is pre-installed with the OS, and the Software Manger is way easy to navigate and figure out. I’m still working out the kinks, and the whole fact that it’s not Wndows is still a little jarring, but I think I’m going to be sticking with Mint. I recommend anyone looking to get their feet wet with Linux give Mint a go, it’s pretty rad.

Anyways, enough of that geeky bullshit. Here’s some music.

Bumblebeez 81
Pony Ride (Remixed by Photek)
Rappa (Remixed By Karuna)
Pony Ride (Remixed by TV On The Radio)
Rappa (Remixed By Bambino Big Dick)
Vila Attack
Music just moves too fast nowadays. Take Bumblebbeez 81 for an example. I remember kind of digging these guys. I even bought their CD. But I totally forgot about them until I saw this weird “Remixed” LP at Jerry’s this week. How long ago did their CD come out in the states? 2004! That’s how fried my short/medium-term music retention is now! It’s kind of sad.

Anyways, these tracks are pretty good. The Photek remix of “Pony Ride” is great, but the original is such a great track (crazy video too) it’s really hard to screw it up. It’s totally the second-best Australian rock song with the word “pony” in the title (here’s the best). The other songs are good too, although “Rapper” gets annoying after a bit.

Project 4
Waiting (Original)
Waiting (Ocean View Mix)

Undercover Agency featuring Trust
Sweetest Kind (Undercover Dub)
Sweetest Kind (Full Vox)
These tracks are all from an EP called Nude Directions. I’m going to be totally honest here; I bought the album for the cover. So sue me. The songs are average downtempo stuff. Good chill music.

Posted in Bumblebeez 81, remixes | 1 Comment »

Who Can Dance?

November 4th, 2010

So maybe someone can explain this one to me?

Here’s the video to Bryan Ferry’s single You Can Dance, taken from his latest album Olympia.

Now here’ s the video to Hell’s “U Can Dance”, released in 2009 and taken from the epically amazing album Teufelswerk.

And yes, I know the videos don’t fit in the frame…I’m working on it.

This annoys me on a couple levels. First there’s the fact that someone, either Bryan Ferry or Hell, is really lazy. Either Hell took a yet-to-be-released Bryan Ferry track (with permission), remixed it, and called his own. Or Bryan Ferry lifted his own vocal track from the Hell track and recorded his own version of it. On Olympia the track is credited to Ferry and David Stewart of the Eurythmics. I don’t have a physical copy of Teufelswerk, so I don’t know who is credited as the songwriter on that version. If Hell is the sole songwriter then I’m even more confused. Anyone out there have that album and want to confirm this?

But what also annoys me is that NO ONE is mentioning this in their reviews of Olympia, and album. Granted, Hell isn’t exactly a common name in America, but you think some German rock critic would have heard Ferry’s track and gone “Wait a minute” (except, y’know, in German). I’ve read a few reviews of Olympia and not one person has called him out on it. It wasn’t even on the freaking wiki for the album until I added it myself.

Whatever, I guess its not that important. I’ve heard very good things about Olympia, and I can tell you first hand that Hell’s Teufelswerk is one of the best albums of the decade that you should fucking buy right this second you bastard. I’m listening to it as a I type this very sentence. (so what I’m saying is, I recommended it). But I find the whole situation with “You Can Dance/U Can Dance” to be utterly confusing.

Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music
Let’s Stick Together (Westside ’88 Extended Remix)
Nocturne
Angel Eyes (Twelve Inch Mix)
The Price of Love (The R&B ’89 Extended Remix)
Lover
I do not know enough about Roxy Music and I am personally ashamed by that. I need to own more of their music. More specifically, I need to get me a copy of Country Life on vinyl because that cover might be the hottest thing in the history of things that are hot. Someone sold a bunch of Bryan Ferry singles at Jerry’s Records last week…so now I own a few Bryan Ferry singles. These tracks are from said singles. Some are credited to Ferry, others to Roxy Music. They’re all prety good. The remix of “Let’s Stick Together” especially so. Warning: The single for “The Price Of Love” looked like it was dragged through a pile of broken glass. I fixed some of it, but there’s still a bit of scratchiness in it. I couldn’t take it out without hurting the overall fidelity of the song. It’s not that bad after the first minute.

Posted in Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music, remixes | 7 Comments »

The Summit in Columbus and Diesel in Pittsburgh, a Tale of Two Shitty Venues

October 29th, 2010

I went to four concerts (and an AMAZING Zombie Opera) in two weeks. So…I’m kind of insane. For those interested, the concerts were Jill Sobule, The Octopus Project, Foxy Shazam and The New Pornographers.

I go to many, many concerts, but four in two weeks is a lot even for me, especially since the Foxy concert was in Columbus and I am in Pittsburgh. Making that three and a half hour trek back at 12:30 was really fucking stupid. Even stupider was that the New Pornographers show was the next day, meaning I slept about five hours, woke up, worked, then drove to the concert, which was thankfully in Pittsburgh. By the end of that show I was about ready to sleep for 80 hours.

The Jill Sobule and Octopos Project concerts very fun. Sobule is still a blast to see even in the tiniest of venues, and The Octopus Project remain one of the most intense live acts I have ever seen. I even reviewed The Octopus Project show. You should read that.

I also reviewed the Foxy Shazam show. Read that. Read about how Foxy Shazam was nearly ruined by the shittiness of The Summit in Columbus.

I touch upon it in my review, but allow me to elaborate. The Summit in Columbus is a shithole. A horrible, hard-to-find, disgusting shithole. It has nasty bathrooms (even for a dive bar) and a shit bar that doesn’t serve water! No, for that you have to go to a self-serve cooler where you pour water into dixie cups. Yeah, that’s sanitary. There was no lock on that cooler either, meaning anyone could spike it with anything.

But worst of all, the place sounds like shit. The aucoustics are junk and the sound system looks like its held together by duct tape and a dream. Like I say in my review, Foxy Shazam’s audio kept cutting out during their set, because the sound system wasn’t powerful enough to handle them. It’s too bad that Eric (the lead singer of Foxy) lost his cool during the show and took it out on the promoter, because I talked to the promoter beforehand and he seemed like a really nice, really cool guy. Maybe that explains how he got sucked into booking a show at such a god awful shithole. My advice to that guy is to cut his ties with anyone at that blight upon Columbus and find another dive bar to book shows at, maybe one with a professional sound guy.

While The Summit at Columbus sucks, there is a bit of purity to its suckiness. When you walk into a dive like The Summit, you don’t exactly expect quality sound and sanitary bathrooms. That’s what makes Diesel in Pittsburgh a way worse place to see a concert; it looks like it should be a great place for a show. The stage is well lit, there appears to be plenty of room to see the band from wherever you are in the club, and the bars look well stocked and clean.

The reality is that Diesel is by far, one of the worst places in the country to see live music. Each end of the main floor is bookended by these bizarre raised sections that are nearly the height of the stage. That makes them a great place to see the show, but it also means anyone behind them won’t see shit.

It’s even worse on the second floor, which is a balcony that surrounds the main floor below. The entire balcony is lined with VIP seating areas, complete with couches and tables. These look really neat, and I’m sure they are a great place to do coke on a Saturday night, but they screw everyone else over. While a group of 4-8 people enjoy the lush VIP area, the poor masses huddled behind them can’t see shit because they can’t get close enough to look over the VIP’s heads. And I couldn’t see shit, and I’m 6’6”, so that is saying something.

The biggest problem with Diesel is that it sells its shows to capacity, and when that place is filled to capacity its impossible for everyone, or even half the audience, to get a good view of the stage. Its a giant clusterfuck that’s really hard to explain, but take my word for it. In the event of a sell out I would venture that at least 30-40 percent of the crowd wouldn’t be able to see shit for the entire show.

And the place sounds like shit because, as Neko Case pointed out during the New Pornographers’ set, the entire place is coated from head to toe in relfective surfaces.

I don’t to go out on that negativity, so let me end with a recommendation. If you’re in Pittsburgh and want to see a show, go to Mr. Smalls. That’s the best live venue I’ve ever been in. It has perfect acoustics, a nice bar and even the bathrooms aren’t that terrifying.

Blur
Black Book
Bustin’ + Dronin’
Headist/Into Another
Metal Hip Slop – Graham’s Bugman Remix
Money Makes Me Crazy (Marrakech Mix)
So You
Tender (Cornelius Remix)
Trade Stylee – Alex’s Bugman Remix
My ratio of “Amount of Blur singles I own” to “Amount that I actually like Blur” is crazy out of whack. Don’t get me wrong, I dig Blur, but I only  own three proper Blur albums (and none are Parklife) while I own about a billion Blur CD singles, an import copy of Bustin’ + Dronin’ and even a few 12” singles.  Why? They were cheap. And in the case of some of these, I needed to hear me some remixes of Bugman. I love that stupid-ass song. I posted slightly shittier sounding versions of “Bustin + Dronin'” and the remix to “Tender” before, but the rest of these are all new and taken from CD singles I picked up a few months ago. “Headist/Into Another” is amazing by the way.

Rihanna
Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Destruction Radio Edit)
Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Destruction Remix)
Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Lush Club Remix)
Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Lush Radio Edit)
Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)
Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Dub)
Ela-ay ay ay. Why not? These are from a promo CD single I bought used for a buck. I love this song.

Posted in Blur, rant, remixes, Rihanna | 7 Comments »

This Post is about a Drum Solo…and David Bowie

October 22nd, 2010

I recently bought the super-awesome-deluxe version of Station To Station. I even reviewed it and gave it five stars. I would have given it 50 if given the chance. It’s amazing, one of the best special editions I have ever bought. Not only does it sound incredible, but it has all kinds of neat goodies and bonuses that really give you a good bang for your buck. It even includes an entire concert, recorded at the Nassau Coliseum in 1976.

Well, not an entire concert. It’s missing a a drum solo from “Panic In Detroit.”

I know that drum solos are not the most…exciting aspect of live music. I recall being subjected to a drum solo at the end of a Coheed & Cambria concert that made me want to fly to Canada and beat the shit out of Neil Peart just to make an example. But still, it’s part of the show! And if this deluxe version of Station to Station really is a historical document, then it has to be there! But I guess if you have to cut something you have to cut something…

Oh wait, it’s included as a “bonus track” on the digital download edition?

Fuck. That. Bullshit.

I paid $150 for the super-deluxe version. It includes five CDs, three LPs, a DVD and more random memorabilia and random goodies than you can shake a Thin White Duke at. Why the hell can’t it include the complete version of the concert? Or even a download card that gives you a code to the uncut version of the song? I’m effectively being punished for being a die-hard fan with money to burn.

Depeche Mode did the same thing with the deluxe edition of Sounds Of The Universe. If you shelled out the big bucks for the deluxe version of that sucker, you got two bonus discs with demos, remixes and B-sides, but you didn’t get them all, there were some “exclusive” tracks that were only available if you bought the iTunes Pass version. So if you wanted everything from the album you had to buy it twice. At least, that’s what they wanted you to do. If you were like me you bought one and downloaded the shit off the other. Or if you’re really like me you found out most of the “exclusive” tracks were really remixes from 12” singles and you just bought those. I, of course, put many of those songs online. So you can see where this rant is going.

David Bowie
Panic In Detroit (Unedited Version with fixed opening and closing)
Panic In Detroit (Original Bootleg Version)
Cat People (Australian Promo Extended Version)
I caved and spent the two bucks to by the track on Amazon. And it’s a pretty good extended version/drum solo. But even its fucked up a little. Has a fade-in and fade-out, while the rest of the tracks on the album seamlessly segue from one to another with no lapse in crowd noise or stage banter. So if you want to incorporate the song into a playlist with the rest of the concert, or replace the cut version with the longer version altogether, there’s a rather noticeable cut when you get to the song.

Well, until I fixed it.

So here’s what I did. I bought the “Unedited Mix” of Panic In Detroit and cut the beginning and end of the regular version into it. so if you replace the original version with this extended cut you won’t notice any sudden cuts or gaps in audio. I also gave it the correct album name “Live Nassau Coliseum ’76” and track number. So if you want, you can download this version and replace the cut version you already have with it.

But here’s where it gets interesting. The Nassau Coliseum concert was heavily bootlegged over the years. I myself have a bootleg of it called The Thin White Duke. The version of “Panic In Detroit” on the bootleg is different, and is actually about five minutes shorter! I don’t know if that’s so the song would fit on a vinyl record or if the version on the official release has overdubs. If you can figure it out let me know.

Finally, I’m also re-uploading the Australian version of Cat People, which is the longest version of that song available. I have no reason for this other than the fact that it’s pretty awesome and I felt like putting it up again.

Posted in David Bowie | 11 Comments »

Viruses, Audio Editing, Big Asses and the new Ministry Sucks

October 18th, 2010

First, some reviews. I haven’t linked to my reviews in a while and that has gotten me complaints (from my mom). So here we go.

Ministry – Every Day Is Halloween: Worst album of the millennium so far.

David Bowie – Station to Station Deluxe Edition: The best re-issue ever. Also, the best sounding vinyl record I have ever heard. And in case you can’t tell, that’s really saying something.

The Orb featuring David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres: Duuuuuuuuuude. Get it now.

Marnie Stern – s/t: Good follow-up to her amazing sophomore record.

Skunk Anansie – Wonderlustre: Shocker. I liked it. “Talk Too Much” is a beautiful and absolutely heart-wrenching song.

Oh, and good news! If you click on my wonderfully ugly logo you can go to the main page now! Thank anonymous Lost Turntable fan person for that!

Okay, now for some geeky shit. If you are not technically inclined you might want to skip down to the tunes.

My computer got a virus (that laid dire straits to my environments) on Friday. Don’t worry, my music was safe (I back that shit up) but I lost all my programs, media tools and shit like that. I was able to re-install my Creative Labs program that I use to record my vinyl, but as of right now I do not have a copy of the program I use to edit/restore my recordings, which is Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio. I might not be able to get another copy of that because of the arcane way that Sony handles online orders. If that’s the case, I will not be purchasing another copy of it, because..well..fuck them.

So right now I’m looking into recording/restoration software, preferably software that costs less than a hundred bucks. Now I know what all of you geeks are thinking, “Hey asshole, why don’t you just use Audacity? It’s awesome and free!”

Well, you’re half right. While Audacity is a great free program that is really handy for simple editing/recording, it leaves a lot to be desired. Its interface is clunky as hell, and navigating a sound file to remove/repair audio imperfections is a royal pain in the ass. Maybe someday Audacity will be great, but it sure isn’t now. So if anyone has any recommendations that are not Audacity please leave them in the comment section or shoot me an email.

Now to get really geeky. I’m thinking about partioning my hard drive and installing Linux. I need to use Windows for work, but I would like my primary OS to be something that is open source and less prone to viruses. I’ve been doing a bit of research and found Ubuntu Studio, which sounds pretty awesome. Its a version of the Ubuntu operating system with a bunch of high-end A/V software built-in. Anyone out there have any experience with it? Is it worth giving a shot? Or should I just stick with regular Ubuntu? Or maybe another Linux variant all together? Any input would be appreciated!

But enough of that geeky shit for now, here’s some hip-hop.

The Beastie Boys
Alive at Youch’s House
Alive (Remix by Evidence for the Dilated Peoples)
Any word on Yauch’s health yet? I got nothing else to say about the Beasties other than that I miss them and I want MCA to kick cancer’s ass so we can all hear The Hot Sauce Committee. These are from a white label 12”.

LL Cool J
Big Ole Butt (12” Remix)
This song is…horrible, but in all the best ways. And it’s not just horrible because it’s about LL ditching his girl for a girl with a bigger ass (and then ditching that girl for another girl with an even bigger ass), it’s horrible for lines like “you look like tastier than a nice and hot pizza” and “I went to Red Lobster for shrimp and steak/Around the time when the waitress are on their lunch break.” I would call it misogynist if it wasn’t just so fucking stupid. Still, I can’t help but love it, in all its ass-happy glory. This is from a 12” single that was sadly not shaped like a big ass.

De La Soul
Itzsoweezee (Hot) (De La Sould Remix)
Stakes Is High (Remix)
“Itzsoweezee” totally makes me want to smoke some weed. Which is quite a task considering I’ve never smoked weed in my entire life. “Stakes Is High” is good too, but not nearly as groovy. Both of these are from a 12”.

Posted in De La Soul, LL Cool J, remixes, The Orb | 8 Comments »

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