The World On A String

Right now I'm reading Anthony Kiedis's book "Scar Tissue" which I'm really enjoying, it's a great read and it's a wonder that the man managed to pull through his drug addictions in the early 1990's. I mean I always knew Under The Bridge was written about shooting horse under a bridge in L.A. but little did I know that he actually lived and did all this shit! It reads like a god damn novel, it's great and I'd highly recommend it if you're a fan of music biographies. It's on par with Motley Crue's "The Dirt" in my mind.  Anyways last night I got to the point where Hillel Slovak dies and they bring John Frusciante in to replace him, which in my opinion is when the Chili Pepper's really took off, when the lineup was Anthony, Flea, John and Chad. That's the band I grew up with knowing and that's the band I like the best. Anyways all this reading about Frusciante got me thinking about an amazing documentary I've watched many times in the past, it's done by VPRO which is a foreign network and they go interview John in his L.A. apartment in 1994 which is right around the time of the release of "Niandra Lades & Usually Just A T-Shirt", and right in the middle of his long battle with a severe heroin addiction. And from moment one you can see that the man is not well or healthy, but he tries to say he's in the best shape of his life (typical junkie talk) and he even plays a few songs from his new album

Anyways I thought I'd share it here for anyone who hasn't seen it, it's quite the thing to watch!

Well since garage sales have petered out all together I decided that I'd make a quick stop down at this great flea market which happens every Sunday. It's basically a collection of dealers who pay for a table, and more often than not it's people selling the stuff they just found at garage sales the day before, except for very inflated prices. For me it's something of a substitute for the lack of saleing during the long Canadian winter I have to endure. It's setting in now and we have a good 6-7 months of shit weather ahead of us, which isn't something to exactly look forward to. Anyways I happened upon the table of this British guy who's always there and was surprised at how much good stuff he actually had! I'm talking Rage Against The Machine, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Steve Earle, etc. All of those ended up being more than I wanted to pay, and I know it's a flea market and the whole point is to haggle and bargain with these guys, but even a deal on $60 isn't going to be exactly 'cheap'. But I did manage to stumble upon a copy of The Waterboy's "Fisherman's Blues" from 1988 and it was only $10.00 which I thought was reasonable. I already have a copy of "This Is The Sea" which I'd say is their best album, but I've always had a soft spot for this album as well. Something about the Irish roots this album showcases I just like. I also found a copy of Babyshambles' "Shotter's Nation" from 2007 on Parlophone, and listening to it now is making me remember how much I actually loved this album. When it came out I downloaded it and played it all the time on my iPod, in the car, on my computer, etc. Tracks like "UnBiloTitled" and the absolute masterpiece of the album "The Lost Art Of Murder". The funny thing is that I had this on an order I was going to put through next week from a shop in the Netherlands! I'm glad I found this before I placed my order! and I managed to get him to throw in the 7" "Albion" 2005 single for free. So it all came to a clean $30.00 which I thought was a real good deal.

I think I'll be going back next Sunday to see if I can get him down on that copy of Rage's "Evil Empire".

Well I cannot believe my luck this week with stuff arriving in the mail! Usually I'm left waiting in the dust for 4 weeks before my parcels arrive, I guess I could go as far as saying that the post office must have stepped up their game in terms of service. But I'm probably better off just to call myself lucky. Anyways the parcel that arrived today was the one I'd been anticipating the most, it's a NM/NM copy of At The Drive-In's magnum opus "Relationship Of Command" from 2000. I loved this album when it came out, it was harsh and in your face, but it said something, and at the time it really reminded me of early Rage Against The Machine; just a little less 'rap based'. And it's hard to believe that 9 (almost 10) years have passed since it's release but that is indeed true, thus the vinyl pressing has grown very very scarce, while at the same time this albums influence and fan base has continued to grow over the years. Some say it really got the 'screamo' genre going, which I don't really like hearing since I'm not a fan of that shit, to me it's one of the best rock albums of the last 10 years, and if we HAVE to categorize music (which nowadays it seems we do) I'd call this some of the best post-hardcore I've ever heard...


I got this copy off of a new seller on Discogs marketplace, and I really can't praise that place enough. This will have been the 3rd transaction I've done on there and they've all gone smoothly and without any issues whatsoever. The guy had this up there listed as mint-/mint- for $67.00 USD, which is close to the full collectors price but one has to think that this is about as good of a copy one can find, so if anything deserves the full price it's a perfect copy. And I'm pleased to see that he wasn't bullshitting me in terms of the albums condition, it still had the shrinkwrap intact on the jacket (which I've since removed) and it does look to be unplayed. There's absolutley no wear to point out except for a tiny bumped upper right corner, which doesn't bother me in the least.

Well I guess you could say that I'm just 'raking in the records' and in all reality it'd be an accurate statement. Along with my frequent record store stops I've been buying the odd rarity online to fill some holes in my collection, and these are albums that I consider just essential. So I was excited to see the mail truck pull up today ready to drop off not 1, but 2 record shaped packages!

The first one was of course the Modest Mouse album I bought just earlier this month, oh wait did I say bought? I meant stole!! "The Moon And Antarctica" sells for $100+ most of the time, and I've seen it reach prices that scrape $200, so how on earth I managed to snag a SEALED copy for only $83 is beyond me. I guess it was just one of those lucky times on eBay, and I guess my last second bidding technique is somewhat to thank as well. I did ask the seller to open up the album though (since I'd be doing that anyways when I got it) and he took it a little too literally! I pull the album out and what he's done is take the LP's right out of the inner sleeves and tucked them inside the shrinkwrap of the album, it looked worse than it was because there wasn't any damage caused. It was just surprising, typically the seller leaves the LP's themselves in their inner sleeves and just takes those out of the jacket. Anyways, it's was a 100% unplayed copy that has now been spun through 2 times since I got, and I'm on my 3rd right now. A tremendous album from a tremendous band.

I'm beginning to wonder if my constant pattern of visiting record stores is a result of garage sale withdrawals, or a simple case of record collecting obsession. Actually I'm starting to think it's equal parts of both! I remember periods where my willpower was strong enough that I could go months without buying a single album, but now it seems to be an almost daily occurrence. Anyways I spent a good chunk of an hour at Melodiya Records today, which is in my humble opinion the single best record store in the city. Especially in terms of new release vinyl, they're the best citywide. So I decided it was time to go through their entire stock, which at my my pace takes about an hour. See I do this once every couple of months just to really make sure there isn't anything I've missed, and today it really really REALLY paid off for me!

First off I was able to find a nice 180g pressing of the seminal album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre; "Their Satanic Majesties Second Request", I think I'd be in agreement with many if I said this was by far their best recorded effort and the pressing I ended up with it something else! A high quality gatefold jacket, housing inside some brilliant onstage photos of the band, and much to my surprise the vinyl is a strange white with yellow splatter! Colored vinyl to me is always a nice surprise and I tend to prefer it when it's not advertised on the outside of the album as a marketing ploy. I really like the shock when you pull out something you expected to be black and it ends up being insanely and ridiculously bright.

Secondly I ended up coming across in the "J section" 2 reissues copies of Jandek albums!!! I was totally ecstatic, if you don't know Jandek I'd really recommend checking him out, he's an artist surrounded by mystery who on his own has released over 30 albums, but has yet to ever make a public appearance or make his identity totally known. People have only come to assume that the blond haired guy who is featured on most of the jackets is in fact the artist himself. The music is as sparse and unsettling as the packaging itself, I like the Fahey influence in it all so I enjoy it a lot, but I could see many who wouldn't get it at all. Regardless I'm stupidly happy to see that their reissuing his albums on nice heavy pressings, and I'll definitley keep my eye out for others. It's a good alternative to getting original copies, because those are damn expensive.

Lastly I ended up stumbling across an album that was pretty much at the top of my want list, the brilliant jazz-fusion album "The Apocalypse Inside Of An Orange" by the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet. It's 4 sides of just chaotic jazz improvisation, and Omar's trademark guitar sound rushes in and out of the mix. When this album came out I hated it, I had a friend who was more than digging it, and while I loved the Mars Volta's sound I just couldn't get a taste for this whole jazz-fusion thing Omar was doing on his solo quintet albums.But I'm thankful that I can at least now see the brilliance and freedom in this music, and this album has come to be something I hold pretty near and dear. PS. I ended up lucking out and getting of the first 500 copies on clear vinyl!

Well I had to urge to visit Sloth Records today mainly to pick up the copy of "Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fungus" that I saw the last time I was there. And when I get down to 4th street I see that the whole strip their store was in is closed up, and that there's a little handwritten sign in the window. So I park and go read it, and it says that they have moved to 736 17th Avenue, what a better location! So I headed over there to check it out and to be honest not a lot has changed. Except now their upstairs so they have a cool stairway entrance, and it actually is a really nice location for them. After browsing for a while I realized that their stock really hasn't changed much since the last time I was there, which I guess you could blame on the move. They probably weren't going to order much stuff in the middle of it all, which I can understand.

Anyways I did manage to pick up some good stuff regardless. First thing I went to grab was a copy of "Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fungus" by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, he's the guitarist from The Mars Volta and his solo albums are pure brilliance. Especially the 4 he did in 2001, in the interim period between At The Drive-In's breakup and The Mars Volta's first recordings. Those 4 albums are all amazing, and slowly over the years he's released them. This one was put out just last year in 2008, I'd recommend checking it out if you're a fan of weird progressive stuff, be advised that it is an acquired taste! Then I found The Gaslight Anthem's first LP "Sink Or Swim" which I'd actually neglected to ever listen to, I loved their sophomore album "The '59 Sound" so much that I guess I was just sidetracked. Never the less I decided to take a chance on it today and check it out, and as I listen to it right now I'm coming to the conclusion that I actually like it MORE than "The '59 Sound". It has more variation, and it turns out one track I'd actually already heard "I'da Called You Woody, Joe" which is an ode to Joe Strummer. It's a fucking brilliant album, check it out right now! The last album I decided to grab was a copy of Explosions In The Sky's "The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place", I remember when this post-rock masterpiece came out and I'm glad that it's still around so I could grab a copy.

Needless to say; I'm going to be enjoying listening to these this Saturday afternoon!

This is something I'm very excited to post on here, it's a partial bit of an album I am working on. I'm recording it all myself here at my place whenever I have time to record. This past week has been especially productive as I had it booked of from work. My guitar playing, as many of you would imagine, is heavily influenced by John Fahey, and that's why there's going to be a few Fahey covers on this album. Right now I have 3 tracks recorded, 1 original composition and 2 covers. I spent today working on the artwork; which I think came out very well, and who knows? If I can get enough of my own material for this album I might buy the supplies to make a run of CD copies.

The first track "Land Of Valhalla / Wine And Roses" is my original composition, and it's mostly improvised to be honest. It's in an open Dm tuning and it eventually segues into a brief rendition of Fahey's "Wine And Roses". So I guess you could call it a medley if you wanted to. Regardless it's my favorite recording thus far, and it took a lot of influence from my repeated listening to "City Of Refuge" as well as various Cul De Sac albums.

The second track is just a traditional run-through of Fahey's "On The Sunny Side Of The Ocean", which was actually his very first composition, wrote when he was only 14 years old. It's a timeless piece and I didn't feel the need to toy with it a whole lot. The arrangement has changed a little bit but that's just due to me not wanting to be a direct copycat. That, or my memory just isn't all that good.

The third track is also a somewhat traditional take on "Some Summer Day", I even went as far as to attempt the hot rag in the middle. It's a little blues lick that seems totally out of place, but I find it creates a beautiful amount of tension and conflict within the song. It's quite the composition.

So that's what this download contains, as I write more material and get it recorded in a way that pleases me I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on it. And who knows? I may even finish the album at some point this year. Feel free to listen and comment back to me, I'd love to hear some opinions and feedback on it.

Well this is it, I've finally tracked down the last Fahey release in mp3 format. I'd been searching for it for probably 2 years now, this mysterious "Double 78" release. Much of it sounds like "City Of Refuge I" off the "City Of Refuge" album, which is a good thing if you like experimental 90's Fahey, but bad news if you only like the 60's folk hero Fahey. Anyways enjoy!

It was while he was at Harvard, with vague plans of finding a career of music law and returning to Austin, that Dean Blackwood made the fateful Fahey connection. A dedicated and passionate music fan with a penchant for eclectic esoterica, Blackwood was struck by a "where are they now?" feature on Fahey in a 1994 issue of Spin. Written by Byron Coley, the expansive profile said that the influential guitarist was living in an Oregon flophouse and scrounging through used record bins for discoveries he could sell to collectors, after succumbing to an alcoholism that had put his performing career on the rocks.
Blackwood was then working part-time at the Boston office of Sub Pop Records (in the midst of its Nirvana windfall), while devoting some of his side energies to the production of 78 r.p.m, records. Though CDs were threatening to make turntables obsolete, and the 78 had long been eclipsed by 45 and 33 as turntable options, Blackwood was fascinated by this anachronistic art object that had all but disappeared in the '50s.
"I'm not an anti-CD person; I think they're wonderfully convenient and a great storage medium," he said. "But as far as having a nice, dense slab, a physical object to hold in your hands, there's nothing like 78s."
Blackwood got Fahey's phone number from Coley, in order to ask if the guitarist might be interested in recording a 78 for Blackwood's Perfect label, one that could pass as a relic from the medium's heyday. Fahey felt an affinity for the commercial absurdity of the project. "He was always up for something that has a little prankster element to it," said Blackwood.


Scott Colburn:
"So I get a call from Fahey's soon-to-be manager Dean Blackwood. He asks me if I would go to Salem, Oregon, and record John Fahey in his hotel room. My first question is "Who is John Fahey?" After I get the low down, I decided that he was a legend and it would be in my best interest to do it. Besides, I always dreamed about those Folkways recordings that were done in hotel rooms. Now was my chance. I rent a car and travel down there to record for about 2 hours. Damn, this guy is good and he doesn't mind that I want to record experimentally, by moving one of the mics around the room hand held. From this session, the disc was born. Sorry, the hand held recordings are in the archive."

This is another semi-recent eBay purchase of mine, I've probably had it for about a month now, and in that time I've likely played it 15+ times! I'd been on the hunt for a vinyl copy ever since it went OOP (out of production) a few years ago when GSL went under. Their website states that only 10,000 of these were pressed, and considering the albums consistently growing popularity, that's not all that many... So when I saw an eBay seller with a great conditioned copy being offered for $90 Buy It Now I jumped on it. Maybe I was paying close to the actual collectible value, but hey, you can't get a deal on everything. And besides I wanted a copy soooo bad.


The sickest thing about me buying The Mars Volta albums NOW is that when they were released I actually bought the CD copies. That was before I was heavy into vinyl and when the time came that I was I'd go to the record store and see copies of their albums, and for retail prices! "De-Loused" was $34.99, "Frances" was $42.99, etc. I actually held them in my hands and though "I should definitley get these sometime, they're good albums, I have the CD's already!". So yes it sucks to have missed out on them but it's not the end of the world, I've come to realize that if you want an album bad enough, you don't mind having to pay a collectors price for it. Because once it arrives you realize it was well worth it.


The artwork on this album is something I've always really been fond of, even on the CD copy, but it definitley pails in comparison to the vinyl copy. The front cover is basically reversible, the spine is split in 2, and you can choose which cover you want to call the front. I think that's a really cool idea, and I always happen to choose the classic "golden head" cover, something about it just calls to me. The vinyl itself is something else as well, 2 LP's both which are technically picture discs, but instead of having artwork pressed between them, it's just a sheet of sparkled-silver paper, and it makes for a really cool effect. I think the intention was to make the albums look like a metal stamper, which is the initial metal copy that presses the vinyl.


Funny story about buying this album, when it arrived in the mail and I pulled the first disc out to play I noticed that it is warped like a fucking fishbowl! I'm talking a serious serious warp, and I had no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't play. Frankly I was crushed but decided to try and play it to make sure, and much to my surprise it played through Side A & B with absolutley no problems. I didn't have to alter the tracking or weighting of my tonearm at all, it just worked right off the bat. And after 15-20 plays I'm still as happy to hear this record as I was when it came out in 2003. And I decided to let the seller know that I was a little pissed that he sold me an album with a dishonest description, and he said that it must have happened during shipment because when he sent it it was NOT warped. At first I'm thinking "yeah, sure whatever" and then he sends me a $20 refund through Paypal saying he's sorry. It just shows that there still is honest and decent people out there!