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Reunion Tour: Sip & Spin May 2024

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since we had the last one. Every time I pitch one of these, the response is always favorable, but then as it draws nigh, people back out, plans change, lovers die in tragic blimp accidents over the Rose Bowl… Best laid plans of mice, and all that. Anyway, we put this one on the calendar thinking Callie would be in town, and since she didn’t get to participate in the last one this would be a sort of make-up. Well, the concert she was coming down here to see got unexpectedly moved because of the great success the Stars and Mavericks were having, so she canceled her trip. Here we are again. Then some people didn’t plan accordingly and some just didn’t care, some lied and made excuses because they suddenly didn’t want to come… Oh, bother. Whatever. So, the point is keep reading

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Independence Day Sale!

Oh my. Oh my, oh my. Check this out: I got a text from Josey records yesterday saying that they were having the biggest sale ever starting today and through the weekend. 25% off all merch, 20% off all new CDs and vinyl, 20% off all used vinyl and CDs, 50% off all DVDs. Now them are some impressive numbers. Right. But reading that in a text, you can easily miss something or mistake one of them numbers for something else. Whatever. Anyway, the point is that I didn’t know it was 20% off all new vinyl. I had I guess just skimmed the message. So I saved like $35 on my new vinyl. I got some stuff I might maybe would have waited for. And when I got my receipt and noticed how much I had saved on new vinyl, it took a huge amount of will power not keep reading

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May Sip & Spin Review

Of the four weekends in May, only the first was available for everyone to get together. We were short a few people due to circumstances, but it was still a good time. Dwayne, Ryan, Melody and I had a great meetup. We started the night with a circuit of Songs You Can’t Live Without. We each played one in turn, then repeated once. This, I think, is a great way to start the night. With more than four people though, it might need to be cut to one song per person. I’m trying to come up with numbers for things like that. Five participants, five-minute songs, how many fit in an hour? I think from here out though, when it comes to spinning the record or CD, we’re going to limit that to 30 minutes or so per person. That way we can still have a reasonably early night. Anyway, keep reading

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Record Store Day 2022

So here are my thoughts on RSD. I think it’s super cool. Thanks for tuning in. There’s a lot to say about it. But I’ll start by saying that it isn’t for everyone. We’re talking about seeing Star Wars Episode I on the day it comes out. Remember that shit? People camped outside of theaters for like two weeks, dressed in their Boba Fett costumes and sleeping in tents next to a theater? To see a movie? Fuck sake. Well, that’s sort of what this was like. I arrived at 7:04, presumably four minutes after the doors opened. But actually, I was still a little early. They opened late, around 7:10. No worries there. But by the time I got there, the line was already all the way around the building. And I had parked in this place across the street. So after waiting in line for two or three keep reading

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April Sip & Spin Review

Last night was a crazy ride. Dwayne showed up a few hours early to grill his famous Jamaican jerk chicken, so we stood around the grill for a few hours, drinking beer and listening to Spotify on the deck speakers. Starting a day’s drinking – even on just beer – at three o’clock, does not make for a sober night. Everyone was supposed to show up an hour earlier this time, though, to eat and get ready. Dwayne’s chicken was a hit. The cheddar brats and potato salad and chocolate cake and Filipino soup and fruit salad was good too. Holy shit we ate like kings. And then we gathered round to get started, and fulfilled our assignment from last month, which was Songs that Keep us Melancholy. Great list there, and some really good head-nodders were played. I started the night off with Tom Waits, “Swordfishtrombones”. I guess the keep reading

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More of What I Want

You might wonder how, in this day and age, the new age of music media, how someone or some band could completely slip under the radar for someone like me. Or you. I am constantly listening to music. When I drive, when I work in the garage, when I’m working out, when I’m in my listening room, when I’m writing… It’s almost constant. And I think that’s one of the greatest blunders of streaming services now days. Tell me if I’m wrong. Seriously. Tell me if I’m wrong, because I might just be doing it wrong. Why is it that I can click those three menu-dots on the right of any song, artist or album, and select Go to XXX radio, then start playing a station based on that song or whatever… And rarely hear new shit? It’s almost laughable, but the way some of these genres are listed include keep reading

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Reviewing The Nashville Sound

I realize I haven’t done many record reviews here yet. Historically, I’ve reviewed music, movies and books on my SpaceBrew site. But being that this is a site dedicated to my interest in music, it would make sense to talk about the weather in Beijing. Well, here’s a funny story. I listen to several channels on SiriusXM. Mainly, those are Lithium, Octane (when I’m in a real hard mood), The Bridge and a few 70s stations. I’m mostly into the classic rock stations. Please don’t get me started on Classic Rock as a genre. That’s another column entirely. But one of the stations I listen to was playing this song, If We Were Vampires by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. See, the thing is, I saw his face on some billboard a year or so ago, and I thought, eff that guy. He looks like a dick. Full of keep reading

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You Need To Hear This

I would like to introduce you to someone. Sometwo. Well, really, the whole band. Even though I don’t know the band. Not anymore. If you’re not sufficiently confused, just keep reading. I bet I’ll find a way to make it happen. The reality is that it’s mainly one person I want to introduce you to. But there’s another person right behind her who is every bit as important as the first introduction. I’m talking about Patrice Pike. She’s been around in some form or another since the late nineties. I’ve been catching her live shows since about 2002, I think, when she fronted the Black Box Rebellion. That’s what I meant by some form. Not that she sometimes takes the form of a dragon, or a tiger – though I would not be surprised because of the level of bad-assery she achieves on stage. But you see, I’ve also seen keep reading

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Bang for a Buck

It’s maybe not amazing how you can go through the same bins of CDs and see something different every time. What is amazing though, is that you can go through the same CD bins and find another twenty or so CDs. Every time you do it. And I don’t mean just feeding the addiction, getting new stuff to have it. I mean, had I seen these CDs the first time I browsed them, I would have gotten them all at once. Of course, they do add new ones to the mix occasionally, which means I have to check the whole aisle every time I go. Since I don’t know where they drop the new ones, you know. The LP New Arrivals only get put into four bins or so. And at that, they’re always dropped in the front of each bin. So I know when I’ve scanned back about thirty keep reading

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I Wish I Had Stickier Fingers

I’m pretty good about following my own rules. I make rules for myself so that I don’t so stupid shit. I’m not big on making costly mistakes. I like to learn from it the very first time I make a mistake, and then hopefully apply that knowledge to everything I ever do in the future wherever it’s applicable. One such rule, for instance, comma, is that I do not allow myself to hang anything on the wall above my turntable that’s not absolutely secure. Like my badger-hair record brush. It’s off to the side, so that if it were to fall, it would not land on the turntable. See how smart I am? So let me tell you what happened. And you can decide whether I’m all that smart or not. I was cleaning my listening room. Maybe I was doing a little organizing. A little rearranging. I have this keep reading