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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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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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My Kind of Weekend

Yesterday was our first event. So I had a lot I had to get done. I’ll spare you all the details, but I had to move some furniture. Which meant selling some of it and moving that. And we had to go to the furniture store to get a new couch. And I had to get my tote bags made to give to my DJs. And probably a little house cleaning to get ready to have company. Anyway, there was really no time for anything else during the day because I like to leave myself plenty of spare time. I don’t want to be rushed all day. But my wife told me the night before (Friday night) that we needed to leave the house at 7:30 to make a stop before we went to the furniture store. Okay, cool. I didn’t ask questions. Until yesterday morning. Where the hell are keep reading

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March Sip & Spin Review

Our first Whiskey Night was a great success! Dwayne, Ryan, Lisa, Sarah and Allen attended. The whiskey flowed, the music rocked and the conversation was excellent. Everyone had a great time. Dwayne got us started with some reggae. Buju Banton’s ‘Til Shiloh. Dwayne gave us some lessons about what real reggae should sound like, the different themes and sub-genres within the reggae genre and what qualifies as a hit in his home country of Jamaica. This was my first exposure to real reggae other than the most obvious, he who does not need to be named at the risk of sounding cliche. Many elements on this album. A lot to dissect, and a great way to start the night. Thank you, Dwayne! Next up was Ryan, who spun The White Stripes’s “White Blood Cells” on vinyl. There’s always a lot to discuss when you bring up Jack White and his keep reading

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Another Big Grab

I like to check the New Arrivals bins in the used vinyl section at Josey Records once a week or so, And this is why. Little Richard’s Greatest Hits, Keith Richards and George Harrison. I’ve been wanting this Harrison record for quite some time. And the killer is that I saw it in the NA bin once before, but for some reason didn’t grab it. It was there again today, so I did. Woot. Of course, I got the John Mayer from the New Vinyl and the Lindas from the used section. I spent a good amount of time today checking the bins for stuff like this. I also bought a handful of Norah Jones, Seal and Sheryl Crow CDs. And, my buddy Dwayne met me there today. Well, I met him there, ostensibly to show him around since it was his first time. And I just can’t leave without keep reading

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Black Box for March 2022

I don’t know how these guys consistently get it so right, but they always do. I’m not just talking right, either. I’m talking righter than that. I might never think to pick up these two records, were I even to see them sitting in front of me. But now that I have them, I’m happy I do, and I will not let them go. They’re mine. It’s exciting every month to get my Black Box shipment. And I usually wait until evening time (listening time) to open the box and see what I got. I don’t usually listen to records during the day. Because I don’t drink whiskey during the day. They go together like beans and mayonnaise. Anyway, here is this month’s shipment. Ministry is a personal favorite of mine. I saw them live once at the Sportatorium in Dallas, which was actually built for wrestling matches. It’s a keep reading

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Black Box for February 2022

You know how hard it is to find Muddy Waters records? There are a lot of repressings, I’m sure, but I can’t find one to save my ass. Well, Black Box took care of me this month. This is a sitting-in-the-studio album. It’s like you’re there with him. Someone said, “Hey, Muddy, I’m gonna hit record. You just play whatever comes to mind.” And he proceeds to do just that. One after the other, he just plays songs. You can hear people laughing and talking in the background. It’s very informal. Fun. I love it. The other was Lucinda Williams. I have to admit, she’s somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine. I think she’s hot, for one. In a dirty, taboo way, sort of. And I like her vocal inflection in Righteously. Like, a lot. When I was talking to my wife about her, she asked how far my keep reading

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Why I Hate the Radio

Radio is a scam. So far as I can tell, the DJs aren’t allowed to just play what they want. Not at all. And don’t even get me started on the “You pick the next song!” bullshit. We listeners call in and choose which of the three Steve Miller Band songs we want to listen to, and then, presumably, they play the one with the most votes. Sure they count the votes. I don’t even know why they still have DJs except to tell us what they’re about to play. Or rather, what is about to be played by the computer program that runs the station. Seriously. When was the last time you heard anything from Peter Gabriel’s “So” album besides In Your Eyes? Did you know that there were other songs on that record that are as good, or even better than that one? Don’t get me wrong, I keep reading

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Thrift Store & Discogs Haul!

My wife and I did our little bi-monthly weekend getaway. This time we went to Granbury, so not too far. Just a Friday evening through Sunday afternoon gig. Well, Granbury is full of little thrift shops and antique stores. Those places give me tired-head, big time. It’s sensory overload. There’s so much to look at and process, my eyes and head just start swimming. Of course, I always look through the record bins when I find them. And usually they’re all so picked through that you won’t find anything worth a shit. Mostly stuff from the early 40s or 50s or stuff that you’ve never heard of. Torn jackets, vinyl scratched to hell… Well, we went into this one place – I think it was the last place we checked out – and I just barely caught a glimpse of something roughly 12 x 12 out of the corner of keep reading