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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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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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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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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