Somebody Might See You

File this under "Stupid Criminals Week" at work.

One guy came up to the register with a CD and asked to have the security shuck removed. The cashier asked the man if he intended to buy the CD, and he said he just wanted to look at it first. She unshucked the CD and handed it to him, and he shook her hand and said "Thank you very much, ma'am, have a good day" and proceeded to walk out the door with the CD in hand. Then he comes back the next day and cheerfully asks me to help him find another CD. When asked to leave the store he seemed baffled, as if he didn't understand. Even in front of the cashier girl, who was asking him over and over to leave, until I hollered "Sir, please leave!" before he shuffled out the door, still confused.

All week we've been having a small ring of young guys and girls that come in every day, stuff their jackets and pants with Blu-Rays, and stroll out of the store arrogantly, knowing a store full of girls aren't going to stop them. They know that we know what they look like and confront them every single day, but they brush past us (one threatened to hit one of the girls) and sweep out with the discs, promising to return the next day -- and they are never in the store long enough to call the police either. Then yesterday one of the known thieves actually had the audacity to come into the store to sell back the Blu-Rays as "used" for cash. I did the transaction, gave him a mere $37 for the discs, and took down his name, number, address, and social security number from his I.D. Then we called the cops and gave them all the information.

Sigh. I swear, sometimes.

Anyway, what I really wanted to natter on about was the recent used music haul this past week. Mah boo-tay, so to speak!

I think I might be finally shutting the door on punk music in my life, as far as inviting any more in at this point. The sheer glut in the mainstream, the lack of any new ideas, it's safe to say that I ever need to hear punk again in my life, I have my beloved Bad Brains or Buzzcocks. So maybe it's this attitude that's clouding my judgment of Get Awkward, the second album from Nashville peppy punksters Be Your Own Pet! Several of my customers were raving about their first album but I had never got around to listening to it, but this promo copy came in and I figured now was the time to get acquainted. And it'ssssss...... okay. I mean, what else can I say about punk anymore? What else can anybody say, really? It's not bad, though. It just treads no new ground, and its polished production files down the rough edges that they might have had. But I do enjoy the snappy "Bitches Leave", more because it's my favorite line from the movie RoboCop than anything else. But it's cute. I'm glad that they acknowledge the humor of those two words, in pretty much any context.

Bitches Leave by Be Your Own Pet!

(m4a file, available for 7 days)

Buy the CD here



When Will came in to sell CDs the other week I managed to nab two items for myself, one of which was The Cannonball Adderley Quintet In San Francisco, which features his brother Nat Adderley on cornet, Bobby Timmons on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on the skins. This live 1959 recording of Cannonball's first truly successful quintet collaboration (after a stint with Miles Davis) features some original material as well as covers, including Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser", but it's Timmons' lively "This Here" that I have placed here for you to enjoy. Wonderful stuff.

This Here (alternate take) by The Cannonball Adderley Quintet
(m4a file, available for 7 days)

Buy the CD here.



The other disk from Will was Tilt by Walker Brothers legend Scott Walker, released in 1995 after a nearly ten year absence which, when you listen to this, you can't help but wonder what kind of changes a man goes through who used to used to sound like this in the 1960's to what he produces these days. Tilt oftentimes comes across as a minimalist gothic opera, with Walker's low, rumbling voice taking on a new, haunted quality that would throw old school Scott fans for a loop at first listen. The cover art of flesh and feathers and avian eyes peering out of the whirlwind paint the picture of the dark, ghostly texture of this album pretty accurately. Not for playing late at night alone in the dark of your bedroom. Or, uh, so I found out myself.

Farmer In The City by Scott Walker
(m4a file, available for 7 days)

Buy the CD here.

Most long-time readers know of my love for The Mars Volta's 2005 jazz/prog/salsa outing Frances The Mute. But as much as I dug that joint, I somehow steered clear of their next release, Amputechture, because of the wellspring of bad reviews it seemed to incur. But it was Big Kev who gushingly informed me that their newest concept album Bedlam In Goliath is an outstanding return to form, in a way that brings both Frances The Mute and their first album together -- being mostly shorter songs this time, the album itself clocking in at nearly 75 minutes long. The story revolves around a cursed Ouija board that the band bought while on tour in Jerusalem which apparently brought about all manner of chaos while in their possession. But the most stand-out change in their sound is the recent addition of part-time guitarist and Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante who brings an edge of funk-rock to a span of tracks, most of which meld into one another as if a single continuous listening experience. Looking forward to getting to know this one a little better, though I doubt much could take the place of Frances The Mute in my heart.

Ouroborous by The Mars Volta
(m4a file, available for 7 days)

Buy the CD here.



I couldn't pass up the latest N.E.R.D. release, Seeing Sounds, despite having played it in our store so continuously throughout the past month. The pop side project of producer wunderkinds The Neptunes (named after Virginia Beach's Neptune Festival) featuring local anti-Spector producer/rapper Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay, it's one of those rare new pop CDs that I haven't gotten sick of after the first dozen listens over the cruddy store speakers. Meant to be a "summer album" of nostalgia for our more active, less sedentary childhoods, the band encourages listeners to play this disk loudly while jogging, riding bikes, picnicking at the beach, throwing the ball with your children, and feeling the heat of the day on your face while the sunniness of the music seeps in, and the multiple layers of influences on these tracks, from the 1960's to the 80's, take you back to the more carefree years in your life. Too many good tracks to mention, and my harddrive doesn't seem to be letting me upload a track onto yousendit. But I have provided a youtube link to "Sooner Or Later", which starts out Beatlesque and delves off into a fiery Prince guitar raid at the end. A little something from both decades in one.

Sooner Or Later by N.E.R.D.
(youtube sound clip)

Buy the CD here.


And speaking of nostalgia for the 80's, few bands take me back to that first time seeing Risky Business, Legend, or Miracle Mile quite like those avatars of all things electronic; Germany's Tangerine Dream, and their spiffy mini 2-CD box set The Electronic Magic Of Tangerine Dream: The Anthology contains 19 tracks spanning two decades from 1967 (with original two tracks of original project, The Ones) to 1988, dabbling in most of their stand out album tracks (but nothing from Zeit, darn it) during those times. A good introductory set, with nice pictures and a very swell Tangerine Dream bumper sticker of the box set cover art.

Sunset In The Fifth System by Tangerine Dream
(m4a file, available for 7 days)

Buy the CD here.


I could probably spend the next week or so getting over the idiocy at work by immersing myself in the nostalgic sounds of Tangerine Dream and N.E.R.D. for the next two or three days. In fact, I think I will. Preferably outdoors, in the sunshine, just like it was 1983 again. Except without the handmade half pipe in the driveway next door.