Tag: Vinyl

A Day in North Park

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The last few weeks I’ve felt a lot of personal stress. I’ve had trouble with my car, my emotional baggage, and work has bothered me in some aspects. Today I had my usual day off and I made some solid plans ahead of time to get some joy out of my free time.

It was the correct kind of therapy, escape, or mini-vacation away from work and what is going on personally. Also having purchased a new car has relieved a lot of pressure.

North Park is my local get away. It’s the big city yet it’s still hip and communal. It’s urban but isn’t downtown. Contrary to popular belief there are places you can go that aren’t gentrified.

I went to a cafe two blocks away from University for some coffee, sandwich, and space to read my book in peace. I need more cafe time in my life.

Walked over to Red Brontosaurus Records a block on the other side. It’s small but one of the better shops I’ve been to. They have a ton of used retro games which are over priced but still cool to see.

Their vinyl collection is very strong. It’s not as big a store as Lou’s or Spin back in North County but there’s a lot of local band’s records and new vinyl from new bands. It’s not just reprints of classics. They had older original records too.

I walked away with a copy of a Texas is the Reason and Samuel split single 7″ from 1995 (fucking awesome!) and Katie Ellen’s first single 7″. I think it’s time for me to get a record player.

Took my stuff back to the new car and went to lunch at Sicilian Thing Pizza. Again, it’s a treat to get away from everything and have two slices with a beer. I also so thing gorgeous woman. She was having the same thing as me.

If only I knew how to strike up a conversation with a stranger at a pizza shop. Anyway, it was just a nice moment to love life.

I read my book a little while downing my drink but I needed to kill some time before driving back. Normal Records was just two blocks away.

My close friend Greg and I had just been there two weeks ago. I had gotten a nice Touche Amore live 7″ and a Metallica poster for Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. The owner Caleb is pretty friendly and remembered me.

We had a nice discussion about how he gets inventory from his distributor. He’s been trying to get something with Burger Records for a while. He showed me a Ride The Lightning and Kill’em All cassette he had just sold.

If only I could have had those… Instead I took home an original Big Star #1 Record, and a Daft Punk Random Access Memories and Joy Division Unknown Pleasures poster. I’m very happy with those. Caleb had just gotten the Big Star record and joked about having to order another one.

Today was the kind of day I needed to rejuvenate. This Super Bowl weekend will refresh me too.

Top 5 Singles of 2016

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In the past I’ve listed my favorite EP’s of the year. This time I honestly haven’t listened to enough music this year. Seems kind of odd for me but honestly it just hasn’t happened. Between working full time, having new life experiences, and just dealing with myself I haven’t absorbed as much music like I did in my adolescences. With this context I decided to put together a list of songs or singles that I really enjoyed but didn’t make my top ten albums. These songs were strong but didn’t carry the whole album. Some of them were just singles. Still these songs stood out so much I had to give them some love.

It’s known I’m not huge on EDM. Up until recently I was very antagonistic against the style. Once I started going out more, down in North Park, driving by myself and participating in drunken behavior I’ve really fallen into this music more and more. “Ablaze” by School of Seven Bells has been in rotation for months on my playlists. The guitar rhythm is a nice bridge more to help me cross over. There’s a steady energy here keeping me up beat and positive when I hear it. I especially like driving while playing this one. The rest of the album is solid but this one stands out from the others.

My affection for heavy music, metalcore and djent particularly, has fallen off a cliff for me. It hasn’t felt the same for a while. Maybe it’s age or the past year’s experiences but I haven’t immersed myself within the scene like I did in the past. Still, I have soft spot for it when I hear something that satisfies my taste in the sonic aesthetics. Erra pleasantly surprised me this year with “Irreversible” from their latest album. I haven’t heard breakdowns like that. Surely someone has done them before but it was a first for me. The crazy part about these breakdowns… No chugging. They grind on a harmonic note. It’s not brutal but it still gets the energy pulsing if it’s your flavor. Erra also repeat this section several times which always gratifies my sweet tooth.

Unfortunately now cancelled, HBO’s Vinyl brought a slew of original soundtracks into the show. “Kill the Lights” featuring Nile Rodgers stood above the rest. In the series it’s a single by the fictional group Indigo that raises up in underground clubs. It’s introduction on the show has one of it’s more memorable moments. The song originally written by Alex Newell and DJ Cassidy resonates the essence of the 70’s and disco. I’ve been Googling to find hidden discos in San Diego so I can live out my new fantasy of dancing in nostalgia. I don’t feel comfortable participating in today’s clubs or dry humping there but I could lose my shit at disco playing “Kill the Lights” and others like it. I’m not sure why this song gets me interested in going clubing but I’m glad it has.

For most of the year I thought Volume‘s single “Feels Good” would easily be my favorite single. It’s great at the gym, driving around, or anytime I need some jubilee. You can read my detailed and existential review here. Some tease though. The band has promised their new album early in 2017. They have held this bridge for their next album through their single. It’s done a solid job so far but fans are ready for what’s next. Looking back on this single, the level of production from guitarist Diego Farias rose to Grammy level proportions. Next year couldn’t sound better. One paper this track checks every box for me. However, it’s not at the top of my list.

The best single of the year came as a surprise but looking back on the year no other song could really hold the crown. “True Love Waits” by Radiohead was the white whale of unreleased studio tracks for over two decades. I wrote about this and their album A Moon Shaped Pool earlier this year. Turns out it’s one of the best songs of the year. I could go into the personal reasons but if you’ve read my introspective blogging I need not explain. The song certainly gets me emotionally charged but that’s why people like music. The truly superb music influences our feelings and thoughts. As sad as my perspective is about this track it makes me feel hopeful. Only great music can incept your mind like that. Without a doubt this is my top song or single of the year. I tend to lean towards music that capture the year for me.This song will always be a small time capsule of 2016. Hopefully someday I can look back remember where I was then but appreciate how far I’ve come now. Appreciate what I have in the future, wherever I am.

Having never written a list in this style before I hope anyone who reads it grasps its flow. I enjoyed tackling each track by track. I will have another list before the release of my annual top 10 albums of the year this month.