Yesterday was a palindrome. Did you know that? 121121. Our day was weird because I had to spend half of it in the studio working on video set up and Zoom and all kinds of craziness that just wasn’t working the way I wanted/needed. My cousin, Gary or Kousin Gary on the Asylum – Tales from the Devereaux Diaries Podcast came up from Durham to help me out. He’s a vid production specialist, so he helped me work some things out. The BCPF and I took him to West End Cafe for a late lunch/early dinner and beers for his trouble and then took him to Underdog Records before he had to head back east. I didn’t get anything while there, but The BCPF did. Here’s her haul:
Nirvana – Nirvana — Compilation, Limited Edition, Reissue, Smoke-colored vinyl. Includes glossy double-sided insert with an essay by David Fricke, pictures, and song credits. Anti-static inner sleeve. Listed as used but still sealed, Walmart Edition.
Elton John With Ray Cooper – Live From Moscow — 2×LP, Limited Edition, Clear vinyl, 180g. Record Store Day 2019 release. Recorded at Rossiya Hall in Moscow. NM.
Weezer – Weezer — “The Black Album”. Limited Edition, Black Smoke. Black Smoke Vinyl edition limited to 2000 pressings, purchased on the Weezer Web Store. Sixth self-titled album (Black); hype sticker and promotional materials refer to it as “The Black Album.” Includes a custom inner sleeve. Pre-orders were delivered with a black spork; metal sporks were included with test pressings. NM
Gary loved Underdog Records and well, we do, too! He bought Megadeth’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying and a used, signed copy of Electric Circus from WASP. You should check out Underdog Records’ website and social media to see what Jonathan has gotten in and is offering for purchase. Use Discogs to track your collection.
Until next time, keep spinnin’… Scorp out!
— “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs. And he likes to sing along and he likes to shoot his gun. But he don’t know what it means, don’t know what it means, when I say, he’s the one who likes all our pretty songs. And he likes to sing along and he likes to shoot his gun. But he don’t know what it means, don’t know what it means, and I say, “Yeah”. – “In Bloom” (Cobain)
I’m not going to lie to you, Dear Reader, it was hard to not post-post the entries this week. But, it feels better now, two days later. I’m also going to be honest and tell you that I spent a lot on records yesterday. More than I wanted to, to be honest, but we got some good (and potentially good) stuff. Jonathan was in an exceptionally good mood since his Atlanta Braves won the World Series. All that, here’s the haul:
Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns – Partly Pandemonium Partly Love — This one wasn’t from Underdog Records. This was from friends of my Kousin Gary from Asylum – Tales from the Devereaux Diaries. We went to see them play at The Ramkat on Friday. Stuart, the guitar player is one of Gary’s best friends and all of us were from West Virginia. I heard a lot of stories on those songs about my home state. Stuart’s mother was my fourth-grade teacher and one of my faves. Someone said they were like outlaw country but I didn’t get that, really. It’s more country-rock but with a lot of harmonies and hard rock riffs. I dug it. They signed the record, too. New.
Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears — Probably my third or fourth favorite Ozzy record. The Ultimate Sin comes in first, Blizzard of Ozz second, and this one and No Rest for the Wicked and Diary of a Madman jockey for position after that. Not a huge Ozzy fan overall, but I do like him and enjoy the music. This was just rereleased a few weeks back and when Jonathan got the shipment, he was only able to get one copy and it was spoken for. So, I was happy to find this one. I guess the shipment came through. It’s 2×LP, Reissue, Remastered.
U2 – October — The second album from U2. Probably one of my least faves of theirs, but it was canon and I wanted to have it in the collection. Reissue, Remastered, 180gram. Single sleeve. 180g vinyl. No shrinkwrap (hype) sticker. Plus 16-page book in 12″ format and photo inner sleeve in heavy paper (that’s what Discogs said, I haven’t opened it to see if it really has all this). New.
Hiss Golden Messenger – O Come All Ye Faithful — This is some The BCPF stuff here. The first clue is that it’s on Merge Records. That’s always a dead giveaway. We have an album from them already but this is their Christmas album. I hope we wait until after Thanksgiving to listen to it. 2×LP, Limited Edition, Bone/Green/Red tri-color. New.
Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill — I was surprised we didn’t have this already, but we didn’t. I think it was released a little while ago in some special edition that was like $80 or something. Nah, I’ll pass on that. But, The BCPF found this copy and we rejoiced. #69 on the Rolling Stone list that doesn’t matter (as much). Reissue, Remastered, 180g. New.
Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies — I asked The BCPF, “what is this?” She replied, “It’s on Merge.” What more do you need to know? I didn’t need any more info. 2×LP, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold. New.
The Halo Benders – Don’t Tell Me Now — We have one other album from The Halo Benders. Surprisingly, Merge doesn’t have the market cornered on this kind of music. This is on KLP. It’s a repress, as far as I can tell. More The BCPF stuff, of course. New.
Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn — Rhiannon was born in Greensboro and part of the folk/old-time group the Carolina Chocolate Drops. This was her debut solo effort. It was produced by T-Bone Burnett. 140-gram audiophile vinyl. The version we got came with a CD but this was used and whoever got it, kept the CD. Booooo! This was still NM and Jonathan said it was “like new.” I wonder if they kept the CD did they even listen to the record? Who knows. NM.
Imperial Teen – Now We Are Timeless — This is a Merge Records artist, but you know what? I picked it out. Really, I showed it to The BCPF and she just shrugged. I said it was on Merge and she said, “really!?” But, then said nothing more. So, I decided to keep it. I don’t know and she doesn’t know anything about it. So… we’ll see. Limited Edition, Blue Ice. NM.
Rank And File – Long Gone Dead — This was some different kind of stuff. It’s basically what is called “cowpunk.” Country punk. I don’t really hear much punk, but it’s not exactly country, either. According to Wikipedia on “cowpunk”: It combines punk rock or new wave with country, folk, and blues in its sound, lyrical subject matter, attitude, and style. That makes sense here. This is from 1984. VG+.
View From The Hill – In Time — I know even less about this band, but I believe they’re British. They look to be an all-Black British band (that’s the term they use). Soul/Funk/R&B. That’s really all I know. VG+.
That’s our haul this week. A lot of new stuff means a lot of $$ spent. Whew! Jonathan got a nice Sony turntable that is really just like my AT60 from Audio Technica but with a Sony label. New needle and belt and have a switchable preamp if you have another preamp configuration you want to doodle around with. Watch the Underdog Records social media for whatever else Jonathan has gotten in and is ready for you to consume. You can shop new vinyl day/night/24/7/365 by visiting the website. I use Discogs to track my collection. You should, too!
Until next time, keep spinnin’… Scorp out!
— “Another day passes as the night closes in. The red light goes on to say it’s time to begin. I see the man around the corner waiting, can he see me? I close my eyes and wait to hear the sound of someone screaming here. No more tears.” – “No More Tears” (Osbourne/Wylde/Inez/Castillo/Purdell)
Let me start by saying that the number in the title has nothing to do with what I’m going to say here.
I tallied up my totals for my podcast episodes. The last I checked, in September, it was 2186. As of today, I have produced or co-produced 2281 episodes. So 95 since September 16.
Me doing my thing…
That includes The Less Desirables, The Man Who Ate the Town, Fan Interference, Asylum – Tales from the Devereaux Diaries, Beeswax Vinyl Daily, and Wheelers Dog (the general public editions) for the network (The Beer Dads is on hiatus as Beer Dad Jon acclimates to his new job).
This also includes my clients, Forsyth Magazines, Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber, Health Geeks Book Club, Nailing It, Eat Drink Triad. With the exception of LCC and EDT right now, I have actually produced more, but I’m trying to not count them until they are published. I guess I could say that I’ve had 2281 published. Whatever.
I am proud of my numbers. I have done this longer than anyone I know and anyone I’ve heard of, at least around here. Some may have started earlier. Some may have more episodes (not collectively, I feel) but, this is continuous since at least 2010, but I started in 2007.
I am a podcast producer that can get you quality recordings and listed on major podcast directories. It’s up to you, the client, to provide the content and do your own marketing. I don’t do that, but I am a one-stop shop for your podcast needs. Contact me here if you’d like to talk about your own podcast.
Until tomorrow, same blog channel… Scorp out!
— “I like the freedom of podcasting. With podcasting you can really mess around with the form and the format. You can do as much time as you like without having to pause for commercials.” – Adam Carolla
Tonight on Asylum – Tales from the Devereaux Diaries, Kousin Gary revealed his KISS ranking. He went strictly by numbers and formulas and only barely by personal feelings. Some of his movements from his previous list were mind-blowing. Inexplicably, he put some of the best KISS albums near the bottom of the list. I can’t even talk about it, now. I promise this isn’t a ruse to get you to listen, but if you’re a KISS fan, you need to hear this list. I think he’s lost his mind or the system he used was flawed. Listen here and prepare yourself.
My Kousins and I didn’t necessarily talk about KISS tonight. Well, we did, but that wasn’t the main topic. The main topic was what we call something “KISS Adjacent.” That means that even it isn’t KISS, it’s something that had to do with KISS in some shape or form. This week, the main topic was the Alice Cooper album Brutal Planet. Alice Cooper and KISS have had some parallel moments through their careers. But, what makes this KISS Adjacent is that the drummer on this album is KISS’ very own Eric Singer. We listened through the album, gave some commentary of the album and even got in the weeds because that’s what we do. You can listen to that episode here.
Until tomorrow, same blog channel… Scorp out!
— “We’re spinning round on this ball of hate, there’s no parole, there’s no great escape. We’re sentenced here until the end of days and then my brother there’s a price to pay. We’re only human, we were born to die. Without the benefit of reason why. We live for pleasure – to be satisfied. And now it’s over there’s no place to hide. Why don’t you, come down to… It’s such a brutal planet.” – “Brutal Planet” (Cooper/Marlette)
Have you figured out the number combo code above? What may it mean? What will it be? Send me a note, let me know your guess. There’s no prize, but there is an “atta-boy” or “atta-girl” in it for you.
On Asylum – Tales of the Devereaux Diaries Podcast this evening, the Kousins talked about my 2021 KISS albums rankings. I did a rating back in 2018 and that was partly the basis of this podcast that I do with my Kousins. We went through all the albums and talked about them. I posted my 2018 (part I) here and (part II) here. I’m not going to post the updated rankings just yet as I want you to listen to the podcast and find out that way. I will post it soon, though. So, in order to hear the episode, you should go here.
Useless Things Need Love Too 