Tools of the Trade: The Pocket Chair

November 2, 2011 at 8:00 am

Although I’ve never made a purchase, I’m a sucker for informercials and “as seen on TV” stores, I finally could no longer resist.  Was at Walgreen’s the other day looking for Halloween stuff, and I found a certified tool of the trade for vinyl collectors and diggers who like to go to swap meets and flea markets:  The Pocket Chair!

Got this for 10 bucks.  It fits in a pretty small pouch, and while it COULD fit in your pocket, it probably wouldn’t be that comfortable.  But with the handle on the pouch, it’s extremely easy to carry around.

If you’re not familiar with the painful process of looking for records at flea markets, let me break it down.  Often, vendors will have crates or boxes of records on the ground instead of on tables.  So you have to kneel down, often for quite a long time.  There’s two options: Squat or actually get on your knees.  Either way, after about 5 minutes of holding the same position, you get tired.  You can switch back and forth, change weight to different feet/knees, but either way, it sucks.  You can try utilizing another crate or box to sit on, but then you’re sitting on records….not cool.  As you can see here, sometimes it’s not easy sifting through a stack of records.  You can spend hours going through one vendor’s piles of gems.  Enter the pocket chair.  Next time you’re at a swap meet and see something like this, pull out your pocket chair, and laugh at the other collectors cursing their knees for getting scraped on the cement.

Bauhaus “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”

October 31, 2011 at 8:00 am

I know I’m posting this on Halloween, but this is still very much an all-time favorite!

I stayed home last night with Katrina, instead of heading out to the Zombie Walk in Downtown Long Beach, so we decided to watch some Halloween flicks.  I suggested we watch “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” and went off on how the classic scary characters were present in the film, including Bela Lugosi as Dracula.  Such a unique time in film history.

After that, I made her listen to one of my favorite songs of ALL time, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus.  I don’t even know much about Bauhaus, but I know this song came out around 1979, so I’m assuming they are a kind of pre-industrial band.  I should probably do more research about them.  Never-the-less, I LOVE this track.  Not only is it an extended 9 minutes long, there are these open moments in the track with amazing echo effects.  It’s one of those “get lost” tracks, where you just zone out in it.

I was reading that there were only 5,000 copies of the 12″ made, so now I’m on the hunt!

Herbie Hancock “Maiden Voyage”

October 30, 2011 at 11:28 am

Played this for breakfast this morning…One of the first Blue Note LP’s I bought quite a while back.  Found this at Aron’s Records, an amazing used record store in Hollywood that ended up closing due to, in my opinion, Amoeba coming to town.  This was one of those spots where you could find some amazing gems in the dollar bins!

Homage: Roy Ayers, Pete Rock, Thundercat, Los Angeles

October 27, 2011 at 12:03 am

Be here.

Forward Listening Vol. 19

October 14, 2011 at 8:00 am

I’m proud to announce another edition of Forward Listening, available now on The Noise Academy’s website and iTunes.  2 hours of goodness from Ocote Soul Sounds, Thievery Corporation, Mia Doi Todd, Bob & Gene, Garfield Adams, and more…

Chrissy Murderbot “Bussin’ Down”

October 14, 2011 at 12:35 am

I’m really diggin the Chrissy Murderbot “Women’s Studies” album on Planet Mu.  It came out in April and it took me a few months to get to it, but I’m all over it as of late.  Chrissy Murderbot is a DJ/Producer from Chicago, combining UK Bass scene and Juke/Footwork styles.  I was trolling the internet and found out they made a video for one of my favorite tracks from the album, “Bussin Down.”  Love the Dayton sample!

OKA! Los Angeles Release 10/28

October 11, 2011 at 11:57 pm

oka

I was fortunate enough to catch a pre-screening of this movie at Matt’s Movies before the Los Angeles release later this month.  Really cool movie about a man absorbed in the culture of the Bayaka pygmies of Yandombe.  A musical people, this film had my ears smiling the entire time.  One of my favorite moments was the main character witnessing the women creating rhythms by splashing and slapping water in a river.  “OKA!” will premiere in Los Angeles at the Laemmele Sunset 5 on October 28th.

Chico Mann at It’s A School Night

October 11, 2011 at 3:17 am

Chico Mann at Bardot

I help Chris Douridas on his show every other Saturday at KCRW.  Chris hosts a weekly event called “It’s a School Night,” every Monday at Bardot on the second floor of Avalon in Hollywood.  When I saw that this week they were welcoming Chico Mann to the stage, I had to make an exception and go out on a Monday night.  He streamlined his live show to two people for this performance, and it made me think back to when I saw him get down in Fullerton with Ticklah, DJ Obah, and Vinia Mojica.  That was a legendary night, now that I think about it.

This performance was setup almost completely through Ableton, and the results were absolutely amazing.  One of the things that really stands out when using production software for live performances is the bass that stands out in comparison to a standard band’s drum kit.  The 808 was bumpin for Chico Mann’s performance tonight!  He definitely pushed the sound system in this small, 200 person room.  It was an afro-electric night of fresh dance music, and I’m glad I got to see it.

Robin Hannibal “Transit”

October 9, 2011 at 12:55 am

Before I praise this track, let me say that this might be the worst ending to a song I’ve heard in a long time.  That said, I’ve been simmering on this one for a minute.  Really listening to it as much as possible.  Extremely strong beginning, with heavy drums and compelling guitar.  It’s to the point where I’m waking up with this in my head.  Hannibal has been making serious waves in the past two years, especially with the success of Quadron.  He is working with numerous artists on multiple projects, but this is from an EP that is 100% Robin Hannibal.  Production, vocals, everything.  I get a feeling that this is more of an example of demos that Plug Research decided to release, which is why you have certain moments such as the end of this song that make you ask, “what was he thinking?!”  Either way, I love this track…

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/20783891″]

Thundercat “Boat Cruise”

October 8, 2011 at 7:36 am

This is jazz for 2011…Some real, nitty gritty, space funk, jazzadelic, herbie vs. george duke type of goodness.  Thundercat is a bassist out of Los Angeles.  His debut solo record is produced by Flying Lotus and is out now on Brainfeeder.  Enjoy this one in the car at the beginning or end of your day.

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