NYC Recap Part III: The Vinyl Haul
Dateline: Saturday, January 29, 2005.
First stop, just after 10 AM: Mondo Kim’s on St. Marks in the East Village.
Bottomley says: “Worth a stop, they definitely carry a wider range of stuff and have more used vinyl than Other. But their used selection can often be pretty picked through, it's real hit or miss. They have a really good DVD/video selection, a lot of import and rare or bootlegged stuff, if that interests you at all.”
Spot-on analysis, my friend. A decent selection of used discs, but I didn’t find any used vinyl worth picking up. Had I more time, I would’ve looked at the DVDs—there were a ton—good ones, too, from what I saw. Of new vinyl, there was plenty…but nothing I could not get online fairly easily, so I held off. The guy behind the counter was kind of a dick. Maybe he was just waking up, nursing a hangover, or whatever, but he could have been a wee bit friendlier.
Pick-ups:
Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet (used CD, Finnish doom metal)
Next stop: Other Music (15 East 4th Street at Lafayette).
Bottomley says: “You'll probably be surprised; for all the hype, it's pretty tiny and although you can get some more obscure import stuff there, it doesn't have much that a Wax Trax doesn't also have.”
Again, totally accurate analysis. Very small place, but packed to the gills with obscurities and cool shit. The used section was small but solid, and free of commercial drivel. I found a lot here.
Pick-ups:
Japancakes – Waking Hours (used CD)
Next stop: Rocks In Your Head, 157 Prince Street in Soho.
Bottomley says: “It's a little basement record shop that carries various new and used records, some jazz, rock, indie. Eric from Black Dice used to work in there.”
This place was alright, I found a few things, Iwanski picked up a couple used discs, and the guy behind the counter was really nice, but overall, not an essential store. Plus, I hate it when stores just file records into boxes on the floor without regard to organization.
Pick-ups:
Roky Erickson – Don’t Slander Me (used LP)
Swans – Children of God (used 2LP)
Next stop: Bleecker Bob’s, 118 W. 3rd St., btwn 6th Ave. & MacDougal.
Bottomley says: “Bleecker Bob's is of course a pretty legendary store, but today it's overpriced and past its prime, although I have friends who swear they find rare early post-punk singles for total bargains in that place.”
You have not been wrong yet. This place sucked—a poor selection of overpriced crap. I could see how some rarity might fly in under the radar, but it probably ain’t worth yr time.
I did find one thing:
Twink w/Elton Motello – Apocalipstic (used 7”)
And finally: Academy LPs, 77 East 10th Street.
Bottomley says: “They carry nothing but used LPs, a lot of jazz and pop but some decent rock/miscellany and their prices are fairly reasonable, at least the last time I was in there (more than a year ago).”
Correct again. Half the store is jazz stuff, and from first impressions I figured it would be way overpriced, but it wasn’t at all. I actually found quite a bit here. Wish I would have had time to visit their other location at Williamsburg.
Pick-ups:
Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – White Lines (used 12” single)
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – Gentleman (used LP reissue, orig ’73)
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – Upside Down (used LP reissue, orig ’76)
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – J.J.D. (used LP reissue, orig ’77)
Gilberto Gil – Um Banda Um (used LP)
Gal Costa – Profana (used LP)
Gal Costa – Plural (used LP)
Caetano Veloso – Velo (used LP)
And that was that. All in all, a mixed experience. I found some really good stuff, but not nearly as much as I would have thought. Makes me appreciate what I have here in Denver that much more.
N/P The Skygreen Leopards – One Thousand Bird Ceremony
First stop, just after 10 AM: Mondo Kim’s on St. Marks in the East Village.
Bottomley says: “Worth a stop, they definitely carry a wider range of stuff and have more used vinyl than Other. But their used selection can often be pretty picked through, it's real hit or miss. They have a really good DVD/video selection, a lot of import and rare or bootlegged stuff, if that interests you at all.”
Spot-on analysis, my friend. A decent selection of used discs, but I didn’t find any used vinyl worth picking up. Had I more time, I would’ve looked at the DVDs—there were a ton—good ones, too, from what I saw. Of new vinyl, there was plenty…but nothing I could not get online fairly easily, so I held off. The guy behind the counter was kind of a dick. Maybe he was just waking up, nursing a hangover, or whatever, but he could have been a wee bit friendlier.
Pick-ups:
Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet (used CD, Finnish doom metal)
Aquarius says: “We hail this album as the ultimate 'black-metal-meets-Labradford' (or Low) listening experience. Totally morose, depressive, atmospheric ambience in heavy dirge death metal mode, with melodies to crush your soul. Medieval organ-like keyboards give this a grim, churchly air, and of course it sounds like it was recorded with the microphones quite distant from the instruments/amps, possibly in a nearby forest.”Garden State soundtrack (used CD)
A gift for JodiWorms – Pelican Songs (used CD, yet more Finnish shizzle)
Aquarius says: “A dark and wintry, more motorik My Bloody Valentine, mixed with a little Circle and a little Filth-era Swans. Or some Frankensteinian dirge rock band, equal parts Godflesh, My Bloody Valentine, the Shadow Ring, and the Swans.”
Next stop: Other Music (15 East 4th Street at Lafayette).
Bottomley says: “You'll probably be surprised; for all the hype, it's pretty tiny and although you can get some more obscure import stuff there, it doesn't have much that a Wax Trax doesn't also have.”
Again, totally accurate analysis. Very small place, but packed to the gills with obscurities and cool shit. The used section was small but solid, and free of commercial drivel. I found a lot here.
Pick-ups:
Japancakes – Waking Hours (used CD)
Aquarius says: “Sweetly melancholy, dark and dolorous. Fuzzy foresty drones beneath dreamy gentle flutters of lap steel and warm organ, weeping strings and stark wintry pianoscapes. The spare wide open country ambience of Souled American, the deserty twang of Calexico, the slow burning intensity of Godspeed, the baroque lilt of Rachel's.”Union Carbide Productions – Down on the Farm (7” picture sleeve)
For $5, I couldn’t pass this one up. Still, I have the old UCP LPs, so I may just unload this on ebay. Pre-TSOOL.The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me (new LP)
One of my favorite albums of last year. Had no idea this was pressed on vinyl ‘til it was in my grubby little hands. Ex-Lifter Puller.Morrissey – You are the Quarry (used LP)
At $11.99, not a steal, but it does save me a few bucks from buying it new. I haven’t bought a Morrissey album in years, but I’d heard from many quarters that this is a good one. Hilarious pose with a machine gun, and song titles like “I Have Forgiven Jesus”, “All the Lazy Dykes”, and “The World is Full of Crashing Bores.”American Analog Set & White Magic – Songs of Hurt and Healing (split CD)
This was free. They had a stack of ‘em up on the counter. “Brought to you by Tylenol acetaminophen”. Huh? I like both of these bands though, even if they’ve sold their souls to Big Pharma.Musica Dispersa – s/t (new LP)
Saved the best for last. Totally phenomenal early seventies Catalan psych band, LP originally released in ’71. I’ve been looking for this for awhile—the vinyl reissue is really hard to come by, and the CD is an expensive import. This is easily the best album I picked up all day—simply wonderful stuff, loaded with guitar, mandolin, harmonica, slide whistle, banjo, piano, flutes and bizarre vocals. Beautiful embossed gatefold edition. Extensive liner notes, all in Spanish.I also came across a used copy of the Haystacks Balboa LP for $14.99 here, but didn’t pick it up b/c it was pretty beat. Now I’m regretting that decision—this thing goes for a pretty penny on ebay, and even if it skipped a time or two, I would have been happy just to have a copy. Dammit. Maybe Akarma will do a reissue someday?
Freak Emporium says: “Probably the best Spanish folk-psych album ever. Acid folk in typical UK 70's style, with traces to Incredible String Band but in a more experimental way.”
Brief samples here.
Next stop: Rocks In Your Head, 157 Prince Street in Soho.
Bottomley says: “It's a little basement record shop that carries various new and used records, some jazz, rock, indie. Eric from Black Dice used to work in there.”
This place was alright, I found a few things, Iwanski picked up a couple used discs, and the guy behind the counter was really nice, but overall, not an essential store. Plus, I hate it when stores just file records into boxes on the floor without regard to organization.
Pick-ups:
Roky Erickson – Don’t Slander Me (used LP)
1986 Restless comp, a good deal at $7.99.Be Bop Deluxe – The Best Of and the Rest Of Be Bop Deluxe (used 2LP)
Swans – Children of God (used 2LP)
A killer album, and another deal at $13.99. Excellent condition gatefold LP. Now I can sell off my CD.
Next stop: Bleecker Bob’s, 118 W. 3rd St., btwn 6th Ave. & MacDougal.
Bottomley says: “Bleecker Bob's is of course a pretty legendary store, but today it's overpriced and past its prime, although I have friends who swear they find rare early post-punk singles for total bargains in that place.”
You have not been wrong yet. This place sucked—a poor selection of overpriced crap. I could see how some rarity might fly in under the radar, but it probably ain’t worth yr time.
I did find one thing:
Twink w/Elton Motello – Apocalipstic (used 7”)
Couldn’t pass this up at $3. John Mather turned me on to Elton Motello last year—really cool, sorta new-waveish band/person with connections to the Damned. These two songs are so-so, but it’s a cool item to have.
And finally: Academy LPs, 77 East 10th Street.
Bottomley says: “They carry nothing but used LPs, a lot of jazz and pop but some decent rock/miscellany and their prices are fairly reasonable, at least the last time I was in there (more than a year ago).”
Correct again. Half the store is jazz stuff, and from first impressions I figured it would be way overpriced, but it wasn’t at all. I actually found quite a bit here. Wish I would have had time to visit their other location at Williamsburg.
Pick-ups:
Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – White Lines (used 12” single)
Found this one in the dollar bin, it was pretty beat, but it plays just fine. We had a party last year and somebody requested this song. I ran down to the dungeon to retrieve it, but lo and behold, “White Lines” was not on any of my four Grandmaster Flash records. I was shocked. It’s all good now, though.Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – Open & Close (used LP reissue, orig ’71)
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – Gentleman (used LP reissue, orig ’73)
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – Upside Down (used LP reissue, orig ’76)
Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 – J.J.D. (used LP reissue, orig ’77)
That wasn’t even half of the Fela stack; I talked to the guy in there, and they had just gotten in a huge collection that morning, so I lucked out. Now I got a real Afrobeat collection goin' on. All this shit is crazy-ass-funky; I wish I could’ve bought the whole collection, but you gotta draw the line somewhere, I s'pose.Gilberto Gil – Extra (used LP)
Gilberto Gil – Um Banda Um (used LP)
Gal Costa – Profana (used LP)
Gal Costa – Plural (used LP)
Caetano Veloso – Velo (used LP)
On second thought, perhaps I shouldn’t have snagged all of these, being that they’re all from the 80s, and thus marred by keyboards and bad production. I was just so stoked to see hard-to-find Caetano, Gal, and Gilberto LPs in person that I snatched ‘em all up. Haven’t given listen to all these yet, so perhaps there are some gems here, but I definitely recommend picking up their earlier stuff instead.
And that was that. All in all, a mixed experience. I found some really good stuff, but not nearly as much as I would have thought. Makes me appreciate what I have here in Denver that much more.
N/P The Skygreen Leopards – One Thousand Bird Ceremony
posted by Jonathan Wright at 2:49 PM EMAIL POST
