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New Store Review: Econo Jam Records

  By Strangeblood • January 12, 2014
Econo Jam Records in Oakland, Ca.

Econo Jam Records in Oakland, Ca.

Vinyl enthusiasts now have yet another store to call home in the east bay.  Econo Jam Records opened a little over 2 months ago and the store on Telegraph Ave adds to the resurgence of record collecting.There’s much to love about this new store whether it’s the tons of new and used records, some affordable record cleaning kits, or the shopper friendly printed labels of the album title and condition. One thing I really like about this store is that they don’t wrap packing tape around the plastic protective sleeves like some record stores do.  I mean, personally I could care less about protecting the celophane that covers a record, but when I’m forced to ruin or damage a perfectly good 3 or 4 mil poly bag sleeve I just shrug my head in dismay.  WTF other record stores? Just figure out an electronic way to showcase your titles and keep them behind the counter if you’re that paranoid about protecting your inventory.  

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 So I’m not quite so sure about the name of this store though.  Seriously, is any record store that economical these days? Most records cost around 17-$28 new. So, while I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that you probably can find a few titles on the cheap compared to Amoeba or Rasputin’s in Berkeley, I don’t see that they’re any more affordable than say 1,2,3,4  go records around the corner. But, who cares right, it’s just a name?

Blind Lemon Jefferson- I want to be like Jesus in my heart- Monk records (Italian import)

Blind Lemon Jefferson- I want to be like Jesus in my heart- Monk records (Italian import)

I picked up a pretty cool Blind Lemon Jefferson record out of Monk records in Italy. Again, it isn’t quite economy since I paid $17 for it, but it didn’t really have any hiss and you can tell the recordings were remastered so it’s a good find in some ways. There was a pop or skip on one side (which always makes me think this is why someone sold it) but playing records on different turntables can sometimes yield different results so I think I would consider keeping it even if I lived in the city I bought it in and had the option to return it without facing that long drive back.

Nonetheless, this is a good store and if you’re looking for a good place to find a curiosity that aren’t seeing at the other local stores I’d be encouraging you to go check them out.

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A few recent aquisitions

  By Strangeblood • January 9, 2014

 

Cecil Teylor - Dark to themselves- Inner City Records

Cecil Taylor – Dark to themselves- Inner City Records 1977

Cecil Taylor- Segments II/Orchestra of two continents- Soul Note Records-1985

Cecil Taylor- Segments II/Orchestra of two continents- Soul Note Records-1985

Cecil Taylor-Air above mountains (buildings within) Inner City Records 1978

Cecil Taylor-Air above mountains (buildings within) Inner City Records 1978

Revolutionary Ensemble - Enja Records 1977

Revolutionary Ensemble – Enja Records 1977

Z'ev-Bust this- Dossier records- 1988

Z’ev-Bust this- Dossier Records- 1988

Billie Joe Becoat-Reflections from a cracked mirror- Fantasy records 1969

Billie Joe Becoat-Reflections from a cracked mirror- Fantasy Records 1969

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Groove with perfection

  By Strangeblood • January 9, 2014

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I wouldn’t consider myself much of a record advocate if I didn’t voice listening with a  new stylus as frequently as possible. This is just something I pick up at a local store. Certainly not trying to appear like a commercial or something as much as just to note products like this keep my collection in the best possible condition.

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Calling it the 8th

  By Strangeblood • January 7, 2014
On the 8th day God created...

On the 8th day God created…

Cecil Taylor has long been one of my favorite pianists. I’ve seen him perform at the Library of Congress in Washington D. C., Quebec, Canada, and in San Francisco. I already had a copy of this record on CD, but when I found the LP version at Criminal Records in Atlanta I just couldn’t resist. I mean, it’s not really collectable to own something on CD in my opinion and any Cecil Taylor record with Jimmy Lyons on it is classic stuff. It contains the original postcard insert with a picture of Mr. Taylor. Here’s What All Music had to say about it:

Recorded live in West Germany in 1981, THE EIGHTH is an aptly named Cecil Taylor concert. Listened to casually (though it’s hard to imagine this music listened to casually), one hears four virtuosi–Taylor on piano, Jimmy Lyons (alto sax), William Parker (bass), and Rashid Bakr (drums)–playing maelstroms of dense music. Closer listening reveals symphonic ambition, mystical leanings, and the magic of numbers. The eighth can also refer to an octave, one of Taylor’s favorite intervals.

The opening hour-long piece starts with a ritual: hands drum the outside of the Bosendorfer piano as voices shout/sing in the background. As in almost all Taylor compositions, the players quickly bring themselves to a point of no reserve. Lyons and Taylor spin and flutter notes over Parker and Bakr’s shifty rhythms. Although there are some striking moments (Cecil plays an avant-garde ragtime to a bell) the piece never really sheds the formality that its name implies.

The second piece, 10 minutes long, opens with references to 19th-century music. Within a few minutes, the players transform themselves into a tornado, wrecking all pretense and making full-blown and satisfying music. The opening motifs return, this time with a humorous, gospel slant.

 

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What’s in a name

  By Strangeblood • January 2, 2014

I’ve had my share of aliases over the years; Guido and Sweetbottom to name a couple. The name Strangeblood was actually given to me by the drummer in Venus Flytrap circa 1991. We were at band practice and were messing around and the late Chris Whitson (guitarist and songwriter) would say “That Curtis just isn’t normal, he doesn’t do normal things and doesn’t listen to normal music”. One time Tom (our drummer) said, “I think I’m going to start calling you Curtis Srange”, and then he asked “have you heard of that golf player Curtis Strange?”  The name Curtis Strange followed me around for a few days and then it somehow turned into Curtis Strangeblood. Back then Tom used to always accent the A’s a bit and so it always came out as Curtis Straaangeblood. That used to follow me around quite a lot back then. Chris would always be saying “Curtis just isn’t normal” and Tom would follow that with “Curtis Straaangeblood”.

The rest is history I suppose. I only ever DJ’d three or four times, so leaving out the Curtis and inserting DJ is just a sort of novelty to give everyone the impression that you’d be lucky to have me blast a set at you’re latest gathering, but as some of those reputations precede me, you might be unlucky depending on how obscure the mix is. Just a warning for those of you thinking of hiring me

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Strangeblood’s Best of 2013

  By Strangeblood • December 27, 2013

http://youtu.be/LWLxWmGE0k0
This year had some surprises and alas I decided to make a list of the top 15 records of the year.  Maybe I still left  a few great ones off but I believe there’s some great artists on here that help me want to get up, get dressed and start my 50 minute commute (where I listen to alot of the records I end up hearing). Enjoy, and bring on 2014.

1. Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano-The Raw and the cooked – Palilalia records

2. The Thing- Boot- The thing records

3. Electrophonic User’s Guide- Bits and Pieces- Electrophonic Users Guide records

4. Red, Hot, and Fela- Various Artists- Knitting Factory

5. The Dead C/ Rangda- Split 12″- Ba Da Bing Records

6. The Men- New Moon- Sacred bones records

7. The Strokes- Comedown Machine- RCA records

8. Sister Iodine – Blame- Premier Sang records

9. Kurt Vile- Wakin on a Pretty Daze- Matador records

10. Magik Markers – Surrender to the Fantasy- Drag City records

11. Bilal- A Love Sureal- eOne records

12. Robert Glasper Eperiment- Black Radio Vol. 2- Blue Note Records

13. Ty Segall- Sleeper- Drag City Records

14. Henry Kaiser Requia and Other Imrovisations for Guitar-Tzadik records

15.Bl’ast- Blood- Southern Lord Records