T REX - TANX

Although I am still reeling from the awesomess of one recent purchase in particular: The below Sergio Mendes LP, there has been much room for this particular album in my life over the past week. For reasons unknown I halted my exploration of all things T Rex at Slider. When I was about 13 I had a double cassette compilation that included works beyond that but beyond playing it in the car with my dad as an exercise in bridging the generation gap I remember little of it.

'He died in a car crash y'know, drove his mini into a tree.'

'Really? I thought he'd be driving a Jeep.'

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 16.22 (PINK FLOYD - ATOM HEART MOTHER)

So during the course of today's exercise my readership has actually reduced by a staggering 10%, conceeded there were only ten 'readers' at the beginning of the day but that is still the kind of loss you don't want to highlight in a pie chart beaming onto the boardroom wall. Maybe I need to be doing more swearing? Less self analysis and more talking about music. Pretty sure I could treble the readership if I refocussed the content to included my second hobby of compulsive pornography viewer. 'Records I am listening to on my record player and pornography I am watching on the internet.' ... Might actually be something in that, just need to work on the title.

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 15.33 (DJALMA CORREA - BAIAFRO)

I just used Babelfish (an online translation application) to explain to a customer that I would not be buying his records because I was only looking after the shop. Truth be known, had he not already come from the record shop next door who had refused them I might have had a look, but if they had turned them down then, wow, they were shit.

In the time lapsed I have hidden from one customer - a guy from work, not because my temporary second job might be viewed as a conflict of interests but rather because I am an anti-social shit who makes uneccesarily heavy work of occaional pleasantries. At times I am utterly incapable of even a 'Hi how are you', I mean, yes I can say the words, but can I do it without sounding insincerre, without sweating, looking awkward? That's a negatory.

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 14:28 (SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL '77 - RAIZES)

A lady with three of her front teeth missing just tried to sell me some CDs.

Shortly afterwards another customer appears, a polite browser, no discerning features. I pretend I am German and nod as he talks. Eventually he leaves and I am alone with Sergio Mendes and his Brasil '77. Good album this. A million light years away from the mid to late 60's fodder more readily associated with lift muzak. This is something of a tribal/world/spooky free jazz sound clash. Well, less of a clash, more of a blend, it's probably a lot like coffee or something.

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 13.30 (LINDA MCCARTNEY - WIDE PRAIRIE)

Okay so it looks like the record player is, for now at least back up and running. Personally I can't think of a better way of celebrating the fact than seeing what this sounds like. I am for obvious reasons full of anticipation here. This is where Paul's very own Yoko get's to flap her wings (Wings! Get it?). Linda's musical history is forever tainted by the isolated sound desk tapes of her 'backing singing' that did the rounds in the late 80's. This in mind I am expecting something as wonderful as the Shaggs here...

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 13.01 (GAL COSTA - LEGAL)

This could turn into somekind of endurance blogging, a veritable marathon of typing reviews of records, CDs rather that I really don't want to be listening to. This in mind I reserve the right to abandon 'Operation:Record Shop' without prior notice, not least because up to now my day reallty isn't worth writing about.

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 12:28 (POPOL VUH - HOSIANNA MANTRA)

I forgot to mention in my last log the reason for it's running late. Didn't have a password for the computer.

Anyway, by this point the record player has inexplicably stopped working and I can't find the lights for the back of the shop. I suffered through more Steve Windwood/Traffic than any man should have to. I had been under the impression that I needed a copy of 'John Barleycorn...' but beyond the drums and flute of 'Freedom Rider' it really is a nothing record.

LIVE RECORD SHOP REPORT 12:07 (BLACK SABBATH - BLACK SABBATH)

So my day has not panned out quite as expected thusfar. Currently I am sat in near darkness listening to a scratched CD copy of Traffic's 'John Barleycorn Must Die'. Battling with the Ys and Zs of a German keyboard. Anywaz the day so far...

CELEBRATING MY 80th ENTRY

I wanted to do something special to celebrate that all important 80th anniversary. According to the internet In wedding terms I would be celebrating my 'oak' anniversary, which is interesting. I would have guessed at some precious stone above diamond, but no, coffin wood it is. Anyway, I got to thinking, I should review a Black Oak Arkansas album or something or other to do with wood, but then I thought, 'no, that's a shit idea'.

Then as luck would have it something truly wonderful happened...

CODEINE - THE WHITE BIRCH

...It's the most wonderful time of the year! (sung with equal parts gusto and Christmassy cheer)

Traditionally, and when I say traditionally I actually just mean the past four or five years, rather than say since I was four, this record and a handful of others will now stay on heavy rotation until the weather lifts and the bears come out of their caves. This basically means I will hear it at least twice weekly until the end of March.

TIM MAIA - TIM MAIA RACIONAL

So what do we know about Tim Maia? We know he is dead, that he died in 1998, that he was a Brazilian singer song writer who did not age as well as he might (his head in particular changed shape in a very non flattering way as his twilight years approached). We also know that in 1975 he recorded the album Racional. At this time Tim was a member of the Universe in Descenchant cult.

VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO - THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

I decided to wait until I finally had an early press of this before commiting it to the annals. Reviewing anything other than an original peelable banana sleeve just seemed criminal, as if something was missing from the experience.

I finally found an 'affordable' copy on returning from my holidays. In fairness I had seen it before waving at me from the racks, slightly too expensive and with an unfortunate case of spine wear creeping at least three inches from the base to just below the title writing. I could just about see past the fact that the top of the banana has seperated about 20mm down and that the print at the edges is dulling but the spine, something I am particularly anal about always put me off until now.

BACK

So I am back. After a pregnant pause of nigh on a month my fingers are tapping away as they recover from a night of making up for lost record shop time. Already my tan is fading, patches of peeling skin forming on my shoulders as my shit turns back to normal. Sierra Leone saw everything ranging from 'runny like soup' to trying to pass an sizeable unsanded wooden stump... But this is 32RPM and not Brownycolwny.Blogspot.com so I shall cease and desist with that particular line of copy.