Yeah, its been a while. Ok a long long while..... I tracked and lazy... mostly lazy. I have done a fair amount of vinyl shopping in various cities over the past 6 months. My significant other (see partner in crime) and I did a couple weekend trips to Montreal and Toronto to see family and friends, and as always, i found some time to steer the trip slightly askew to feed my record habit. In Montreal i managed to pick up a copy of John Lee Hooker's "Fried Chicken" and a couple other LP's that were not already weighing down my record shelf. That little hounding escapade was disguised as a nice leisurely saturday stroll down Rue Ste Denis on the way to my favorite restaurant in the city.... Le Milsa.... conveniently, there were no less than 5 record shops along the way.......
We spent a weekend in Toronto before Christmas to visit our good friend Tarah and do some touristy things like get inordinately drunk, go skating in Nathan Phillips Square, see the Christmas displays at the Hudson Bay Company etc etc... That Saturday evening we went down Queen St west to do some shopping (clothes... ick) and much to my pleasant suprise, every single clothing store had a vinyl section! Finally, a form of clothes shopping i like, Maria can shop for things to wear, and i can shop for more records! Over a course of 3 or four shops i managed to grab a few gems... Ten Years After - "Recorded Live" featuring my favorite Ten Years After track, "I'm Going Home (by helicopter)", while this version doesnt quite carry the same colour as the version recorded at woodstock, its still one of my favorite jam/blues songs. Another choice piece of wax i found was a mint copy of The Cult - "Love" and The Beach Boys - "Endless Summer" (yeah i know, but i grew up listening to that album on cassette in the car on many many family vacations....... there is something to say for nostalgia)
Over the Christmas break i travelled to Florida with my mom and dad for a nice week long vacation of well mainly drinking and golf, but this is me we are talking about.... I took a drive from our resort in San Destin down the Emerald Coast to a town called Seaside, made famous as the location where the film "The Truman Show" was shot. I found this amazing little record store in the center of town called Central Square Records. I popped in just to browse around for a bit and ended up having a lengthy conversation with one of the owners. I must say the staff at that store are collectors first and business second. It was fantastic to be able to chat with someone who shared my strange addiction. After talking music and collections for a while i picked up a copy of Grand Funk's 1969 self titled LP with the song "Paranoid" on it.. if you haven't heard this track yet..... well you are missing out. I also scored a copy of Primus' new album the Green Naugahyde, which, if you like weird music, is a must have.
Anyways, one of my new years resolutions is to post more.... So hopefully i will try to keep these updates at least weekly....
