Twist and Shout Employee
• When was the last time you got that constricted blood-vessel feeling of "Oh my God I can't believe it's here. I've been looking for this record for..." In other words, is there a "Holy Grail" that you've been searching for in every music store and thrift store all across this great land of ours?
It has been a week or so since I got excited about an LP I have been looking for. It arrived at Twist and Shout and was priced reasonably considering what it is. It is the Plasmatics 1st EP called Meet The Plasmatics. I had seen this once before at a record convention in Oklahoma many years ago. I beleive it was the black vinyl pressing and was out of my price range. The one I snatched up the other day is a clear vinyl pressing which I have tried to research and find out how many of each color were pressed: NO luck. I even emailed the main Plasmatics/Wendy O. Williams fan site and they couldn't remember. Anyway it was one of few vinyl pieces I did not have, so I was very pleased to hold it in my hands- in great condition at that! P.S. The 6th of April (1998) was the day Wendy passed away. R.I.P. W.O.W.
•Is record shopping different, or do you get the same feeling at a bookstore or at Checker Auto Parts?
Music shopping is WAY different. Shopping for things you have a major interest in is exciting and finding something you didn't expect to see (sometimes ever) is a great feeling.
•Do you ever buy for investment or is it all for the love of music?
Both. I will admit I have put time and effort into knowing what is rare and taking advantage of a valuable find. But it stems from my DEEP love of music and my continued widening of musical taste parameters. Music is #1 in my day to day interests and thoughts (doesn't hurt working around music every day)!
•Have you ever bought something and as you are handing the money over you are saying to yourself "why am I buying this?!" What items did you say that about? Conversely, what's the worst case of remorse you've ever had by letting something slip through your fingers?
No, I do not thoughtlessly buy music anymore. When I first started buying cassettes and LPs I did buy albums based on the album cover, name of the band and name of the album. Even then I was thinking and hoping it sounded good. Mostly it was a good choice. Remorse? I guess it was when I didn't come up with $500 for a Deadsy demo cassette on eBay. I have never seen another since or before!
•How do you hear about new music these days?
Work, internet, word of mouth. I see plenty of new music at work but VERY little sparks any interest.
•Do you have a favorite music blog? magazine? website?
I don't bother with magazines anymore. Website? Maybe Pitchfork.com or Antimusic.com
•Do you listen to the radio? Satellite or old fashioned?
I choose what I hear as much as possible. The only radio I ever play is KUVO for some good jazz late at night.
•Who would you love to see performing at Twist & Shout (or the local record store in your town)? Why?
Jonsi! He is the singer of Sigur Ros- who always amaze me live and has a new solo album out. He also is touring for it and should come do an intimate acoustic set for Twist!
•Anything random to add?
This Record Store Day is going to be massive! It just shows how some bands/labels still care about the art of Limited Editions and the resurgence of vinyl! I am looking forward to it quite a lot!
Twist and Shout Employee, wizard
• When was the last time you got that constricted blood-vessel feeling of "Oh my God I can't believe it's here. I've been looking for this record for..." In other words, is there a "Holy Grail" that you've been searching for in every music store and thrift store all across this great land of ours?
McLusky's Do Dallas on LP -- I didn't buy it when we had copies at the vinyl store way back when, because it was a relatively expensive import and I figured we would get more copies... Boy was I wrong -- It was proof that when you really like an album you should just buy it there and then. Anyway, the album went out of print and I couldn't find it anywhere, and copies on the internet were going for crazy amounts of money. And then one just kind of fell into my hands almost by accident through a friend. I actually did the double-take, look around to make sure no one was waiting in the corner to snatch it away from me.
•Is record shopping different, or do you get the same feeling at a bookstore or at Checker Auto Parts?
After 15 years in record stores, music shopping has become more like sleepwalking to me -- it's almost like I can smell a stack of weird records from across the room. I don't know how to describe it, but it is no longer an active thing, I will flip through a stack of moldy records at a thrift store and pick things I like out based on whether I've ever seen the record before. With music obscurity does not equal lack of talent (often the opposite is true,) one of my favorite 45s is "Lover Doll" by Wes Reynolds -- ever heard of him? Neither had I, but the song is amazing and I would have never heard it if I didn't spend so much time digging through random stuff no one had ever heard of. Shopping in a record store is more like an archaeological dig than a consumer experience.
•Do you ever buy for investment or is it all for the love of music?
Definitely for the love -- when I pass on and my relatives have to pick through my record collection they will wonder why grandpa owned so many records about cooking meat or the complete discography of so many mediocre 70s mustache rock bands.
•Have you ever bought something and as you are handing the money over you are saying to yourself "why am I buying this?!" What items did you say that about? Conversely, what's the worst case of remorse you've ever had by letting something slip through your fingers?
Remorse is easy -- the McLusky record was definitely something I kicked myself about for years. Regret, on the other hand, not so much. I'm old enough to not be ashamed in my terrible taste in music...
•How do you hear about new music these days?
Mostly work. There is so much just in this one place, and I already have a backlog of "stuff to listen to" that I would have to hire a staff if I got information from anywhere else.
•Do you listen to the radio? Satellite or old fashioned?
I'm not sure I even have a working radio in my house... There are many times that I'll be feeling indecisive and put on a podcast or a stream (often WFMU.) That's kind of like radio, right? Just without all the advertising and the 50 spins of the same song every day.
•Who would you love to see performing at Twist & Shout (or the local record store in your town)? Why?
That's a really long list... I would really like to see what a grindcore band (Cattle Decapitation, for example) or somebody like Merzbow would do for an instore.
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