Well, I returned from vacation, to somewhere in excess of 400 mail
messages, mostly from IDM. I waded in about 75 deep and then deleted
the rest of them, so if you feel you wrote something too important for
me to have missed, mail it to me again.
My general impressions of LA this trip was that they should stop
watering everything and just get used to living in a desert.
Interstate 10 is lined with sprinklers along most of its length from
San Bernadino to downtown LA. What a collosal waste of water!
More germane to this group, I picked up a flyer for a rave that's
happening the 25th (i.e. tomorrow) headlined by Vapourspace, with
Space Time Continuum, Kevin Hardkiss, and many more I didn't
recognize. If you're out there, it might be worth trying to go.
I didn't get a chance to ask the IDM list about LA record stores, but
I found a pretty good one in Pasadena near Walnut and Foothill. Forget
the name -- something like 'Poo-bahs.' Very long on the indie/jazz
end, with a small electro/techno section, but lots and lots of vinyl
and used stuff. I recommend it highly.
I also hear there's a new Virgin mega-store in Hollywood on Sunset.
It may be corporate slime, but I wanted to go just to check it out.
Oh well, maybe next year.
Purchases:
B12 (Elector-Soma) Probably much virtual ink spilled here already. I
loved their cut on AI-1, and the full length is even better.
Orbital ('Green' Album) Also much ink under the bridge, but I found it
used for $8 US, so I was happy.
YMO (Kyoretsu na rhythm) This is more in the electro-pop vein, but you
young 'uns will know Yellow Magic Orchestra because the Orb did
remixes. The last track 'Megamix -- ymo in the 90's' is the closest
to dance. Obviously influenced by David Bowie during his 'produced by
Eno' phase, but that's just a starting point for their artful synth
workouts.
Ryuichi Sakamoto (SoUndByteS) This is one of the YMO dudes. This came
with a sticker claiming to have ambient and dub stuff on it, which is,
of course, false advertising. But this is a great introduction to his
solo work. I believe most of his records are import-only from Japan
right now.
Weather Report 'Sweetnighter' -- This is THE seminal
space-jazz-electro-funk record, the real shit. I found it on vinyl,
no scratches, with the shrink wrap still mostly on the cover. Since my
copy has seen 20 years of heavy play, I was thrilled. This is the one
Weather Report album not re-issued on CD in the US. This was 99 cents
at Goodwill Industries in West Covina. If this is out on CD in
Europe, and you can get your hands on it, drop me a line and I'll buy
it!
KraftWerk 'Grand Prix' 12" -- I have no clue about this one, and I
need to buy a new phono cartridge before I can listen to it, but it
was in mint condition and only 99 cents.
I've always thought you could judge what the Next Big Thing in music
is going to be by going through the record bins at Goodwill and
Salvation Army. So far, the Goodwill barometer predicted the
rehabilitation of Dance Music (techno is just Disco without John
Travolta, right?) and Kiss. Based on my perusal, the three things
most likely to come back into fashion are:
1. Frank Sinatra
2. LA Shit Country-Rock (Firefall, Eagles, etc)
3. Elton John (urk!)
Brace yourselves.
I was at my brother's wedding as OJ Simpson was taking his last ride
on the Santa Monica freeway. Now THERE's the worlds biggest
conceptual art piece -- 2 million people in the Los Angeles area glued
to their TV screens watching a guy drive a Bronco on the Santa Monica
Freeway. It reminded me of the Monty Python episode where the two old
biddies are watching Car Parks on the telly.