Brandon Burke

When did you switch? As I remember, the first generation of "poly"-lined sleeves were made with a terrible clear plastic that stuck to everything like Saran Wrap. Interesting to hear that you've run into problems with modern poly-lined sleves. By modern I mean the ones with the translucent hazy finish, of course.

I haven't spent enough time with Japanese LP covers to know how they differ but cramming your records too tight on the shelves is nothing but trouble. I imagine that the problem could have been avoided by storing the LPs under less pressure.

When was Persip with Ra?!

This isn't normally a record that I'd mention off of the top of my head but Boykins is on The New Boss Guitar of George Benson (Prestige 7310). I dig it. Listened to it the other day, in fact.

I should correct that statement. The primary concern is the fact that those 60's/70's inner sleeves are so abrasive. Especially the ones with no printing and the hole in the center. There's nothing good about those. The acidity thing is up for debate at this point but, rest assured, folks will begin publishing reports on that in the next handful of years, I'm sure....

Good lord..... I just re-read your initial post. You probably wouldn't like either Revueltas or Ives if you don't like radical tempo changes. For that mood, my go-to guy is Morton Feldman. He's about as minimal as it gets. You'll find little in the way of emotive sweeps here. Just some light, shimmering clusters of tone that pass through with the regularity (yet irregularity) of a light breeze. In other words, you know it's coming but you never guess it on time. I'd give him a listen somewhere where you can check stuff out for free before you buy it. The classics are "For Samuel Beckett", "Coptic Light", "Durations", "Rothko Chapel" and the one that Kronos did a few years ago.

If you really feel like getting your shoes blown off then look for any Charles Ives recording with the "Holiday Symphony". I'll never forget the first time I heard "The Fourth of July". Wow.... Imagine the absurd masculinity of Mingus but transposed into a classical piece based on (earlier) Americana folk form (a la J.P. Sousa, "Battle Hymn of the Replublic", etc.). Ives is my boy, hands down. Relentless maverick. Wrote all of his compositions while still running a successful insurance company full-time. Y'know...on the side. Particularly impressive is the fact that he heard very little of his pieces preformed live during his lifetime because...well....they we're just too dissonant. I mean let's face it, most symphonies don't play Ives even to this day. The pieces require an immense amount of time to prepare and they're a lot to handle for the *average* classical listener. Assuming I didn't scare you away by now, check out Ives. He was a fascinating American artist regardless of the medium.

I got really turned on to Silvestre Revueltas a few years ago. He was a Mexican composer and something like a Stravinsky with more percussion. Somewhere between "Sacre"-era Stravinsky, Ennio Morricone and (believe it or not) Carl Stalling, though he predated all but Stravinsky by several years. Really cool stuff. Here is the AMG bio and this is a great place to start. EDIT: This post inspired me to get up and throw that CD on just now. It's really great....

I wouldn't worry about mylar. The outer cardboard sleeves themselves aren't the problem. They're fine. It's the chemical reaction b/w the (clearly) acidic paper inside and the playing surface itself that has folks at the LC concerned. In otherwords, cardstock is made from better fibers than the inner sleeves AND has a glossy coating. Inner sleeves were dangerously close to strong newspaper in structural make-up -- and why not, right -- no one knew that there'd be a problem. They aren't so bad anymore, though I'm sure they're still marginally acidic in most cases today. You won't find a problem b/w the cover and the outer poly. At least, it's never been brought up as a concern in conservation circles.

Man, I gotta go with Lonnie Smith Live at Club Mozambique. That thing is just flat-out stupid. Not a stinker on there. Than again, this is coming from someone who doesn't play organ and a number of people here do. So..... On another note, don't forget Lou on Jimmy Smith Cool Blues. That's some of my favorite Donaldson on record.

No work has been done yet on the effects of acidic paper (90% of all paper sleeves) on either vinyl or shellac. In a perfect world, I'd have the time and funding to conduct that research myself but....I can't. Regardless, any study of that sort likely means applying artificial aging, which is problematic from the word "go".

I use Bags Unlimited because they also sell mailer boxes. Poly sleeves are a good idea but avoid putting oversized jackets in a sleeve that's too small. Your record will bow over time. As a general rule, poly sleevs are good and you'll avoid ringwear by not packing them too tight on your shelves. More important, actually, are poly-lined inner sleeves. Especially if they're currently in those awful 70's sandpaper sleeves.

I've always felt funny about asking for autographs from artists. Baseball, for whatever reason, wasn't a problem and as a result I've got some good ones: * 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle (autographed) * 1958 Topps Ted Williams (autographed) * 1972 Topps Hank Aaron (autographed) * 196? Topps Hank Bauer (autographed) * 1980 Official AL ball signed by entire Royals roster (AL champs!) * 1985 Official AL ball signed by entire Royals roster (World champs!)

I'll admit that I don't listen to that kind of stuf all the time, but I like all three of the examples in that paragraph.

My favorite Blakey moment is the first song on that LP.

I've been going with Bud Powell The Scene Changes (especially "Duid Deed") for years. That head stays in my mind for hours. Never fails. Other than that, I go with *lighter* stuff (non-BN) like Stan Getz "Ginza Samba" from With Cal Tjader or Vince Guaraldi/Bola Sete From All Sides (which also features a version "Ginza Samba", now that I think about it)..... EDIT: Cheerios, by the way.

I was in a Lou Donaldson v. Cannonball argument about two months ago and sided with Lou.

It's on the recently-released Best of Will Ferrell which should be at any self-respecting video store. I went ahead and bought it. First of all it's cheap. Secondly, it features his SNL tryout, a great blooper reel, and an unaired skit that's (now) another one of my faves. Funny stuff.....

Thanks for looking out. Yea, I checked ebay too. It looks like I'll have to go there. Like anything else, it all depends who's in the market that day/week. Trouble is, you've got folks who really dig their design AND folks who are into the artists featured inside (esp. anything w/ Bjork, Beck, Radiohead, etc.). Sometimes those go for a lot. I'll keep my eyes out and maybe I'll hit a good week. Thanks.......

My brother is a graphic designer and he always talks about the design team behind Raygun magazine. So I figure I'd try to track some down for him for the holidays. If you've got any (or a line on some) please let me know. Thanks, Brandon

This just came out yesterday.... ...this didn't.......

Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch or Grachan Moncur Evolution. Either one. It's a toss up. EDIT: No. Actually, it would be Moncur's Some Other Stuff so I could ask Herbie where he got the idea to play those modernist riffs on "Gnostic". I've always been intrigued by that. July 1964 was pre-Steve Reich and pre-Philip Glass. (They weren't composing for traditional instruments like that yet, anyway.) I still don't know where he got those counter-time 8th-note and 16th-note repetitions riffs from. Next time you see him at the Bose store, ask him for me.

You're right. I should see Jackie Brown. Something tells me I might appreciate it more than the others, though I do like his first one. As for the comparison to Pulp Fiction, that thing had next to character development in my opinion so anything would be an improvement. I had the same problem with the Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There. Looked great. Beautiful eye candy, but I could have cared less about any of the characters in that thing. Bored me to tears. And that's difficult to do because I like slow b/w films.

This is precisely where I get off the Tarrantino express... You and me both.

This topic came up once on the BN board as well. Here's the deal.....you shouldn't forget that Dusty Groove began as a funk shop. As such, they have a strong hip-hop clientele and many of those Abersold LPs contain beats ripe for sampling. "Mr. Super Hip" from Nothin' But Blues, Vol. 2 is a good example. It even splits the instruments into bass/drums on the left channel and keys/drums on the right.