iTunes Genius Mixes

Playing around with Genius again in iTunes, and the Genius Mixes is working very nicely.

Will I?

Will I? Won't I?

Don't know yet, but we will see if this is the new amp for V i n y l N i g h t.

It's Back! 22.10.10

Summer is over, V i n y l N i g h t is just starting.

22nd October, 2010
be there.

Well ...

I know, where is the list of albums from the last Vinyl Night? I'll do it. Between the playoffs and, well, life, I just haven't got to it. Soon my friends, soon.

Next Vinyl Night has B&W.

Oh Yeah!

V i n y l N i g h t 18.06.10

Be There.

It's fast approaching

V i n y l N i g h t is this Friday.

Be There.

V i n y l N i g h t 23.04.10

Be There

Scotch and Vinyl

Ceri is away. She is in Tullahoma. For work. I miss her. A lot. But, when she is gone, I get to listen to cool stuff. Digging through the records that are older that Tori, I found David Byrnes 'Lead Us Not Into Temptation'.

Bought this one while at a dance competition in Grand Island, N.Y. (Not so grand, FYI) Never listened to it before. It is really nice. Five songs into it, and it is instrumental so far. Reminds me, I need to get his 'Music for the Knee Plays', liked that one too.

Anyway, back to the music, Scotch in hand, 13 chairs surround me (for luck), and it is really nice.

Not a barn burner by any stretch of the imagination, but nice. Ambient. Almost. Lounge, nah, no beat. 10 songs into it, ahh, vocal by David. Nice. Like this.

Will follow up with his latest with Eno, the one with the house on the cover.

Cheers,
Andy

p.s. and he is still alive Yay!

Here is the album (oh, Temptation just ended ... this is next! And it's only 10:45)

OK, I Wanted Some Funk 'n Soul

And I got it. By the truckload.

James Brown, 'In the Jungle Groove'

From those first beats to the sax to the ... well, everything. This is what today's music came from. I have recognised several rifs and beats from current tunes. His band is amazing. Wish I knew more about him as I don't know his contributions. Whatever they are, this stuff is amazing.

From the lyrics of 'I Got To Move'

"Put your hand on the box and feel this. Lay your hand up there and feel it. If you got any kind of soul, you got to feel it"

Amen

Ceri won't like this.

Wow, just Googled, didn't know he died in '06. I feel bad now.

Just Like Eva Cassidy, I get into them after they died. Ooohh, that sounds bad.

Poo.

V i n y l N i g h t 23.04.10

Next V i n y l N i g h t is April the 23rd



Be There

The Spinning Disc

So, what have I been listening to as of late .....



Always loved Tom Waits, but I don't really know the earlier stuff. This goes back to 1978, and it is fantastic. Really. It is great, the scratchy, loveable Tom, with a real bluesy, mellow music. I really enjoyed 'Romeo is Bleeding' off this album. And all of side two as well.



Just filling out my Stevie collection. Glad I did.



A guy at the record store said this was good. And who wouldn't trust a guy. He was right, very awesome. Will look for more of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, it's kinda folky with a bit of electric guitar. Not what I expected, which is good because I am looking for something different. Not that I am in music rut, but lately, I seem to be into the female jazz. like really into it.

V i n y l N i g h t 23.04.10

V i n y l N i g h t

Be Yourself

V i n y l N i g h t Labs

Whats Cooking at the V i n y l N i g h t Labs?

Well, a theme is being constructed with the help of the internet and Scotch. Once complete, a notification shall be sent to the "people in the know" (PITK). Once the PITK have been alerted, we shall listen to the music that I have picked through many nights of listening and Scotch. PITK should know the next Vinyl Night shall be on 23-04-10. PITK should be there. I will be there. Be there.

Thank You.

V i n y l N i g h t 05.03.10 recap

Yup, another V i n y l N i g h t is in the can.

Alex came home from Trent with her boyfriend Peter for Victoria's birthday, and enjoyed an evening with old people. She was really hoping Joanne and Beth would get really drunk and sing to Carol King, but it didn't happen. I think everyone was pretty tired and the evening, though really enjoyable, was a little more restrained.

Looking forward to the next one on 30.04.10

Bob's coconut shrimp with curry dip were amazing.

On to the records.



Bill Withers. Not the one with 'Ain't No Sunshine' but a really solid album. It is kindling an appreciation for 70's funk and soul, in which I must now search out and spend my money on it.



What better to follow up some 70's soul than with some 00's soul. This is the second album of hers that I have and love it. Will order her latest by the end of the week (pay day!). I like the medleys and her voice just captures the mood perfectly.



Thought this one might be fun as I like the song Sweet Emotion. That was nice. Rest was crap.



Always like the Fixx, Mainstream with out being mainstream. Quirky without being retarded. Something that I am aiming for in my life.



I hate this album. It's depressing. Don't get me wrong, I like depressing music. This one is depressing because it is sheer garbage that we paid good money for. Other people, that are my friends, seem to like it. I don't know why. Is that propeller supposed to be a bow tie? F-you A-holes.



Just a wonderfully produced album that really sounds fantastic. The music is on the better side of average from the 80's, but nothing special. It's the production that really comes through. This is not a re-issue, but a 24 year old pressing that has survived many moves. One of the albums I use when I got to HiFi shops and pretend to buy a system.



Wanted to give this a spin as I just downloaded Peter Gabriel's latest album 'Scratch My Back' from B&W's Society of Sound and it had the Talking Heads track 'Listening Wind'. That then made a great tie in to ...



Peter Gabriel. It's either self titled, '1' or 'Car'. Either way, love this album. We listened to a re-issue on 200 gram vinyl. No noise, just wonderful sound.

V i n y l N i g h t 05.03.10

Yup, this Friday. be there. I know I will.

VN Central

This is where it all started, at V i n y l N i g h t Central.

iPhone and Music

Finally, the iPhone is mine. Thanks to Telus, I had to wait, and wait and wait some more. But now, the iPhone is in my sweaty little hands, all poised for my chubby little sausage fingers,

Now, with all the applications that you can run, my favourite is the remote iTunes app.

Why? Because I have 2 Apple Express's installed on the stereos in the house. As of late, I always encode my music in the lossless format (Yes, the Apple lossless, as iTunes does not play FLAC ... yet). Now, what ever I play on the Mac Mini upstairs in the office, can play all over the house. And, since I have an iPhone, I can control it from anywhere in the house. Really nice for remote controlling iTunes.

V i n y l N i g h t 29.03.05

Like crabs, it's back.

iTunes DJ

Sitting here at work and not knowing what to listen to. Usually when I work I like more ambient/chill/jazz style of music, just so that it doesn't take my mind off what I am working on.

Today, I just wanted something a bit more lively, and hit the 'iTunes DJ' button in iTunes. Wow, really neat. It is doing a pretty decent job of making the music flow from my collection, and I am hearing stuff that I have that I have not heard in years, or ever, even.

V i n y l N i g h t 29.01.10 recap

A cold evening outside, but nice and warm in the basement. So lets get on with the records.

Started with a Cars triple shot. Their first three albums. I had totally forgot how much I listened to them when I was younger. Sitting in the basement with friends. Wow, times sure have changed.

The Cars - The Cars



The Cars - Candy-O



The Cars - Panorama



Then a switch to the White Knight, David Bowie. Not the usual fare, but really good regardless.

David Bowie - Golden Years



Jackson Browne - Running on Empty

Tim caught this one in about 5 seconds, and he really appreciated it. Seems like the bulk of the music that everyone like sis from the 70's. It's just an era that I don't know too much about.



Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

This one was for me, and everyone was leaving at this point anyway, so I may just give it a spin on another night. The album that got me into Tom Waits, and always one of my favourites.

The V i n y l N i g h t Bookcase

I bet you thought we only had time for music and sex here at Vinyl Night. Well, you are wrong, we actually try to educate ourselves when we are not flipping records or shagging.

This week, my selection is Vinyl Junkies, by Brett Milano. I am only a few chapters in, but it is a very humours look at the warped world of record collecting. There are many little side stories, each interesting in their own little way. A good book that is easy to read a few pages and pick it up again a few hours, or days, later. Only because the record may need changing, or the mood strikes.

V i n y l N i g h t preperation

Yes, here at the V i n y l N i g h t Labs, we go to extremes to provide the very best in aural stimuli for our guests.

Not everything comes easy, as you can see we are painstakingly listening to the next galas playlist.

We listen to everything, just so you don't have to. It's not just a motto, it's the truth. I actually listened to Milli Vanilli this week, just so you don't have to.

V i n y l N i g h t 29.01.10

Come Hang With Us!

V i n y l N i g h t 29.01.10

Be There

New Acquisitions!

Bob is no longer a virgin.

I finally took him to Alternative Audio and had him listen to a few of the systems. He was blown away by the sheer awesomeness of honest to goodness great audio systems.

We listened to Patricia Barber's Café Blue (tracks 8 and 9, Ode to Billy Joe and Morning Grace) on what will be my future system.

• Cary SLI-80 Tube Amplifier
  
• Dynaudio Focus 220i Speakers
  
• Simaudio Moon Equinox CD Player
  

Bob is now converted.

Now, to the new albums. While we were at Alternative Audio, you can't help but go into Diamond Groove since it is in the same building. There I picked up the following:

Amos Lee, Supply and Demand



This is my second Amos Lee record, the first one being his self titled debut, 'Amos Lee'. This is a record that I could listen to all day. Just tremendous. Just read that when he started out he toured with Norah Jones. Not suprised, maybe that is why I like his work.

Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination



We have several Alan Parsons Project records, but not this, his first. Have only listened to side one so far, and the similarities to Mike Oldfield are quite apparent. Sounds a lot like Oldfields 'Five Miles Out'. An excellent pressing, on the Vinyl Lovers label. Probably give this a spin on the 29th.

Tom Waits, Glitter and Doom - Live



Well, I know Ceri will never listen to this. This is my little indulgence. With age his voice is raspier, meaner and downright nasty. Wonderful. With such personal favourites as Singapore, Dirt in the Ground, and Goin' Out West, how can you not enjoy this.

I did trick Alex into listening to 'Mule Variations' in the car, and she enjoyed it until she asked who it was.

The Spinning Disc

What are we listening to as of late?

• Melody Gardot, My One and Only Thrill (Vinyl)
  
• Patricia Barber, Café Blue (CD)
  
• Mick Hucknall, Tribute to Bobby (CD)
  
• Norah Jones, The Fall (Vinyl)
  

And revisiting...

• Eva Cassidy, Live at Blues Alley (CD)
  
• Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs (Vinyl)
  

V i n y l N i g h t 29.01.10

Next V i n y l N i g h t is 29.01.10