Sunday, September 30, 2012

Waves of Vinyl

Friday morning a friend and I decided to go to Daytona Beach for a night to catch some waves in the morning. As soon as we got there we checked in our hotel and walked out to the beach. The water felt cooler but still warm enough to jump right in. While we were out there, I couldn't help but to think about the lurking sharks. I know they are out there, I have seen them swimming off in the distance, but I still go in.

Sometimes when I'm floating on my board, I can almost feel something..lurking..

The reason why I am sharing today, is not for surfing (or my fear of sharks). Instead, I thought it would be cool to show some pictures of a funky record store I stopped at on my way home Saturday afternoon. I wasn't expecting to see the Atlantic Sounds record store, nestled in between other shops but as soon as I did , I knew I had to stop. When I walked in the appearance of the quaint shop seemed to have kept its 1980's vibe, although the first room had CD's and DVDs everywhere that were alphabetically categorized for easy skimming.

As I roamed the store and all of its glory, I ventured into a room dedicated to vinyls. If you have ever visited a record store before, it can be a little overwhelming because most of the time there are a lot of records and you want to look through ALL OF THEM. I just bought my record player last year; I have developed a mini-hobby of finding records and new places to shop for them. So when I saw this place, I got really excited!.

I probably spent a solid thirty minutes in the vintage store , flipping and sneezing before I found these hidden treasures: The Hollies, Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel. I was getting nervous because none of them had prices, so I was afraid to ask but I was pleasantly surprised when I was told, "all vinyls are priced between $1-$4.00." I bought all four for six dollars!. I was able to speak with the owner Michael Toole, and I asked him where he gets all his records from? The owner of the popular music store replies," people bring them in on sell or trade."

I thought that was cool, in addition to him telling me he looks through about, "2,000 records a week" for the store. I gave him cash since they offer a discount for not using plastic.

Listening to a record is an experience within itself. The crackle and pops of an old record signifies the journey it made to get into my hands. A record is tangible, you can hold it, smell it (ha ha), and you are pretty much forced to listen to the whole thing because there isn't exactly a "skip" button.Whether you are listening to music through these Fuzzy Wobbles or your iPod, enjoy the experience you get while indulging in the tunes.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Going to a Show

Tonight I got invited to see The Ataris play at Crowbar in Tampa for the  Paper+Plastik tour. My good friend Jennifer and her boyfriend invited me to come along. This band from the Midwest is better known for the tunes : "In this Diary," "The Saddest Song", and the remake of the Eagles hit , "The Boys Of Summer." I will be sure to take some pictures and hopefully some video clips so I can share tonight with all of you!

Watching the Ataris

I can't think of anything I enjoy more than going to see a band perform live. This past Thursday night, I had the opportunity to watch The Ataris play at The Crowbar in Ybor City. I've seen a few shows perform at the intimate establishment located in Tampas historic district ranging from Bonobo to "Dave Bazaan". Most memories that I have of listening to The Ataris are from highschool, driving around in my friends moms car on the beach ( probably skipping class), blasting our teenage angst out the window to "In this Diary" or the remake of the  original  Eagles hit , "The Boys Of Summer." 



Its kind of like when you are in a specific spot and you pick up a scent that immediately reminds you of someplace you've been before and you get a reminiscent feeling,  thats what it was like to see this band perform Thursday night. I was invited by one of my close friends  to see the four-piece alternative punk band from Indiana play at the venue with her her  boyfriend who is childhood buddies with the drummer Rob Felicetti.While the band was playing,  I couldnt help but observe Guitarist Thomas Holst and his retro short-shorts that everyone couldnt seem to ignore . After the show, I was able to briefly talk with Thomas Holst ( guitar). Thom told  me about another band he plays in named The Embry Record and gave me there second album "Darca."

Left: Thomas and I after the show. I was pointing to his awesomeness for giving me the album Darca!.



Right: Rob Felicetti (drums), centre: Thomas Holst (guitar) and me.





Tuesday, September 18, 2012

In response to Pop Life by Rob Sheffield

In response to Rob Sheffield's blog  " MTV to Music: We Are Never Ever Ever Ever Getting Back Together" ,  He talks about Katy Perry and her eye-rolling, throat clearing responses to the awards given to her obvious disregarded interest  of young-Pop  "One Direction", amongst other interesting artists behavior of the evening. I am going to avoid burning the hopes and dreams of Tweens all over who voted for this group, I would say I respect what they are doing. But my question is, " Does MTV appeal to  a broad listening group or just twelve year old and sounds that are meant to Brainwash people to social conformity? I remember when MTV was cool, and I could turn to the channel to SEE music which is almost as essential to the listening part. To show music videos other than "One Direction" or "Justin Bieber" would be to digress to a more diverse audience and share more music that isn't necessarily blaring through the radio stations. I understand this was a POP column so I set myself up to disagree with what in my opinion is worthy tunes, that the VMA's celebrates as "best new video" and, " best Share-worthy Video." I guess if I was a teenager maybe these bands would have more of an impact on my listening/viewing experience, but I doubt it.

Hello Friends

Do you ever get bored with your tunes? I do too, although sometimes I will listen to the same songs  repeatedly because I just get obsessed with a specific sound. These obssesions with music have fueled my interests of seeking out bands I've never heard of or, just looking for more to inspire me.
When I was a kid, I could remember riding around in the car with my mom as she belted out verses by Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones, or coming home from school to her cleaning the house with Duran Duran and Nirvana flowing out of the speakers like ropes lassoing me in.

As a result, I would confiscate her CD's and play them in my boombox, or give myself the stage in the livingroom while no one was home. I never wanted to become a singer but I knew I loved music and I drew a connection to it with happiness. I joined the choir in Elementary school and continued through to my senior year in High school. This experience taught me to listen, giving me the ear I have today for music. What I choose to listen to are my personal interests; I hear specific details that makes a song great to me.

I listen to various styles of music and I find talent in all genres, which has broaden my library of tunes and allowed me to learn a little more about specific styles. One way that I like to learn about a person I just met is to ask them, "who there favorite bands are," or "what they are listening to right now."  I have discovered a lot of new music this way. I am a huge concert junkie and I constantly search my favorite sites to all things  music in my area. In addition, I have a job at an entertainment venue that gives me a front row view of the bands while I'm working which has given me different perspective on sounds becasue I see the process of setting up the stage  from tuning the instruments.

Note.Worthy.Tunes. will be my outlet to the world. The Concerts and Photos that I will share, I hope will inspire someone to listen to something they have never heard, or through my links, see a band they never seen before. This will be a journey for all of us, "Rock on."