Time is on your side
Time is on your side.
Right, here’s the thing : this is kinda hot in here and I am out of inspiration so I’ll just give you a short list of the records I have spotted that will be in the rack on Saturday :
Bunny Wailer, PIL (original, but not very shiny, silver box), Universal robot band, Classic electro mastercuts, Brian Auger’s “oblivion Express”, Unkle’s “psyence fiction” in it’s limited edition version, Duster bennet, Delroy Wilson, some original LP’s from the big O Roy Orbison, Bill Withers, Suicidal Tendencies, A reissue (forget about ever finding an original) of the psych gem Black Merda, Love, Salsoul orchestra, and of course, more Beatles, Floyd etc… also we have an amazing collection of Punk rock cd’s including Minutemen, Penetration, Dim stars, The replacements, Alternative tentacles,Jello Biaffra and Dead Kennedys, lene Lovitch, Black Flag, The suburbs, The residents and a lot more from all these guys who took all the best names and left todays bands with ridiculous choices ( death cab for cutie… for Gawd sake!!!).
Right, now, I thought I’d tell you a little story, and see if actually any of you read these mailouts :
I am really keen with the idea of things taking my time at the moment…I’m not known for my patience but I’m really (slowly) learning the art. I think if you can refer back to 20 years ago and actually remember thoughts and ideas and dreams of that time it’s a good thing.
It’s a marker. Things can take years…things can take a lifetime. I like the idea of a life’s work, and that is exactly what Rat records is : the shop has been here in Camberwell 10 years and it is enjoying it’s best year and Tom has never been that happy to come down from his (minor) manor in Scotland.
Credit to him, he’s put an amazing amount of work into it and it finally paid of-which to me is inspiring. Now to the story :
This is about an Ethiopian guy in jail. He was an intellectual (as most Ethiopian men who have served time in jail are as they question things and the government doesn’t like that) and longed to read. One guy smuggled in Gone With The Wind and all the prisoners took their turn to read it - 350 men. This man decided to translate it, he had no paper so he used the foil from cigarette packets. It took two years. He wrote the translation on 3000 sheets of paper-backed foil.
How bloody amazing is that!???
Sweet Lori
First and foremost, thank you all for even in these tough times, we are still going strong and May was our best month of the year so far! We have just completed the full price down on all the records and CD’s left in the racks so it’s definitely the right time to come and catch a bargain!
Now, when I write these updates it’s normally in order to let you all know how bloody good the stock of new records and CD’s we are putting out Saturday is…. not so today though!
Don’t get me wrong, the stock IS good! it’s not only good, it’s funky as hell : Hamilton Bohannon, King Errison, Rice and Beans orchestra, Deodato, Dibango… it’s another batch of familiar, enigmatic or totally desirable original press of the classic you always wanted to own in it’s original splendour ! We have a small but fab collection of Roots Ska 7inches as well as Punk and 70’s Glitter (not Gary… y’know, Bowie, Bolan etc).
But let’s face it, all these records are DIRTY! Yes, all of them, believe me! None are ever going to be free of dust or oils from one’s fingers, and even sealed records actually aren’t free of dirt apparently… I mean, even Kim and Aggie’s records are dirty!
So say you want to transfer your vinyl to digital (and possibly then sell them on E bay) and you buy some expensive piece of software to do so… and some incredibly expensive needle for your turntable… then unless you find a way to clean up the record beforehand, you simply have just wasted your time and money innit!!!
Well that is about to change as Rat Records is now proud to own the best record cleaning machine on the market : it goes by the sweet name of “Loricraft audio PCR4 “. Take a look at her here (she’s the one on the right) :
http://www.garrard501.com/prc2.html
She looks yummy doesn’t she! (I am starting to wonder which of my own collection will be the one to go for a wash first…. Karen Dalton? Nick Drake? Fred Neil?…. Plastic Bertrand?)
Anyway, we know record collectors are looking for a great musical experience and after a few months of often deafening research (all other machines are louder than a pre war hoover) we decided this was really the only way to provide such a service.
So there you go : we will be, I believe the only place in South London to provide such a service and we really look forward to see and hear your reactions!
Oh, and before I get back back to my geeky record collector activities : does any of you know the band Shellac? They are like, the ultimate Noise minimalist US rock band (Steve Albini, the main guy, was asked by Kurt Cobain to produce “in Utero”)!
Well today, thanks to all our conversations about cleaning records, I found out that they named themselves after the resin (secreted by the female beetle) that phonographs records (78’s) were made of until the 50’s and the advent of vinyl! No one really cares… fair enough! 
Bye for now! See you at the shop soon and don’t forget to let your friends know about us !
Philippe.