“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them” Pablo Picasso
I’ve never really been good at multitasking… some might say no man actually is, but I bet there are plenty better at it than I am (I sincerely hope so for the sake of this planet).
So of course, since both Tom and Dominic are away on holidays this week, I have been through my pace frantically trying to serve customers, make tea, file CDs, make tea, do a few buys, wash my hands, make tea, help the old lady trying to find where the Soca section is (there isn’t one Maaam), answer the calls from the poor girl trying to sell me some new internet gizmo, eat something if possible and generally just wasting far too much time on my serial addiction for browsing our drawers for the ultimate pearl that I might never have another chance to encounter… before it goes on sale for all of you to snatch….
So since I arrived in this shop I have been looking for a copy of the double pack of remixes of “talking all that Jazz” that Tommy boy released in limited press back in 1998… and there I was last Saturday, all glow from returning from my holidays, selling records by the bucket, when one of our regular arrives at the counter with a spanking new copy of that EP, and I just froze…. of course, to cap it all, it was priced a ridiculous £3.00…… I miss one week, and there you go….I have since went through every single remaining records in the shop in the delirious trance that if there had been one copy, there might have been two….
So I have had a good view of the new coming stock for you guys and there’s some rather exciting pieces, with a lot of really really good compilations of rare soul, , funk, abstract, hip hop and of course reggae, most of them in Near Mint condition (Hip hop don’t stop 2, Mo wax Headz vol 1, Channel one, Wild style -the reissue, a few Dusty Fingers numbers, Hot numbers vol 1), some brilliant reggae LP’s from the likes of Augustus Pablo, I Roy, Ranking Joe, Burning spear, Clint Eastwood….
Of course there’s always classic rock in abundance (amon duul super rare originals, The chairman of the board, No means No! And Bonzo dog band are some of the rarities sandwitched between the usual suspects Bowie, Dylan, Stones, beatles etc) and enough rare soul and funk to set an iceberg on fire (a few classic Parliament, Marcia Griffiths, the black moses Isaac hayes, a few pulp fusion classics)
There are a lot of nice early naughties breaks and beats 12’s, very nice hip hop and what shall still be described as “intelligent” techno, due to the fact that it actually does blip blip instead of boom boom… some nice Warp and Peacefrog classics there though, as well as Ninja tunes and Mo wax and some of their midtempo innovators contemporaries.
Of course we’re still putting CDs out everyday and virtually all of them at £5.00. Our Hip hop and soul section is particularly well stocked and we have been putting out some very obscure Punk and Indie too….
There you go, I hope to see some of you very soon.
Ps : To the person who puked all over my neck and hair at the Nine Inch Nails last night….I tell you from the heart : I will get my shirt scanned for DNA and find you!!! watch your back…like….FOREVER!!!!
All the best.
Philippe.
Well there’s possibly two things in this world that really can drive me angry and one of them is when I spend a few hours of my evening writing a fine piece for this update and it gets lost in cyberspace with a rather enraging “ooops something went wrong we’re working to sort it out” type of message in guise of an apology…
The other thing that really makes me go mmm, is the incredible business sense of the Jackson’s clan, even in the very moment of saying goodbye to their finest progeny! So the man has gone to incredible length to protect the identity of his kids all this time and then bang, him gone, they just throw them into the media circus with almost certainly the idea to turn them into a 21st century Jackson 3.
Joe, Michael Jackson’s father and otherwise known as “evil grin”, has managed to use a press conference about his son’s death to announce the launch of his new record label… and the brothers all make you feel that they somewhat feel “It’s my turn now”. Seriously Jermaine and Tito and the other seem to really honestly think they will re launch their own non existent careers wearing the iconic white glove that their little brother made famous… possibly there might be more dignity in sticking one gloved finger each in his dead body’s ass and sell the result on e bay.
People loved Michael Jackson for good valid reasons : he was a incomparable performer and left a lasting musical legacy that transcends the notion of taste : the bassline of Billie Jean seems as natural to the human ear as the action of breathing….
So I salute him.
Ps : we will put out some really really good records this coming Saturday that includes an original Mono pressing of Pet sounds, a rare Lee Ranaldo lp, original Bert Jansch, Kinks, Deodato, Stone Roses, Beta band, Leroy Hudson, Nightmares on wax, Prince far I, U roy, Air, Tricky, Orbital, Funkadelic (that pretty rare “one nation lp with the extra 12 inch”), and I’ve also spotted a couple of lp’s by Mr Quincy Jones, who incidently was no small part in making a semi god of MJ.
We have very very good stcok, it’s impossible to mention every 500 records in the rack, but believe me, with virtually everything under £8, you will get a bargain if you come down.
All the best.
Philippe at Rat records.