Well, it is fair to say I am pretty disappointed with the rather limited amount of response I received from my plea for help last week. Thank you to all those who did reply though, but at this present moment, I am still stuck with no slogan to print on our beautiful Rat Records T shirts. Please please please, if you have any inspiration, message me or, even better, post your ideas for posterity on the shop’s wall : http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=113028440116
We still have a £15.00 voucher as a reward as well as our eternal gratitude. Go on then, something in the evein of “Seek and you may find” or “boys and girls prefer 12inches”, just more original (since both have already been used).
Right, underpaid creative work offers apart, it’s finally time to move the clocks forward and, oh joy, we’ll be able to catch some daylight after work soon and we’ll all be partying in fields again before we know it! For now though, we’ll all have tomake do with alittle bit more rain, apparently….
Right, so the dark days are nearly over, the coming summer is supposedly going to be the warmest on record ever (don’t they just say that every time following a recession?), and if that wasn’t enough good news, we have just completed the price down on vinyls-so this is your time to grab a few bargains at slashed prices! Good timing, you’ll tell me, because the Robin Hood tax just hasn’t really materialised,and the price of cider just went up 10%. Well, believe it or not, but here we make sure the price of Vinyls and CDs go down at the same rate! Non mais! To hell with the bloody budget!
Now to the point (are you still here?): the stock to come out this Saturday: well, we have a bit of everything starting at £2.00 upto £10.00 and going up to £25.00 for the kind of records you’re unlikely to ever see again…
At this price, for example, you can get yourself a copy of Joy Division’s “closer” that is transluscent red when placed against a light. The vinyl for this release has several variations (hold up to a light source to see): Purple translucent or red translucent or green translucent.
The colors are the result of formulations used for the original pressings, with the purple being the very first pressing.
Yes, welcome to the mildly fascinating world of record collectors!
This week’s selection encompassses many genres and eras… you will find records by The Upsetters, Dr John, Kraftwerk, Can, a signed copy of a Sam Gopal Lp with a moustache free Lemmy on the left handside of the cover, The Exploited, Ride, Smiths, Traffic, Zappa, Grateful Dead, Astrud Gilberto, Joe Gibbs “rapper’s delight”, Treasure Isle compilation, Beatles and the likes…
That’s it from me today.
Ciao! Philippe-Rat Records.
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Well, first of all, thank you for all your concern (you know who you are, the 3 of you), I have not lost my job to a Russian model after all and apparently, my position at Rat Records is secured for the time being. Pfff!!
Second, I would like to ask the most creative of you all for a little bit of help : you see, we have finally decided to print Rat Records T shirts for all of you to wear proudly in streets and festivals, but we find ourselves stumped for a slogan. Now if any of you could come with one that would end up printed on what will undoubtedly prove to be a fashion statement for the future generations, then I would provide you with a £15.00 voucher and I will pray for your soul every week for a full year.
Right… so, as we all know, there are many important and profound issues that we all have had to confront at some point of another, and this for centuries and millenniums, but I am proud and deeply happy to finally give you an answer to all of them right here right now and once and for all, by simply giving you a comprehensive preview of the Rat Records new in rack for this Saturday-and as you might expect, it was well worth the wait!
Let’s start with the very latest arrival : a nice tall pile of original BLUE NOTE LPs from the 60’s-70’s. Ike Quebec, Stanley Turpentine, Jimmy McGriff, Coltrane and Miles Davis of course and some other tasty thick vinyls like those modern 180gr represses could only dream to feel like.
Yesterday, it was Soul, Funk and Reggae that we had to price all day. I can’t pretend to be an expert in that field, but I could only look in awe as I was confronted with records I had never encountered before by the likes of Mad Professor (he really looks MAD), Augustus Pablo, Sly and Robbie, Gregory Isaacs, Misty in roots, Johnny Hammond, Lee Perry, Dave Barker meets the Upsetters and some brilliant looking and sounding Ska compilations. Of course, these are the ones I noticed with my profan’s eyes…the truth will, as you expect, be to be found in the rack on Saturday morning.
Some of you may find all the answers they need in the riffs of noise pop semi gods Ride or indie pensioners Pixies (will their come back tour ever end ?)
Unless, of course, you are, like me, a strong believer that the truth comes from 1970’s Germany and has been hiding in the circuits of a few analog synths in a recording studio named Kling Klang. Kraftwerk still sounds better than any of their admirers, including LFO, Massive Attack and anyone else with a laptop you can bother naming, and we have a plethora of their records for sale, all below the £8.00 mark.
One more thing : I’ll be doing some Djing at the Relentless Garage next Thursday for the London launch gig of the new LP from the marvelous Tunng .http://www.tunng.co.uk/
It’s a great record and they are even better live.
And that’s it from me this week. Take care all of you!!
Philippe-Rat Records
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For once there was some activity at Rat records on Sunday as a crew of cameras and spotlights invaded our locals to proceed filming a promotional spot for the new CD by no one but the Rap magnate that is Jay Z.
Yes You Read Well : MUTHAFOO***G JAYYYYYYYY ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!
This is how it started : http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=4877664&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=113028440116&aid=-1&id=634118828
Now you going to ask me : where is he ? And the answer is that, just like me, he had much more interesting activities to indulge in on a Sunday morning, and so he decided to stay home, presumably with his bootydelicious wife.
So instead, my distinguished colleague and “friend” Dominic had to do with some Russian giraffe I will randonly name Ivanova, lavishingly posing on our disgrunted counter…
Apparently, Dominic and her made good friend during the day and he seems to have taken that opportunity to offer her a full time position at Rat Records,which for all I know, is MY position.
Now I have nothing against good looking, voluptuous girls, and I really do not want to be known as descriminating, but I really strongly believe that she might possibly underqualified for the job.
I mean, think about it : what does it take to sell records in Camberhell ? Surely more than an seemingly endless pair of legs and ridiculous pouting…. I mean, it’s a skilled job right ? And I can’t possibly imagine how all those serious record collectors could concentrate to the task that is theirs when there is constant distraction on the other side of the counter.
No, surely, that would not work
(and believe me, I only want what is good for this shop, and if I was convinced that Ivanova taking on my position would be a benefit, I would indeed step down graciously-BUT I DON’T).
Now if any of you would rather deal with her than with me,then you can post your comments in complete daylight (no anonimous messages will be taken into account) on the shop’s wall_but it’s only optional and the offer will end on Friday 12th March at 12.00am.)
Anyway, I think what you allwant to know is what we will be filling the new in rack this Saturday, and pardon my French but c’est de la bombe!! Last Saturday, we had half the rack empty within 2 hours of opening and by Monday, more than 2/3 were gone.
So we’re going back at it this week : 1990’s indie in pristine condition : Ride, My Bloody valentine, Pavement, Pixies, Husker Due, Dinosaur Jr, Galaxie 500, Smityhs, Pj Harvey… also eletronic stuff with likes of LFO and Orb, some Cramps (my thoughts go to Poison Ivy, I hope she’s coping well since Lux Interior has gone to rock n roll heaven), Cure, Fall and other 80’s luminaries, as well as a fabulous collection of Bob Dylan bootlegs, all individually handpackaged.
Theer’s also loads of near mint slices of pop rock from the hairy 70’s…. Buffalo springfield and Neil young, Floyd and Zeppeling of course, Creedence and many more.
As always theer’s raw funk and soulful stuff such as LPs by The Modulations, Benny Johnson and Gloria Scott, to name the ones I had never heard of…
One last word to salute the memory of two of the grestest and yet most depressing songwriters of the past 20years : rest in peace Mark Linkous (aka Sparklehorse) and Vic Chesnutt. The rumour is that they are forming a disco band with Kurt cobain over there and they are looking to recruit a frontwoman….
Now I bet Ivanova is dying for that job!
Philippe-Rat Records