Finishing off with my last CASTLEBEAT album- Stereo. I think this might be my favorite, though it's hard to pick one. When this came out, I fell in love with it- cementing my love for all things CASTLEBEAT.

Keepin' the CASTLEBEAT beat

Keeping on the bedroom rock train with my newest obsession CASTLEBEAT. I've known about him for awhile now and have casually listened to him before. But lately, for whatever reason, I can't get enough of it, so I ordered 3 of my favorite albums of his from his Bandcamp.

This album, his self-titled debut, was my first exposure to him. Thusly it gets the debut spin. Next up is likely Half Life, then Stereo. Stay tuned!

Groovin' to some good old fashioned bedroom rock, like my Gramma used to make.

After being on a major Stranglers kick over the last year or so, I finally broke down and got them on vinyl. La Folie is not necessarily my favorite album of theirs (that would probably be either The Raven, Feline or Aural Sculpture) but it sits squarely in my favorite period of them. And come on, who doesn't love "Golden Brown", I don't care if you think you've heard it too many times. Plus other bangers like "Non Stop", "Everybody Loves You When You're Dead"... it's a great album, if only slightly uneven compared to other albums of theirs.

Went up to LA to see The Boulet Brothers at the Fonda with Sarah. We went up a little early to check-in, get some dope sushi and hot up Amoeba. It was a short sesh, so I only got 2 records. Had I had the time to shop the entire place, it would've been much worse. All the better. I picked up a cheap Day Wave album and finally scored a Stranglers album on vinyl. Short and sweet!

Time for some Nancy and Lee! Well he's the producer, anyway. I hope he sings on this. Regardless, I'm digging her version of Swee Georgia Brown...

Yesterday saw another great lunch and record shopping trip with Craig Danger! We had planned to do a bike ride, but the weather was a little grey and cold, with a chance of rain. Perfect record shopping weather! So it was to The Station again. This time I had their special, a fried fish sandwich, which hit the spot and scratched an itch. Danger again with the burger topped with a fried egg and a disappointing tomato slice.

Then, to Vinyl Junkies, where I was quite proud of myself that I managed to leave well under budget and without a huge stack of records. Seeing one of my favorite artists and albums right at the checkout nearly jeopardized that, but I had to get it: Sheila Chandra's "ABoneCroneDrone". A must-have for me, and at $30, still not too bad for new vinyl

I also finally found a copy of The Moody Blue's "Days of Future Passed", completing my collection of their "Magnificent Seven" (and more). I'm pretty sure I have everything of theirs that I care about now. I picked up Love And Rocket's "Express" for $15, which a hater friend of mine called "expensive", but I disagree (at least in relative terms).

The cover K-Tel collection "Dancer: The Danceable Side of Today's Rock" jumped out at me in the Digger's Den. I have vivid memories of this album from the early 80s, which was my older sisters, mostly for its inclusion of Lipps, Inc.'s "Funkytown" and Frankie Smith's "Double Dutch Bus". Nothing on here that you couldn't find or stream easily anywhere, but for $3 it was a steal for the nostalgia trip alone. When I got home, I immediately messaged my sister about it, and she totally remembered it as well, but not the songs on it. A testament to the power of that amazing cover art. I wonder how many other pop-culture-shellshocked Gen Xers like us would have the same visceral reaction to it...

After Vinyl Junkies, we capped off the trip with a visit to The Reverie Room. I was preparing to again, like last time, find some pricey must-have that would break my "budget". Instead I found 3 must-haves for about $10 each. Nancy Sinatra's "Sugar" to add to my growing fixation with her collabs with Lee Hazelwood. A Professor Longhair album, another artist I loved and listened to so much to growing up, but never owned a proper album by (until now). And finally an old album of early electronic music with John Cage and other artists. I mean "early electronic" and "John Cage"? How can I not.

As we left The Reverie Room, they were blasting EPMD's "Strictly Business", which, as it turns out, is a life-long favorite of mine and Craig Danger's (they had the album there for $40, but... ouch). I had/have a vague feeling we had already discussed this, most likely during one of our past (in)famous Whiskey Nights. But, as fun as those were, they were ultimately where many memories went to die. Nice to now be sober and remember a bonding thing for real.

As always, a great outing with my good friend. And some great records, to boot!

Last Saturday, I took my bike and a bag of shroom shake to Balboa Park and had a lovely day of biking around, lying on the grass and tripping out a little (not a huge dose- micro to low). It was lovely. I topped it off with a quick ride over to Flimzy's and snagged a few records. I'd forgotten that it was even RSD that day, and I believe all records were like 10% off, or something like that.

I found some great stuff (I always find great stuff at Flimzy's). First thing I found was this Don William's album, which I'm very much looking forward to hearing. I recently bought his album "Portrait" from Flimzy's on my last pull there, expecting it to be corny but ending up loving it. I also found the OST to one of my favorite movies growing up- The Hunger. I still stream that amazing soundtrack to this day occasionally, so I was stoked to find it on vinyl here.

Lastly (and most pricey of the lot) was Stars of the Lid's "Avec Laudenum", which I know to be a great album. Everything by Stars of the Lid is great, and I've owned nothing by them up until now. Brian McBride of that group died a few years ago, sadly (R.I.P.)

This album is holy fuck good. Makes me want to go out and kill. In a good way.

It's Steeleye Time again.

This record number, what. On the Saturday Shroom 'N Spin marathon. I dont think I actually posted the last few albums, I was too out of it 😂. First I put on the 2nd remixes disc of the u-ziq Lunatic Harness box set, but it started freaking me out. So I switched to Steeleye Span to get grounded again, which was nice.

But then rather than follow up Steeleye Span's first album with their next etc like I'd usually do, I decided to get The Spits back in the mix.They are grounding in a totally DIFFERENT way 😂.

Anyways, I'm breaking open this Spits record for the first time since buying it a few months ago at Flimzy's Vinyl Records. It's glorious, as expected. They're my favorite punk band (in spite of challenges from Snooper recently) and can do no wrong.

I'm not a huge fan of Dark Wave, but I've always been very attracted to Vestron Vulture ever since stumbling upon it as the background music for some cheesy Instagram reel. And tonight this album just sounds SEXY. Turns out that this album is excellent to take drugs to. Who knew?

This is album 4 of Saturday Shroom 'N Spin vinyl marathon thing. It's going well. The shrooms were a little weak, so when I returned from my Stoned Dog Walk, I re-upped on my older shroom shake, which I know to be good and strong. I took about half a gram, it should do the trick.

Now we'll be proceeding to the fire pit 🔥

Switching it up for record 3 of Shroom 'N Spin Night. And just in time, I feel like it's all starting to kick in now. Why is it "just in time"? I don't know, it just is. Appropriately, this album is courtesy of a label called Funky Mushroom. Azalia was known to be a psychedelic enthusiast.

I was really excited to find this record today. I've always been a huge fan, but I've never had a record by her. I used to have this on CD, I believe, back in the day. That's a boring detail, but it's true.

I could ramble on about the genius of her, but I won't. The shrooms are kicking in, I have to go 😂

Keeping it in the folk/country vein record 2 of the night. I already know this album pretty well, being a huge Sierra Ferrell fan, but I just got it on vinyl tonight.