Category: Music

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It's Rare These Days…

…that music can give me physical chills, but here I am listening to the Blade Runner soundtrack and the End Titles cut is making the hair on my arms stand up. What a brilliant piece of cinema…

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One Of My Grails Finally Obtained

I've been in love with Cerrone's "updated" Supernature (the original version was released in 1978 and I remember many a night at Maggies twirling to it) since I first stumbled across it online more than a dozen years ago. The original Supernature—and it's message—was good, but this "new" version was an aural orgasm. Finding a physical copy at the time however was problematic. All my usual venues didn't have it—or hadn't even heard of it—but after discovering Discogs, I found it was actually in print and available…albeit for a steep price. That didn't mean I stopped wanting it…

Well, considering that my disposable income is going to take a major hit after the 31st and considering certain events of the past couple months, I said fuck it—we're all gonna die anyway—and dropped the coin. It wasn't the most I've ever spent for a CD, but it was more than the $20 I usually pay for a sought after release.

Marie Kondo would undoubtedly ask, "Does it bring you joy?" And to that I respond, "Yes bitch. Yes it does."

In case any of you are interested…

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Another Nugget Acquired

Sony MZ-N707

Why, you ask? Because the my other portable developed a very wonky disc release mechanism and stopped writing the TOC (table of contents) to the disc after editing it, rendering every disc (no matter what was recorded) as "BLANK DISC."

When I reached the point I couldn't deal with this any longer, there were no other decent MZ-S1's showing up online, so I decided to try a different model. To be honest, it was the color that got me.

And wouldn't you know, immediately after I hit the BUY IT NOW button, an auction for another pristine MZ-S1 showed up. I submitted the minimum bid, never expecting to actually win the auction. Of course, a week later, I did…

Both units arrived today.

Sony MZ-S1

To be honest, it is nice to have a fully functional S1 again. The S1 has always been my favorite Minidisc portable, since I originally owned one in the early 2000s. While some MD connoisseurs decry its large, chonky design, I personally love it. See: Quirky.

One aspect of buying used Minidisc equipment that seldom gets mentioned is that oftentimes the sellers will throw in a few discs to sweeten the deal—or to just get them out of the house. Almost always they've got stuff recorded on them—not an issue since they can be easily erased and reused—but occasionally you find a gem hidden among them.

The first S1 (the one with the wonky release mechanism) came with an unlabeled disc with no disc name or track titles recorded. Before I summarily dismissed it and erased it, I thought I'd give it a listen. I really liked the funky jazz beat, so I took a chance that it was more than just YouTube-friendly royalty-free fodder (a lot of times seller post videos of their wares on YouTube), and fired up Soundhound. It immediately identified it: Ernest Raglin – Below The Bassline. It's been one of my go-to discs to listen to while falling asleep since getting it.

I know all this shit is boring as fuck to most of my readers—OLD MAN REDISCOVERS AND FINDS JOY IN OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGY AND WAXES POETIC ON ITS COOL FACTOR AS WORLD SLIDES INTO DYSTOPIAN HELLSCAPE—so thanks for sticking around in spite of it.

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This Spoke to Me Today

I've been pulled to pieces, I've got an arm over here
I've got a leg over there, I've got my ass somewhere upside down
But I'm back, I'm here to tell you I'm back, better than before
Can't keep a good thing down, uh-uh

Well I've been kicked around, never thought that I could fall
Thought that I was standing tall, turned out I was the ball
And you know what, and I, and I, and I've been kicked around
Baby after all, I took all the shots you called
Turned out I was the ball, you kicked you pushed

And I've been kicked around, and I've been upside down
Oh I've been bounced around, kicked around
I'm gonna get you, get you, your very momma will regret you
I'm going to stomp and drag you to your knees
Your very papa will forget you, kicked around

Oh I, Oh I, Oh I've been bounced around
Let me tell you, I'm here to tell you
You can get up, you can put all the pieces back together
Yeah, don't let him stomp on you baby, get up now!
I said you made me feel so small, bouncing me against the wall
Just like I was the ball, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Oh I, Oh I, Oh I, Oh I've been kicked around
Now look at me baby, (trips alone) paved the memories you gave me
My eyes are open, eyes are open, now I can see
You're nothing but a bad, bad memory
I'm all together now, all together now
I'm the biggest ball you ever did see, I'm gonna roll on you
I'm gonna fall on you, I'm gonna stomp on you
I'm gonna punch on you, I'm gonna choke on you
I'm gonna rip you, drag you to your knees
Your very papa will regret you!

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Released 16 Years Ago Today

Grace Jones: Hurricane (2008)

My jury's still out on this one, nearly twenty years on. It was just so different from her earlier work, and coming after such a long hiatus, it certainly wasn't what I (or anyone else, for that matter) was expecting. Still, I have a copy in my library, because…well…Grace.