This Time It's Personal: The November 2023 Record Challenge Thread

[Yer Ol' Uncle D]

November 8
“You might have heard of them. They’re part of this new Estonia-Pop scene.”
Play a record from one of your favorite location-based scenes. Were you into this trend while it was happening, or did you discover it after it was all over?

I was in Chapel Hill the first 2/3 of the 80s and was neck deep in the music scene based there. You had folks like Don Dixon, Pressure Boys, Let's Active, Arrogance and Southern Culture On The Skids to name a few that you could catch pretty much any time you wanted in a hole in the wall room. Good times.

I'm gonna highlight the most influential band to come out of that early 80's Chapel Hill scene and also the most forgotten of the group. While they did add a bassist after they'd been together for 5 years and a few records, without Dex Romweber on guitar/vocals and Crow on drums, you don't get The White Stripes, Japandroids, Black Pistol Fire or any of those other 2-man bands...



Flat Duo Jets - Wild Wild Love

 

[LeeVing]

November 9
“Oh yeah, I used to know those guys before they became huge. I served them coffee every day. They were cool then but their fame went to their heads.”

Play an artist from your hometown (or any of your previous homes of residence). Did you ever run into them?

Never really lived in a town that had a band big enough to actually release anything I own.

Belleville was close enough to Fairview Heights where I grew up until I was 10 or so. I would have gone to Belleville East High School had I still lived there, so I'll count it. When you drive it you really don't know you are in a different town, at least 30+ years ago it was like that - they may have fancied up the border since then.

Since they formed in 1987 - I think I was only there for a little under a year after that - and I was 10/11, so no, I never met them.



Carbondale had Revis, but I don't think I own the CD anymore. The real small town I lived in doesn't need mentioning - and the closest "town" didn't produce much either.


Uncle Tupelo – Anodyne
Sire/Reprise Records – RCV1 45424 //603497848850, 1993/2020

Cut by Ian Sefchick at Capitol Mastering
Pressed at Record Industry

 

[Turbo]

November 7
You’re sitting at a red light, playing your all-time favorite song at full volume in your car when the driver in the vehicle next to you makes eye contact. This stranger looks concerned about you and mouths the words: “Is that OMC’s ‘How Bizarre?!’”
I know you bought an album that you had to order online because you were too embarrassed to buy it in person. Don’t be shy; play one of these “guilty pleasures.” Tell you what, to help out a bit: no explanation is necessary for this one.

Boz Scaggs "Silk Degrees" (1976 Columbia; 2009 Speakers Corner)
So there seems to be a lot of "secret" Yacht rock fans among us! I'm no different. Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, Robert Palmer and the like... definitely artists I enjoy playing from time to time. I'll go with this Boz Scaggs record today.

 

[imtheocean]

November 9
“Oh yeah, I used to know those guys before they became huge. I served them coffee every day. They were cool then but their fame went to their heads.”

Play an artist from your hometown (or any of your previous homes of residence). Did you ever run into them?

My folks were friends with Jane Weidlins family from church, we'd go skiing with them from time to time. And my Dad went to see the Go-Gos when they were just starting out. I've seen Jane a few times at San Diego Comic Con since and she remembers my folks fondly.

Go-Go's ~ Beauty and the Beat

 

[Matt M]

November 8
“You might have heard of them. They’re part of this new Estonia-Pop scene.”

Play a record from one of your favorite location-based scenes. Were you into this trend while it was happening, or did you discover it after it was all over?

We’ll go with Portland in the 90’s. Some solid bands while the whole Seattle thing was bubbling over. Heatmiser, The Spinanes, Pond, Sprinkler, Dharma Bums, Crackerbash were all great local bands that gave it life. And hey, we got Elliott Smith from Heatmiser.

Heatmiser - Dead Air

 

[Turbo]

November 8
“You might have heard of them. They’re part of this new Estonia-Pop scene.”
Play a record from one of your favorite location-based scenes. Were you into this trend while it was happening, or did you discover it after it was all over?

The Rapture "Echoes" (2003 DFA Records)
I'll go with the New York dance punk scene spearheaded by DFA records. I was definitely into it while it was happening as I was collecting all the 12" singles coming out of DFA as they were being released. This album contains the song that caught my attention, House of Jealous Lovers. I first heard it off a DJ-Kicks mix by Playgroup (an excellent mix by the way) and loved how it captured the essence of one of my favorite older bands, Gang of Four. I started digging deeper - mainly by speaking with record store folks because that's how you did it back then - and got into LCD Soundsystem immediately as well.

 

[Matt M]

November 9
“Oh yeah, I used to know those guys before they became huge. I served them coffee every day. They were cool then but their fame went to their heads.”

Play an artist from your hometown (or any of your previous homes of residence). Did you ever run into them?

Ages and Ages - Divisionary

Sticking with the Portland theme. Used to run into the lead singer at a few places in town, including working at the sandwich shop Bunk. And just saw the former drummer at the Wilco show, he was playing with Neko the last time i saw him. The video below includes a bunch of Portlanders.

 

[Turbo]

November 9
“Oh yeah, I used to know those guys before they became huge. I served them coffee every day. They were cool then but their fame went to their heads.”
Play an artist from your hometown (or any of your previous homes of residence). Did you ever run into them?

The Tragically Hip "Day For Night" (1994 MCA; 2019 reissue)
Hometown-based prompts are always a bit of a challenge for me since I've moved around a bunch of times. We lived in six towns before ending up in Cornwall Ontario when I turned 6. I then moved to Kingston Ontario for 4 years during the early 90's, then Montreal for 15 years to end up where I am - we've been here for 14 now. Hard to call any of these places a hometown although I've enjoyed them all. Home is where my stuff is I say. For today's prompt, I'll go for a band local to Kingston, which was absolutely huge locally when I was there. It was actually bigger locally than otherwise at the time. They sort of blew up in a Canadiana way a few years later, after I left Kingston. No, I've never run into them.

 

[Wicked Dreamer]

Day 9: “Oh yeah, I used to know those guys before they became huge. I served them coffee every day. They were cool then but their fame went to their heads.”

Aladean Kheroufi - “Love!… (Is the Answer)” b/w “Every Girl”




Aladean works as the assistant manager at Blackbyrd Myoozik over on Whyte Ave, so I’ve seen him around a number of times, including just a couple days ago when I was picking up my copy of In Utero.

 

[jamieanderson1968]

November 9
Play an artist from your hometown (or any of your previous homes of residence). Did you ever run into them?
Vancouver
Slow - Against the Glass


The band should have been huge but were too drunk to even make it out of the basement. Got to see them live several times.

The riff on Have Not Been The Same is killer

 

[gafacaode]

November 8
“You might have heard of them. They’re part of this new Estonia-Pop scene.”

Play a record from one of your favorite location-based scenes. Were you into this trend while it was happening, or did you discover it after it was all over?

Oooooohhhhhhh Landfill Indie!

The Top 50 Greatest Landfill Indie Songs of All Time

An unofficial ranking of the best most average songs in British music history.

www.vice.com

The term 'landfill indie' is pure snobbery from people who don't know how to have fun

Last week VICE dredged up the term, an endeavour so sneeringly reductive it’s like your Grandad listing the relative merits of each Pokemon

www.nme.com

I'm team NME here, I had a lot of fun with these bands and I'm not ashamed.

The Futureheads - S/T

 

[Wes C. Attle]

November 5
Which band/musician made you “go down the rabbit hole”

The Church - The Blurred Crusade



I had only known Starfish until these last few years and after hearing songs outside that album, found myself trying to track down everything they put out. It’s all really great, they’ve (he’s, actually, as there’s only one remaining original member) been impressively releasing quality records even in their fourth decade as a band. Got to see them play just last month, doing two sets that night

 

[jamieanderson1968]

November 8
“You might have heard of them. They’re part of this new Estonia-Pop scene.”

Play a record from one of your favorite location-based scenes. Were you into this trend while it was happening, or did you discover it after it was all over?

Oooooohhhhhhh Landfill Indie!

The Top 50 Greatest Landfill Indie Songs of All Time

An unofficial ranking of the best most average songs in British music history.

www.vice.com

The term 'landfill indie' is pure snobbery from people who don't know how to have fun

Last week VICE dredged up the term, an endeavour so sneeringly reductive it’s like your Grandad listing the relative merits of each Pokemon

www.nme.com

I'm team NME here, I had a lot of fun with these bands and I'm not ashamed.

The Futureheads - S/T

View attachment 186847

Landfill Indie, huh? Though the idea of an idiot slap fight between Vice and the NME is pretty funny.

 

[avecigrec]

November 6
“This is probably in my top 5 favorite acid-funk alternative jazz-country albums of all time.”

Kid Koala – Some Of My Best Friends Are DJ's


Love me some turntablism.
Especially love me some super nerdy sound collage turntablism,
and Kid Koala is one of the best to do it.
This follow-up to his debut, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, shows excellent evolution.
DJ QBert's Wave Twisters is also pretty damn sweet.

 

[jfitzy]

I’m late to the party but figured I’d try to catch up. Apologies if I play something that’s already been scooped.

November 1
What was the first album you remember having? Did you get it as a kid or did you more recently get into this silly hobby? Can you still smell the liner notes when you hear these songs?

Yes - Close to the Edge

The first record I ever bought. I had been considering getting into this hobby for years before finally taking the plunge in 2019. I remember passing by a record store nearby and thought “Today is going to be the day.” Walked in, and picked up three albums. This, David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, and Bill Evans’ Sunday At the Village Vanguard (it was a Wax Time pressing, because I didn’t know what I was doing yet). It’s been a wild and fun ride since I started collecting.

 

[jfitzy]

November 2
What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.

Herbie Hancock - Thrust

There’s so many incredible concerts to pick from. But I’m going to go with Herbie, who I saw in Austin, TX last year. Was supposed to go with a friend of mine but he ended up not being able to go, so I went solo. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to miss an artist that’s in my top 5. I was so enamored by the performance that I didn’t even think to take out my phone to take a picture.

The highlight for me was when he busted out a keytar and started playing the bass line from Chameleon.

 

[jfitzy]

November 3
What record will forever remind you of that special someone, a relative, or a good friend and why? What does it remind you of doing with them? (ahem, keep it clean)

The Cranberries - Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?

This band will always remind of my girlfriend. It seems every playlist Spotify curates for her has at least one Cranberries song on it. So I bought this for her.

 

[avecigrec]

November 2
What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.

Herbie Hancock - Thrust

There’s so many incredible concerts to pick from. But I’m going to go with Herbie, who I saw in Austin, TX last year. Was supposed to go with a friend of mine but he ended up not being able to go, so I went solo. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to miss an artist that’s in my top 5. I was so enamored by the performance that I didn’t even think to take out my phone to take a picture.

The highlight for me was when he busted out a keytar and started playing the bass line from Chameleon.

View attachment 186859

He was here just under 2 months ago. I wasn't able to make it (it was outdoor and I'd hoped to at least catch it frome the back fence but I was solo with both kids and he went on around one of their bedtimes) but my buddy sent me this shot:

 

[jfitzy]

November 4
What is one of your favorite artists/records that you feel is criminally underrated or ignored and makes you question your taste in music because no one else is raving about it? Now is the time to sell us on it!

Cynic - Focus

I don’t recall how I discovered this album but I stumbled upon it sometime last year and instantly fell in love with it. Released in ‘93, “Focus” is a progressive/technical death metal album with a dose of jazz infused into it.

 

[jfitzy]

He was here just under 2 months ago. I wasn't able to make it (it was outdoor and I'd hoped to at least catch it frome the back fence but I was solo with both kids and he went on around one of their bedtimes) but my buddy sent me this shot:

View attachment 186861

That’s awesome. Dude is still going strong at 83! Hope you get the opportunity to see him sometime in the future.