Oscar Peterson Trio: London House Sessions, ‘61

I believe it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” Well, color yourself happy and call me shallow or just – as I do – go for Seneca instead: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” No matter what, I was damn lucky, and in my present circumstances that is not something that’s lurking around every corner. Several stars must have been aligned just right: I stumbled into this godforsaken CD shop populated by people who did not really know what they were selling. The usual money-making machinery. It was early in the morning, just after they had opened for the day. They were shop-cleaning, removing Britney Spears to be replaced with, err, Mariah Carey. All in all, a perfect day for jazz lovers.

As I was leafing through their jazz section, which consisted mostly of no-name, cheap, and copyright-free CD re-releases of the worst quality, interspersed with some better stuff (none of it recent), I saw this thicker ring-bound CD collection sticking out. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what I was looking at. The cover is rather weird and only upon closer inspection are the words “London House” and “Oscar Peterson” discernible – most of the rest is illegible at best. Considering the low quality surrounding this find, I didn’t really expect much but still, I decided to have a closer look. Continue Reading →

16,000 Tunes and Counting

If this isn’t the most daunting task ever, I don’t know what is. In 2009, Motown will celebrate its Golden Anniversary and by that time, all 12 projected volumes of “The Complete Motown Singles” are supposed to be available for those unable to track down the more than 800 seven-inch records or more than 16,000 recordings those 800 platters add up to. These stunning limited boxed sets (5000 non-numbered copies) will also certainly save you some space, and the remastering adds the final sonic touch to what is one of the most impressive back catalogs of the recording industry. It could be ALL yours if you have the cash. Continue Reading →

Absolute Distribution / Blue Sounds

The problem with Jazz is that it’s old and because of that, many of the recordings are hard to come by or, at worst, simply unavailable. Add to that the absolutely shoddy reissue policy of major labels as well as the sometimes unbelievable prices for limited releases by labels such as Mosaic and out-of-print copies on eBay, and you are left with trying to find alternatives to get your fix.

In Europe – and this is something that bothers serious collectors – copyright laws are a bit different from the ones in the US, and recordings enter the public domain after 50 years. The problem is not that the music is available – after all, we’re tyring to feed our addiction – but that labels such as Fresh Sounds and Definitive Records don’t pay anyone anything for the reissues they put out. It’s pure profit for them. If you then think about the many jazz artists who lived or died in absolute poverty or the estates trying to preserve their legacy, things begin to look a bit more gloomy. Continue Reading →

Sigmarail by LOWKON

Although Lowkon sounds more like a Chinese or Asian company, they are in fact object designers hailing from southern Germany. Their design concept is one of simplicity and minimalism, as embodied in the often-heard slogan “form follows function” (and pushed to the forefront of design with the advent of the “Bauhaus” school of design in the early 20th century). Before entering the market with Sigmarail, Lowkon was primarily known for its successful commercial, industrial and fashion photography. Sigmarail is their first and, as far as I know, only product. Continue Reading →

IKEA Ivar

As soon as this site went online, I was flooded with e-mails (please do use the comment function on the site if you have questions on a featured item or related issues). Enquiring minds wanted to know what I myself use to store my collection and what I could recommend. Well, despite my posts to the contrary, I use the ultimate budget system, a simple IKEA shelf system called “Ivar”, slightly “tweaked” to fit my needs. Before you read on: Ivar is not one of those Ikea products that you need an IQ of 200 and infinite patience for to put together. You don’t even need any tools besides a screwdriver, and the skills required to put it together tend towards zilch. Fact is, it doesn’t get much easier than Ivar (and I have lots of IKEA experience with other, err, less successful products in that regard). Continue Reading →

Shorty Rogers Meets Tarzan

I can’t remember who it was on which forum, but there was this guy prancing around asking everyone if they had heard “Art Pepper Meets Tarzan”. To cut a long story short, everyone’s instinct was right when they told this person to look for other places to hang. Art Pepper would never … but Shorty Rogers would. If you know your Art Pepper, you know that he wasn’t the Hollywood guy, but Shorty Rogers was, almost exclusively from about 1962 onward. Continue Reading →

The Record Album Frame

When searching the Internet for LP frames to finally get some of your favorite covers up on the wall, chances are that, depending on your search terms, Rock Art Picture Show’s Record Album Frame will pop up right at the top of your search results, simply because it has been around for ages. I don’t really know when they started producing those, and their (abominably ugly) site doesn’t say, but they have a history. The site doesn’t hold back on the hype, either: Continue Reading →

Dusty Groove America

Online music forums of all types are full of whining people. With that I don’t mean the usual online trolls and freaks, but those that constantly complain that their wallet cannot sustain their addiction to collecting music. One online mail order dealer that usually pops up in these “whiny” posts is Dusty Groove America. They’ve been called “bastards” (followed by a winking smiley) or “Dusty Grave” (followed by five thumbs up), but people have become as addicted to this shop as they have to collecting music. Continue Reading →