Veoba Post: Christmas Does Vinyl.

This post was originally was on Veoba.com:

This week I was intending to write about a record shop in St Louis since I just made my first ever trip to the Gateway City – but I never made it to any of my three destinations (Vintage Vinyl, Euclid, Apop). So instead of writing about how much of a disappointment this city was and how I lost my sunglasses there (because their record shops could have been the saving grace), I figured I would get into the Christmas spirit and do a little write up about a few notable Christmas albums in my collection (not a “Best of” list). All of these releases are on vinyl, so Faith Hill’s 2008 Christmas album was disqualified from making the list, but David Bazan Christmas 7” series on Suicide Squeeze could find a place. Ready?

1. Low Christmas (1999)
Finally released on vinyl this year by Kranky, this is my favorite Christmas album ever. Period. Instead of Low’s versions of the classics, Low mostly writes their own. Five of the eight tracks are original tunes which have somewhat become new standards. Their approach at keeping their sound without making Christmas song depressing, is pure genius. The added sleigh bells make “Just Like Christmas” more cheery than most Low songs. Their version of “Blue Christmas” makes a strong attempt of dethroning Elvis Presley, while adding noise to “Little Drummer Boy” works perfectly. A true Christmas album that the hippest of indie rock snobs could get into… and it’s not by the Danielson Famile.

Veoba Post: Reckless.

This was originally posted on Veoba.com:

Residing in Chicago I find myself surrounded by many amazing record stores. Most of which pop into my head now and then (all of which I hope to write about at some point). One record shop in Chicago is my steady go to: Reckless (on Broadway). Reckless seems to always fulfill my two needs when it comes to record searching: a good place to waste some time flipping through tons of vinyl, as well as a place that (usually) has what I am looking for. There are three locations in Chicago, all of which are great, but Broadway seems to have the largest selection.

Veoba Post: Laurie's Planet of Crap.

This was originally posted on Veoba.com:

There is a classic children’s story about the “Little Engine That Could,” who huffed and puffed and worked really hard and made it over the hill. Well, if Laurie’s Planet of Sound was that little engine… the hill would have won. That might sound a bit harsh, but when I walked into the shop on a Friday morning the girl behind the corner didn’t even acknowledge my existence – and I was the only customer in the shop. Seeing as they were missing the customer interaction part, I figured they might be missing some other things as well.

Park Conversation.

The conversation overheard at the park today between two four year old boys:

Boy #1: What did you bring?
Boy #2: Guns!
Boy #1: Awesome!
Boy #2: What did you bring?
Boy #1: An empty bag!
Boy #2: Awesome! Let's play!

Some days...

There are days like today when I think life would be so much easier just being a big fatty.