Here is one of my favorite LPs in my collection, still in the original plastic wrap, Cali Fever by the band Orgone, from LA. If it weren’t for the New Mastersounds, I think these guys would probably hold the title of the hottest thing happening today, in my taste. Vintage production styles, superbly written funk tunes, and a killer instrumentation (namely a super-tight trumpeter & trombonist) round out the reasons to love this band. Cali Fever’s got a number of gems on it, including the title track. Get onto Spotify (where you can listen instantly and free) to check out the album Bacano if you’ve never heard these guys. Also a stellar offering. Seriously, love, love, love this band.
Of course, it’s featured here because the album cover is a neat piece of artwork unto itself.
I will admit, this one did move the earth under my feet a bit. One of the tastiest wines I’ve had in a while, really. One regret though; I should’ve drank more on the first night. I typically open a bottle, drink half, then vaccuum cork it and drink the rest the following night. Typically most wines become more flavorful and enjoyable on the second pass. This one just lost dimensions on the second night unfortunately. So drink up right away kids.
The music on this LP is, for the most part, cheesegasmic. However, I will say that the Brothers Johnson DO have their moments. And if you can stomach the initial groans, there are some genuinely cool bits in here. I actually bought the record purely based on this cover, which is, as you can obviously see, amazing:
I saw this album in the used bins at Cactus and I thought, holy %*^# that looks increeedible. Unfortunately, it sounds more like a high school band practicing in their garage than some obscure Jimi gem. I guess this album goes to show, no matter how legendary of a badass you become, you have to start somewhere unassuming.
There’s this place nearby that makes a divine pie. They’re tucked into a strip mall, and really you would never even notice the place if you didn’t know to look for it. I found them via yelp reviews, and they have totally been holding down the pizza crown since I’ve been in Houston. Nothin’ fancy here, just really solid all-around pizza. Shown here is my favorite combo, Italian sausage & pepperoni, with seasoned & stuffed crust. Outrageously good. Also, check out the nice thin depth of field on that Canon nifty fifty aka the fantastic plastic.
So as some of you may have noticed, there’s a new banner which randomly appears on the desktop version of this site with a mario theme. I built it using the level editor in Super Mario X, and oh man, it’s actually really hard. Have a look at the below video of me dying once, then trying again and beating it. What you don’t see are the 10 takes before this one where I screwed up and died repeatedly. SHEESH!
Man, they don’t make em like this anymore. Below is Art Farmer’s “Crawl Space” LP, which is a fantastic, relaxing jazz record. Don’t confuse this with ‘smooth jazz’–it is not. It’s a legit combo jazz album that knows how to chill, with plenty of top shelf flugelhorn playing. DIG IT.
Also, I really, deeply love that there is a note on the inside addressing the album “To John, Enjoy. Love, Barb X” Clearly, this particular LP was destined for no one other than I.
The Kepler Space Telescope, which I was riffing ona while back was supposed to run out of funding this November. Well, stock up on popcorn exoplanet hunters because the show is going to keep going for a long time! As of today, NASA has extended the mission to 2016. Yes, that’s right. Pass the salt :D
