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Retro Soundtrack: Lost in Translation3/31/2019 I confess that my only exposure to any of Sofia Coppala's films was when I went to go see, "Lost in Translation' at the movie theatre. 15 years later I really can't recall much about the film other than the shoegaze-laden soundtrack I heard upon first watching it. This may be memory issues from years of copious edible consumption, or simply because the soundtrack was so damn good...I'll chalk it up to both. The soundtrack was supervised by soundtrack composer and electronic artist Brian Reitzell. If you haven't, I would highly recommend checking out his entire discography, especially his music for the Hannibal TV series. Standout tracks are "City Girl" by Kevin Shields, "Alone In Kyoto" by AIR, and "Just like Honey" by The Jesus & Mary Chain:
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The History of Horror Movie Music10/30/2018 A highly recommended video put out by Reverb. If you're a horror soundtrack fan, this will totally be worth your 14 minutes. So turn off the fake news, and take a look at this instead:
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Waxwork Records vinyl LPs in!10/20/2018 Are you a Dario Argento fan? Do you love hard to find Horror Movie soundtracks? Well now Esoteric Records is a dealer for the highly sought after Waxwork Records Vinyl LPs! If you haven't heard about them, they're a record label that is hunting down the original analog master tapes of long out-of-print horror soundtracks, and not only remastering them, but putting them out in some of the most beautiful packaging we've seen in here. Right now we have slated to arrive the new triple LP, colored-vinyl of Profondo Rosso (Italian for "Deep Red"), along with other Argento soundtrack titles. Here's the original trailer to the 1975 film: Lastly, I was going to write a review of this album, but I'm feeling lazy today, so I'll you direct towards this guy on the interwebs who has way more craft beers and hair than I do:
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3 favorite Krautrock albums10/20/2018 To get into the history of Krautrock would be beyond the scope of this blurb. However, if you are new to the genre and want a quick run-down, here's an archived wiki link about it's history and artists. Esoteric Records has a long history of acquiring and selling some of the most sought after albums in the Krautrock genre. Your humble narrator has been collecting these records for several decades, and what follows are my top 3 I'm listening to at the moment on vinyl: Pictured are Neu '2', Kraftwerk 'Radioactivity', and Popul Vuh 'Affenstunde'. If I was to start a collection from scratch, these would be my top picks. Esoteric can order these, and many other titles in the genre, just drop us a line and let us know what you're looking for. We also get used Krautrock titles in from time to time in our Prog Rock section. On a final note, apparently Mute Record's Daniel Miller and I have similar tastes in fav Krautrock records. Here's a great 7 minute interview where he breaks down his Top 5 Krautrock Albums:
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New: BBM, King Tubby, & Coltrane vinyl10/17/2018 This week, we've acquired some fantastic sounding King Tubby and John Coltrane reissues, along with the uber rare, BBM import record from the UK that few mortals have actually seen in person. 'Roots of Dub' is one of King Tubby's best albums. If you haven't heard it, You can listen to a low-res copy of the album here: Coltrane's 'Dakar' album is one of the punchiest and most dynamic jazz reissues we've heard in a long time. Here's a great interview with Coltrane around the time of recording this work: Take note that we are talking about Dakar the album, not Drakkar the 80's cologne: Last, and certainly not least, is the exceedingly rare vinyl copy of 'BBM'. The only album that the supergroup of Gary Moore, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce ever put out. This vinyl copy was pressed in 1994 , and looks like it's brand new. If you don't know who these legendary musicians are, please don't step foot in our store. Seriously though, the musicianship on this album is amazing! Here's a clip of the group performing, 'White Room':
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How to: Setting up your Turntable10/17/2018 One of the most over-looked facets of having a vinyl collection is having a properly setup turntable. Performing this right the first time will save you money in the long run and keep you from harming any of the precious vinyl records you buy at our store. To start things off, here is an excellent turntable setup video for beginners: The turntable used in the previous videos is the Audio Technica LP-120USB. It's one of the best bang for the buck turntables on the market today, and I actually own one myself. If you own one of these, AT has a great article on Balancing the Tone Arm and setting up the Tracking force for that particular model. On a final note, here's a really informative Turntable Buying Guide video for beginners:
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New: Joy Division, Stereolab, & Love vinyl10/17/2018 Just in, mint copy of Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures" on 180g vinyl remastered by Factory Records, Stereolab's classic first album, "Peng", and Love's "Da Capo" pressed from the original master tapes by Sundazed Records. Here's a great documentary on the early days of Joy Division and Factory Records: An interesting early interview with Stereloab on their influences: Last but not least we have an excerpt from the fantastic documentary, Love Story. If you're a Love fan you need to see this. I had the good fortune of watching this on the big screen at the now closed-down Red Vic Theatre in San Francisco. Here the late great Arthur Lee gives a tour of the infamous 'Castle' where Da Capo was recorded: |