Eclectic Grooves

Well, its that time of year again where vinyl and out-of print rarities are pushed to the bottom of the listening stack to make way for albums released in 2011.  Initially, I set out to start this project in the first part of December so I wasn't rushing frantically to beat the clock on New Year's Eve. However, those of you who have a predilection for collecting and listening to music know that this is quite an unrealistic expectation to set for myself. This quest for creating the perfect list of albums that caters to every taste out there is practically impossible since list-making is completely subjective. Albums from artists like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, PJ Harvey, Kurt Vile, Wilco, Adele, St Vincent, Lykke Li, Feist and The War On Drugs were featured on virtually every top 10 list. Whether or not these albums are deserving of this seems to be irrelevant to the fact that most people found these records to be t...

The latest edition of I Hear a New World is available to download here, and at http://ihearanewworld.podomatic.com/. This episode of I Hear a New World features a diverse mix of new and used vinyl that I have picked up recently at the Night Owl Record Show and Exiled Records over the past month. Since I have been buying a lot of international music lately, it leans heavily towards this style with a considerable dollop of funk, jazz, spoken work and psychedelic garage rock to even out the flow. Bands featured include Eddie Harris, Erkin Koray, Thee Oh Sees, Ahmad Zahir and Los Destellos. I would love to hear what you think about the songs featured on this week's episode of I Hear a New World. Also, stay tuned for my annual Best Music of 2011 list and a Christmas podcast.

I am happy to say that this year I am ahead of schedule for once, so you will have at least a week to listen to this year's Halloween mix. This time around, you can expect to hear a diverse assortment of rockabilly,  doo-wop, blues, rock and soul interspersed with snatches of old horror film trailers and spooky noisescapes. I worked on this for many hours this past weekend, and I believe that I have constructed a mix that will be perfect for scaring the bejeesus out of those trick-or treaters beating down your door. For those of you would like a tracklist for this year's Halloween mix, I will be happy to provide this to you upon request. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Eclectic Grooves celebrated it's 5th birthday yesterday. It's hard to believe that it's been this long, but I've really had a blast sharing thoughts with the readers about new musical discoveries throughout the past 5 years. Here...

This is the last installment of the Halloween podcasts that are no longer available to download on Podomatic. It was first posted last Halloween, and was split up into two parts due to the length of the mix. As I recall, I was able to comeplete this one earlier in the day on Halloween, as opposed to the previous year where I completed it just before the clock struck midnight. Here are my notes from last year's post: Given the time of the season, it is once again time for me to dredge through my seemingly endless archives of spooky music to present a new Halloween mix to the readers. Last year I was rushing against the clock to complete my Halloween podcast before the clock struck midnight on Halloween. After learning my lesson from this, I began compiling my list two weeks ago with possible songs that could make the cut for this years mix. These songs were culled from my own collection, Soulseek users and the numerous Halloween blogs and forums across the internet...

Vincent Price from House on Haunted Hill Just to get you geared up for the Halloween season, I figured I would keep cranking these out. This one was first featured on Podomatic back in 2009 and is entitled Halloween Hodgepodge.  I would love to hear what you guys think of these mixes so please drop me a line in the comments. Again, for those of you who would like a tracklist, I would be happy to provide this upon requset. Hope this mix gets you in the Halloween spirit! Halloween Hodgepodge

Painting by Edward Gorey from The Gashlycrumb Tinies Over the next week, I will be featuring Halloween mixes that I have posted over the past few years. These were originally posted on Podomatic, but since my server space is limited I was forced to take them down to make room for the newest episodes. This one was posted back in 2008, and it was entitled House of Horrors 2008. For now, I will be leaving the tracklist up to your imagination, but drop me a line in the comments if you would like the tracklist. Hope you enjoy this blast from the past! Until next time... Keep those doors locked and make sure to keep one eye open while sleeping cause you never know what evil may be lurking around the corner. Muwahahaha! House of Horrors 2008  

This week, I attended the movie Vinyl: The Alternate Take by Alan Zwieg on Thursday followed by an insightful panel discussion with Terry Currier from  Music Millennium , Hisham Mayet from Sublime Frequencies and Eric from Mississipi Records . Then, on Saturday I went to the Night Owl Record Show at the Eagle's Lodge for a couple hours. All in all, it was a pretty exciting week for me! Alan Zwieg's first feature called Vinyl  was about obsessive record collectors whose predilection for hoarding vinyl seems to have impacted their ability to carry on normal relationships with friends and family. While the first edition of Vinyl was mildly entertaining, it mostly depicted the profound sadnesss that these people experienced due to their excessive collecting habits. I felt that  Vinyl was too one-sided in it's message that anyone who collects to this extent is an inherently sad and depressed person, as there were no portrayals of the vinyl ...