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Words by Jim

Woah. First episode of Record Store Recon! Gimme a champagne bottle and I’ll smash it all over my turntable. Not really. That was a joke for the comedy. Anyway, last Saturday I hit up Paul’s Compact Discs in Pittsburgh, PA. This fine establishment has easily taken thousands and thousands of dollars from me over the years I’ve lived in this great city. They have a great selection of vinyl and a HUGE selection of CDs if that’s your thing. The guys who work there are super nice and are more than happy to set aside a copy of an album for you if you call ahead. The vinyl selection is just right…plenty to look through and they’re usually up to speed on the best new releases, but they know the laws of supply and demand so don’t be positive you’re gonna walk out of there with the new Black Mountain wax (sorry Matt).

So last Saturday was successful and I picked up three records for not a bad price. Here we go:

Exhibit A: Junip – Fields
You might be well aware from my earlier review, but I’m head over heels for the Junip album. It’s a double vinyl with pretty slick artwork on the record cover slips. Best part? Came with a physical CD, which you don’t see everyday. That guys been in my car all week. Lead track “In Every Direction” sounds even better spinning on the turntable. This might be one of my releases of the year.

Exhibit B: Jeff Mangum – Live at Jittery Joes
Haven’t see this guy on vinyl before. I got all little-kid-on-christmas-eve about this one. I had this on CD way back in the day and I still get those fluttery feelings listening to the lo-fi version of “Two Headed Boy” , “Oh Comely” , “Naomi”, and “Engine”. Some unreleased stuff on here…wooo, I’m starting to sweat just typing about it.

Exhibit C: David Bernabo + Assembly / Happener Magicker
Definitely couldn’t pass this one up. Local artist and musician David Bernabo has been active in the Pittsburgh scene for a while now. He’s doing some amazing things. I got a chance to meet and have a few beers with David a few weekends ago (no, not a Few Pints, but that will be coming soon). Anyway, amazing artwork and a nice insert of full lyrics wraps this guy up in a nice little bow for me. Rumor has it there are some colored vinyls floating around out there. Mine was standard vinyl color, but David said he’s trade me if I wanted (and I do!). A great find for 10 bucks that will definitely satisfy my progressive rock/jazz hankerings.

Filed under: Record Store Recon