I don’t have too much to say - I was raised on MJ. His death has just devastated me. Thank you, Michael, for such amazing music.

edit: this, from Andrew Sullivan, I think says it well:

I loved his music. His young voice was almost a miracle, his poise in retrospect eery, his joy, tempered by pain, often unbearably uplifting. He made the greatest music video of all time; and he made some of the greatest records of all time. He was everything our culture worships; and yet he was obviously desperately unhappy, tortured, afraid and alone.

I hope his soul finds rest.

Been traveling a lot the last couple of weeks. Brazil - me and the wife hit down to Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul for a few days on business. She visited shoe factories and I trolled the Centro district for records. A couple flicks:

… and then this past weekend I jetted out to Las Vegas to see the wife’s side of the family… at any rate, blog has been dormant but I’ll get back on it this week. Lots of music and ideas to share. Be well family, One - Jonny

I was just reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog at The Atlantic (highly recommended) and someone far down the comments section of one particular post (further down than I’m comfortable admitting that I wade) compared blogs to “Amen Corner(s)”. An apt comparison for sure.

On the “South Side Soul” LP (posted below) The John Wright Trio ends with the two songs, “Sin Corner” and “Amen Corner”. The symbolism of the former is clear - any corner where the nightlife rages, simmers, cools out, or shadows some even more suspicious activity beyond the vale of darkness. A place where fights erupt out of common disagreements, where common disagreements erupt out of snap sessions, where comeraderie emerges from fights and the cycle starts anew every twilight.

The Amen Corner could be as simple socially as it is musically on the “South Side Soul” album… Sunday morning, go to any church corner and the believers will be arrayed in their best duds ready to enter and give praise, greeting one another and thanking God for another day or week. This corner is for positive reinforcement (although that sounds so clinical). It’s for “thank you”s, “preach on”s and “you’re right”s.

All of which is to say, I do NOT want this blog to be that. If I were to survey the wasteland of music blogs before me and try to be exactly what people seem to want, I would probably just upload every rare, pricey, hot/in-demand LP that came through my shop, providing scarce information and even less commentary. But that’s not what I’m about. I use this blog to highlight music that I love, music that might be less well-known, or might be an old classic that could use some revisiting. And I invite my readers - all 4.33 of them - to suggest, critique, and argue (as well as thank and praise). The homie Noz said “LESS ATU AND MORE COMPUTERMAN.” Not sure if I’ll take that direction, but I appreciate the feedback.

Sorry for the digression. I’m always a little too wordy in the morning. Next up, another insane mix from the homie Aaron Anderson… till then, lace your timbs tight and stay dry. This weather is grimy, word to StormTrakker.

So courtesy of Waxidermy I found these incredible, dark, lonely, and ultimately hilarious drawings by Stefan Glerum and I must say I think they’re brilliant. My pleasure to share. If you like them, drop by the man’s blog and leave him a note.

Go get Adobe Flash Player!

The Genesis Of This Mix:

I started putting together this mix for the Waxidermy Mix Swap but around the time I was supposed to submit it the actual files went completely ghost from my computer. They hadn’t been deleted, changed or copied - just gone. The sequencing was still intact but the soundbites were empty. Weird shit. Anyway, with the store moving, my apartment moving, my wedding being planned, and all kind of other shit goings on I regretfully withdrew my name from the swap… but I did find the last iteration of the mix before it all went kaput.

The mix sways from dub to jazz to rock to funk to folk to shit I don’t even know what to call it. And, as DJ Evil Dee once wrote, “this album was done on blunted terms.” To say the least.

So roll that shit, light that shit, smoke that shit… sit back and enjoy.

Peace -
Jonny

Download link here: Good Time Records

That’s right homies, custos, friends, lovers, bitches, players, people, people, people…. Good Records NYC is back in effect in a major way. New collections dropping as we speak, all different types of music, 60s soul, free jazz, disco promos, random rap, downtown scene rock, 7″s, LPs… more new product arriving soon as well.

Come through and check it out!

Peas,

Jonny

If your ear is to the street, then you’ve heard it right - Good Records NYC is moving to a new location!

Starting in June, we will be located at 218 East 5th Street, between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue, right at the intersection of The Bowery and 3rd, a stone’s throw from Cooper Square. Near all of the shops, close to the F, 6, N/R trains, and of course the emerging Bowery/Houston scene… really a perfect location.

It has been a great 3 years in our current spot, and to be honest I wish I could stay here forever… but that can’t be the case. So about 6 months ago, I quietly started looking around for a new space. The location we settled on is by far the best of many worlds - expanded space for the shop’s plentiful (and growing) stock, a huge basement to accommodate new collections, a back office for increased productivity and organization… hell, it’s even got a backyard. We might get to Que-in’ back there if we’re lucky!

In the meantime, I’ll be down here at the 3rd Street location boxing records, taking stock and cleaning up.  Drop by if you’re in the hood and say what’s up…

Pictures will be coming soon!

It gets greater later-

Jonny

All of that time spent reading the approval matrix while I was on the toilet has not gone to waste!

I was driving around uptown the other day, and my shuffle landed on Mary Lou Williams’ masterpiece, “Black Christ Of The Andes”. Something about the sunshine after a fresh rain, parishioners on their way to church, kids playing, yuppies scurrying towards the train, mothers on their way to the supermarket, and the beautiful old buildings that (thankfully) still dominate the Harlem landscape. For those who have been following this blog I have been trying to document with pictures the diminishing returns of our once-great society… same as how we do with the music I guess, as these buildings get demolished and replaced with shoddily-constructed condos, CapitalOne bank branches, and Starbucks…

I listened to “The Devil” while cruising up and down St. Nicholas and it all felt right. I adore this record and it is a spiritual experience, and if it’s not out-and-out gospel it is nonetheless one of the most intense expressions of faith in music I can think of.

Some people told me at one point Mary Lou williams was possessed; but it’s deeper than all that. From Time Magazine, circa 1964:

“There came a time ten years ago when Mary Lou Williams decided that jazz was the devil’s own music. She was among the best of the bebop pianists, but out on the scene she sensed evil all around her. She could even hear it echo in her playing. One blue night in Paris, “the badness” overwhelmed her; she got up from the piano and quit jazz cold. She drew up a list of names to pray for (urgent cases marked in red), and before long she had an endless coil of sadness, an encyclopedia of bad trouble, a roll of death and dishonor. For years there was nothing for her to do but pray.

“Then she joined the Roman Catholic Church. A priest convinced her that God would be pleased to hear her play once more: music was his greatest gift to her, and music played by a prayerful person, the priest explained, is a kind of prayer….

” ‘I am praying through my fingers when I play,’ she says. ‘I get that good ’soul sound,’ and I try to touch people’s spirits.’

“Down & Out. Her discoveries of both God and the devil in jazz reflect perhaps the troubled state of her own spirit. But even so, she seems to have found her way. With the help of a priest, she has written a jazz hymn to St. Martin de Porres, a mulatto saint of the 17th century, and she is now working on a jazz Mass.”

True indeed, to wit:

“The devil is a woman with a red dress on,
A gleam that flits across a roaming eye -
The devil is a hand that moves along a satin seam,
A softly whispered, sweetly whispered lie.
The devil is a window filled with fancy clothes,
The lips that part and smile and breathe a sigh -
An open door someplace where steps that shouldn’t go there goes,
A word that touched the heart and made it cry.

The devil never rests come day come dusk come dawn,
You compromise and wind up soul-in-palm;
So don’t it strike you funny when you look him in the eye,
The devil looks a lot like you and I.”

Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ Of The Andes

So my mans and them over at The Soul Strut Forums upped this monster from the forthcoming Al Green record on Blue Note with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson producing and playing on it.

I mean it might be a day late for Sunday but it damn sure ain’t nothing short and I am catching the holy ghost with this one. Now if you are like me you were probably skeptical. You might’ve thought this would come out cheesy. But first of all, Al Green has not lost a step. Now I hear you saying, “and we know this, maaaaaaan”. Well check this out, Brother ? f*cking NAILS IT. Does that not sound like Willie Mitchell and the Hi Rhythm section in back? Amazing. Then, as if it couldn’t get any better, Anthony Hamilton, perhaps THEE best soul singer on the scene these days, drops in for backing vocals and a guest verse. If this is any indication we are looking at a new classic here folks.

Go get Adobe Flash Player!

WOOOOOOOOOO SH*T!!!