missinglinkrecords@gmail.com - 707.826.0590

Missing Link Records 819 J Street Arcata, CA 95521

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Won't You Be Our T. Valentine?

February has some big things in store for us here at the shop. A handful of in-store performances, some awesome new stuff, and a giant box of killer used lps we've just got in promise to keep everyone on their toes during this, the shortest month of the year.

STORE EVENTS

*click thumbnail for larger version of poster*

BLACK VELVET EXPLOSION - FEB 11TH


If you've stopped by the shop lately, you've seen our amazing new tribute to our lord Conway, painted on black velvet by former local boy Chris Henry. February ArtsArcata we'll be hanging a whole slew of new black velvet paintings featuring celebrities like William Shatner, Dwight Yoakam, The baby from Eraserhead and more! Come enjoy the evening as we rock out to Alannah Myles on repeat.

WATER TOWER BUCKET BOYS vs ABE LINCOLN - FEB 12TH

They've wowed you at the barn dances and they strutted their stuff behind the crooked jades at the playhouse last month, this month see these fun-lovin' boys from Portland tear hell through the shop. With fake bears and stove top hats, they'll be playing an entire set of Abe Lincoln inspired tunes but don't say anything 'cuz we told 'em they were coming by for a free lunch. If'n you can't make the afternoon show, catch them later at HumBrews with Hillstomp for 10 bucks (9:30pm).

TANSY & TARWEED AND A STICK & A STONE - FEB 15TH.
Noted for her unique guitar style, Brenna plays original folk tunes involving guitar, cello, and piano. She recently helped form Tansy and Tarweed, a anarcha-folk doom jazz quartet based in Portland, OR. A Stick and A Stone has been described as having “elements such as classical instrumentation, punk-infused chamber tones, and supernatural vocals, teamed with multi-disciplinary performances."

GUYS ON GUITARS - FEB 23RD

Former Broken Hearts guitarist / solo musician Zak McLongstreet returns to town for a visit and will be playing an instore set alongside Colin Begell from Strix Vega and Phil of TLSNBE in a show we affectionately call, "gUys wIth gUItArs." We'll be starting things about 5 p.m. so stop by and grab some floor.


7COME11 at JAMBALAYA - FEB 4TH (DAMN)
A well wishing promoter dropped off a 45 of these guys for us at the store and after a four album long Conway Twitty session we threw it on to see what a song titled "dollar store" sounded like. What we got was a pleasant surprise in the form of bluesy guitar funky organ and on point drums, creating a vocal-less groove that reminded us a bit of artists like Quintron or Decheman and the Gardener. This self proclaimed "Hammond Organ Trio" just played the Jambalaya and before you weep too much at missing the show, they seem to hail from Santa Cruz so make sure you catch it next time, we know we'll be there.

THE TICKET FANDANGO

So we've had a metric shit ton of folks heading into the store wondering about where to buy their tickets. To these folks we'd like to say we're trying our best to bring in as many event tickets as we can with our new location but bear with us as we wait for the tickets roll in and in the coming weeks if you see some we're missing, please let us know. That being said, no we will not be selling tickets for the Animal Collective shows up here.

NEW FEBRUARY STUFF

CAVE SINGERS "No Witch" - FEB 22ND

So we got an early copy of the new cave singers album to peruse and from the moment we hit play we were sold. Horns, handclaps and an organ are just a few new things added to the same awesome equation the Cave Singers mapped out with Invitation Songs way back in 2007.

NEW MOGWAI "Hardcore will Never Die but You Will" - FEB 15TH

Mogwai have always seemed to have a much better sense of humor than most of their peers. While most of the bands that sound like them opt for either brooding, austere soundscapes or breathtakingly ethereal musical collages, the Scottish five-piece have a knack for poking fun at everything from the silliness of the genre they’re often lumped into to the stagnancy of much of today’s music by toying around with dynamics and silence to shake things up aurally. -Möhammad Choudhery

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW "Cervantine" - FEB 15TH

With each album this group seems to shed their history as indie rock gypsyphiles and secure their legacy as modern purveyors of a European musical legacy.

DAN MELCHIOR "Assemblage Blues" - FEB 15TH

Let's just be honest, we love Dan Melchior. We buy nearly everything this fuzz rocker has ever put out and we only say nearly because he seems to release a new 45 every month. This month shows another new lp and while we weren't able to offer you a sneak peak track, this description from the label just about sums it up.
"As Dan Melchior continues to kick the Medway gutbucket to the curb, he is also willfully absorbing all manner've underground cankerous crud along the way. For those endeared to wallet chains and crisp, cuffed jeans, this has been tantamount to heresy. But for thems what's embraced the sounds of "the new Dan," said aberrations are as welcome to caustic ears as a cold beer is to a set've parched lips. And while last year's Visionary Pangs LP (released with Das Menace on the S-S label) was a grower and a half, Assemblage Blues snuffs it as if it were no more'n a sneeze in the wind." "This here LP seemingly vibes from such left field Blighty heavies as Instant Automatons and L. Voag as well as the dark side of Alex Chilton (think Dusted in Memphis) and the 3:00 A.M. shudder of Prominent Disturbance. Within the canon of the Siltbreeze label, Melchior's magnificent malarkey on Assemblage Blues has secured him a spot somewhere between The Shadow Ring and Jim Shepard. The pone don't sizzle much hotter than there. And the sneezin' is nil."

SOMETHING FROM OUR PICKS BOARDS


--Matts' picks this week include a little something we found while making our giant Numero Group order last month, and truthfully we forgot about it to what with all the Syl Johnson, Mighty Mike and Brotherman on Cassette but forget all that right now and let me tell you about Johnny Lunchbreak. For less than two years, Johnny Luchbreak wowed the musical scene of Hartford Connecticut circa before disappearing into obscurity and leaving behind a small legacy of unreleased demos. Though they never recorded an album, this demo collection is an infectious garage/funk/blues/pop monster that has moments of Jefferson Airplane, Bill Fay and The Modern Lovers even though they were attempting a Stones/Bee Gees thing. All in all this is a story old as time: start out playing for fun, get serious, find success elusive, then call it quits in frustration when you realize that feeding your child is more important than playing bars in Vernon for pitchers of beer. CLICK HERE FOR A SAMPLE TRACK



--Adam's picks this month are a bit more contemporary. The Lions are the result of an impromptu 2006 recording session by members of Breakestra, Connie Price and the Keystones, Rhythm Roots All-Stars, Orgone, Sound Directions, Plant Life, Poetics and Macy Gray, at Orgone's Killion Studios, in Los Angeles. Released on the oh so loved Ubiquity Records, Jungle Struttin' is a collection of ten originals and one cover that has been hailed as "a modern old school reggae album."
The Lions - jungle struttin' .mp3
Found at bee mp3 search engine


COMIC BOOKS

UMBRELLA ACADEMY
A book so good, you'll hate yourself for enjoying it. The reason behind this self-loathing? The writing talent behind this amazing book is none of other than Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. Just to wet your appetite, here's how it begins...
" It was the same year "Tusslin' Tom" Gurney knocked out the space-squid from Rigel X-9. It happened at 9:38 p.m. It came from an atomic flying elbow...forty three extraordinary children were born to mostly single women, who had shown no signs of pregnancy, in seemingly random locations around the world." Now how do you NOT want to read about that? With an amazing story, talking monkeys and layouts that have the feel of a Wes Anderson movie this book is an ever-lovin' steal at three bucks off the cover price!

A DOWNLOADABLE GIFT FOR YOU

WUDOS BAND
Two Staten Island giants collide in a mash up of mythical proportions. Created by Wu-affiliate Cloud Kicker Original and Emilio Sparks and produced by Tekst, of the Higher Concept (who have previously produced or engineered for members of the Wu), right now it only exists on the web and faded blankets along Canal St. but given the buzz around this release we should all keep our fingers crossed.
CLICK HERE

Don't forget the design contest ends this month, as well as the George Clinton picture lp raffle. Feel free to stop by to drop a valentine in the boxes taped to our desks... we have a sneaky feeling Henry's going to win.

keep diggin' those crates
--Matt n' Adam

Monday, January 24, 2011

How the hell is January almost over?

Garyfest 2011 day 24, a glorious day here at the shop as a whole slew of new orders roll through the door and some things we never thought would ever materialize! Between R. Crumb's "Hot Women" collection, Thee Vicars, Nigeria70, it's amazing we can even manage to throw things into the racks instead of our hold piles. What's our secret for keeping our racks and your racks stuffed? ordering more than one. Each new order we each make a tough choice of what one record to keep for our own collections and this week it's a tie between falling in love with your own choice and coveting thy neighbors'

MATT's PICK

Angola Soundtrack
"Angolan music is truly unique and stands on its own as a sound that can only be found in that part of the world...superbly melodic, highly danceable, hypnotic, raw, quintessentially beautiful - and totally addictive. From the nine Analog Africa releases thus far, 'Angola Soundtrack' has been the most difficult to create." --taken from the Analog Africa blog


ADAM's PICK


Mighty Mike Lenaburg
Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg chronicles Phoenix, Arizona’s off-”Funky Broadway” scene that happened while Dyke and his Blazers were setting national charts on fire in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. Covering Tejano psych, flute funk, both horny soul and horny kid soul, cackling R&B, deep ballads, and fist-fight doo-wop." --taken from the Numero Group website.
Lon Rogers & the Soul Blenders - My Girl Is A Soul Girl .mp3
Found at bee mp3 search engine


OTHER NEW TITLES
The Decemberists "The King is Dead"
Ebo Taylor "Love and Death"
Analog Africa "Afro Beat Airways"

COMING JANUARY 25TH
Iron & Wine "Kiss Each Other Clean"
Deerhoof "Vs Evil"
Carolina Chocolate Drops "Luminescent Orchestrii"
Monotonix "Not Yet"

COMING FEBRUARY 15TH

A Hawk & A Hacksaw "Cervantine"
Mogwai "Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will"

NUMERO EXPLOSION


Our giant order is in from Chicago and we spent the day building our Tower of Numero! and if the legends are correct, all 39 pieces combined build a tower of Babel to musical heaven. I know we're super excitable about everything we stock around here but we can't say this enough times, "there isn't a bad Numero Group release." Anything you buy from these guys is a hit as far as we're concerned, be it obscure Psych-Folk from 70's Illinois, the soundtrack to a never released blacksplotation movie or a label that died because their president ran off with the cash, it's more than a record it's a lesson in music history.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

(Although I'm usually reviewing our rack for the blog, this one is such a favorite of Adam's that I had to ask he write the review for Marvels, the graphic novel that got him reading comics again. --Matt)



Marvels
What goes through the mind of the average Joe when superhuman freaks smash the shit out of your city. Told from a humble reporters point of view, this story is full of real emotion, fear, hate, love and wonder. The type of things we would all experience if you were to look up in the sky and see The Human Torch(a man engulfed in flames) trading blows with Prince Namor (the ruler of the supposed mythical Atlanteans). Drawn by one of our favorite artists Alex Ross, this book ended a ten year comic drought for me, and is a must read for any comic nerd lapsed or otherwise.

(With a price tag of twenty bucks, we here at Missing Link think you should only have to pay 15...take that comic code.)

More to come in the next week or two, make sure to stop by the shop and snap up one of our new bumper stickers featuring our new slogan


keep diggin' those crates
--Matt n' Adam