On occasion, I work at Creeps Record Parlour in Newtown, Wellington. While working there I am allowed to play any records I want, as long as it’s either one of my personal records or if it’s used and I found it in the store. I have decided to keep a listening diary here for all the records I listen to in the store, some of them I am new to and others are trusted favourites of mine. I have named this series of posts “The Orange M&M” as a reference to a scene in the movie “Empire Records” (1995) where Marc gets an m&m that matches the colour of the one Gina has, which gives him the right to play whatever he wants in the store:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkvKrATCHJE
"Awaken, My Love!" (2016)
Childish Gambino
I walked in to Creeps hearing the last little part of "Me and Your Mama" The walk was rainy, it was the darkest day I think we had all year and it was like 12:06. It felt relieving to hear something familiar. Since bossman already had this one playing I decided to keep it playing. I had forgotten just how funky this album was, I probably hadn't heard it in full since like 2017. A lot of this album stuck with me now, much more than when I was 16. "Terrified" in particular stood out to me way more than it would have back then. In general I was really happy to hear this album again as it hadn't crossed my mind in a while.
The Unseen (2000)
Quasimoto
I decided today to bring in a favourite of mine. This just might be my favourite hip-hop album of all time. Still completely holds up 23 years later. I would consider this album to be one of the most significant influence on my music and production style. Hard to find new words to say again and again that Madlib is one of the most influential producers of our time. Using a pitch-changer to create a new ALF-looking alter ego to mask your own rapping voice? and then still using your normal voice when trading bars with yourself pretending to be two different people? Incredible.
Curiosities (2013)
Lord Echo
Really enjoyed this listen. It works well as a record store album to play. I've played it at lulu's bar on vinyl night a few times. Really warm, sounds like it was made for playing on vinyl. Every bass groove on this record is tasty and gets me grooving as I'm cleaning jazz records. I found that the middle of the album dipped my interest a little bit, maybe I was just sleepy. Also the bro Mara TK is on this record and he is dope as shit.
Warm Leatherette (1980)
Grace Jones
The legend Grace Jones! Nightclubbing is a fav of mine, so I was excited by how I would feel about this album which came out a year earlier in 1980. The album starts with a punch of feeling and it is so recognisable as her style. It is interesting to me how easily many artists and style icons are categorised these days, and how effortlessly Grace Jones exists outside of all of those spectrums. She IS the moment. She makes great reggae and funk tracks, it's hard to not enjoy just listening to it. I did only listen to Side A of this record, but I can say I will definitely be returning to listen to the rest of it.
Venus Is Home (2022)
Erny Belle
I have been meaning to listen to this album for AGES. I remember seeing it everywhere at Flying Nun on Cuba Street, My friend Sean told me to listen to it in February. Safe to say I waited too long. It's really great. Her voice is stunning, the gorgeous instrumentation and songwriting make it easy to daydream to. It's a really nice album. The slide guitar also goes hard as hell.
Rapture (1986)
Anita Baker
It was just about the end of my shift, so I decided to play something from the used $30 section. I have listened to this album a couple times before for sure, Obviously notable is the MF DOOM sample on the opening track. Anita Baker has a stunning voice and this would be great to listen to on a sunny afternoon.
Day Two working at Creeps was fun. It was rainy and cloudy and it was dark as hell for 12pm on a Tuesday. Wellington weather was as unpredictable as ever.
Reon x