I hate 5" records

The 45 or 7" or whatever you want to call it is the perfect musical delivery system. Whether it is classic soul or 14 songs of the rawest hardcore, the format keeps it short and sweet. No time for any double LP foolishness. Shorter isn't always better though. Case in point, the 5". Where novelty and collectiblity collide and no one is the winner. Big Black did one with the pigpile VHS. I remember it was almost impossible to play since most turntables with the automatic arm return pick up before the track starts. Great.
RFTC did one which figured prominently in a previous post and not in a good way. I am sure I have a few others (slap a ham maybe?)and I know I have some 60s/70s novelty jingles on 5"s. Do I play them? No. I can't even seem to remember them.
The format sucks. It is too short. Sound quality seems shoddy and you can't really file them with your other singles.
Record collectors are pretentious assholes said someone smarter than me and this format proves the point. Get less for more.
Never mind the fact that the existence of the stupid RFTC one woke me up out of a deep sleep and ruined an uber-nerd theory I was developing. So ruining my day alone, 5"s are on my shit list but there is more.
A format that sucks almost as bad as flexis(flexis will always be cooler) and is almost as a big a pain as 78s, but holds less music and is harder to play.
What is the upside?

RFTC ASGIII

RFTC were one of my favorite bands. Sick live show, tons of merch, and hard to get records. Like Kiss only for people with taste. Their "all systems go" comps compiled there singles and hard to find tracks. Volumes one and two were cool, since it saved me having to transfer all the vinyl to digital, but V3 really is a keeper.
The holy grail to any record nerd are lost tapes-whether it is unreleased tracks, false starts, alternate takes, etc-doesn't matter. 4CD boxsets have been built on false starts cause record nerds are nerds first. So this 20 tracks of practice space 8 track recordings including alternate takes, instros, and unreleased was something really special and if we are lucky will have endless follow up volumes(like Dylan and the Bands Basement Tapes only good....)

As I was listening to this driving home an odd thought hit me. I couldn't name a cover song that RFTC had played or recorded. Weird for a group of dudes totally obsessed with music. I wracked my brain from 128 to 24 to 495 to 6 and still couldn't come up with an answer. Google was my obvious destination since I was moving in the opposite direction of my record collection, but why use the anonymous google when you could use the anonymous "contact" feature on most websites? So around inning eleven of the Soxs vs Rays, I wandered over to the computer and sent Swami Records my question,and went to bed.
Around 2:30 I woke up in a cold record nerd sweat, mumbling"plays the music machine". Shit, they did that stupid fucking 5" covering the music machine. So much for my grandiose conspiracy theory of them not recording covers.
To add insult to injury as I was drinking my morning coffee, I had time to read the ASGIII liner notes, and "this way out" is a wall of voodoo cover. Another head shot to my theory. A 5" full of failure was tough to take, but then a wall of voodoo cover? Fuck. That is a low blow. So now instead of waiting anxiously for a reply email that is full of "you figured it out...". I am waiting for something along the lines of "try again retard". And the Sox lost in 12 innings. Perfect
And finally as I type this, I am remembering that they did do one double thumbs up cover. Red C "pressure's on". Nothing like some harDCore to make it all all right.
So yes RFTC recorded some covers, but more importantly ASGIII is killer, the demo versions of "dick on a dog" and "when in rome" are great and most of the unreleased stuff holds up real well. Best comp yet from the RIP RFTC.
My anger towards the 5" format is only growing.

Odds and Ends

GreaseMonkey hit Euro-Bike. Two cool sets of photos on his flicker site. DeRosas looked cool. Another must have beer/axle nut wrench. New Fondriests are not working for me.

Onion. Ouch.

Mussewes flax bikes are looking Colnago cool here. But he also making wheels that would like sweet on your fixed gear??? I guess if you can't afford custom airbrushed Lightweights this might be an OK compromise.


So much racing it's hard to keep track of. Some frenzied activity has teams fade away. Cavendish is a fucking beast. Vuelta has another transitional stage before the Sat showdown on Angliru! Followed by 2 more tough mountain stages. Contador better win all he can before Lance rolls back in.
Tour of Britan is always special for me as I get to track the performance of the Plowman Craven RT team. I love that name. Plowman Craven sounds like some pissed off medievel serf or a bad FC. They keep it real with "Race Clean" right on the arm of their stunning pink and blue kits.

US if kicking but in Tour D'Avenir with Peter Stetina in the lead by 2:27. Always good to see youngsters making it happen. And Garmin forming a Rabobank like web of up and comers with their VMG/Felt squad.

5K running season is in full effect, how did the summer blow by so fast?

Paul Weller

So the modfather rolled into Boston last night. Berklee was filled with plenty of old people and a few time warped mods and skins. 5 piece band with enough organs and pianos on stage to be Joe Cocker circa 71. First hour or so went pretty heavy on the new record with most songs getting extended workouts. "From the Floorboards Up" was probably the most straight ahead rocker he hit during this phase. Maybe at 50 he is turning into the Progfather? He got nice on the electric piano during "Picking up Sticks". D
They hit a short acoustic phase in the middle. "Brand New Start" was included here.
Back to the amplifiers they went. The one two punch of "Echoes round the sun" and "come on/let's go" was epic and probably the highlight for me. 2nd half off the set rocked a little harder.
Wrapped it up with a full power version of "Town Caled Malice" which was pretty perfect and even had the geriatriacs in attenedance singing along.
Weller's guitar tech had on a Ronnie Lane shirt-which I was pretty envious of. Of course some mid-life crisis moron was screaming "Yeah,Ron Wood". Shut the fuck up already. Faces is a pretty apt comparision for some of the rock they were busting out last night. He may have been a little self indulgent, but he rocked out none the less.

The call of the motherland

Riding in Europe should be a goal for any US based cyclist. If after watching a euro-race on TV, you aren't drooling over the scenery, history, or epic nature of the terrain-you are most likely a recumbent rider. Belgium, Italy, France,Spain,Holland, Alps, Pyrenees-these are all places you want to go. One country that gets minimal love is Scotland. There are many reasons to visit Scotland-single malt and Roslyn Chapel are two that spring to mind, but it wasn't until I got this pamphlet in the mail that I realized what I was truly missing. "Cycling on Islay and Jura" is a pretty epic piece of enticing travel journalism which I encourage you to read or obtain it. Here is a typically humorous section.....
"Concomitant with the agricultural nature of both islands is a preponderance of both sheep and cattle, either at the side of some roads or, in one or two cases, actually on the road itself. Cows are larger and heavier than you are, and can cause quite serious damage to you and/or your bicycle if they become alarmed. Though it may seem silly, the best way of dealing with cows, either on or at the side of the road, is to start talking
to them well in advance. Cows apparently have things on their minds other than cyclists, (like grass) and your sudden appearance in close proximity can startle them. Talking alerts them to your presence, and should see you past without further
incident. Do not attempt to herd cows off the road, they can be more dangerous than you’d think.
Sheep, on the other hand are the most predictably unpredictable
animals you are likely to meet, and the best we can advise is to keep your wits about you - watch both sides of the road, particularly during lambing season. Pay particular attention
if there are oncoming vehicles."

Classic. The islands do not possess especially long routes, but how far do you really think you can ride after 4-8 distillery tours in less than 20-40K?
The land of Robert Millar,David Millar, and Chris Hoy has a lot more to offer than Haggis and Trainspotting and is now in my top ten. A can imagine an epic week in England and Scotland starting with the Three Peaks race and ending here in a cannonball into a a vat of Lagavulian. Maybe get tanked enought to reenact the Wickerman.

This is the true home of the argyle so Garmin fans should pay homage here.

Fire Sale at the Service Course

So Lotto goes with Canyon leaving Colnago ass out except for Landbouwkrediet-Tonissteiner. Hope they don't jump ship. With all these huge teams dumping bike sponsors, where is the mega-yard sale? Shouldn't Ebay be flooded with bikes, frames, kit, etc? Where is the bike swap? There are at least 5 teams with 20 plus riders who have at least 2 bikes each and a TT bike too. They are all obsolete in a couple months. I am willing to pay pennies on the dollar, where do I sign up?

Sixto Rodriguez Cold Fact LP

"Sugarman" is the hit on this one.
Light in the Attic drops another reissue classic. Thankfully this has nothing to do with the skinny shredder dude from Mars Volta. This cd is worth it for Sixto's story alone(which is also covered in the new Wax Poetics. WP also has "sugarman" track for free).
The music is well produced and clean. Real tight.A lot of lost classics lack in the production, but this is so pro it could be a Glen Campbell record.
He seems to alternate between Dylan("crucify your mind") and Donovan("sugarman") as far as the lyrics and grooves. Mix in a little protest era Marvin Gaye and you should have an angle on the lyrical content. Funky folk? Urban folk? Ghetto Protest? I haven't hear the new catch phrase for this record, but it stands up pretty well without any fanfare. Song titles are totally over the top.
Stand out tracks for me are the prog-funk "Only good conversation"(Dennis Coffey produced this and his hand seems pretty clear on this one) and the Nashville Skyline worthy "I wonder". "Jane S.Piddy" is another Dylan-esaque classic. Electric Dylan with all the tenous metaphors, young man angst, and hyperbole. The know it all freshman who always has a comeback. The street wise nine year old. etc. Another bonus is that none of the 12 songs clocks in over 4 minutes. Most are 2.5 which is just right when my ADD is acting up.
I listened to this twice and haven't read the liner notes(fairly extensive) yet, but I have a feeling this will be in the rotation for summer jams driving music if I ever finish the audio book of the new Thomas Franks. But the story of how audio books saved my summer is grist for another post. There is also a totally coincidental South Africa connection between Frank's book and Sixto. Do your homework, you can figure it out.