One of Our Favorite Customers Picks Some Records

We love our customers, every last one. That being said we love when they come in and start telling us about all the new music that they love. And today we have a real treat, say hello and listen to the deep wisdom of....

Ash Helio

Hey guys, Ash Helio here, ready to drop some baby knowledge on your grow'd up dairy airs! So from what I've gathered in my four and a half months on this here earth, people like themes. So lets piece together a themed write-up for you all. Seeing that sweet picture of me just chillin' I'm sure you can not help but think about the circle of life. Below are some new nicenesses and old nicenesses, and no mentionings of Elton John songs.

First up I've got to express my love for old school hip hop. It appears that I, Ash Helio, may very well be B-FAB ("Born From a Boombox" to all you foolish enough not to have rocked "Step Up 3-D" as of yet). After diggin' on the sweetness of "Step Up 3-D" I needed to enjoy an old school dance party myself, and nothing was satisfying quite like 1986's "Mantronix - The Album" from Sleeping Bag Records (who knew Arthur Russell was responsible for getting "Needle to the Groove" out there?). Great stuff to pop and lock it to. Very excellent and chill beats. At about 35 minutes, though, you are going to need some more beats to keep that party going. I've been feeling the album "No Mas" by Javelin a lot lately, and since it jams in a totally chill way as well, I'd say it is pretty perfect to keep on dancing. Their 8-bit sounding keys match nicely with the old school sound of Mantronix, and at one point they tell you they'd like to see you "monkey foot"...and who can resist that request? Really fun, breezy dance music that has a beautiful low-tech sound to it.


We should really keep on dancing when it comes down to it. So I think it is time to talk about some Sublime Frequencies amazing-ness. Sometimes pops is like "Should we save money for you to go to college, or should we make sure to buy every Sublime Frequencies record that comes out?" and I'm all like "Who even knows if colleges will exist in 18 years? Sweet jams, though, they're eternal!". So pops buys the newest CD and the record of a CD he already owns by Omar Souleyman. Good thinking! That dude jams as hard as his moustache and sunglasses do! His beats are crazy, and he looks so chill rockin' those beats. Boy am I glad that pops took me to see Omar up in Central Park for my first concert! I'm gonna have to find me a really rich Syrian bride one day so that I can get this dude to MC my wedding and we will party at breakneck speed. Now for the old side of this coin, the Sublime Frequencies options are pretty stacked. The one I've been diggin' hardest of late is another Omar: Omar Khorshid and the record "Guitar El Chark". The record is OOP, but I'm sure SF will put out a CD of it in the near future, and you totally need to pick that up. It's like middle-eastern surf rock or something. Crazy instrumental guitar/keyboard jams that will make your head spin. You'll be quietly rockin' out, and your roommate will walk into the room all "Holy jebus! Is Linda Blair listening to the sweetest tunes in my living room?!". Cuz, you see, your head will be spinning. Like in the Exorcist.


Oh man, and I almost forgot: thinking about my first concert reminds me to let you all know that the greatest concert is getting a DVD release on 9/7! I will now be able to watch "77 Boa Drum"! Pops tells me it was pretty amazing, and I believe it! Boredoms + 77 Drum Sets + 7 Neck Guitar + Beautiful Summer Sunset = infinity. There really is no way to add up all those excellences using the meager number system we have available to us.

Now, I am a baby, so all this excitement is getting me a bit too riled up. I think it is about time I try to chill a little with the help of my kraut friends. Lets throw on "Harmonia Live '74", "Harmonia w/ Brian Eno - Tracks & Traces", or "Faust - So Far" and get totally chilled out. Such niceness here. All the Harmonia mentioned will still the most restless of baby souls, and the title track of "So Far" lets worries melt away, and naptime comes quite easily. These are the sounds of the world I am excited to have entered! And if I start to wake a bit, all of these are jams I can still get my dance on to! Once I wake up, I might still be in the mood for some nice repetition...something similar to these recordings that keeps the mind clear. I'm going to want something that is more raucous, though. I've had my nap, see! So it's time to throw on any of the Wooden Shjips or Moon Duo records. Personally I am partial to the Moon Duo EP "Killing Time"...nice repetitive riffs, and an ending song purdy enough to sound like Yo La Tengo. But mostly I'm rockin! From "Wooden Shjips" I'd have to go with "Volume 1", the first collection of singles and such. The songs sound are droney, feedback drenched rockers. Single riffs that go on forever. These dudes are totally reliable, too. I've been diggin' all their records a good bit!


Lastly lets move on to the album "Rhizomes" by Effi Briest. This is some excellence! A little tougher to describe I would say...similar in spirit to the Raincoats, but not a carbon copy at all. There are some great rhythms going on here, some really nice repeated interlocking guitar lines, all making you totally excited about folks making music. And the cover art is awesome to this record. For an older item to pair up with it, lets just make sure anyone who didn't have the first Raincoats record due to its OOPness over the last few years has made sure to snatch up the nice new issue of it. Impossible not to love! Or maybe "Cut" by the Slits...I definitely feel that vibe from Effi Briest as well.


Alright, baby dude signing off. Listen to the sweetness.
-Ash Helio