Formed in 1984, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience thrived as part of the second generation of Kiwi bands on Flying Nun, a label standing as one of New Zealand’s finest cultural exports. Between ’86 and ’93 The JPS Experience (their most excellent name litigiously foreshortened by Mr. Sartre’s estate; hell is other people, indeed) completed three distinct full-lengths that chart a progression from the bedroom to a stab at the big time.
Arriving a little later in Flying Nun narrative, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience never got the props routinely paid to core acts The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines, and Tall Dwarfs. Extant for a decade, they initially consisted of Dave Yetton on bass and vocals, Gary Sullivan on drums, and Dave Mulcahy on guitar; Jim Laing added his six-string soon after. Informal jamming led JPSE to more structured practice sessions and then self-recording.
“Masked and Taped” was the group’s inaugural hiss-laden cassette demo of ‘85, placed in dog food tins (yup) and sold on consignment through indie shops; it was reissued on tape by Flying Nun in ’93. Its contents are intriguing, “Waste of Time” immersed in downtrodden rainy day sensitivity as the folky title cut recalls countrymen The Bats and predicts The Mountain Goats.
A pop inclination shines brightly on “Peaches and Cream” as “Suzi Lustlady” possesses a twist of neo-psych (think Robyn Hitchcock) and “Fatness” is a modest lump of acoustic, music-hall-esque eccentricity. “Fly” is the sole entry dating from 1987, with programmed rhythms helping to situate it as a proposition of its era.
Spring Hill, FL | Rock-It Records in Spring Hill is drawing all ages to its old-school vinyl paradise: You want Taylor Swift? They have her. You want heavy metal? They have that, too. Whether you’re a metalhead, a jazz buff or an unabashed Swiftie, the new Rock-It Records in Spring Hill has your tasty tunes in stock. Owned by the music-loving husband-and-wife team of Joe and Pam Rooney, this is an old-school-cool record shop with lots of vinyl, CDs, memorabilia and more. They’ll even be hosting in-store record signings just like they did in the good old days. “I grew up in Massachusetts record-shopping with my cousin,” said Joe, who also fronted the metal band First Born. “And I just wanted to bring it back. I wanted to do it, man.” Oh, he’s doing it alright. Rock-It Records, located at 10480 Northcliffe Blvd in Spring Hill, is like a warm, nostalgic hug, although some of the most loyal customers are kids. “They’re really into 
‘Paradise Records’ Review: Rapper Logic’s Anarchic Stoner Hangout Movie Brings Jay And Silent Bob Out Of Retirement. American rapper Logic was born the year Richard Linklater’s Slacker came out, and, at the age of four, was thus unlikely to catch Kevin Smith’s Clerks when Miramax first released it back in 1994. Nevertheless, though the director cites Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon as a prime source of inspiration, those two lowest-of-the-early-’90s-lo-fi films—with a dash of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction too—are a much more apt comparison for his directing debut, a hangout movie 
When Stone finally dragged his bad self into the Record Plant in Sausalito to record the band’s fifth album, the results were completely unlike any previous Family Stone release. What is surprising, given Stone’s precipitous psychic decline, is that the result, 1971’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On, is perhaps the most brilliant LP he ever recorded.
The music blog wave has long ebbed and without much in the way of commiseration, but it’s worth noting that an occasional curatorial gem did shine amidst the sea of digitized record collections. For example, music blogs are where this writer first heard a pair of Zamrock’s most prolific acts, specifically the Ngozi Family and WITCH; in a positive turn, Now-Again has licensed full-length reissues of both (amongst others) and awarded them prominent positions on these two overviews of the style.
Birmingham, AL | Owner of Seasick Records in Bham talks aliens & Alabama Shakes: “…Seasick opened in 2013. As long as you want to buy physical media, we want to be the place for you to pick it up. I wanted to cater to people that wanted to pick up punk artists and metal and more underground things that you couldn’t find in most places and just be an outlet for that….I think it’s been going on for 17 years at this point, but it was basically created in a time where independent record stores were kind of dying out, and iTunes was killing everything, and big box stores were really just taking over. So, they created this day to push people back to independent record stores. There are all these limited releases that come out on Record Store Day, and you can only get them 
Richmond, VA | The Vinyl Crypt of Scott’s Addition: Wax Moon’s strange magic. Off of Broad Street, deep in Scott’s Addition between warehouses and alleyways, is a black hole in the wall filled with music, vintage VHS, and (perhaps most importantly) Richmond’s preeminent collection of horror-themed pinball machines. I came to Wax Moon on a cool evening, unsure of exactly what I was looking for, until an all-black, barn-like building loomed out of the cramped lines of buildings like a spectre out of the ether. Its door hung open, and the sound of The Cure’s Plainsong leaked into the street; a siren’s call for any searching for the gothic and uncanny. Peering into the Moon offers one a view of stacks of vinyl records, teeming walls of DVDs and VHS, memorabilia and stuffed horror-themed displays, the all-encompassing presence of a decade’s worth of accumulated artifacts. It appears dark from the outside, but my eyes adjusted to the warm glow of exposed bulbs once I stepped into the Moon’s welcoming halls—
To insinuate that Jackie Wilson is today a neglected figure would be ludicrous given how “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” has endured as a musical staple. It feels safe to say I’ve heard this tidy platter of pop-soul uplift at least 50 times while shopping for groceries alone, a number that can be doubled (probably tripled) when taking oldies station rotation into account.
Dallas, TX | Vector Brewing honoring late Good Records owner with special pilsner: Vector Brewing recently released a special pilsner in honor of late Good Records co-owner Chris Penn. Penn, who was severely injured and paralyzed after a fall at Good Records in March, died from his injuries on April 23 after over a month in the hospital at the age of 54. The beloved East Dallas music figure’s injury and eventual death led to an outpouring of support from the community, with a GoFundMe page organized in benefit of his family raising over $200,000. When Vector Brewing owner Craig Bradley heard about Penn’s injury, he says the idea for a commemorative brew quickly followed. “We immediately knew,” Bradley said. “We were like ‘I want to do something to help him out, help out his family and help out his recovery and everything.’ And then, unfortunately, we heard the terrible news that he’d passed. So suddenly the beer became 
Englewood, CO | Highlands Ranch resident turns poster hustle into thriving record store in Englewood: In the heart of Englewood just off South Broadway, Sold Out Vinyl Records is buzzing with energy in its new location. Rows of neatly organized records, cassette tapes, CDs and vibrant poster racks fill the store—a place that feels both retro and fresh. For owner Joe Magoonaugh, what began as a side hustle selling posters online has blossomed into a brick-and-mortar record store. “We’re kind of a traditional or classic record store,” Magoonaugh said. “That’s basically what we are. When you walk in the doors, that’s the goal—like the old record stores you used to walk into with 
