Whoa it's magic...

A number of years ago I was introduced to the incredible "Magic Organ" series, which was released by the Ranwood Records group back in the '70s, thanks to an impulse purchase at a garage sale in the town of West Bloomfield, NY. "The Magic Organ Goes To Hawaii" has been a staple in my car's cassette deck ever since, and its matching yellow case/cassette is a welcome change from all those boring clear tapes or gray tapes. If you've never heard "The Magic Organ Goes To Hawaii," it kind of sounds like your great old Hawaiian standards as played through a very cheesey sounding console organ, complete with the funny percussion and all.

Needless to say, I've been on the lookout for the other members of the Magic Organ series ever since, especially on vinyl, and so it was with great excitement that I happened upon this item at a local Amvets store in Buffalo, NY. I'm not big on "carousel music" (i.e. showtunes), but this is the Magic Organ, so at the very least it will be ripe with sonic entertainment.


As luck would have it, I ended up forgetting about this purchase for a good six months or so (much of this due to the lack of free time I have for listening to records during graduate school), and recently went back to my record bin to give this new addition to the Magic Organ collection a try, when low and behold I pull the record out of the jacket and what do I see inside...

A VINYL COPY OF THE MAGIC ORGAN GOES TO HAWAII!!

It truly is magic.

Why Steven Chow is the greatest

After rewatching Kung Fu Hustle again this evening for the 400th time, I am reminded of why I will always consider this one of the most entertaining cinematic gems of all time.

Catching Up

The Homophones had a recent reunion of sorts, as Jason visited Buffalo to play a gig at Mohawk Place, and work a bit more on the Gray Ghost EP. Here are a few glimpses of that experience...

Jason on the Hammond while Moog the cat listens in

Kevin, who filled in on electronic drums at the gig, showing the guts of an Oberheim DMX drum machine on loan to us for the gig

And an obligatory shot of myself and Alison with none other than NPR's Carl Kasell, who was in town last Friday night

I have recently returned from a weeklong excursion in Brooklyn, catching up with old friends and finally completing the tracklisting for the Homophones album. Only mastering is left!

The inspiration of science

The Toronto Science Museum is always a source of excitement and inspiration...

Buffalo Central Terminal

(Thanks Buffalo Rising)

Hot Leaves

To the West (again)...

Best purchase of 2008 thus far...

Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine: Persuasive Electronics by Richard Hayman
Tracklisting:
Side A
The Windmills of Your Mind
La Comparsa
The Peanut Vendor
The Look of Love
Hare Krishna

Side B
Goin' Out of My Head
Dansero
The Girl from Ipanema
Samba de Victoria
Melody #2
Spanish Eyes