The Baltimore institution the True Vine, has lost an owner (Ian Nagoski), razed its inventory and uprooted itself, walking down the Avenue and turning right to settle into its new home on Hickory.  So we figured what better time to forge a relationship with such a vast repository of largely oral knowledge and history than this pivotal time of rebooting and restructuring.

In the future, we hope to have some valuable contributions to our musical knowledge and worldview from co-owner Jason Willett.  But for a primer, and the month of October, we will have to settle for an update on the going-ons of the business.

hello everyone,
our telephone & credit card machine is now hooked up & working. new & exciting lp’s & cd’s have been rolling through our doors over the past 2 weeks & i’d like to tell you

about a few of them. here are a few drops in the bucket:

LP’S:

NAUTICAL ALMANAC: MELDING LINEARALITY $15 (brand new release limited to 70 copies. the vinyl is hand lathe cut & plays outwards from the inside of the record.

“the grooves on the record disc require the person (THATS YOU) to have interactions with them. THIS RECORDS PLAYS DIFFERENTLY EVERY INSTANCE IT IS PLAYED. YOU MUST GIVE BACK.”)

LEPRECHAUN CATERING: MALE PLUMAGE $18 (small pressing by white denim release from 2 years ago which has been out of print for a while now. we found a few copies)

RUTH COPELAND: I AM WHAT I AM $21 (bad ass deep fiery vocals with funkadelic musicians in the backing band is a good combo)

V/A: LA GUEPE VOLUME 2 $15 (fantastic funky & occasionally electronic quiky 70′s library collection from the french label pulp flavor)

ACNODE ONE $21 (new pressing of never released material from 1978 by dr. id & ju suk reet meate from smegma)

FUNKADELIC: MAGGOT BRAIN $15 (original westbound pressing cutout with cover ringwear but decent to good vinyl condition)

CHARLES MANSON: LIE $30 (original 1987 awareness records pressing of his 60′s recordings)

R.STEVIE MOORE: TEENAGE SPECTACULAR $10 (pop pioneer DIY genius godfather. i dont see this record floating around much. grab it before it’s gone!)

R. STEVIE MOORE: WHAT’S THE POINT? $7 (this one i do see floating around over the years but that has no bearing on the fact that it’s a singularly brilliant & unique collection of r. stevie’s music)

NOVOS BAINOS: ACABOU CHORARE $30 (beautiful early 70′s groovy bossa cuts from one of my favorite brazilian bands. this is the first time i’ve seen a record by them in a record store!)

DAEVID ALLEN: NOW IS THE HAPPIEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE $22.50 (1977 release on tapioca records of the best daevid allen solo album i’ve heard. if you’re a fan of early gong but aren’t thrilled with the later albums then you’ll be fine with this)

BIG STAR: #1 RECORD $20.00 (1986 repress an ace records of their first album)

KRAFTWERK: COMPUTERWELT $20 (original 1981 kling klng german pressing of what in america is titled ‘computer world’. inside is a full color sleeve with kraftwerk posed in their androidic mindstate)

THE LAST POETS: DOUGLAS 3 $15 (original 1970 pressing of their first album. percussion & political-racial vocals that are very brethren to some of sun ra’s work)

V/A: PUPPET JAZZ $15 (rare jazz, funk, libray  & soul instrumentals from west germany in the 60′s & 70′s)

CD’S:

PEOPLE LIKE US & KENNY G: NOTHING SPECIAL $14 (one woman sound sculptor live on the kenny g show, on wfmu radio. fantastic torture! i cant tell you enough how healthy this record is for your head.)

CHRIS MCGREGOR’S BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH $17 (brotherhoodof breath were formed by chris mcgregor in london in 1970. an invigorating & joyous mix of african—dance rhythms & feely improvised jazz)

DAVIE ALLEN & THE ARROWS: DEVIL’S RUMBLE $27 (double cd anthology 1964 – 1968 from the master of wicked fuzzed biker film soundtrack instumentals. there is no

collection of their material as extensive as this elsewhere)

BILL COSBY: BADFOOT BROWN & THE BUNIONS BRADFORD FUNERAL & MARCHING BAND $12 (“one of the few sets ever cut by his short-lived bunions bradford band – quite dark at times, with a really freaked-out messed-up quality that might almost be described as psychedelic funk.” 1971)

KARL HECTOR & THE MALCOUNS: SAHARA SWING $15 (new album of african influenced heavy funk. highly recommended for fans of budos band, sugarmen 3 &

whitefield brothers… or for that matter anyone who likes funky music)

MODERN SHIT: WILL MAKE YOU ILL $19 (modern shit was a very limited edition cassette from the 80′s that has now been reissued on disc by alga marghen. one driving force behind modern shit is amos who was in the homosexuals. any project that this man has been involved in ends up being incredibly unique & surreal.)

EDDA DELL’ORSO: VOICE $18 (a collection of 60′s/70′s italian cuts by ennio morricone, armando trovajoli, piero piccioni & roberto pregadio that have one thing in common….the gorgeous haunting sensual otherworldly wordless vocals of edda dell’orso.)

CHRISSY ZEBBY TEMBO & NGOZI FAMILY: MY ANCESTORS $21 (“Mega-rare African psyche rock from the 1970s! Scuzzy, over-driven, Hendrix-inspired biker rock action from Africa!”)

there are hundreds more to check out the next time you swing by.

THE REPAIR SHOP is getting itself off the ground at this point & a few new ideas have come about. Karl who runs the repair division is now making small synthesizers for sale in the shop. he’s just finishing the first one which will be named ‘THE VAGINANATOR’. it’s a modified small keyboard with many organic added features like control voltage input, noise, freak button, touch button, kill button & best of all a strip near the keybaord that is played with a small stylus pen that slides up & down the pitch or tempo. it’s selling for $75. come in and try it out if your interested. also if you would like karl to modify an electronic instrument that you own into something else, either with your direction or not, then have a word with him. karl is also repairing turntables, amps, speakers, reel to reel players, synthesizers, electronic modules & many other electronic devices.

thanks,
love,
jason

THE TRUE VINE
3544 HICKORY AVE
BALTIMORE, MD 21211
(TELEPHONE: 410 235 4500)

OPEN:
TUES. – SAT. 12 – 9
SUN. & MON. 12 – 6

Related posts

1. Down the Vine Vol. 6 – The True Vine these days…The True Vine 3544 Hickory Ave. Baltimore, MD Telephone: 410...
2. Down the Vine Vol. 4THE TRUE VINE 3544 HICKORY AVE BALTIMORE, MD 21211 (TELEPHONE:...
3. Down the Vine Vol. 2This time, we’ve got audio clips from new arrivals for...
4. Down the Vine Vol. 5THE TRUE VINE 3544 HICKORY AVE BALTIMORE, MD 21211 (TELEPHONE:...
5. Down the Vine Vol. 3By popular demand, Jason and I filmed a little demonstration...