I had a strenuous day at work, helping to re-price all the jazz LPs in the store. It entailed pulling all the records and lugging them to the back of the store, re-pricing them, and then lugging them back out to the floor and reorganizing them. While that was happening, I had to help one of the girls at the front counter by providing her with $2.99 records that needed to be priced. So I had to lug all those records from back to front and then back again for storage. When full, the LP boxes weigh about 70 pounds, and I probably made two dozen trips across the store today. My knees and back are a mess right now.
I also came face-to-face with a black widow spider. I was underneath one of the record bins trying to ensure that one of the girls didn’t accidentally put new cheap-o records on the floor (instead of in storage), and I looked over my shoulder and saw a large spider hanging an inch above my left shoulder. I slowly backed off, and took a peak at its belly. Red “hourglass” shape hinted that it was a widow. I calmly walked over to the manager and said, “I don’t want to cause a stir or anything, but there is a black widow on the floor.” He said, “Why didn’t you just step on it?” I said, “I don’t literally mean the floor, I mean in the area where the customers shop. It’s hanging from one of the bins and I couldn’t get a good enough angle to crush it.” He huffed and said, “I’ll take care of it.” He grabbed some paper towels and we began walking towards the area of the store where the spider was located. Before we got there, he whispered to me to be quiet, then asked where exactly it was. I told him, and we slowly made our way over to the bin. When he looked down and saw the thing, he recoiled. With a swift, upward motion, he smashed the spider against the underside of the bin, and crumpled the paper towels in his hand. Then he walked to the back of the store without saying anything. A few seconds later, I was paged over the intercom. I picked up the phone and he said, “Evan, that was the biggest fucking black widow in my entire life. I own a house, I see lots of spiders…I’m sorry I made fun of you. That was, like, the daddy long-legs of black widows.”
Whatever its size and or relative dangerousness, it got my adrenaline flowing.
RULES for uninitiated noobs: With roughly 100MB of webspace, I give birth to a weekly Mix Tape to be deposited on your iPods or Zunes or Kingklangs or whatever the industry is currently pushing on you. Sometimes there will be themes that link all the songs together, other times I’ll just throw songs at a wall (not literally) and see what sticks. This week I am compiling something that combines elements of intense instrumentation with frustrated, mad lyrics and some good-old-fashioned uncomfortable weird shit, in an attempt to coax the cream out onto your jeans!. The goal of this endeavor, as always, is to pique your interest in these artists so you’ll support the artists and buy their albums.
Sunday Mix Tape – Number 129
“Holy Hank Mobley My Aching Back!”
01. Alan Lomax – Prettiest Train – (buy this album)
02. Hawkwind – Kiss The Velvet Whip – (buy this album)
03. The Ex – Walt’s Dizzyland – (buy this album)
04. Scott Walker – Next – (buy this album)
05. Hank Mobley – Me ‘N You – (buy this album)
06. Pajo – We Get Along, Mostly – (buy this album)
07. Soft Circle – Whirl – (buy this album)
08. Tall Firs – The Woods – (buy this album)
09. Bill Frisell – The Gallows – (buy this album)
10. Chrome – How Many Years Too Soon – (buy this album)
11. Dif Juz – Diselt – (buy this album)
12. Kyuss – Freedom Run – (buy this album)
13. Hank Mobley – My Groove Your Move – (buy this album)
14. RotoR – Kalstart – (buy this album)
15. Skip James – Careless Love – (buy this album)
16. Mahavishnu Orchestra – Noonward Race – (buy this album)
17. Rachel’s – Forgiveness – (buy this album)
18. Hank Mobley – My Sin – (buy this album)
19.
20. Grails – Burning Off Impurities – (buy this album)
