Best of...

This Slate best music of 2008 back-and-forth with Robert Christgau and others is interesting. Here in Singapore the extremely boring radio station Gold 90FM has one and a half good features. The half a good feature is that on Sundays at 2 they play the top ten UK chart hits of 19--. This is only half good because sometimes they pick the mid seventies, but the slight differences from the US charts can be fun. The one unambiguously good thing is that at about 2:45 they have music made in Singapore, some of it fun faux-Motown stuff, and some awsomely jarring country music from singin' Singapore cowboy Matthew Tan, and the Mandarins (here's a post about them). I have been searching for one of those portable record players, or rather, I have outsourced my searching for one to my friend Cheu (she wants one as well). I do have a number of old Singapore LPs I've bought here and there but no way to listen to them. What do Ervinna and the Stylers sound like? I mean, probably bad, but bad in what particular way? Inquiring minds want to know.

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[lemmy caution]

I bought a hand cranked 1920's Brunswick 78 player in a yard sale this year. It is surprisingly loud. You also need to change the needle pretty much after every song or it can screw up the records. I ruined my copy of the record my kids liked the best, Guy Lombardo's Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think), this way.

It is also pretty easy and cheap to buy the 78s. Amoeba has Benny Goodman and nat king cole trio records for a dollar. Bob Willis and Duke Ellington for three dollars. And, Hank williams for 5 dollars.

Hank william's records have surprisingly cheesy labels as seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCRLFlzcMvE