clare judith bowers

i love it

(new) waves of love and tolerance

wall of sound is my favorite music store of all time.  and this time i am not exaggerating.  it is, in fact, my main most number one favorite. 

when i discovered this record store i thought i hated both culture and music.  wall of sound seemed like a perfect target for my irrational hatred, right?  i mean, they specialize in "avant-garde, japanese, noise, industrial, art-rock, indie, alternative, free-jazz, folk, experimental, ambient, world, electronic, electro-acoustic, neoclassical and other genres for the discriminating listener."  ugh...honestly, it still kinda gives me angry-shivers. 

but then, for reasons unknown, i started lurking around wall of sound  all the time (i think i may have had a crush on someone?  i don't know...seattle does weird things to you.  like, i had a platinum blond mullet for a minute when i was up there.  weird things).

after a couple years of inexplicable lurking, i came to love (or at least tolerate) music and culture.   now i have some vague understanding of who moebius and roedelius are.  and i'm all like, "oh, blixa bargeld is doing some kind of a sound exhibit at recombinant media labs...right on..."

so imagine what w.o.s. could do for somoene who actually starts out liking music! 

i am proud to say i still can't differentiate between the many varieties of "wave": new wave, no wave, dark wave, etc...means nothing to me.  and my great love is still pop music.   i'll take a dance party over a noise festival any day of the week.

anyway, if you're in seattle, go to wall of sound and buy some music.  they have an amazing variety of cds and lps, including weirdo proggy noise, all varieties of wave, stoner rock, electro-whatever and, yes, some delightfully accessible indie-pop (hearts!).  and be sure to check out their upcoming shows and events.   

and even if you're nowhere near seattle, you should visit them virtual-style at their website.  with record reviews featuring such award-winning* phrases as: "whispered vocal angst dark prog menace" and "dark French anti-wave" and "No Post Art Punk Wave" and an extensive online store...it is so very worth the clicks.

*you know, at the annual awesome phrase awards ceremony...in my mind.

(photo credit: www.wosound.com)