BEER REVIEW

WHY IS BEER THE BEST AFTER WORK?

Friday comes around and the talking point on most of the building sites i work on is beer o'clock. There is nothing better than the taste of a refreshing cold hard earned beer. It symbolizes a hard long week and for some strange reason we all crave that time of the week. Things have moved on from the days of a slab Lion or DB turning up on the site. Now we tradesmen are more and more preferring a good tasting quality beer. Something that's tickles the pallet. It could be a lager, pilsner, ale, stout, or even wheat beer. Lagers are the usual first choice for many. They symbolize summer there are easy to drink and its also a very light coloured beer. Not a huge difference in flavours over the board but always a safe Friday option. One of my favourites is the pilsner with a more tastier fruitier flavour than a lager and also slightly darker. An ale has a more richer flavour than the larger and also looks more red compared to the gold of a pilsner or lager. A stout would be more uncommon on site compared to pub drinking. Its very dark colour compared to any other beer. A stout is also very rich in flavour, sorta like a meat pie in a pint. OK my favourite beer anytime is a wheat beer. With a thick syrupy consistency, sweet flavour and amber smell (some people compare wheat beer to smelly feet). What ever your flavour is i like any of those on a Friday usually 4pm is good for me if your buying.

RECORD STORE REVIEW 7 OF 15

REAL GROOVY RECORDS, AUCKLAND
438 QUEEN ST AUCKLAND CITY
Ratings
Stock, numbers of records 7/10
Collectible stock 6/10
Quality and pricing 5/10
Service 4.5/10
Knowledge 5/10
Overall vibe 7/10
Average 5.8/10
Real Groovy Auckland is probably the biggest record store in NZ. With rows as far as the eye can see worth of our sort of gold, plastic shiny round objects with grooves in them that we treasure. The A-Z pop rock section is huge and will take you a good hour or two, that's if you rush. A very good NZ section with loads of rare vinyls. Also very nice alternative rock, metal, soul funk, jazz and blues sections. A good record store for DJs as well with lots of house, techno, DnB and hip hop. The sale section is huge and I'm sure you will find something good in there. OK to the NZ section. Last time i was at the store i saw copys of Human Instincts "Stoned Guitar", La De Das "self titled LP, a couple of The Clean 12"EPs, Heaps of Flying Nun, Jayrem, Some rare TV EYE recording pressings and more. A section of 45s and EPs at $15 each also not bad. I picked up a Suburban Reptiles single in there and a whole lot of 60s p/c EPs, Monkees, Beatles, Hendrix, Cream etc. The let down was that the Human Instinct and LA DE DAS were in average condition and well over priced. The grading sometimes of Groovy Auckland is questionable at times. Checking this store out is well worth the trip to Auckland. I recommend 3-8hrs. You could do this in two goes.

RECORD STORE REVIEW 6 OF 15

PENNY LANE RECORDS

461 COLOMBO ST CHRISTCHURCH

Ratings

Stock, numbers of records 8.5/10

Collectible stock 8/10

Quality and pricing 6/10

Service 7/10

Knowledge 7/10

Overall vibe 6.5/10

Average 7.2/10

The ratings tell the truth, Penny lane records located just out of Christchurch city is one of New Zealands top record stores. With thousands and thousands of records, Cd's, tapes, DVDs and music memorabilia. OK to the records now. When you walk into "Penny's" there is 10-16 crates of new records that have come into the store. Both new and used. In these crate are also rare records. I was there in July and two of those crates are collectible 80s NZ vinyl. On both sides of the store are walls and racks of records. with a huge $4 sale section on the inside with loads of really good vinyl. On both of these walls are huge sections of A-Z pop rock, jazz, blues, soul, metal, alternative, NZ, dance, hip hop and loads more sections. There is a lot of collectible rare records in all of these sections. A very nice sale section of 7" with lots of p/s and NZ bands, Beatles, Elvis and so on. I always end up spending way to much cash when i go to "Penny's". The guys know there stuff as well. The only slight down full is the quality and pricing at times. Its probably because so much records are coming in all of the time. Well worth a look and you will need more than a few hours if you collect more than a few genre's.

WELLINGTON MINISTRY BOOK FAIR 2010 TSB ARENA

21st August

Just having a break from the record store updates to provide a little information about the Wellington Ministry book fair that was on today. For the early morning people its a chance to get to TSB Arena and get in line and handle the cold weather. Usually i turn up half an hour early and have a good spot in the line for the forward advance attack on the record section. But this year i turned up 20minutes before open, and really i was 10minutes to late but no worries. By the time the line got moving and i got inside there were 20-25 filled crates of records and half of them occupied by other vinyl junkies. The first few crates were dumb then the goodish stuff starting appearing. The worst thing about smash and grab records fairs is seeing someone pick out a record you really want. Lucky for me i didn't look at any ones records and i was happy anyway. My wahine also grabs for me so two haha. Like a lot of the early people we all seemed to get good records. I walked out with 30-40 records. Compare this to last year where i was the 2nd person on the records but walked away with 3-5 records. There was a lot more vinyl this weekend than last year and reasonably priced as well $2-$10.

Checkout the vinyl junkies bottom right corner.

RECORD STORE REVIEW 5 OF 15

MUSIC BOX

346 HERETAUNGA ST HASTINGS

Ratings

Stock, numbers of records 7/10

Collectible stock 7/10

Quality and pricing 6.5/10

Service 6.5/10

Knowledge 6/10

Overall vibe 5/10

Average 6.4

Music Box record exchange is one of the only Central North Island record stores. Music box specializes in 2nd hand records but sell tapes and Cd's. Again another small store well packed with records. A well sectioned store with good NZ, alternative rock, jazz and A-Z sections. There is also a very good rare records shelve. Last time i went there was a couple of years ago and there was a copy of the monster rare LP from the Kinks "Village green" sitting in the store for $330 retail. Always lots of new records coming in and the owner has a good head for whats sells and whats popular. When i went in there were multiple copy's of collectible bands, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Flying Nun and so. Also a good range of 7" scattered around the store. I always need at least 3 hours digging time when I'm in the Music Box record exchange.

Still more record stores to be reviewed and thanks to Kit beer reviews will start happening soon.

RECORD STORE REVIEW 4 OF 15

CONCH RECORDS
115A PONSONBY RD AUCKLAND
Ratings
Stock, numbers of records 5.5/10
Collectible stock 3/10
Quality and pricing 6/10
Service 7/10
Knowledge 8/10
Overall vibe 8.5/10
Average 6.4/10
OK this is a record store for the new cool kids, DJ and funky music listeners. Sitting in one of Auckland's flash suburbs is Conch records, a stylish trendy record/music/clothes/art/coffee(gonna slash my wrists up) shop. The shops bases its music on the groove genre's soul, funk, disco, hip hop,roots, dub reggae, DnB, dubstep, house and more DJ material. Selling a good mix of new DJ 7s, 12s to repressed soul/funk, reggae. Conch also has a good selection of used DJ vinyl at good prices. The shop is well designed with funky art for sale around the shop and styli t shirts, clothes and even a cafe setup inside and out. Choice as tunes are always on with a DJ turntable set up, very cool. The guys that run this place know their stuff when it comes to delivering the funk to your ears. They offer good advice and experience for both new and old skool beats.
Conch records 6.4/10 Nice1 bro.

RECORD STORE REVIEW 3 OF 15

LO COST RECORDS

147 JACKSON ST PETONE LOWER HUTT

Ratings

Stock, numbers of records 7.5/10

Collectable stock 6/10

Quality and pricing 6/10

Service 5/10

Knowledge 4/10

Overall feel, vibe 3/10

Average 5.3/10

Again another smallish shop. The shop is really filled up with vinyl and record bins are full all of the time. On both sides there are records with a central section with Cd's. Under the record booths are boxes and boxes of 7" records. The walls are covered in special records and also metal/rock posters and good bogan T-shirts. There is some collectible records in this shop at times. A really good diverse range in the A-Z pop rock and same for the 50s-60s A-Z with lots of original pressings. Lo Cost also stocks very good classic rock, metal and punk sections. If you are not into the bogan stuff there is always the jazz or even NZ sections. Digging will take you a good day here. The only negatives are the radio stations always seems to be on not Cd's. And the owner is nice but very quiet (hence low knowledge rating, he probably knows his stuff??). So at times it feels quiet and lacks vibe. A good record store to look through and i always find it hard buying because he has so much good records in good condition.