South Yarra & Record Shopping

At the recommendation of the hotel concierge, Rosalie and I ventured down Toorak Rd towards South Yarra, "one of Melbourne's most affluent inner-city suburbs." I don't really know what an "inner-city suburb" is, that seems to be quite the oxymoron, but then again, my understanding of the term "inner-city" has been shaped by my experience of America, where white flight has led to urban centers largely abandoned by the middle class, leaving only crime-riddled pockets of ghetto left. It's not like that in other parts of the world. South Yarra, for instance, is a vibrant shopper's paradise, a fashionable corner of Melbourne filled with mansions and upscale shops. I did some damage with a credit card in a short amount of time, which was to be expected, I suppose. I have yet to be able to go on one of these trips without hitting up a record store, and I've been looking forward to buying some sounds in Melbourne. Wandered into a Virgin Megastore and emerged a little later after finally getting my hands on two albums I haven't been able to find in stores in the USA. Also picked up a compilation put out by Vicious Vinyl, a local Melbourne dance music label, and found a few other odds and ends I look forward to poring over. Raiding these record stores on these trips defines my sound. A DJ is only as good as the places he digs...

Speaking of good sounds, the two albums I bought were by my latest favorite band, Fat Freddy's Drop, a incredibly soulful 7-piece dub reggae band out of New Zealand that I only discovered last year after stumbling over one of their tracks on a compilation I purchased in Madrid. The song below is a remix of one of the best tracks I've heard in YEARS, and I've been spinning it out at virtually every DJ gig I've had in the last 6 months. While this house remix by Jazzanova is juicy, the original is just indisputably gorgeous, and has a nice slow lilt that makes me close my eyes and bop my head each time I hear it.... This is called "Flashback," and it's the soundtrack for how I feel about my fiance, the love of my life. enjoy...