Back when people had to sit in chairs to hear music.

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It occurred to me today that our entire experience of amplified music is less than a hundred years old. We are accustomed to thinking of music older than about twenty years as being "classic", and older than forty years as "oldies". The electric guitar has only really been an effective instrument for about sixty years. Compare that with the violin, which came into its own over five hundred years ago, or the flute, which is twenty-thousand years old. Vinyl albums were the dominant form for about seventy years, sandwiched between wax cylinders and CDs, which lasted about twenty years. Now we listen to music through these:

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Mike Jaworski: Vinyl Dork and Out-of-Retirement Cop

​This week's edition of Rocket Queen focuses on the ten-year anniversary of High Fidelity. I interviewed a couple of former record store employees of note, including LA Times scribe Ann Powers and local label owner Mike Jaworski. Today I ran into him outside his former workplace of Sonic Boom, with a bag of vinyl in hand. He was particularly stoked about the 7-inch by Eddy Current Suppression Ring. It's nice to know the dude is true to his roots.

In related news, Jaworski's former band, the Cops, have decided to take another run at it (Jaworski currently fronts Virgin Islands--the Cops broke-up in 2008). There are no major plans other than to "BBQ, drink a lot of rose, and play with delay pedals." Sounds like a decent summer agenda to me.

​Considering Botch's esteemed place in the hardcore canon, it's surprising that frontman Dave Verellen's subsequent project, Narrows, hasn't received more attention. They have a self-titled EP and one full length under their belts, and most recently recorded two smashing new songs with sludge-savvy producer Chris Common, who was kind enough to give me a copy this morning.

Verellen's signature full-throttle, pitch-perfect growl is up front as always, but the guitar work of Ryan Frederickson (of the recently disbanded These Arms Are Snakes) is particularly inspired, curving tightly around Verellen's vocals with a surprising degree of elegance. Those new tracks will take up one side of a forthcoming split 7-inch (out soon on Deathwish Records) with another under-appreciated act, Heiress, who are also in fighting shape, thanks to the recent addition of fleet-fingered guitarist Josh Freer.

Both bands play next Friday at El Corazon with the Constant Lovers.

​There's so much good local music dropping this week that there's almost no excuse for you to not visit a record store in the next seven days. We've already let you know what new local projects are available digitally or on CD as of today, but this column is all about the vinyl heads.

After the jump, Jason Ferguson hips readers to all of the fresh wax that's available this week. Not just the local, but the national and international. Yes, Grand Archives and Bill Frisell released new vinyl today but so did the Doors and Betty Davis. To get the full scoop, read below.

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​If you didn't spend all of your money at Bumbershoot over the weekend, then today is a great day to go out and buy some new records. South African psychedelic rock combo BLK JKS just released their highly anticipated album, After Robots, and it's available on vinyl. Polvo, who play at the Crocodile on October 6, have a new record on shelves today as well.

There isn't a ton of new vinyl being released today, but that shouldn't stop you from supporting your neighborhood record store and making a purchase anyway. After the jump, vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson gives you the low-down on all of the new releases and reissues that are available on wax as of today.

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​Ahhh, it's Tuesday again. It's time to re-up on all of the new releases that just hit the web and record stores today. If you're only into CDs, MP3s and iTunes, then that's easy, but if you're a lover of vinyl, a bit more work and knowledge is needed to find all of the new wax that just came out. As always, we've got you covered.

Labor Day is fast approaching, and if you appreciate good vinyl, what better way to spend your day off then listening to a pristine LP on your record player with a beer in hand? After the jump, vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson has the low down on all of the new releases and reissues that are available this week on wax.

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​Things are looking much better for vinyl releases this week and beyond. It wasn't a bad month either. Some groups who dropped new vinyl this week like fun. actually swung through town at Easy Street Records to promote it and there's a general sense that bands and labels are finding value in pressing up LPs. That's a good sign and hopefully it continues.

After the jump, vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson hips readers to all of the new records and reissues that are out this week. Jazz lovers especially should find plenty to smile about. And he's also got the skinny on some important reissues like Michael Jackson's One Night in Japan and Wayne Shorter's Juju that quietly came out this month without much fanfare. Dig away.

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​Ahhhh... the sun is out and there's brand new vinyl on record store shelves. That's what I called a perfect Tuesday in the summertime. If you're a fan of vinyl, it's a perfect day to go hunt for gems new and old.

There are a bunch of cool new releases out today, especially local ones like Modest Mouses' No One's First and You're Next and the Cave Singers' Welcome Joy. And as you should already know, the Cave Singers are playing an in-store at Easy Street Records in Queen Anne tonight at 7 p.m. After the jump, vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson, gives readers plenty of info on all of the new vinyl and reissue packages that are in stores as of today.

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​Some fairly interesting vinyl packages were released yesterday and they're worth taking note of. I'm personally excited to hear the Noisette's new record, Never Forget You, as Janelle Monae might finally have a counterpart in in the Noisette's Shingai Shoniwa. And there's a bunch of other cool reissues and new LPs on record store shelves this week. Vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson has the scoop on all of the fresh wax below.

New Releases:
The biggest news in new releases this week isn't all that new, but it's all Seattle. The official "bootleg" Jimi Hendrix label, Dagger Records, has put together Live 1968 Paris/Ottawa as an exclusive "fan pack" available through Amazon.com. The most deluxe package includes a CD, picture disc LP, t-shirt, poster, postcards and, Jesus Christ, even an iPod skin and "access card" that unlocks online content. It's about $100, but smaller, less stuffed packages - all of which have vinyl - are also available.

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​Even though the heat has obviously trailed off, there's still a slew of hot vinyl being released that's worth devouring at your local record stores. Aside from some of the solid new releases that hit stores this week like Fruit Bats' The Ruminant Band and Modest Mouses' No One's First and You're Next, there's also some solid jazz reissues and key Nirvana albums that have been remastered and reintroduced on 180g vinyl.

That's great news to some of us with record players, and after the jump, vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson gives you the skinny on all of the fresh wax that's available this week.

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