graypunk

And while I’m not the first, I surely won’t be the last to wish you and yours all the best in 2012. And I thank you in bunches for all the support in 2011. Year One is in the books and Year Two is off to a decent start. I’m not much for stacking up the resolutions, but I am cautiously optimistic (ie – leaving a modicum of room for the eventual backslide to come) that I can post “content” to this blog on a much more regular basis than recent history would suggest. Yes, I kinda disappeared somewhere around Thanksgiving, having ended 2011 with a slight touch of malaise. Nothing physical (though I did tweak my back a couple of weeks ago while moving records around the office, and I will note I was moving full boxes of records as opposed to say, a handful of vinyl), but just couldn’t muster up the desire to sit at the keyboard and write. Er, type.

Much of this comes down to time management. That is, my complete lack of it. And that is multiplied when you throw in the holidays and family (all of which were great). If I have any resolution to adhere to this year from a business perspective, it would be organizing my days (and nights) so that I can continue to keep Graypunk Records operational (and profitable, natch) while also affording myself the time to annoy you with my occasional ramblings on music. Or whatever. A balance, if you will, of my selfish need for commerce and my selfish need to impart myself on you.

So yeah, rather than falling back on my old habits of updating my Facebook page while failing to cross-post on this blog, the goal is to keep both on a regular roll. And while it is somewhat inevitable that FB will be updated more frequently (dude, it’s an ease thing), I will definitely be posting here more often. If you’re subscribed via email to this blog, this will result in, well, more emails. Hey, there’s always delete. I mean, not that I encourage that. Or want to know that. Fragile ego and all.

But know that while I wasn’t blogging, I was buying records. I have a backlog of vinyl that I purchased over the holidays and I’ll start uploading later this week. I promise it will be a sweet start to the year, with quite a bit of sealed stuff. Multiple titles from Springsteen, McCartney, Rolling Stones (a few killer Japanese pressings) and Dylan alongside some one-off’s from Pearl Jam (Vitalogy), Van Morrison (Pay The Devil) , The Posies (Amazing Disgrace). All sealed.

Bunch of open copies in really nice shape as well. In fact, I have my first three “play” records for 2012 lined up – a WLP of Ornette Coleman’s “The Art Of The Improvisers”, an original pressing of James McMurtry’s great debut, “Too Long In The Wasteland” and a Reprise Steamboat issue of Beefheart’s “Trout Mask Replica”. Now that’s some listening I can get behind. There’s a reason why I don’t buy open copies of, say, Dokken records. Well, other than there not being any money in selling Dokken records.

Cheers.