Swing Your Partner, Do Si Do

Last week sometime, my wife and I saw a listing for an estate sale that looked absolutely fascinating, largely for its kitsch value. In a rather ritzy part of town, there was a late 80s house absolutely packed full of stuff, including 6 walk-in closets full of mens and womens clothes, over 400 pairs of swing-dance outfits, and all the crazy out-dated artwork and home furnishings that a person could shake a stick at.


The entire house interior seemed to be either teal, pink, or cream, with gold accents everywhere. It was like being stuck in a time capsule of a particular era, and while it definitely wasn't anything even close to the styles that I like, it was certainly a site to behold. My wife's friend described it best when she said, "It's like Golden Girls on steroids."

The main thing that got me out of bed on a Saturday and to the sale, though, was that I saw that the ad listed size 13 shoes for men. Because I have a heck of a time finding interesting shoes, I figured it would be worth a trip to check things out, and fortunately I was right.

First up was a pair of nearly unworn Sebago docksides. Burgundy colored and very comfy. I'd been looking for a pair of boat shoes, and here they be.


Next up is a pair of chocolate brown vintage Florsheim Imperial loafers. The leather is a bit dry, but I'm going to hit them up with some conditioner and cream polish and I think they'll be ready to rock.


Another pair of vintage Florsheim Imperial loafers, this time in light gray! This is another pair that's going to need a bit of love (mainly looks like the wrong color polish was used in a couple spots at one point) to get back to absolutely sharp level, but for what I paid (see below), it was worth the chance.


Last up is yet another pair of vintage Florsheim Imperials. Light brown ankle-boots with a thin strap to close. I'm honestly not sure if it's thick enough to be considered a monk strap, but they're pretty neat regardless. Like the other pair of brown loafers above, the leather is going to need just a bit of conditioning and polish to really get to a sharp level, but it'll be a fun project.


Luckily for me, the total cost of all four pairs was only $8 ($2 a pair)! Despite some of them needing a bit of TLC, it has to qualify as one of my best scores of the summer.

The actual clothing that the gentlemen owned was either too big in girth or two short in length for me, and much of it was poly blends or off-the-charts in cheese factors that I couldn't bring myself to buy it. I didn't walk out with just the shoes, though.

I also found this record:


Amongst all the Lawrence Welk and loads of polka records was this absolutely crazy, "rated X" LP by Kapela S Pelka (aka "Band From Hell"). It's raucous, don't-give-a-shit sleazy orchestral polka from Czechoslovakia that's actually pretty fun.

Not a bad haul for less than $10 including tax.

Thrift store musicians

Part of the fun (for me, anyway) of doing a lot of shopping at thrift stores is finding the little bits of former lives in the items that you buy. I have a couple shirts that have names sewn (or written) on the inside neck label, and I've found ticket stubs, notes, and funeral handouts in jackets that I've purchased. In books, I've found cards, inscriptions, homework, and even money a couple times.

Of course, this former life personalization is the reason that many items end up at a thrift store to begin with (I can't count the number of times a perfect item has had to be refused due to holes or stains), but all in all I've found myself charmed more than I've been frustrated. Just the other day, I found a teacher note to a student in a book that said "Sally had a GREAT day in music class!" and it brightened my day a little bit.

That's probably a long way of getting to the point, but it's an important one when talking about the music of The Books. The duo of Paul de Yong and Nick Zammuto have released 3 albums to date, and this week they just put out their fourth, The Way Out. They make skewed pop music that really sounds like nobody else out there, and yes, there's a thrift store element involved.

One of the key components of their music is sampling, and a large portion of those samples (especially on this new release) are pulled from home VHS tapes, home-made cassette tapes, and even answering machine tapes that the two have found in thrift stores. They cut up the samples and re-arrange them in a way that fits the song, then add their own instrumentation (and sometimes vocals) over the top, creating something amazingly emotional in the process.

Take, for instance, the first "single" from their new album, titled "A Cold Freezin' Night." For this song, they pulled a variety of different clips from an old Talkboy tape (more back-story on the song on their blog). It's two kids trying to one-up each other and recording the process, and the two turn the song into a lively, and dare I say catchy song.

As if that weren't enough, the two also create a video for each song, cut perfectly in time to the song (and again, largely using found footage).

If that song didn't do it for you, check out one of their older cuts, titled "Classy Penguin." The construction elements are similar, but the song takes a completely different direction. Oh, and the video captures some beautiful little nuggets out of every day life. Basically, you'd have to really be a grump to not crack a little smile or feel a bit wistful watching it.

And really, that's where the group shines the most. They take slices of life that really meant something to someone at some point, recapture then, then add their own little elements on top of them and set them off into the world as songs and videos. Over the course of their albums (and especially The Way Out), there's a lot of joy, a little bit of sorrow, and a dash of absurdity for good measure. In essence, they capture a great slice of humanity, and they're some of my favorite musicians because they do so.

Rocking the top coat

If you enjoy pop music and haven't heard of Francis And The Lights, let this be your introduction. Seriously catchy, concise music, and the lead man (Francis) rocks a pompadour and top coat like you haven't seen. Music gear hounds will note the monome blinking out a melody at 45 seconds, but it's the song that first and foremost makes the thing. Oh, and the beautiful, subtle lighting and retro-tastic, delicious dance moves at 1:55.

If that piqued your interest, here's the fabulously-dressed Francis doing his best electro soul. Yeah, it's great stuff as well.

Can't live without it? Here's a link to the forthcoming CD on amazon.com. If you can't wait that long, the digital version is already available.