Bop! is closed....

Last time I tried to go to Bop! Libros y Discos, they were closed. And not just closed as in not open, but there was no longer an actual building behind the storefront. Not sure what happened, but it is a bummer one of the better record stores in the city is gone.

Lorelle Meets the Obsolete

Front: On Welfare LP

 Lorelle Meets the Obsolete is my new favorite band from Mexico. Originally from Guadalajara, they now reside in Mexico City. A few months back they released their first album, On Welfare, via Captcha Records out of Chicago.

Back: On Welfare LP

They play fairly noisy (but mellow) modern psychedelic rock with some elements of drone that would be more at home in Austin or Brooklyn than here in Mexico.

You can go stream the entire album for free over at their bandcamp, or at the bottom of this post.

When I first heard the record I was bummed that I would have to wait until I return to the US to pick up a copy of the vinyl, but I checked out the band's tumblr page and they are willing to set up personal meetings to sell you a copy of their record. I of course took advantage of this and just got my copy a few days ago. The vinyl is very high quality and the packaging is just beautiful. If you want a copy and are in Mexico City, just get in touch with the band. Black vinyl is 100 pesos, color is 150. (Amazingly, this is cheaper than ordering the record from the label!!)

Right now they don't have any scheduled shows but they told me there is a possibility they will be playing in Mexico City in early September, and they have a confirmed gig for late October.

Vintage Vinyl Record Convention, Mexico City, 2011

 Since I first found out about the Vintage Vinyl show I couldn't contain my excitement to actually attend a record show in Mexico. While I have enjoyed shopping for records in Mexico in the street markets and in the stores, record shows are much more interesting and I was starting to miss the ones back home. Unfortunately, the Vintage Vinyl show, supposedly the first record show in Mexico City, was a let down.

 I am pretty happy with my finds, but it was fairly difficult to find anything worth buying at the show. Part of my disappointment is probably due to me expecting something similar to record shows in the US geared towards collectors. Vintage Vinyl was definitely not geared towards record collectors. It seems the main audience were people who still casually listen to records or younger hipsters that have recently gotten into vinyl.

 Most of the available records at the show were the typical American/UK rock and pop that you can find anywhere in Mexico. Lots and lots of common records from the Beatles, CCR, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, plus countless other classic rock and 80s pop records. There was virtually no punk or metal, hardly any jazz (except one guy who had probably 50 Oscar Peterson records?!?), few sellers that had any rock mexicano, and only two sellers that had any new vinyl from current Mexican bands.

 I recognized some of the sellers here. Discos de Ayer and Retroactivo Records were present, although they certainly didn't have anything special at the show (you would be better off going to their stores). There was also one seller from Balderas that I recognized, plus a lot of vendors who typically sell in other markets like Lagunilla, Tepito, etc. I don't think anyone who sells at El Chopo came to the show, which I found somewhat surprising. I did learn about Discos Amapola, which I had not heard of before, but they deal mostly with newer imports that I can get for cheaper when I travel back to the US. One thing Discos Amapola and their friends at the show should be commended for is that they brought a few record players for people to listen before they buy. They were extremely friendly, and let me check out some records I hadn't heard before. Stores/sellers that let you listen before you buy definitely deserve repeat business.

 Despite my complaints, I had a good time at the show and I hope it happens again next year.

I did find a few records I have been looking for, plus a couple others I picked up on a whim.

What I found:
Coil - Panic/Tainted Love 12"
Esquivel - Latin-Esque LP
Caronte - Magos y Dragones LP
Toño Quirazco - Homenaje a Santo y Johnny LP
The High Fidelity Orchestra - My Girl LP
Polvo - Have You Ever Been There?/Can't Get Enough? 7"
Los Rockin Devils - Pata Pata Psicodelico 7"
Question Mark and the Mysterians - 96 Tears 7"
Inservibles - ¿Cual es tu pedo, ñero?
Inservibles - Demo 2008 7"
Darkness - Requiem cassette

The Polvo, Toño Quirazco, and High Fidelity Orchestra records were all on my want list of Mexican records and I'm really glad to have found them for reasonable prices at the show. I'll be doing individual posts of these in the future.

I'm not a huge Coil fan, but I do love their cover of Tainted Love so I had to get this 12". I remember being a young teenager when the Wax Trax Black Box came out. There was a VHS companion to the box set which included a video for Tainted Love, and it is probably still one of the darkest and most disturbing videos I've seen. Whenever I hear this song, no matter who is singing it, the images of this video always come to mind.

The Caronte LP is probably one of the worst Mexican metal LPs out there, but it is also one of the earliest releases on the Mexican Avanzada Metalica label. I'm trying to collect as many releases from that label as possible so I figured I should pick it up, plus it was cheap. Los Rockin Devils are a pretty run of the mill Mexican garage band, but I loved the cover of this 45 so I grabbed it. Question Mark and the Mysterians are great, so I couldn't pass up this Mexican pressing of their 96 Tears ep. Inservibles are a current lo-fi punk band from Mexico City which a friend recently turned me on to. Discos Amapola had their records so I decided to grab these. Esquivel is pretty hit or miss for me, but I hadn't seen the Latin-Esque LP before, and his records are hard to find in nice condition. Probably the biggest surprise of the record show was the Darkness cassette I found. I had never heard of them before, but the tape was basically free. There is literally no information on this old-school Mexican death metal band online, but this album is absolutely amazing. Right now I don't have a way to transfer cassette to mp3, but this music needs to be shared.

Have you even been to these places?

Chilango magazine's webpage has a new article up on places to buy vinyl in Mexico City. There is really not much interesting here, but this description of El Chopo is mindblowing:

"What you will mainly find is Mexican rock, from the time of rock n' roll of the likes of César Costa and Los Hermano Carrión, to lps of bands like La Revolución de Emiliano Zapata, Three Souls in My Mind, Caifanes, La Maldita Vecindad, the early works of Javier Bátiz and a lot of other things."

Really? Has the author of this piece ever been to El Chopo? You can find this type of music at El Chopo for sure, but it isn't very easy and only a few sellers deal in this kind of music there. El Chopo is mostly metal, punk, and goth, with a  minority of sellers dealing in other things like rock mexicano, jazz, blues, reggae, and techno. Sorry Chilango, but you need some better reporters.

Record Show in Mexico City Tomorrow!

I've posted about the Vintage Vinyl Record Show that is taking place before, but I just wanted to remind everyone that it starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday. The show is taking place at the Foro Cultural MUJAM in Colonia Doctores.

If you are reading this and attend, let me know what you pick up! I'll be posting my finds on the blog.

Psicodencia - Cahui 7"

Front cover

Psicodencia were a fairly unique punk band from Mexico City in the 1990s. Prior to finding this record, I had not heard of the band, but the cover intrigued me and so I decided to pick it up. To my ears, Psicodencia's style is reminiscent of the 80s Chicago punk sound, especially some of the later records from the Effigies. They are slightly more experimental and complex than most punk bands I've heard from Mexico, which for me is a definite plus.

Rear cover

From the information I can find, they formed in 1990, went through a number of lineup changes, and then finally stopped playing in 1999. Their earliest release was the 5-track Cahui 7" that came out in 1990. In addition to the 7", they also released three compilation tracks, one each on each of the three volumes of the "El punk no está muerto" series. Psicodencia's final recording was a 13-track demo called "Evo" released around 1995. I like the 7" so much that I'd really like to get a copy of this Evo demo, but I'm guessing that will be pretty difficult.

insert

 Check out the tracks on the Cahui 7" on youtube:
1. La gente sigue riendo
2. Cuanto me podrá costar?
3. Policía, no me dejas existir
4. 2-14, 3-28
5. Lárgate a tu tierra

You can also check out Psicodencia's compilation tracks from the "El punk no está muerto" series.
1. Q2 (Vol. 1)
2. Sol de kuwait (Vol. 2)
3. Monotonia (Vol. 3)

Finally, Psicodencia has an old myspace page up with a few tracks that I can only guess are from the Evo demo. Check out those tracks here.

I was lucky enough to find the Cahui 7" at Retroactivo Records.

Retroactivo Records

Retroactivo Records in Colonia Roma is the biggest record store I have been to in Mexico City (besides El Chopo). They have thousands of used records of all different genres, although most of their stock is rock and pop. Unlike some of the other record stores in the city that I have been to, Retroactivo also carries a small but decent selection of new records from mostly Mexican groups. They also manufacture vinyl, so for local bands looking to get some records pressed, Retroactivo might be a good option.


On my visit here, I picked up this 7-inch from local band, Los Explosivos. This record was released by Retroactivo Records. Mexico has a pretty large scene of garage and surf bands, and Los Explosivos are one of the better ones that I have come across. Check out the tracks on this record if you are interested.

Los Explosivos - mini rolanroll!!!
1. Bailando!!!
2. Lo que me exita...!!!
3. Moscas y arañas (originally by Los Negativos)
4. Creo que esto












Retroactivo Records is located at Jalapa 125, between Guanajuato and Chihuahua. The closest Metro stops are Insurgentes, Niños Heroes or Hospital General. You can also get here by Metrobus by getting off at the Alvaro Obregón stop on Linea 1, or the Jardín Pushkin stop on Linea 3. Just check out the map to figure out which stop is most convenient for you.

Interface - Dictadura

 This LP by Interface, a Mexican electronic band, was a recent find at Bop!. I had never heard of the band before finding the record, but I was intrigued by the cover, and the owner of Bop! was gracious enough to play it for me. Musically it is similar to early Front 242 and other early electronic/industrial bands on Wax Trax! Records. Dictadura is their second LP, released in 1989. Their first LP, Autómata, was released in 1984 and was a little more upbeat than the darker Dictadura. Both LPs are nearly impossible to find, and there is virtually no information about this band on the internet. I know I'll be keeping my eyes pealed for their first LP now.




Track listing:
1. Un pueblo, una nación, un líder
2. Psicosis de traición
3. El mundo se vino abajo
4. Arrullo de barraca
5. Sabotage express
6. No
7. Cabaret sprovieri
8. Héroes desechables

You can also check out a sample of music from their first album here.

More information about Bop! Libros y Discos here.

Revolution Records

Of all the places to shop for used records in Mexico City, Revolution Records has to be my least favorite. They have a pretty large selection of common rock, latin, disco, jazz, and miscellaneous records. Their prices are decent, and so is the condition of many of their albums, but I rarely find anything worth buying at this place. Occasionally I'll stop here and find something worth picking up, but if you are looking for records in Mexico that you won't find anywhere else, then I definitely recommend checking out Discos de Ayer, Bop!, and ABC Discos before coming here.

Revolution Records also seems to be the place where old music guys just come and hang out. I never see anyone buy anything here, but there are always several guys just hanging out, talking about music and other things.

Revolution Records is located at Insurgentes 395 in Condesa, right on the corner of Insurgentes and Campeche. The google maps link is off by a block, but it will get you there. The store is right in front of the Metrobus stop Campeche, or you can get off at Metro Chilpancingo and walk north on Insurgentes a few blocks.

ABC Discos

 ABC Discos is another impossible to find used record store located just two blocks from the Zocalo in the Centro Histórico.  They have a large selection of mostly common rock and pop from the 50s to the 80s, and smaller selections of jazz, international, and latin. The one thing this store seems to specialize in is old Mexican garage rock from bands like Los Teen Tops, Los Hooligans, Los Rockin' Devils, Los Crazy Boys, Los..., etc. You can find a lot of very cheap vinyl copies of records from these types of bands, mostly later reissues, but also some original presses. Most of these garage bands are just glorified cover bands, since very few of them wrote original music, but it is sometimes fun to hear how they translated into Spanish and covered hit songs of the 50s and 60s from the U.S. and the U.K.

 The other noteworthy thing about this shop is their selection of CD reissues of mostly old Orfeon material from groups like Semanforash, Javier Batiz, Toncho Pilatos, La fachada de piedra, Love Army, and other Mexican classic rock, psych, punk, jazz, and ska from the 60s to the early 80s. These cd reissues are not very easy to find, and this is the one place besides El Chopo where I know I can find these discs.  They also have a small selection of metal cds, and some music dvds.

ABC Discos is located at Venustiano Carranza 67, between the streets Isabel la Católica and 5 de febrero. The picture on your left is what you will see when you arrive at the address. To the left of the Nutrisa is the Comercial VC, one of those long corridors common in the Centro with a number of vendors lining either side. Just walk in and go all the way to the end of the corridor, and ABC Discos will be on your right side, Local 02. They are open Monday through Saturday 11:30am-7pm.

The closest metro stop is the Zocalo stop.

LPs at the Balderas Street Market

 The stalls on Balderas are one of my favorite places to go for records. It is possible to find just about anything here, and since they don't have to pay the overhead of keeping a store open, the prices are very cheap. It is possible to find anything from the most common junk for 10-20 pesos a record, lots of decent albums in the 40-100 peso range, and several rare records anywhere from 200-800 pesos.

 The condition of the LPs at most of the stalls is surprisingly good. While most people here who deal in records don't do much to protect the jackets, most of the vinyl I have bothered to look at and purchase at these stalls ranges from VG+ to NM.

 The genres of music you will find here is also pretty eclectic. The large majority of the records are classic rock, pop, and jazz, but you will also find a lot of latin music, classical, prog, blues, the occasional metal LP, and lots of other international records.

 On this particular day that I took the pictures, there were four different stalls to check out, sometimes there are more, sometimes less. Most of the sellers here are open Monday through Saturday from about 1pm to about 7pm, but don't show up right at 1pm and expect to find everything set up. It is usually better to go around 4 or 5pm, and you will find more people selling on Fridays and Saturdays than earlier in the week.

I picked up these three records on this trip to the street market, I'll get up some more of my finds from there at a later date. Testament's Souls of Black and Depeche Mode's Violator are both Mexican presses. I was extremely surprised to find an original Tomato press of Townes Van Zandt's Flyin' Shoes. This record is definitely one of my better finds here.

The Balderas Street Market (I just made up the name, not sure what else to call it) is located on Balderas in the Centro Histórico, between the streets Juarez and Artículo 123. The best way to get there is get off at Metro/Metrobus Juarez and walk north on Balderas, or exit Metrobus Hidalgo and walk south on Balderas. The record shop Discos de Ayer is also right across the street from these stalls.

UPDATE June 16, 2011: If you keep walking south on Balderas (on the west side of the street) all the way down to the Balderas Metrobus station, you will find a few more record stalls. I hadn't visited these stalls before, but it doesn't not seem like I was missing much. The stalls closer to Hidalgo Metrobus stop have a much more interesting selection.

Bop! Libros y Discos

 Bop! is a great new record and book store that opened in October 2010 located in Colonia Roma, just across the street from La Belga and La Nacional.

Their used vinyl selection is one of the best in the city, including large rock and jazz selections, a decent amount of blues, international, classical, and Mexican music, and some metal and punk. The condition on the records varies pretty widely, but the records are priced according to condition and priced fairly reasonably.  If you are looking for those rare rock mexicano discs, this is definitely a place you need to visit.

In addition to a large vinyl selection, you can also find underground/alternative press books and comics, posters, dvds, and a large used cd collection.

I've had a lot of great finds at Bop!, which I will slowly get up onto the blog, but for now I'm just going to highlight one of my most recent treasures, the 1971 self-titled lp from Mexico's Enigma!. Of all the Mexican hard rock bands I have heard, I would have to say this lp is the best and most consistent from start to finish. It is definitely heavier than a lot of other rock mexicano, similar in vein to bands like Josefus, Leaf Hound or Frijid Pink.

I'm not sure how much of an influence this band had, but I first learned about them through a cover of El Llamado de la Hembra by the Mexican thrash metal band Transmetal. I picked up the Transmetal cassette of the same name over 11 years ago on my first visit to Mexico, and I've been looking for Enigma! music ever since. In 11 years, this is the first copy of original Enigma! music I've found.



This particular copy is a 1973 reissue on Okeh, although finding any copy of this record is next to impossible. My copy is pretty trashed, but it is still playable and I'm just glad to have a listening copy. 


Most of the tracks are up on youtube:
1. Under the Sign of Aquarius
2. The Call of the Woman (El Llamado de la Hembra)
3. Sunday's Coming
4. Simon
5. Live it Up, Mama
6. Countdown
7. 69
8. Save My Soul
9. Intertwine






Bop! is located on Querétaro 103, between Jalapa and Orizaba. From the Metrobus, Linea 1, exit Sonora, walk one block north on Insurgentes, and go east on Querétaro. You can also get there by getting off at Hospital General, either on the Metro or the Metrobus. Make sure to look at the map so you don't get lost.


The store is open Monday-Saturday, 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm. On Sundays, the owner sells records at La Lagunilla market. He also owns a shop in Cuernavaca if you are down that way. The info for both shops is on this fancy little bolsa de mandado I got the last time I was there. For free! These bags are fairly common around Mexico and I love them, but I'm psyched to finally have one that isn't from a church, a political party, or a supermarket. They're also great for carrying records!

If you are there in the evening, make sure to stop by La Nacional, just across the street, to have a great cerveza artesanal, or walk over to La Belga to get some beers before you go and listen to your records.

Discos de Ayer

Discos de Ayer is a great little shop tucked away in an impossible to find location in the Centro Histórico. The two LPs featured here I bought from the owner of the shop on eBay, and then picked them up in person at the shop.

The first LP, El Ritual-s/t, is a classic rock group from Tijuana that was around in the early 70s. I don't know much about them, but this record was recorded in 1971. The LP I bought was a 1987 reissue. Their music is not particularly original, a little Deep Purple, a little Jethro Tull, and a lot of satanic imagery. If I was to pick one group most similar to them, it would be Black Widow (but Black Widow is much better). While not particularly original, I'm a sucker for these forgotten rock bands of the 70s and as far as rock mexicano goes, El Ritual was one of the better bands.

All the tracks are available on youtube:

1. Satanas
2. Peregrinación Satirica (Satanica?)
3. Groupie
4. Muerto e ido
5. Easy Woman
6. La tierra de que te hable
7. Bajo el sol y frente a Dios
8. Conspiración

The second LP I picked up from Discos de Ayer was the Silencio Nocturno LP by Next. Next is a Mexican thrash band that is still around, but this LP I got is from 1989 on the defunct Avanzada Metálica label. This is fairly crude thrash, somewhat along the lines of early Sepultura or Transmetal, but still pretty enjoyable. As far as thrash bands go, this band probably takes the cake for worst name and worst cover (they really couldn't come up with something better??), but don't let that put you off.






You can check out a few of the tracks on youtube, though I'm pretty sure some of these recordings are not the same as the LP:
Silencio Nocturno, El Juicio, Vamos a Escapar.









While I purchased these LPs on eBay through Discos de Ayer, they do have a decent selection of other rare Mexican rock LPs in the shop, plus your standard fare. Surprisingly, most of their LPs are in pretty great shape. If you are at all familiar with LP digging in Mexico, it is not easy to come across a place that cares about LP grading and prices accordingly. Last time I was there (which was several months ago), they had LPs from La Revolución de Emiliano Zapata and the Dug Dug´s. Obviously they were expensive, but if you are looking for those rare slabs of rock mexicano, this is the store to check out.

Discos de Ayer is located at Balderas 32, interior 209. It is pretty difficult to find if you don't know what you are looking for, and even google maps can't find it exactly. The store is on the east side of Balderas between Juarez and Independencia, between Fortes Donuts and Sanborn's Cafe. There is a sign that says Edificio Beaumont, which basically looks like an apartment building. Walk in, there will be a doorman, and tell them you are going to the record store ("voy a subir a la tienda de discos"). Go up the stairs to the segundo piso (the second floor in Mexican terminology, otherwise the third floor). Check out their website for more info. Discos de Ayer is open Monday through Friday, 9am to 3pm, 4pm to 8pm, and Saturdays 9am to 5:30pm. They just expanded their hours, so make sure to check their website before going in case they change again.

The best way to get there is get off at Metro/Metrobus Juarez and walk north on Balderas, or exit Metrobus Hidalgo and walk south on Balderas. If you go Monday through Saturday after 2pm, there are also a number of street stalls on Balderas between Independencia and Artículo 123 that sell records. I'll blog more about those stalls in the future, but they are worth digging through.