Writing Prompt: Find online an isolated track from a track you know well and write about it...

Writing Prompt: Go to record store, goodwill, garage sale and find something that catches your eye...

​Every weekend for me tends to be a little adventure in search of music. Thankfully I have two great parents who love going shopping at thrift stores and the swapmeets around our city of San Diego. I use to be very against this since this was a major waste of time for me, but ever since I've gotten a record player, everything has changed. Now every weekend I try to save up money to go buy new records to add to the growing collection of new and old vinyls I have. It's worth all the pennies...

So this weekend my parents were able to take me shopping at the swapmeet and a thrift shop. I was able to grab some great records at the swapmeet by artist like The Who, The Cars, and The Beach Boys all for a great price. I was super excited to get home to hear my new bundle of records, but I couldn't forget about my assignment: grab a unknown record. I waited until we arrived at the Thrift Shop near my grandma's house, where they usually have a good selection of records. The thrift shop usually tends to be the place for finding new old records that look interesting, but I was pretty unlucky that day.

They had a small pile of records in a old box right next to the technology stuff. I remember how dusty and unpleasing they looked from a distance, but I wasn't just going to give up and not search for anything good. Well... it took me around 2 minutes to go through the whole box and unsurprisingly I didn't find anything worth buying. Just when I was going to leave the box full of records, I searched through it again and found an old record I didn't notice my first time around. I took the record, stared at the cover for a minute, read the back, and decided I was going to give it a chance.

​The record I ended up grabbing was The O'Jay's "Travelin' at the Speed of Thought" 1997 album. I honestly grabbed it because it seem to familiar for me to pass it over, but after a close inspection, I noticed I never really heard about these guys. I think it might have been the cover that really brought my attention too. I figured it looked similar to a Earth Wind And Fire or Gap Band album cover, so it brought my attention that I might be running into some kind of disco/R&B record from the 70s or 80s. It looked interesting enough and it was cheap, so I decided to give it a chance.

The album consist of 8 tracks, but my the one that caught my attention the most was the beginning track 'Travelin at the Speed of Thought'. It's weird wacky guitar and catchy bass riff intro caught my attention to what I never expected to hear. I ultimately kind of afraid that I ended up wasting a 2 dollars on a bad album, but it soon that things started to get interesting in the song. It wasn't long until all the instruments kicked in to created a punchy little verse with vocals kicking that energy in. Lyrics like, "The time we live in are demanding" clearly giving off a very meaningful message in such a groovy song, that I almost chuckled a little bit. The song quickly turns into the weird wacky intro again, but doesn't lose anyone interest and fades away into the end.

Now if you fully listen to this whole album, it's pretty killer. It has some pretty good R&B/disco tunes to get anyone grooving to the beat. Apart from that they also some very nice relaxing songs that fit the mood in a Sunday afternoon. The men from Ohio weren't afraid of playing around with the tunes and trying to get something new out of their own sound. It was quite interesting to hear their soothing harmonies and vocals too. I don't know how "famous" these guys were, but after some research, they had a good amount of chart hits. Apart from that, they were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! That was something I never expected from a band I didn't even know.

Now I don't know if you might be lucky enough to find this record at your local thrift shop, but if you do you must buy it. Their 8 tracks of musical bliss is worth the money and the time, and will take you through a pleasant R&B journey. With this record O' Jays record, this really opened the door for me in terms of looking for the other songs. If you don't have the time checking if investing in their record, at least have a listen on Youtube, you won't regret it.

Writing Prompt: Write about a new music scene or culture you discovered during your travels...

​​So this Spring Break I was fortunate enough to get to travel with my family. This vacation was a little different for me since I knew this might be my last vacation before I entered college. Apart from that we were planning to visit a lot of our family in Mexico during this vacation, a lot of them I haven't seen in 8 years. We were visiting a different kind of lifestyle and culture for the first time, and one of those big differences was of course... the music.

Now since I got to travel to two different places in Mexico during my spring break vacation, I'll skip the first place since the 2nd place is where I experience a new different kind of music culture/vibe. We ended up going to the great city of Guadalajara, the 2nd biggest city in Mexico. It was the land where my dad was born and grew up most of his childhood. I've heard great stories and things about Guadalajara, so of course I was pumped to finally get a chance to visit.

My first initial reaction when we finally arrived at Guadalajara was how beautiful the city was. It's pretty much the ideal city for me! I loved the unique buildings, the historic culture, and the amazing food. Each morning I would wake up even more excited to see the new places we were going to discover. I was stuck in paradise and there was still more I wanted to see each day. Apart from that it was sort of a nostalgic trip for my dad, so I was even happier for him.

​Now we were staying in the neighborhood of Tlaquepaque, a beautiful peaceful area full of rich food and amazing historic buildings. Near the hotel we were staying at, we were close to the what many consider the biggest bar in the world; La Parian. It was a curious big square plaza with about 6 different bars surrounding the middle gazebo, where at night they would have mini festivals. It wasn't anything like a crazy bar at Vegas, but it was much nicer since you had more of a opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere. This where I really got myself appreciating the popular Mexican music genre... Mariachi.

After a long day of walking around in downtown Guadalajara, we decided to head back early to our Hotel room to get some rest. We arrived and got some sleep before we headed out to the La Parian at night. We wanted to go check it out quickly so my parents can have a quick drink and head back to the hotel room to get more sleep. We ended up staying most of night, thanks to a little mini festival they had going on. What stood out to me was the Mariachi music they had playing live. It was a interesting type of music, full of mostly all string and air instruments. The little "band" performing started out with a uptight energizing song that got the crowd dancing and singing a lot. These songs continued for a while until they started playing more of the slower songs. These are songs I really ended up enjoying since they gave off a bittersweet atmosphere to the place. It was amazing unique experience.

What I really liked about Mariachi was how each instrument has it's own unique sound that brings a lot to the whole composition of the song. Without the guitars, trumpets, violins, or bass it wouldn't sound the same. What I really liked the most was the voice and the story Mariachi brings to the overall big picture. If your lucky, you can get a singer with a beautiful voice singing about stories of lost loves, breakups, and treasured memories. It's probably why everyone enjoys it so much, it's a trip through memory lane that everyone likes to go through.

​Now I haven't listened a lot of Mariachi since I was barely introduce to it, but I do recommend checking out the great famous Mexican artists like Vicente Fernandez or Juan Gabriel who have brought amazing work to this genre. Even just checking out a bunch of songs on Youtube is totally worth it, and you will discover a lot of interesting work. It's still nice to see how it remains a popular genre with groups around the world competing for the best Mariachi band of the year. If you have time I totally recommended checking out Mariachi and the amazing music it brings all over to beautiful country of Mexico and the world.