UHF Records

The number of long Summer weekends in 2010 is dwindling, and every week is coming packed with more and more events attempting to pull you in different directions. My weekend started on Thursday night with the Bars of Gold record release at Small's in Hamtramck. I had been anticipating the show for months and had already been listening to my burned CD version on repeat for weeks. Never before had I been surrounded by more people that I knew and it was comforting to view that night as a gathering of everyone in the Metro Detroit music scene. I had taken Friday off work, and spent most of the day over at my friend's house. For dinner we decided to go to Mexican Town and found a tiny hole-in-the-wall place with an elaborate cock-fighting mural on the wall and an excellent combination plate, which we both ordered. We stopped for a drink at Jacoby's before going to New Center Park for a free concert. The outdoor stage there has been one of my favorite places to be this summer. We sat on the grass and watched Duende!, Macrame Tiger and Oscillating Fan Club, two of which I had never seen before and both of whom surprised me with their awesomeness (hint: one of those bands was not Macrame Tiger.)

Saturday the bike club had intended to ride to Midtown for Dally in the Alley. Before making the long trek down, we decided on a shorter ride to Royal Oak to check out UHF Records which opened that day and was run by some friends of bike club. My first visit left me completely in awe. Having just entered the world of vinyl with an eye on practically any album I recognize, it was difficult for me to focus and narrow down my browsing. The store is loaded with used albums from lots and lots of not only popular artists but lesser-known greats, and their brand new selection was well-stocked with indie favorites. Almost the entire store was vinyl, with a wall of used CDs and posters for sale as well. At the front of the store they even have an old-fashioned listening booth. To prevent hasty over-accumulation I decided to only get two albums and went with a brand new copy of Spoon's Kill The Moonlight and Paul Simon's Graceland, which had both been high on my mental list of "must-haves" when buying a turntable first became a reality. I talked to one of the owners about ordering newer releases as I go about building my collection, and he was happy to offer the service. Let's just say I think I've found my record store to frequent.

After separating into two groups to make stops at home before heading down to Detroit, it started to rain and we decided to end the ride early. We left it up to everyone individually to visit or not visit Dally in the Alley later, and our group just decided to seek shelter inside. In the tradition of B-movie night we watched Terrorvision, an excellent example of overacting, wonderfully cheesy one-liners and 80's special effects. Sitting in our friend's living room eating potato chips and drinking High Lifes, my friend summed things up perfectly, saying, "Best Dally in the Alley ever."