STEPHEN TO ANNE MARIE:

SB: What is your favorite song?

AM: Club Paradise Cab’Ral

SB: Have you heard any of these tracks before?

AM: No, but I’d like to know the story behind Peach Face’s name for real.

SB: You just took a nice little trip overseas and, apparently, found a cool record shop. To that point, what’s your favorite music store discovery while traveling domestically AND abroad? Note: It doesn’t have to be an actual music store. Could also be a bookstore or coffee shop or whatever if you found some music you fell in love with.

AM: Sometimes these questions just take you places you really don’t want to go… The first thing that popped into my mind was ‘bar hutspot’ in Amsterdam. They have 2 locations — one is a cafe / home goods shop and this one is a little bar. It’s just a little rectangular spaced, white-washed walls, candlelight, simple cocktails, but it sticks in my memory. And yes, I just googled it and yes, it’s now permanently closed. And now I’m crying for what is lost. But like a phoenix from the ashes I will rise again and find a new place I love…

ANNE MARIE TO STEPHEN:

AM: What is your favorite song?

SB: Why are you trying to hide Marcus back there from me?!? I love that my lead songs are your opposite, but equally “put a smile on your face” good, anchor songs. Suddenly is so solid. [continues grooving]

AM: Have you heard any of these tracks before?

SB: Songs, no, but j.flowers.mp3 I’ve been looking into and once again bummed I held on and got scooped.

AM: Recently, I had an experience at a record shop in Stockholm that had me thinking about this month’s question…

I spent half an hour in there finding random Swedish jazz records for about 5-12 euros each. As I’m looking, Emmrich at the store is helping me and he tells me about a specific album by a legendary Swedish artist I had never heard of. He played a little of it for me. It hit the right spot. I wanted to get but…it was too pricey. So, I made a mental note of the album name and did a light search online later that night. I could only find 4 versions of the LP anywhere online in the whole world — one was from the store I had just been in and, ironically, that particular one was the least expensive of all the options by a long shot. Ultimately, I had to decide to just walk away but it really got me thinking… what albums has Stevie ever walked away because of price or scarcity? Are there any white whales out there that you hope will come around one day at the right price?

SB: Kind of but not in the same way necessarily. For the longest time it was Getz/Gilberto, the ultimate Bossa Nova album. Couldn’t find it anywhere and was super pricey online before they started reproducing it. But then one day the clouds parted and a copy appeared. Most of the time now, it’s artists who are so new that they don’t have the production going for vinyl yet so I have to enjoy them purely on digital. So it’s less of a price thing and more of a waiting game. Probably the one that comes to mind right now that fits more into your category is Benny Carter’s Jazz for a Lazy Day. Not sure it was ever made into vinyl so that would definitely count as a white wale of my collection.