lockdown : vinyl find #5.

Down in Tallinn, Estonia, there is this record store that looks like the perfect one. It's called Raamatukoi Grammofon. There's a decent amount of crates, ordered in a manner than I can understand, mostly by genres, but also partly geographically or even thematically ; you should find there a crate titled "weird stuff" or something like that. That's a go-to crate. Also, there's a couch, a chess board, some posters and postcards, tapes, and of course what should be in every record store : a turntable for customers to listen to potential acquisitions. 

The shop is run by Vadim. Vadim is not the owner, but he's pretty much the boss anyway. Ask him anything about the shop, he'll know. Ask about what you're looking for, he'll have something for you. 

I have been several times to Tallinn, so I have been several times to Raamatukoi. But there was this special time when I entered a few minutes before end of business. Vadim did not mind. We started talking. As we talked, time flew. With the lights on, more late customers wanted to come in, but he refused and locked the door. So there we were, two guys behind the windows, in a closed store, talking about music. Vadim does not push you into buying records, because he'll tell if something is shitty or worthy. But the more we were chatting, the more I realized Baltic music and especially Estonian music can be dope. Vadim acted like a professor and I thank him for that. It was only after 4 hours of a deep conversation that we decided to go visit some trendy places because I'd asked him about street art, then we grabbed a bite. All this time, we talked about music and life in Estonia. 

As I was looking into the local scene, both contemporary and vintage, I think Radar was one of the bands that Vadim strongly recommended, among others. I bought the two albums that the group issued in the second half of the 1980's. Labelled as jazz-rock or fusion, it's a perfect example of what Estonian bands could perform back then : mainly instrumental albums (it was dangerous to be a lyricist under the reign of the Soviet Union of course), with a clean and clear ability behind the instruments and arrangements that smell like the 80's. It's also a potential winner for beatmakers, as it's filled with ready-to-use samples. 

Not a cheap purchase per se, but definitely one I don't regret. 

Radar - Trofee.

Here's the full album : YouTube.