Peter Huestis
@peterhuestis.bsky.social
"Well-groomed" –Washingtonian Magazine
Command Records' whole shtick was QUALITY: state of the art recording techniques, immaculate production, audiophile pressings, exhausting liner notes and technobabble, and sturdy gatefold sleeves with Charles Murphy's lavish art direction, featuring designs by Josef Albers and others.
November 11, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Command Records' whole shtick was QUALITY: state of the art recording techniques, immaculate production, audiophile pressings, exhausting liner notes and technobabble, and sturdy gatefold sleeves with Charles Murphy's lavish art direction, featuring designs by Josef Albers and others.
I knew this was going to be incredible, because there are no bad Command Records from this period, the early 60s. These are all loud, aggressive and jumpy Cha Cha arrangements of standards with lots of horns and organ and exotic percussion, and by the end your head feels completely battered.
November 11, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I knew this was going to be incredible, because there are no bad Command Records from this period, the early 60s. These are all loud, aggressive and jumpy Cha Cha arrangements of standards with lots of horns and organ and exotic percussion, and by the end your head feels completely battered.
This album is fabulous! It's a beautifully recorded live concert featuring a mix of standards and original compositions. It's strictly percussion, so the mallet instruments do a lot of the heavy lifting. It's solidly in the Exotica wheelhouse and I can't believe I haven't heard it before today. 😀😀😀
November 11, 2025 at 9:56 PM
This album is fabulous! It's a beautifully recorded live concert featuring a mix of standards and original compositions. It's strictly percussion, so the mallet instruments do a lot of the heavy lifting. It's solidly in the Exotica wheelhouse and I can't believe I haven't heard it before today. 😀😀😀
One thing the 90s "Lounge Music Revival" got right was that Esquivel really was a special unicorn, a Mexican bandleader whose nutty, gimmicky arrangements of pop standards never fail to surprise and entertain. This record would have been $100 in 1996, but I picked up a beautiful copy today for $20.
November 11, 2025 at 9:24 PM
One thing the 90s "Lounge Music Revival" got right was that Esquivel really was a special unicorn, a Mexican bandleader whose nutty, gimmicky arrangements of pop standards never fail to surprise and entertain. This record would have been $100 in 1996, but I picked up a beautiful copy today for $20.
The Bongos' Beat Hotel is a bright, wall-of-sound guitar pop album, and it's great, and sounds like it was made by angels, but just isn't as special as their first. They remind me of the Feelies that way.
November 11, 2025 at 9:09 PM
The Bongos' Beat Hotel is a bright, wall-of-sound guitar pop album, and it's great, and sounds like it was made by angels, but just isn't as special as their first. They remind me of the Feelies that way.
And was rewarded with:
1. The Bongos second album!
2. A crazy percussion album I've never heard of!
3. Pristine replacement copies of beloved Les Baxter and Esquivel LPs!
4. PERTINENT PERCUSSION CHA CHAS, a Command Records release I didn't already have!
1. The Bongos second album!
2. A crazy percussion album I've never heard of!
3. Pristine replacement copies of beloved Les Baxter and Esquivel LPs!
4. PERTINENT PERCUSSION CHA CHAS, a Command Records release I didn't already have!
November 11, 2025 at 8:54 PM
And was rewarded with:
1. The Bongos second album!
2. A crazy percussion album I've never heard of!
3. Pristine replacement copies of beloved Les Baxter and Esquivel LPs!
4. PERTINENT PERCUSSION CHA CHAS, a Command Records release I didn't already have!
1. The Bongos second album!
2. A crazy percussion album I've never heard of!
3. Pristine replacement copies of beloved Les Baxter and Esquivel LPs!
4. PERTINENT PERCUSSION CHA CHAS, a Command Records release I didn't already have!
Obsessed with this photo of Edward G. Robinson standing proudly with his Modigliani, mostly because the painting has disappeared completely and isn't mentioned anywhere on the web other than scammy prints. Seems to me like there is a very high chance of this being a forgery? Where are you, Zouave?
November 11, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Obsessed with this photo of Edward G. Robinson standing proudly with his Modigliani, mostly because the painting has disappeared completely and isn't mentioned anywhere on the web other than scammy prints. Seems to me like there is a very high chance of this being a forgery? Where are you, Zouave?
This album is a big favorite from my "miscellaneous" section: Dr. Bennett L. Gemson's My Doctor, My Friend. The songs are SO SO GOOD that I posted them on my blog and then got a cease-and-desist letter from his estate. I wish you could hear "I'm Gonna Get a Shot" and especially "Earache".
November 10, 2025 at 7:43 PM
This album is a big favorite from my "miscellaneous" section: Dr. Bennett L. Gemson's My Doctor, My Friend. The songs are SO SO GOOD that I posted them on my blog and then got a cease-and-desist letter from his estate. I wish you could hear "I'm Gonna Get a Shot" and especially "Earache".
The third section is smaller but the most thrilling: the "miscellaneous" section with albums that don't fit anywhere else. Exercise records! Religious albums! Spoken word! Demented children's albums! Ethnographic recordings! A double LP of stethoscopic canine heart sounds!
November 10, 2025 at 7:31 PM
The third section is smaller but the most thrilling: the "miscellaneous" section with albums that don't fit anywhere else. Exercise records! Religious albums! Spoken word! Demented children's albums! Ethnographic recordings! A double LP of stethoscopic canine heart sounds!
The second large section is vaguely "not rock" such as jazz, fake jazz, easy listening, lounge, Moog, instrumental pop, a smattering of vocalists, etc., with a separate section for Enoch Light's Command Records because they look so good together.
November 10, 2025 at 7:25 PM
The second large section is vaguely "not rock" such as jazz, fake jazz, easy listening, lounge, Moog, instrumental pop, a smattering of vocalists, etc., with a separate section for Enoch Light's Command Records because they look so good together.
My record collection is organized in two big sections and one small section. The first section is all rock/pop/soul/funk/industrial etc. arranged by artist or band name, with compilations at the end arranged by title.
November 10, 2025 at 7:17 PM
My record collection is organized in two big sections and one small section. The first section is all rock/pop/soul/funk/industrial etc. arranged by artist or band name, with compilations at the end arranged by title.
1. Yes, Fall on vinyl I didn't already have.
2. Speaking of the Fall, a Marc Riley and the Creepers EP!
3. Slave's fourth album. Such an underrated band.
4. One of the very, VERY few Martin Denny albums I didn't already have, and I have more than 30. Just never come across this one before!
2. Speaking of the Fall, a Marc Riley and the Creepers EP!
3. Slave's fourth album. Such an underrated band.
4. One of the very, VERY few Martin Denny albums I didn't already have, and I have more than 30. Just never come across this one before!
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
1. Yes, Fall on vinyl I didn't already have.
2. Speaking of the Fall, a Marc Riley and the Creepers EP!
3. Slave's fourth album. Such an underrated band.
4. One of the very, VERY few Martin Denny albums I didn't already have, and I have more than 30. Just never come across this one before!
2. Speaking of the Fall, a Marc Riley and the Creepers EP!
3. Slave's fourth album. Such an underrated band.
4. One of the very, VERY few Martin Denny albums I didn't already have, and I have more than 30. Just never come across this one before!
Cursed photograph of an actor with his pantomime horse, ca. 1870:
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Cursed photograph of an actor with his pantomime horse, ca. 1870:
One of my shutdown activities is going to all the area record stores. I haven't found any more Fall vinyl, but I did pick up an obscure Nurse with Wound LP at Crooked Beat in Alexandria and Prince Live at Glam Slam at Records and Rarities in Springfield.
November 9, 2025 at 10:41 PM
One of my shutdown activities is going to all the area record stores. I haven't found any more Fall vinyl, but I did pick up an obscure Nurse with Wound LP at Crooked Beat in Alexandria and Prince Live at Glam Slam at Records and Rarities in Springfield.
It's World Pianist Day! Woodcut by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1928:
November 8, 2025 at 1:25 PM
It's World Pianist Day! Woodcut by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1928:
It's National Saxophone Day! Screenprint by Joseph Holston, 1990:
November 6, 2025 at 11:54 AM
It's National Saxophone Day! Screenprint by Joseph Holston, 1990:
How it started/how it's going, etc.
November 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM
How it started/how it's going, etc.
Photograph by Reuters' Larry Downing, 2006:
November 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Photograph by Reuters' Larry Downing, 2006:
RIP Diane Ladd. Unforgettable.
November 3, 2025 at 9:43 PM
RIP Diane Ladd. Unforgettable.
Yesterday was fun because I went on a long walk through Adams Morgan and told myself if I saw any record stores, I'd buy any Fall albums on vinyl that I didn't already have, and three shops later I had found copies of Perverted by Language and The Infotainment Scan. 👍
November 3, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Yesterday was fun because I went on a long walk through Adams Morgan and told myself if I saw any record stores, I'd buy any Fall albums on vinyl that I didn't already have, and three shops later I had found copies of Perverted by Language and The Infotainment Scan. 👍
Looks like Carhartt from a Distance™
November 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Looks like Carhartt from a Distance™