New Additions to "Kristian Recommends" Section

Ok, so I'm not a web designer. I sell 99% of my books and music through Amazon.com, Ebay/Half.com, Abebooks.com, and Alibris.com. Eventually, I would like to sell more through my own website, www.lowestcostbooks.com, to avoid paying the 15-20% comission rate charged by the major venues. In the next several months, I will be working with a professional web designer to revamp the website and make it more visually appealing and user friendly. Although it is currently a functioning, totally secure site, it is not having the kind of traffic to sales ratio I would hope for. Business is as good as it has ever been on the other sites, so I suppose I have not had the time to devote to improving it.

The good news is that I have recently added a slew of like new CD's to my inventory, which can be viewed by going to the homepage, and then locating the Browse By Category section on the right hand column, and clicking on the "Kristian Recommends" link

There you will find CD's from artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Citizen Cope, The Decemberists, Lupe Fiasco, TV On the Radio, a rare Stevie Wonder Gold Edition CD, Imogen Heap, Ghostface Killah, M. Ward, Yo La Tengo, Thievery Corporation, The Hold Steady, Hot Chip, Joseph Arthur, Rjd2, Ali Farka Toure, an early Flaming Lips album, Sia, James Figurine of the Postal Service, Frank Zappa, T.I., Devendra Banhart, Junior Boys, Grizzly Bear, Frou Frou, Mitch Hedberg, Mastodon, and of course, Justin Timberlake (how's that for variety?)
These titles will sell out quickly (usually within a week), so make sure to buy your copy before it's too late! Remember that any purchase made at www.lowestcostbooks.com comes with a free CD of my choosing, and I do my best to send you something that matches your tastes.

Here is my current policy with anything purchased from the Kristian Recommends section: If you purchase a book or CD that I recommend and do not enjoy it for any reason, I will buy it back from you and pay for return shipping. If you would like me to personalize your recommendations, let me know what you are reading or listening to currently, and I will be happy to point you in the right direction. I am an admitted book and music freak, and love spreading the word about upcoming new artists and authors, along with the time-tested classics.

Happy Halloween!

I'm Ashamed To Admit It, But I Really Enjoy...

• Justin Timberlake's New Album
  
  
  
• browsing for/buying books, and doing crossword puzzles at corporate bookstores and coffee shops. (Though obviously not as much as supporting local independent bookstores and coffee shops, which I am not ashamed of at all.)
  
• having meaningless conversations with my dog in a ridiculous voice.
  
• trick-or-treating. One of my major ambitions in life is to one day become the oldest living trick or treater, and being honored in the Guinness Book of Records for having gone door to door on Halloween from the age of 25 to 85. I'm starting again this year.
  
• living in Wichita, Kansas.
  
• watching Sex and the City reruns. They give me an insightful perspective on the female psyche.
  
  
  
• laughing at other people's misfortune (especially tripping on something), and sometimes my own.
  
• my Flosscard. It is one of the best gifts I have ever received- a business card with a long strand of floss inside. Comes in handy at a moment's notice.
  

Feel free to add your own shameful indulgences in the Comments section.

Wilco "Come Back" to Wichita

I have called Wichita, Kansas home for about 5 years now. Despite the constant ribbing I receive from my friends in Chicago and Washington D.C., Wichita is a great place to call home. There is no traffic, the housing market is ridiculously affordable, and it has it's share of rare book treasures for me to hunt down. The biggest drawback for me is the lack of good bands that come through town. While I am too much of a music snob to have given the local indie scene a chance yet, I have not been that excited for any concert since moving to town. The Rolling Stones came through last week, but I wasn't about to pay $75 to see them in 2006. I might have in 1976 or 1986.

When I heard through the grapevine that Wilco was coming to Wichita, I was ecstatic. This was by far the best musical news I had received in the last 5 years. I proceeded to tell every Starbucks barista, checkout counter encounter, and random acquaintance about their upcoming October 15th appearance, and am sure that I sold at least 30 of the approximately 1200 $25 tickets they sold. In any major city, Wilco would probably sell out a 3000 seat venue, but in Wichita, the crowd seemed surprisingly sparse. Even Jeff Tweedy remarked on it's small size.

I didn't mind, because me and my friends got a spot right up front, about eight feet from electric guitar virtuoso Nels Cline. They opened the show with "Airline to Heaven", which I am proud to say that I predicted, and I would assume was an homage to Wichita being the Air Capital, though I could be overanalyzing, as I like to do with many of Tweedy's lyrics. They followed with I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, and then three rockers from a Ghost is Born, the best of which was Handshake Drugs, and then unveiled a new song called Impossible Germany. I was skeptical at first, but it won me over about halfway through. As promised in the paper, they mixed it up by playing songs from all their albums, and continued to do some of the best material from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and "Shot in the Arm" from Summerteeth. "Jesus etc." was the highlight of this string. Tweedy had not talked to the audience until just before this one, and admitted to checking in with the crowd later than usual. He then proceeded to tell us he was comfortable with us now, and asked everyone too sing along. I did, much to the dismay of the people in front of me. I couldn't help it.

He also mentioned that they don't come to Wichita often, and part of the reason had to do with Kansas' reputation for having more than their share of bigots. Apparently, someone on the street called them "faggots". He jokingly admitted that they were chilling outside of an antique store drinking cafe lattes. The crowd got a kick out of that. Then the dude behind me yelled "Come Back!", to which Jeff responded by leaving the stage temporarily, and then returning with "It's Great to be Back in Wichita!" to the delightful roar of the audience. This banter provided a pleasant and spontaneous comic interlude to the set.

The highlight of the show for me was hearing one of the new songs called "Walken" which definitely had an old-school, almost A.M. feel to it, a little more rockin/blues/funk/soul if I remember correctly. The first part of the show closed with Misunderstood, which I regrettingly missed most of on a drink run. What followed was a double encore, with four and then three songs played in each break. The first encore was Hummingbird, Heavy Metal Drummer, California, and Late Greats, which really got me into a frenzied, jumping up and down, white-boy dance routine. The second encore consisted of Let's Not Get Carried away (new song), Kingpin, and I'm a Wheel. While ending it with Late Greats would have been fine by me, I could not have been happier at the end of the frantic, nonsensical I'm a Wheel. In my opinion, the show lived up to all the hype I had sold to everyone and even myself.

The final part of the mission for the night was to become the official book supplier of the Wilco tour bus. I had randomly run into the tour bus driver on Saturday afternoon, and brought along a few Spanish Language CD's I had promised to him. The truth is, I am a Wilco groupie and I thought this would be my backstage pass. While waiting outside to meet Nels and Jeff, I realized how ridiculous it was to be a groupie of a band that is this down to earth, and seemingly humble. I just couldn't help it. So I got a quick photo opp, during which time I nearly choked Mr. Tweedy in my over-excited state. I then handed him my business card with a $1 cash tip for putting on such a great show, and hoping that he wouldn't forget to take me up on my offer of free books for the Wilco tour bus. Lord knows I'll never forget the night Wilco came to Wichita.