Normals Books & Records
@normalsbooksbalto.bsky.social
400 followers 430 following 680 posts
A 34 year old book & record store nestled in the heart of The People’s Republic of Waverly. From the obscure to the indispensable is our motto. Open 7 days a week.
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Some new #usedvinyl going out today from 2 boxes just in. #Eno #JohnFahey #PeterGabriel #OtisSpann #JohnLeeHooker #Hendrix #DustySpringfield #BaltimoreRecordstore #WaverlyShopping #BuyLocal #ClarenceCarterMostPlayedRendezvousLoungeJukebox
And I know this is an old, stale argument, but CGI compares next to old school monsters. The Lardy mob boss made from lard, teenage girls’ tears, and hair gel, RFK the swamp beast seasoned by sewage swims, heroin & brainworms, Bannon made from headcheese,
Great African music reissues in & Dear Shane of the Many Sorrows the Orchestre Abass lp is killer!! Best #Affofunk I’ve heard in a while!
Plus some titles in to celebrate the ghouls that rise from the Earth this time of year in a time when the living ghouls above the dirt are whipping up living
Not getting another jagged poetic goth darkness?? Climb into the Cave & have a party! 4 are UK first. Politics not included. #BirthdayParty #NickCave
of Baltimore, Waverly or Normals. Who knows, maybe Normals doesn’t even exist! Or exists only in a Blaster Al Ackerman story.
Thank you Mrigaanka!
some fairly coherent thoughts from me. If I run for public office I will pay her top dollar to be my spazz whisperer.
Of course any histories, oral or not, can depend on the filter of the teller’s brain, so some of this may not jive with your memories
youtu.be/mtlnQo0Bt64

This interview with Hopkins student Mrigaanka for her “Third Place Project” was a lot of fun. I usually prefer email interviews - that’s what I tell the dang cops at the door! - because I fear freezing up, but Mrigaanka is a charming comforting person who was able to coax out
the story of normal's books and records | OTC #2
YouTube video by Mrigaanka Much
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It flew already! Even faster than I anticipated. We do still have a sweet anniversary edition of The Hobbit though…..
Complete Poems of #EmilyDickinson , fine first #ArkhamPress edition of Tales of the Quintana Roo by #JamesTiptree , first US ed of #HeatherHill , beautiful 1st hardback Dutton edition of The Essentials of #ZenBuddhism by #DTSuzuki , 1st ed hardback of poetry by #RaymondCarver #BaltimoreBookstore
A small taste of the printed treasures going out this day where the sun has conquered the miasma. Very good second printing of the rare mind expanding/crushing #TheSacredMushroomAndTheCross , very good 1968 stated first Grove printing of “a” by Andy of the Factory,
Went back to a recent honey hole house for 8 more boxes of literature, mythology and poetry and picked up two more boxes of records on the “back end”. Including a near mint 1970 pressing of the poems of #WilliamBlake “tuned” by #AllenGinsberg #GrandPianolaMusic #Glassworks #BaltimoreRecordstore
the old clown doll that smells like pee is the killer every time! Plus a never before published collection of #YukioMishima and restock of the latest #YokoOgawa (and copies of her Memory Police). #BaltimoreBookstore #TrueLaurels #BaltimoreMusic
I am late to the #LawrenceBurney party, but I’ve heard nothing but raves, including from Kelly Xio & Young Leo who normally only reads estate sale catalogs and the garage sale mysteries of Suzi Weinert - spoiler ,
The Great Depression, a Wisconsin Cheese Fortune, Hungary, it’s all here. #ThomasPynchon #GreatAuthors #LiteratureNotAI #BaltimoreBookstore
Long anticipated new book from a legendary long time laborer in the field of language and ideas. An author’s whose subterranean profile made Cormac McCarthy look like Lady Gaga in comparison.
Of course, they did have us standing in for the Library of Alexandria which met with a cruel fate…but surely kindly Mrs Horsley doesn’t wish that part on us!
We are an eldritch 35 & many have walked our aisles, some taking wonderful, memorable photos of our arcane culture dwelling place, but this shot from Mrs William Horsley’s FLEEGIX will always hold a special place in my heart.
Fantastic design by Nolan Strals and color vinyl that pops even to this crank who takes his wax black. Trey describes the music as “hard shoegaze” and it does have some good gritty texture. Pick one up for the tunes and/or to defray Trey’s court costs.
I was worried, though, that his recent arrest in Hot Springs, South Dakota for hiding out in the Mammoth Site wearing a Fred Flintstone costume would be the end of his @defunctnouveau label. But his bff Jack White bailed him out since the label’s newest lp by HUVR was pressed at Third Man Records.
If you follow @bmorehype on the socials like I do , (but I set up a fake Taylor Swift account to do so), you know he is living the good life. Absorbing the natural wonders of the country and whatever punk shows kids in parking lots who like his bumper stickers tell him to check out.
New product from 20/20 laboratories! Drums of Life Superstar Ensemble Live at the Metro. With Ami Dang, Katrina Ford, Steve Strohmeier , John Dierker, Dave Heumann, Jason Willett & more.
with the Charlottesville Busy Bee, was with Buzz long ago! Buzz asked if he’d been nice for it & James said yes indeed.
before his! Poet Shane has a tame Mick Jagger helmet from a cereal box, young Leo has not yet refined his swirling Medusa yet, Judah Friedlander restrains his with a cap, in comparison. Turns out @djhummingbirdfeeder ‘s first ever music interview,
Some days here you need less coffee than others! I saw an iconic wig bobbing through the afternoon browsers and thought, could it be…..not just a jacked up yowler and shredder, Buzz is a hardcore bibliophile! And nice enough to pose by the old ball, outdoing the fiercest wigs that have been there