“When I think about the importance of records in my life, I see black vinyl signposts at some of the most important crossroads.”

“The first being my uncle Steve’s bedroom in my grandparents’ house is Morrilton, Arkansas. My mom and I lived next door to my grandparents. She was a single working mom so I spent a lot of time next door with Mamaw and Papaw. Boredom figured heavily into my routine. My Uncle Steve was a young uncle and played organ in a local band.

When he wasn’t around I would sneak into his room and flick the long switch on his massive Pioneer stereo. The light glowed bluish-green and a miniature party would begin. One of the records that stands out in my mind is the Cheech & Chong record Los Cochinos. I would put that record on and start working my way through my Uncles’s Playboys he had hidden in his closet.

This was pre-masturbation so I would just flit through, curious about the female form while the sound of Cheech & Chong inhaling deeply on cartoon sized joints played in the background. No one had really explained sex and drugs to me but from what I could tell from the die cut cover that revealed pot hidden in the door when you opened it and the way Steve’s Playboys were buried in the closet, sex and drugs were suppose to be naughty fun—I was all in.

The first record I bought was with lawn-mowing money around the age of nine. It was a K-Tel record called Believe In Music, 22 original hits by the original artists. The album opens up with “Brandy” by Looking Glass. The other songs that still rank high in the songs-that-age-well category are “Maggie May,” “Hold Your Head High” and “Backstabbers.” I did suffer, however, from not one but two Donny Osmond songs.

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In May of 2016, Emotional Response Records issued the first installment in their Typical Girls compilation series, an endeavor dedicated to “current female fronted punk and indie bands from around the globe.” Here we are in 2020 and the label is dishing out a fifth volume, which includes 16 acts in styles ranging from the expected shades of post-punk to the somewhat less common but totally welcome pop-rocking guitar hookiness to pummeling hardcore. It’s out February 21 on vinyl and digital.

This series of comps is named after a song by The Slits, with the intention to pay tribute to that band’s groundbreaking ways, in terms of kicking over gender barriers to be sure, but also stylistically, as Ari Up and company reside at the head of the UK post-punk class. By extension, tipping the hat to “Typical Girls” is a potentially quick clue-in as to what to expect when needle hits vinyl.

With their opening cut “Mooncake,” Melbourne, Australia’s Empat Lima land in that zone with authority. Self-described as a “beat-garage trio,” they tickle my fancy with a little late ’70s-early ’80s Rough Trade angularity but with an undercurrent of humor in the execution. The song reasserts the modus operandi of the Typical Girls series quite nicely, but just as quickly Color TV of Los Angeles deepen matters with a cut that hits closer to Bomp! Records-style gal-fronted power-pop.

It’s Tipper Newton singing and playing guitar, and she holds down the spot with enthusiasm and panache. Like all top-notch power-pop, “Anybody’s Girl” thrives through repeated play; it sounds fine on this comp, but it calls out for a pressing on 45 RPM vinyl (it has been issued as a cassette single, but it’s sold out).

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Today we remember producer Andrew Weatherall who passed away on Monday, February 17 with a look back from our archives. —Ed.

1991 is remembered by many as the year that “punk” broke: the year that Nirvana’s Nevermind signaled the death of glam metal and prompted a revolution in the music industry. But to be fair, Nirvana, and many of their contemporaries, were still trafficking in guitar music. Angry, inspired and powerful guitar music, but yeah, it was still guitar music that was rooted in the past.

Over in the UK, the most important and forward-thinking music was dance music, particularly house music. The kids who organized raves and ran pirate radio stations were inspired by the DIY ethics of punk. But the music was futuristic, and producers made no attempt at referencing pop music’s past. While many balked at the rise of house music, its cultural reach was undeniable. If you were serious about music or youth culture, there was no way you could ignore it.

At the end of 1989, things looked grim for Primal Scream. Despite a promising early run of singles on Creation Records, their debut album, Sonic Flower Groove, was over-polished and short on tunes. Their second release, Primal Scream, was marginally better but managed to alienate the twee cognoscenti due to the band’s open embrace of the MC5, The Stooges, long hair and leather trousers and all things “rawk.”

But it wasn’t a total disaster. One of the more powerful tracks on the self-titled album was a ballad called “I’m Losing More than I’ll Ever Have.” This tune caught the attention of DJ and journalist Andrew Weatherall. Weatherall became friendly with the group and, after writing a favorable live review, was asked to do a remix. Despite Weatherall’s lack of studio experience, the DJ returned (after six or seven attempts) with “Loaded,” a stunning remix that stripped down the song and filtered it through acid house, dub reggae, and minimal electronica.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Songs for Australia is an extraordinary album made by a collection of global artists who have each donated their time to record a cover of an Australian song. Songs for Australia was made to raise money for organizations in Australia who are working towards creating a better future for the country and helping to rebuild during and after the bushfire crisis. It will be digitally released Thursday March 5 through BMG. The album will be released on vinyl and CD in June.

At the heart of the record is Australian songwriter and musician, Julia Stone. Recording in London over the new year period, Stone learned her mother was being evacuated from Lake Conjola on the south coast of New South Wales. Stone watched the unfolding bushfire crisis on the news, along with the rest of the world, feeling helpless, frustrated and distressed. Despite the vast distance between her and her home, her deep connection with it and her horror at its unfolding destruction dominated the days that followed. Late one night, she showed her producer and good friend Thomas Bartlett her favorite Australian songs, songs that over time had settled themselves in her heart. Together they decided that she should record one. The next day they recorded Midnight Oil’s “Beds Are Burning.”

At first, their collaboration was simply a creative outlet for the sadness Stone was feeling for the situation at hand. But she realized her sadness was even deeper and more far-reaching than that, connected to the history of intense sadness in Australia in relation to many of the misguided political and social choices that have been made. Stone wanted the song to connect with its origins—written 33 years ago about indigenous land rights—and so began exploring the information relating to the inattention to indigenous wisdom on land management. She decided to make a clip to accompany the recording that would incorporate a broader commentary on these issues.

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Molocular Meditation is the new record from Jan St. Werner, who is likely best-known as half of the electronic duo Mouse on Mars. The record offers the titular 19-minute track on side A featuring the voice of the late Mark E. Smith, plus two more shorter pieces on side two where the leader of The Fall speaks, those cuts surrounding a longer cut based on the Renaissance writings of Giordano Bruno. Folks into Werner’s Fiepblatter Catalogue should devour this set without a hiccup, but Smith’s presence will surely broaden the record’s audience. Appropriately, the contents are as appealingly challenging as the rest of Werner’s solo work. It’s out February 21 through Editions Mego.

The first thing to know about this record is that it is not a posthumously assembled cash-in. Famed as the sui generis sole constant member of post-punk cornerstone The Fall, Mark E. Smith died on January 24, 2018, but the electroacoustic composition on side one premiered as a multi-channel installation at Cornerhouse, Manchester in 2014.

This is a re-edited stereo version of the original Molocular Meditation, and in simultaneously showcasing Smith’s vocal observations and general disdain for what the label tags as the “apolitical British upper class,” Werner does a solid job of magnifying his collaborator’s presence while deepening the dimension of the piece overall through what’s succinctly described as experimental electronics.

Werner is nothing if not intensely attentive to the sounds at his disposal. It’s worthy of note that the vinyl of Molocular Meditation was cut with a diamond needle so that the LP possesses as much sonic range as the digital. This may read as weird to folks to have just accepted the argument that digital is inherently inferior to analogue, but in a truth to materials sense, it’s often the case (at least in my experience) that digital recordings often sound best played back digitally (a la the film maxim that images shot on celluloid look best projected on celluloid).

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We’ve closed up the shop for the President’s Day holiday. While we’re away, why not fire up our free Record Store Locator app and visit one of your local indie record stores?

Perhaps there’s an interview, review, or feature you might have missed? Catch up and we’ll see you back here tomorrow, 2/18.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Few musical groups embody the style, sound and spirit of their genre the way Guns N’ Roses embodies rock ’n’ roll. And few musicians have lived a rock ’n’ roll life as full and storied as drummer Matt Sorum’s.

In Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ’n’ Roll Stories from the Drummer of Guns N’ Roses, the Cult, and Velvet Revolver (Chicago Review Press, April 7, 2020), legendary drummer Matt Sorum takes music lovers behind the scenes of a remarkable life in rock. Sorum, whose albums have sold tens of millions of copies around the world, provides an honest, engaging account of the highs and lows of superstardom. Along with co-authors Leif Eriksson and Martin Svensson, Sorum recounts his childhood years idolizing Ringo Starr and surviving an abusive stepfather. After leaving high school, Sorum sold pot to get by. Over time, his drug dealing escalated to smuggling large quantities of cocaine, a career that came to a halt following a dramatic shootout.

Sorum fled his old life and settled in Hollywood, where he’d enjoy a rapid ascension to rock ’n’ roll immortality. He caught his big break drumming for the Cult, and only a year later replaced Steven Adler as a member of Guns N’ Roses, with whom he’d record two of rock’s most iconic albums: Use Your Illusion 1 and 2.

Sorum opens up with forthright honesty, sharing never before published anecdotes from his time touring the globe, battling drug and alcohol addiction and navigating volatile relationships with Axl Rose, Slash and the rest of the GNR team. His career with the Cult, Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, Motörhead, the Hollywood Vampires and Kings of Chaos co-stars an ensemble of rock royalty, from Gene Simmons and Billy Idol to Steven Tyler and Alice Cooper.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Milan Records announces the February 14 release of The Staggering Girl (OST) with music by Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, and Grammy-Award winning composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album features music from the Luca Guadagnino-directed (Suspiria) short film, which was produced in collaboration with Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli and showcases the fashion house’s couture designs.

Of the soundtrack, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto says, “When approaching the score for The Staggering Girl, I wanted to incorporate the tactile sound of Valentino’s fabrics. So I asked them to send me some samples and utilizing special sensitive microphones, I experimented ‘playing’ the fabrics. I love the sound and how it forces one’s attention to a sound all around us, yet almost entirely ignored.” Having made its debut at Cannes Film Festival last year, The Staggering Girl will be available to watch exclusively on the curated streaming service MUBI starting this Saturday, February 15th. Following the title track “The Staggering Girl”, today Sakamoto shares “Dance – Ambient Version” from the score via IndieWire.

As one-third of Yellow Magic Orchestra and an Academy Award-winning composer for his work on the soundtrack for The Last Emperor, synth pop innovator Ryuichi Sakamoto is among the most groundbreaking artists to have emerged since the late ’70s. A musician’s musician, Ryuichi Sakamoto has created intriguing musical unions with artists such as David Sylvian, Iggy Pop, Tony Williams, Bootsy Collins, Jaques Morelenbaum and many others. He recently re-released the 20th Anniversary Edition of his seminal BTTB last year, as well as the acclaimed full length album Async in 2017.

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Dear Satan,

I’ve always considered you a cool guy. Lord of the Flies, Leader of the Loyal Opposition, natty dresser, boogie man of little kids and grown Puritans alike–even your horns are badass.

So why, if you don’t mind my asking, did you appoint Ozzy Osbourne your ambassador to our world of sin? I would have thought you’d do better than a drug-addled, ant-snorting, famous-for-biting-the-heads-off-small-animals shlub in tragically ill-fitting leather pants. Had you come to me for advice, dear Lucifer, I’d have recommended someone more appropriate–Jimmy Page say, or Maroon 5.

Of course it’s possible Ozzy swiped your title without your permission. Plenty of people have done so over the years, Mick Jagger included, and maybe you figured if you’re gonna cut milksop Mick a break you might as well give poor witless Ozzy a pass too.

Or–and I’m working on this assumption–you’ve let Oz get away with it because Black Sabbath is quite arguably the first and heaviest heavy metal band to ever ooze its way out of the Underworld. What’s more, they scare the shit out of lotsa people, most of ‘em parents, music critics and hippies. You must love putting the frighteners on hippies–all that peace and love shit’s enough to make you puke hellfire.

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