Monthly Archives: August 2013

“I fell in love with vinyl a long time ago.”

“When I was a nipper (youngen/early teenager.) I won a 12 inch of “Breakdance Party” by Break Machine, by body popping and breaking at a Nigerian children’s party. My parents watched in amazement as I jumped around on the floor all the time thinking WTF (what the hell) they had no idea I could do all of these things, and the deejay gave me the record because he felt I deserved it. I still have it to this day.

At home, I used to play my parents’ vinyl alot when they were not around. My parents had a few gems: James Brown records, Fela Kuti, Ben E. King, Diana Ross, Boney M, Shalamar. I used to play them and try to scratch on my parents old Grundig record player thingy-ma-jiggy.

Then, a classmate called Chris Johnson really broke the camel’s back by introducing me to funk, soul, jazz, and rare groove.

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The Irish trio Glimmermen has evolved from a tradition where math rock rubs shoulders with the influence of Mission of Burma and even a little bit of those Pedro, CA giants the Minutemen. The band’s first full-length I’m Dead provides ample evidence of these shaping tendencies, but the record’s best moments come when they divert into unanticipated territory.

Glimmermen sprang from the dissolution of the Irish outfits Boxes, Jackbeast, and Holy Ghost Fathers. Of the three, Boxes seems to have achieved the highest profile, at least posthumously. Holy Ghost Fathers, the band where Glimmerman Phil Murray played drums from ‘01-’07, have a self-released LP named Cock of the Walk under their belt.

And Jackbeast, a group dating back to at least the mid-‘90s that included Glimmermen’s stand-up bassist J. Bassetti, issued a self-titled 10-inch along with filling up one side of a split 45 with a gang that called themselves Spithead. But unfortunately, only a tiny portion of the work of Holy Ghost Fathers and Jackbeast is readily obtainable for perusal via the web.

Boxes, the prior unit of Glimmermen vocalist/guitarist Gavin Cowley, did manage three albums however, with 2006’s Bad Blood retaining the services of producer Steve Albini. Checking out that disc reveals a solid if not life-altering excursion into a math rock state of mind, with a little Chi-town and Washington, DC post-hardcore flavoring blended in.

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Today, Glasgow’s Franz Ferdinand returns to the rock mainstage with their 4th album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. We happen to have a grab bag of Franz Ferdinand swag including a pink tote, an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the new record, and a surprise limited 7″.

This album picks up after 2009’s Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, a success after receiving critical and commercial acclaim with 2004’s Franz Ferdinand and 2005’s You Could Have it So Much Better. The quartet have amassed a fanbase all around the world with minimalistic math rock that was forged with referential pop chord movements.

The album leads with the single “Right Action,” a bouncy and optimistic riff-driven track that throws back to jangly guitars, a snappy chorus, and a big synthy theme. “Right Action” was followed by the release of dance-rock track “Love Illumination.”

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“The album is back.”

“People want a groove, a feeling. Whether you’re at work, headphones in, or at home lying on the floor, tunes cranked, you want to get into a vibe and ride the wave. Dark Side of the Moon will feel much different from REM’s Murmur, but both will put you into a state of euphoria. A solid 45 minutes of heaven.

With the album being back, does that mean vinyl is making a comeback? For sure, everyone I know has raided their parents’ basement to find some serious gems of albums. I jacked all the goods from my grandma’s basement which had an awesome collection of 80’s garage rock and Telecaster twang. From Marshall Crenshaw and Graham Parker to The Replacements.

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Gone Away Backward is the new studio album from Robbie Fulks, one of the alt-country field’s true veterans. Never one to fall into stylistic repetition, the territory his latest effort inhabits is still quite noteworthy. Where much of Fulks’ prior work examined the essence of the eternal honky-tonk, his return to Bloodshot Records finds him instead exploring the grand traditions of Americana. And unsurprisingly, it’s a very good fit.

Robbie Fulks’ first big splash on the scene occurred way back in 1996 with his debut LP Country Love Songs, a record flashing veteran smarts and a quickly obvious sense of legitimacy, two traits that many of his counterparts in the then booming alt-country scene lacked. To describe his emergence as a welcome turn of events remains quite an understatement.

For up to that point, the vast majority of the genre’s sounds very rarely reached beyond the general template of The Flying Burrito Brothers channeling Merle Haggard or George Jones as they grasped for inspiration. Now this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did point to what the greatest portion of alt-country actually was; a revamping of country-rock.

Instead of carving out a spot in that turf, Fulks opted to open his first full-length with a solid slab of honky-tonkin’ western swing sporting the pointed title “Every Kind of Music but Country” (as in, “I like every kind of…”). And as Country Love Songs progressed, it became apparent that Fulks did indeed have a few rock-derived tricks up his sleeve. But even more obvious was the righting of certain stylistic wrongs perpetrated by the fumes of the mainstream junk that’d been wafting out of the locale of Nashville for far too freaking long.

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“We love vinyl! We love listening, collecting, the big artwork… all of it! If it were cost-effective, we would put all of our releases out on vinyl… maybe even on vinyl only and not even offer them as downloads or on CD.”

“I think people who listen to vinyl are the exact types of people you would want as fans of your band. People who buy vinyl tend to appreciate the artwork more, the look and feel of the record itself, and most importantly, they tend to listen to your record in its entirety, from start to finish, without skipping tracks… they really invest in your music. As a band and fellow music lovers, we really appreciate that.

We haven’t done a vinyl release yet. In fact, with every release we do, we have a big “should we put this out on vinyl?” discussion. We may still do a short run with our new album, X vs. X, and it is our dream to release all of the singles (including “Never Gonna Die”) as a 7 inch series with exclusive B-sides.

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“Oh vinyl, how I love thee.”

“The gentle crackle at the beginning and end of a record instantly reminds me of Billie Holiday and warms my musical soul. I am by no means a vinyl junkie, but I do have a colorful collection that I continue to add to with sporadic trips to the swap meet, thrift stores, and my curious wanderings into record stores.

The very first album that I ever bought was Prince’s Purple Rain. CLASSIC. I love everything about this album. EVERY song is legendary, but the album cover… is perfection. His sexy little smirk, his fabulous frills, his motorcycle, and that font! Art in absolute harmony.

When I first bought my turntables I was obsessed with Hard House, Trance and Hi-NrG grooves. So, needless to say I have a nice lil chunk of vinyl from labels like Positiva, Nukleuz, Tidy Trax, Strictly Rhythm, Yoshitoshi, etc.

Nowadays when I’m out digging for records I am usually looking for time travelers, aka tunes that take me back. Recently I was lucky enough to score Donna Summers I Remember Yesterday album for $1! A major score for one of my favorite songs of all time, “I Feel Love.”

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Sometimes it’s as if you don’t even know your own flesh and blood. Take my quiet and staid eldest brother. I just learned that back in 1973 he went to see Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies Tour at the Spectrum in Philadelphia attired in a polyester outfit he had gleefully stapled with billions of dollars worth of play money. “Unfortunately,” he told me,” the whole effect was that of a flapping goony bird when I walked. REALLY not cool. I looked like a total a-hole but went anyway; good drugs will suppress any feeling of stupidity.”

My oldest bro stoned and papered in phony greenbacks? It seems implausible. But back then Alice Cooper seemed to bring the freak out of everybody, from preteens to hardcore metalheads to people like my brother, a glam-bam-thank-you-ma’am kinda guy. Formed in 1969, by 1973 Alice Cooper had gone from being an obscure band of musical absurdists (check out “10 Minutes Before the Worm” if you don’t believe me) on Frank Zappa’s Straight label to Warner Brothers and superstardom, and were at the very peak of their popularity thanks largely to the success of “School’s Out” and an outrageously macabre stage show that included hangings, ritualistic baby doll dismemberment, and the wholesale beheading of innocent chipmunks.

Little did the band know that by the next year (following disappointing sales of Muscle of Love and the usual personality conflicts compounded by drug abuse) it would break up, leaving newly solo front man Alice Cooper to do stints on Hollywood Squares along with the likes of Paul Lynde, release dreck like “Only Women Bleed,” and in general become a parody of a parody of his faux ghoulish self.

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Press Play is our Monday morning recap of the new tracks received last week—provided here to inform your vinyl purchasing power. We post, you right-click.

Chris Zurich – Annie
Steel Phantoms – Curtain Call
Cameron Sharp – El Condor Pasa (I’d Rather)
Kim Lenz & The Jaguars – Pay Dearly
The Black Watch – Meg
Glasvegas – Later…When The TV Turns To Static
Bent Denim – Living Room
Sleepmakeswaves – In Limbs and Joints
2PPM – I
Dream Boys – Born Yesterday

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
KITTEN – Like A Stranger

Renee Ruth – Midnight
Alligator Indian – PUF//FIN
Peelander-Z – Ride On The Shooting Star
Gross Relations – Discovery Zone
Empty Chairs – Eyelashes
Mod Gun – Party Line
Tough Age – Sea of White
Plankton Wat – Empire Mines
The Cloak Ox – King Rope
Julie Mar – What It’s Like

22 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!

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Greetings from Carlsbad, California!

In an attempt to have a bit of Summer family fun, we loaded up the car and headed down the Southern California coast—destination Legoland!

Why the fuck not? As lil’ Jonah has just turned five, we’ve found ourselves knee deep in the stuff. Recently, Jonah’s obsession is Chima Legos, a tolerable mix of Mad Max and The Lion King.

All said, this week’s Idelic Hour has nothing to do with animal tribes battling over magical “chi.” Instead, this week’s inspiration is a photograph my mother emailed me.

At first the roof top photo made no sense. Even when mom reminded me it was the view from our old New York apartment, I was still disorientated. Finally, I was struck. This was the view from my room growing up—from a boy to a man, basically.

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