Monthly Archives: November 2017

“It would be really cool of me to say I grew up listening to vinyl records, that my parents played ‘The White Album’ while I was in the womb, and that I was always inspired by Brian Wilson since my prepubescence. The truth is not that. I grew up in Gilbert, Arizona to parents who fed me a steady diet of Sugar Ray, DC Talk, and AC/DC. It was a very confusing musical upbringing, but it eventually forced me to seek out on my own the music I wanted to get excited about and in turn appreciate those artists even more.”

“I don’t even remember why, but my mother bought me a record player for Christmas when I was 16. I didn’t even ask for a record player. I think I asked for an ipod. Regardless, I knew that the thrift store down the street from my house had 25 cent vinyl records. Because this was a city that did not have a sprawling music scene, the first four records I bought were Michael Jackson’s Thriller, ELO’s A New World Record, Waylon Jennings’ Dreaming My Dreams, and Johnny Cash’s Destination Victoria Station for a whopping buck. I eventually bought Nat King Cole’s Songs for Two in Love to impress a date.

Kristyn and I decided to go all out and buy one of those big ’60s record consoles a few years back. It was the first time I ever heard how amazing vinyl records actually sound. Whenever we go to the record store, she likes to go through the 25 cent bin and pick out all the ’60s records, heavily weighted with Neil Sedaka albums. We honest to god don’t need any more Neil Sedaka records. I also like to surprise her with her favorite new artists on vinyl. Most recently we’ve grabbed, The Vaccines’ English Graffiti, Cage the Elephant’s Tell Me I’m Pretty, and Andy Shauf’s The Party.

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The upcoming record from Portland, OR-based guitarist Marisa Anderson is slated to hit stores through the auspices of Thrill Jockey, but hey, don’t let’s overlook the nonce. Her 2013 LP Traditional and Public Domain Songs is getting a worthy reissue, available digitally on November 17 with the LP to follow on December 10. Initially released by Grapefruit Records, this vinyl edition comes courtesy of her frequent partners at the Mississippi label; they’ve given it a new sleeve, a fresh sequence, and two additional tracks.

Although Anderson had played and recorded prior, notably in the Dolly Ranchers, her full-length solo debut emerged in 2006. Holiday Motel is diverse, indeed featuring appealing slices of contempo folk and even a cut mildly reminiscent of the Georgia-sung moments of Yo La Tengo, but even at this early juncture, the focus is on guitar prowess that’s already substantial.

Some sources date her follow-up to 2009, others to 2011, but whenever it came out, the contents document a major stride forward. Alongside the abovementioned qualities, Holiday Motel resides comfortably in a post-coffeehouse zone, but The Golden Hour’s solo guitar sans vocals approach is a considerably deeper affair. Both discs share elements connected to John Fahey, but as demonstrated by the plugged-in, expansive atmospheres of The Golden Hour, she was in no way a mere copyist.

2013’s Mercury retained the solo no vox method, and like its predecessor, was issued on wax by the Oregonian label and record store Mississippi (the CDs came out via Important). This connection, clearly geographical, is only strengthened by the trend-averse, historical inclination they share, and of all the records in her discography, Traditional and Public Domain Songs fits easiest into Mississippi’s highly appealing mode of cultural excavation. This makes its delayed entry into their catalog all the sweeter.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Sole surviving Heartbreaker Walter Lure was joined by Blondie’s Clem Burke, The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, and MC5’s Wayne Kramer over two nights at New York City’s Bowery Electric club in November 2016, and the event captured for posterity. Also joining them on stage were guests including Jesse Malin of D-Generation, Liza Colby, and the Dead Boys’ Cheetah Chrome. The DVD features bonus material of interviews with all four band-members along with Jesse Malin.

L.A.M.F. is the album recorded by Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers in punk-era London, after they accompanied the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and the Clash on the aborted “Anarchy Tour.” Being ex-members of the New York Dolls they were lauded by the young punks, and went on to record the high-octane rock’n’roll album, in retrospect labelled as a classic.

This live DVD, colored vinyl LP, and CD follows on from the remastered 40th anniversary edition of L.A.M.F. and the reissue of an extended Definitive Edition 4CD box set (and triple-vinyl) of the albums many mixes and demos.

The release coincides with Walter Lure taking his L.A.M.F. show on out the road again—this time with the Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock on bass, Social Distortion’s Mike Ness on guitar and vocals, and again Blondie’s Clem Burke on drums. They play six dates starting at the end of November 2017 covering US east and west coasts, with gigs in Los Angeles, San Diego, Brooklyn, and New York.

“The first record I remember buying was Boston’s self-titled debut, purchased at The Source Record & Tapes in Cedar Mill, OR in 1978 or so. At least I think that’s what the store was called—it’d disappeared by the early 80s.”

“The babysitter brought his copy over one night and I thought it was the most badass thing I’d ever heard at 8 years old. At the time, the album had already been out for a while, but he’d just seen them live and I had a ton of questions about what a ‘real rock concert’ was like. I remember him telling me, ‘Well, just stick your head in front of this speaker…’ after which he proceeded to totally crank the volume and my head exploded with the ripping guitars of ‘Smokin’.’

I had to have my own copy, so within a few days I’d gathered enough allowance money and spare change to buy one. I still remember the smell of that store—a combination of new cellophane, incense, and whatever the employees were probably smoking in the back room.

The artwork and the liner notes on LPs were like a little mystery that you could never solve—the less info provided, the more intriguing it was to try to sort out! I was never a stoner, but I had lots of friends who’d sit around and clean their pot on gatefold records. We’d all check out the artwork and liner notes for hours, wondering what the band was thinking about with each detail.

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Press Play is our Monday recap of the new and FREE tracks received last week to inform the next trip to your local indie record store.

Cameron Blake – After Sally
Felsen – Vultures on Your Bones
Stephen Doster – Shooting For The Stars
Eagle Johnson & Clean Machine – Push Pin Jane
Jason S. Matuskiewicz – Battle Born
Shining Mirrors – Cardiac
The Captain Of Sorrow – Hollow Empty Void

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Grant-Lee Phillips – Totally You Gunslinger

Moon Darling – By The Light of The Moon
Fovea – Boss Boy
The Cabin Fever – Exercise The Demon
The March Divide – I Told You So
MOTORCADE – Recover
Italian Beaches – Tornado
Choppa Dunks – Fight

What’s not to like about 1996’s President Yo La Tengo? On it everybody’s favorite New Wave hotdogs express an urge to do drugs, name drop my favorite literary figure, deliver up some of the most discordant guitar mayhem this side of the Velvet Underground’s “I Heard Her Call My Name,” wax pretty as can be, and cover Bob Dylan and Antietam just to prove they can do it all.

The indie rock husband and wife team of Ira Kaplan (guitar and vocals) and Georgia Hubley (drums and vocals) have produced an embarrassment of riches over the years, in part because they have impeccable taste (which isn’t to say they’re necessarily tasteful) and an encyclopedic knowledge of rock history. More importantly, they know when to play rough and when to play nice with others. Theirs is a Jekyll and Hyde dynamic, and the tension between the two can be enthralling.

On President Yo La Tengo we get to meet both Jekyll and Hyde. The civilized Jekyll comes to us via “Alyda,” a lovely little number with a delightful melody that will make you swoon thanks to Hubley’s wonderfully understated drumming and lovely backing vocals. And Yo La Tengo is definitely in Jekyll mode on their slow and homely take on Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away,” which is both wistful and heartbreaking and (I think you’ll agree) does old Bobby proud.

On the Hyde side we have Yo La Tengo’s cover of Antietam’s “Orange Song,” which they play the hell out of at hardcore speed. The recipe is simple: Nice guy Kaplan puts a lot of growl into his vocals and plays some very mean guitar, while Hubley crashes and smashes away on the drums in the apparent belief that she’s the reincarnation of John Bonham. The result is a mosh pit in your mind, and you’re invited! This one was recorded live at CBGB, as was “The Evil That Men Do (Pablo’s Version).”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Out November 17 via Craft Recordings, comes one of the greatest and most celebrated hip-hop albums of all time, The Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde.

The album will be available in Deluxe 25th Anniversary Vinyl (original album on 2LPs + 3 12″ singles) and 2CD (original album, plus a full disc of bonus material) with audio remastered by Dave Cooley (J Dilla, Madvillain, Madlib) at Elysian Masters and will include non-album tracks, remixes, and rarities. New liner notes by leading music journalist and author Jeff Weiss (Passion of the Weiss, LA Weekly) to round out the package. Standard versions of the original album with remastered audio will also be available on vinyl and cassette.

Critically acclaimed as an absolute classic of the alternative hip-hop genre, it has shipped over a million units worldwide and garnered the group justifiable comparisons to De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. The definition of a crossover record, outlets ranging from Pitchfork to The Source have hailed it as one of the greatest albums ever made. NME calls it “…a cartoon-strip of blunt-smoking antics, sexual innuendo and unashamed political incorrectness, crammed with infectious beats.”

Listening to Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde 25 years after its release, its sense of timeliness is unmistakable. Every song on the album inverts a hoary hip-hop cliché. With classics like “Oh Shit,” “Otha Fish,” “Ya’ Mama,” and the now-ubiquitous #1 hit “Passin’ Me By,” Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde remains essential and enduringly unique—a rite of passage for any serious hip-hop head.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Nearly 300 professionals engaged in some aspect of vinyl record manufacturing from all over the world congregated at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel November 6th–7th for Making Vinyl, the debut event conceived to celebrate the industry’s global rebirth.

The first day of Making Vinyl’s conference session explored the astounding comeback of a physical media format thought not long ago to be nearly defunct, only to reemerge as a deluxe product that has seen double-digit growth for 10 consecutive years. “If you really want to show reverence and respect to the music, experience it this way,” urged vinyl champion Jack White, Day One’s keynoter, in a 40-minute conversation with Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell. “I don’t care if we lose money,” White admitted of his vinyl plant Third Man Pressing, which he opened in February and served as the hometown sponsor of the event.

By having his own factory in Detroit, White streamlined his vertically integrated company’s supply chain. “Exposing people to beauty at any cost—that’s everybody’s job in this room,” White said, issuing marching orders. Making Vinyl attendees were scheduled to tour the Third Man facility, located a few miles away from the Westin.

Opening keynoter Michael Kurtz, co-founder of event partner Record Store Day, made the case that vinyl’s growth is much bigger that widely reported in the mainstream media. “It was amazing to spend two days with people who actually make things,” said Kurtz. “The energy level and quality of discussions was refreshing and exciting. I cannot wait to begin work on Making Vinyl 2018.”

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“The first record I remember hearing as a kid was the soundtrack to Top Gun. I know that my mom had other records because I remember seeing them stacked up, but the only one that blares out in memory is that Top Gun soundtrack. I’d run around the living room like a little madman and couldn’t believe it could possible to be any more hyped than rocketing off the couch to “Danger Zone.” (I was 100% correct, too. Try it now. Loggins compels you.)”

“I was super into aviation and any form of airplane dogfights as a kid, so not only did the movie get watched over and over, the soundtrack would hit the turntable at every opportunity. I didn’t fully have an appreciation of how special vinyl was at that point because it was just the main way that I knew you listened to music at home, versus the cassettes for traveling and my grandparents car with an 8-track of the Oak Ridge Boys permanently lodged in it (which is fine…”Elvira” rules).

After moving around a bit, my mom no longer had the record player or the vinyl. I was still into playing cassette tapes on my little Walkman until they died (and making my own tapes of stuff off the radio, or holding a Radio Shack mic up to the TV to record parts of soundtracks I liked).

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