Monthly Archives: March 2020

Edgar Allen Poe must be rolling over in his crypt, wondering what imp of the perverse led Alan Parsons to purloin his tales of the macabre and use them to produce one of the most inadvertently hilarious albums of our time.

On The Alan Parsons Project’s 1976 debut, Parsons (who cut his bones as producer of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon) uses every means at his disposal to create a studio masterpiece. I’m talking Orson Welles, Arthur Brown, Terry Sylvester of Hollies’ fame, dozens of musicians, string sections, horn fanfare, choirs and more choirs, electronic music, some synthed-up vocals–you get everything except Roger Waters singing with his head in a toilet. And what do we have when he’s done? Gothic prog-rock schlock. Which isn’t altogether a bad thing; Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a real hoot. Pity Parsons doesn’t get his own joke.

Some of the music on Tales of Mystery and Imagination is imaginative–at times it borders on excellent. But the album’s undone by Parsons’ failure to understand you can’t capture the shadowy essence of Poe’s work by means of cutting edge studio technology. Poe tapped into our unconscious fears and plumbed our darkest places; Parsons’ bright and shiny production job does just the opposite. Studio spaces invoke dystopian nightmares of technology run amok; Poe’s work is as dark and primitive as the final resting place of Fortunato in the “The Cast of Amontillado.” You can’t synthesize grave dirt.

To the extent that Tales of Mystery and Imagination’s pretentious grandiosity inspires more mirth than dread, Parsons’ failure is our gain; his would-be studio benchmark for future generations is a real life equivalent to Spinal Tap’s Jack the Ripper musical Saucy Jack. If you’re like me, you’ll be too busy laughing at the LP’s sheer absurdity to notice the quality of some of its music.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Third Man Records is excited to announce reissues of Redd Kross’ two beloved 1990s albums, Phaseshifter (1993) and Show World (1997). The 180-gram vinyl-only reissues, which come on the heels of their amazing 2019 album Beyond The Door and after 40 years as a band, will mark the first-ever North American vinyl pressings of either album. Look out for the reissues via Third Man and in indie record stores on March 27. The band will also headline day 1 of Third Man’s two-day party during SXSW in Austin, TX—find more information about the party HERE.

Brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald formed Redd Kross (originally Red Cross) in Hawthorne, CA in the late ‘70s. Rumor has it that the band name was inspired by a prop from the 1973 horror film The Exorcist. Their first show was opening for Black Flag and they released their debut record the mythical “Posh Boy” EP in 1980 when they were just 17 and 13 respectively. The “Posh Boy” EP features Black Flag’s 2nd singer, Ron Reyes, on drums and founding member of Circle Jerks, Greg Heston, on guitar. 1982 saw a line up change and the release of Born Innocent, a high water mark of American Punk Rock. Containing nods to Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Linda Blair, Lita Ford and breakfast cereal as well as a killer cover of Charlie Manson’s “Cease To Exist.” Redd Kross loves pop culture.

The brothers have kept Redd Kross going through the decades (and line-up changes), releasing 8 studio albums and a slew of EPs and singles. They have also stayed busy with side projects, production gigs and even occasional acting jobs. What are Redd Kross? Punk Rock? Psychedelia? Heavy Metal? Bubblegum? Power Pop? Whatever they are they are 100% Redd Kross, the catchiest of catchy, chock full of hooks, melodies and harmonies, impossible to not smile and sing along…..maybe even dance. Their live show just keeps getting better. Redd Kross are one of those rare bands who would be equally at home in a dark punk club and on stage at the Enormodome.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Robbie Basho was one of the big three American acoustic guitar innovators, John Fahey and Leo Kottke being the other two.

Basho was the least commercially successful of the three, but his influence and reputation has steadily grown since his untimely death in 1986 at the age of 45. And with good reason; for Basho’s deeply spiritual approach, intellectual rigor, and formal explorations (among his goals was the creation of a raga system for American music), present a deeply compelling, multi-faceted artist. Basho was actually a college friend of John Fahey, and his early recordings (like Kottke’s) were for Fahey’s Takoma label. Following Fahey‘s move to Vanguard, Basho followed suit, and released Voice of the Eagle and Zarthus for the label in 1972 and 1974, respectively (his most commercially successful records were made for the Windham Hill label later in the decade).

Flash forward to 2009: Vanguard contacted guitarist (and long-time Basho champion) Glenn Jones with the intriguing news that an unreleased Robbie Basho album session had recently been found, on a tape that, alas, lacked any real documentation. It was only 12 years later, when Jones, in the process of researching the liner notes for this release, discovered the truth: that not just the mysterious tape but both Voice of the Eagle and Zarthus were the result of one marathon session in 1971 or 1972 recorded in New York City by Vanguard staff engineer Jeffrey Zaraya.

Songs of the Great Mystery—The Lost Vanguard Sessions, then, takes its place as the third of the triumvirat of albums Basho recorded for the label, and it is their equal in every way, exploring, in particular, some of the same Native American themes found on Voice of the Eagle. Some of the tunes showed up on later albums in much different forms; 1978’s Visions of the Country featured “A Day in the Life of Lemuria” (re-titled “Leaf in the Wind”) and “Night Way,” and “Laughing Thunder, Crawling Thunder” went through various permutations before appearing on 1981’s Rainbow Thunder as “Crashing Thunder.”

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“My first experience with vinyl was an important one.”

“When I was in junior high, my uncle lent me The Beatles’ 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 compilations on vinyl. This was the first time I’d obsessed over records, sitting in front of my dad’s stereo with a pair of headphones. It didn’t hurt my first vinyl experience was also my first Beatles experience.

Once I left home for university I started buying vinyl. We have some great shops in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Select Sounds, Taz Records, and Obsolete are shops we visit frequently.

We stream music just as much as anyone and purchase vinyl when we really love a record. Streaming is just the test drive for us.

I think the current era we’re living in is incredible. We have easy access to almost everything. It can be overwhelming, but our tastes have broadened so much in the last 5 years since streaming took over. It beats the days of file sharing. I still have a pirated digital copy of David Bowie’s Lodger that has a Backstreet Boys song randomly tossed on.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Metallica introduces another first… their very own Vinyl Club! As huge music fans, the band has been super excited to experience the resurgence of vinyl and the enjoyment of collecting, exploring and connecting with other fans mining for lost treasures. Those who love the look, feel and sonic warmth of vinyl are already in an exclusive club of sorts, so with that in mind…

The 2020 Vinyl Club Subscription will be available exclusively to members of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club, and will feature rare cuts, demos and rough mixes, and live rarities—none of which have ever been released on vinyl before. Each subscription includes a personalized membership card and a series of four 7” records shipped throughout the year—some of which will include additional collectibles. Join the Club now; membership sign-ups for the inaugural year are open through Tuesday, March 31st at 11:59 PM EST. Don’t wait! New memberships won’t be open again until the 2021 subscription year.

We’re excited to kick off this new endeavor, and whether you get the subscription for yourself or a friend (makes a great gift!), we hope you have a blast collecting some good-old-school vinyl!

VIA PRESS RELEASE | An intimate, revealing look at one artist’s journey from self-censorship to full expression.

As one of the most celebrated musicians in the world, Alicia Keys has enraptured the globe with her heartfelt lyrics, extraordinary vocal range, and soul-stirring piano compositions. Yet away from the spotlight, Alicia has grappled with private heartache—over the challenging and complex relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that characterized her early career, the loss of privacy surrounding her romantic relationships, and the oppressive expectations of female perfection.

Since Alicia rose to fame, her public persona has belied a deep personal truth: she has spent years not fully recognizing or honoring her own worth. After withholding parts of herself for so long, she is at last exploring the questions that live at the heart of her story: Who am I, really? And once I discover that truth, how can I become brave enough to embrace it?

More Myself is part autobiography, part narrative documentary. Alicia’s journey is revealed not only through her own candid recounting, but also through vivid recollections from those who have walked alongside her. The result is a 360-degree perspective on Alicia’s path, from her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to the process of growth and self-discovery that we all must navigate.

In More Myself, Alicia shares her quest for truth—about herself, her past, and her shift from sacrificing her spirit to celebrating her worth. With the raw honesty that epitomizes Alicia’s artistry, More Myself is at once a riveting account and a clarion call to readers: to define themselves in a world that rarely encourages a true and unique identity.

“My family moved from Detroit to the west coast when I was 12. We moved around a lot growing up, so by the time we made it to Sacramento, I didn’t have a lot of friends and I was quite well read yet introverted little kid.”

“My single mother created a lot of opportunities for me but had three other children much younger than me to care for, so I ended up doing a lot of “me” time. Naturally, in 1997 with nothing else to do, I turned to MTV and rock music magazines to search for a way to fill my brain. By 14, with my meager allowance doing chores and yard work, I had amassed a few shoe boxes of cassettes and a few CDs. It wasn’t much looking back but I knew every lyric, drum hit, bass line and layer of my small, strong collection.

I hadn’t yet been to a proper record store and I didn’t really care at the time. That drastically changed when I first purchased Space Oddity by David Bowie. That record became my whole life—I would play it endlessly all summer in my room. I must have ruined that album for my mom.

We shared a house with my uncle who had a giant vinyl collection. I was usually at school when he worked but he would play records on the weekends and jam on his drum kit in the garage. One day I heard the familiar finger picking of “Letters to Hermione.” Being a lovesick hormonal teenager I would listen to that song and imagine I was Bowie…forlorn and serenading my lost love.

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Modern fingerstyle guitarist Mark Vickness is back with more moody atmospherics to soothe your work week.

Known for his virtuosic solo output as well as being the instrumental half of acclaimed acoustic fusion duo Glass House, Mark has become a respected fixture in the Bay Area fusion scene with a clearly defined artistic pedigree.

In anticipation of his new solo album, Interconnected, Vickness has released a paired down, black and white video for the song “Grey Skye.” The video captures the musician emitting a zen-like calm, plucking crystalline melodies from his custom baritone guitar. It’s a gorgeous composition that blurs the line between acoustic and orchestral by delicately oscillating between ambient and world influences.

For many music fans, 1991 is defined by the arrival of the second album from a certain Pacific-Northwest band, its emergence precipitating a significant convulsion in the decade’s rock mainstream. But for a smaller percentage of listeners, the studio debut by Japan’s White Heaven delivered a far greater impact, specifically due to an approach to heavy psychedelia that embraced a bevy of classic rock archetypes without blatantly replicating those examples’ auras and occasional missteps. Simultaneously, White Heaven brandished intensity and edge (and avant tendencies) that placed them on the timeline securely After Punk. Black Editions’ gorgeous vinyl reissue of Out is available now.

The comparison in the intro above, specifically between Nirvana and White Heaven, may resonate to some like ye olde underground elitism, but it really just underscores that for those plugged into the subterranean scene at the dawn of the 1990s, Nevermind was no great revelation. This was directly due to numerous bands having already reached back before (and more generally, beyond) punk rock for inspiration, and with the expected varying degrees of success.

This is why the analogy to White Heaven is so proper, as the band, who at the point of Out’s recording featured founding singer You Ishihara, guitarist Michio Kurihara, drummer Ken Ishihara, and bassist Naohiro Yoshimoto, basically perfected a strain of hard psych that was neither gonzo a la the Butthole Surfers nor overly reverent either in form, like those populating the trippy end of neo-garage spectrum, or in spirit, which was to be largely the case with the rise of the Jam Band scene.

Instead of just copping a series of moves, White Heaven registered as if they’d truly absorbed the expansive lessons of their inspirations. There were surely points of reference, with an early comparison likening Kurihara’s guitar to that of Quicksilver Messenger Service’s John Cipollina. I’d read of this similarity long prior to hearing Out (which didn’t happen until it was reissued on CD in the mid-’90s, as the vinyl press was an edition of 500), bit after soaking up the disc’s five tracks the observation was right on the money, though White Heaven was striving for different sonic ends.

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