Monthly Archives: December 2022

While few can disagree that the playing of holiday music shouldn’t start on the radio the day after Halloween, there are many who warm up to listening to Christmas music in December. Recent reissues reflect the two major sides of popular holiday music; fresh new music and tried-and-true staples from the past.

Holidays Rule, although a reissue of a ten-year-old release, very much fits into the category of new holiday sounds. This translucent red, two-LP, vinyl gatefold package features such artists as The Civil Wars, Heartless Bastards, Calexico, Punch Brothers, and The Head and the Heart. Paul McCartney performs “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire),” and the Shins sing Paul’s “Wonderful Christmastime.”

Other than the opening track by fun., the music on this reissue has aged well. The emphasis is on groups and artists with an organic sound and their heartfelt, non-glossy take on holiday-themed music works exceptionally well. The throwback sounds of Irma Thomas with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with “May Ev’ry Day Be Christmas,” complements the music here from newer artists and the song is an instant classic.

The duet between Sharon Van Atten and Rufus Wainwright, a cover of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” was an instant classic upon release and will be a favorite for some time to come. The album ends with two New Year’s Eve songs, making this a reissue you will want to listen to long after December 25th. There was a Holidays Rule, Vol. 2 CD release in 2017. It will be interesting to see if that release is reissued on vinyl next holiday season (or in 2027). If so, it will no doubt be on green vinyl.

Read More »

Eureka, KS | New Record Store Coming to Old Town, Eureka: Humboldt’s newest record store, Friends of Sound, will open to the public on Thursday December 15th. Located at 335 E Street in Eureka it will be open from 12-7 pm every day of the week. A grand opening will follow in early 2023 at a date to be announced soon. …The store is a joint venture of local nice guy Jimmy Howard and recent Humboldt transplant David Haffner. Haffner, a long-time record dealer, DJ, archivist, tastemaker, and label owner, opened the original Friends of Sound in Austin, TX almost 17 years ago. The current iteration of the store has been open in San Antonio for the last 6 years. Haffner moved here shortly before the pandemic from Portland and met Howard at the flea market, where Howard had been selling vinyl for 5 years. They bonded over their lifelong love of records and their mutual dilemma of having too darn many of them. The decision to open the store here was a natural confluence of events.

Dayton, OH | Record growth: Vinyl specialty shops on the rise in Dayton: “Having more variety for people is just going to make everything better for everybody,” said Skeleton Dust owner Luke Tandy. Growing up as a vinyl-buying obsessive in Centerville in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was at least one record store in every suburban Dayton community. There were chain stores like Camelot Music, but most were locally owned like Gem City Records, Dingleberry’s, Renaissance Music Media, Second Time Around, Bullfrog Records, Peaches and Record Warehouse. They were retail outlets, sure, but these stores were a magical meeting place for music obsessives. They employed hometown music enthusiasts, who fostered a sense of community through critical feedback, background information and purchase recommendations. Omega Music, which has been selling vinyl since the early 1980s, is the lone outlier from those days still carrying on that tradition.

London, UK | Banquet Records send fans camping for Louis Tomlinson gig to back of queue: The Kingston-upon-Thames record store has been widely praised on social media. Banquet Records have attempted to discourage fans attending Louis Tomlinson‘s shows at PRYZM from camping outside the store by introducing a system which will put campers at the back of the queue. Gig-goers are being given wristbands of different colours depending on what time they arrive at the Kingston-upon-Thames record shop. People camping outside or queuing very early are being given red wristbands, those in the queue before 8pm get silver ones, and those in the queue for 8:30 will have blue wristbands. Those will blue wristbands will get in first, followed by those with silver wristbands, and only then will those who have been camping or queuing for a long time will be allowed entry.

Cumbria, UK | $60 Nirvana single nets Cumbrian collector £2,600 at auction: A rare vinyl record – sold by a Penrith collector – has made £2,600 at auction. The 45in single by American band Nirvana went under the hammer at an online auction by 1818 Auctioneers on the Cumbria Lancashire border. The single is numbered 215 of 1,000 and was produced by record label Sub Pop. It was sold to someone in Lancaster. Expert valuer, Simon Norfolk of 1818 Auctioneers, said: “This is a holy grail of singles. It was in brilliant condition. With only 1,000 produced it is highly sought after. “On one side the track is Love Buzz and on the other is Big Cheese. This is a record price for a single vinyl sold by us at auction. So we’re delighted with the result.”

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Dorothy Ashby was probably the greatest—and certainly the most swinging—jazz harpist of all time, repurposing an instrument best known for ethereal glissandos into a fully versatile voice in combo settings, capable of providing both instrumental embroidery and rhythmic drive.

But she was always fighting an uphill battle in terms of garnering critical and commercial success; both her gender and the exoticism of her instrument often prevented her from being taken seriously among the hidebound environs of late ‘50s and ‘60s jazz.

But it is that very uniqueness of her sound and station in the jazz world that has made her one of the most collectible musicians of her era, as her music has been sampled and celebrated by modern-day hip hop and world music artists (e.g. Jurassic Five, Bonobo) alike.

In a Minor Groove is one of two albums she made in 1958 with flautist/saxophonist Frank Wess, and it is a marvel; backed by fellow Detroit native Herman Wright on bass and the great Roy Haynes on drums, she and Wess weave mesmerizing melodic threads through standards like “Alone Together” and “Yesterdays.” But perhaps the most amazing track is “Bohemia After Dark,” which displays Ashby’s uncanny ability to turn her harp into a rhythm guitar!

For this first-ever domestic black vinyl reissue of In a Minor Groove, we are using the original mono sources—not the rechanneled stereo and jumbled track listing that showed up on Prestige’s later repackaging called Dorothy Ashby Plays for Beautiful People. Original album art with Ira Gitler’s sleeve notes, too.

PHOTOS: JULIA LOFSTRAND | Who is Blag Dahlia? Some may know him from his early days in Chicago fronting ’60s cover band The Suburban Nightmare. Others probably know Blag as frontman for the legendary punk band The Dwarves. He has other aliases that have also been adopted over the years including Blag the Ripper, Julius Seizure, and his latest incarnation, Ralph Champagne. We recently talked with Blag Dahlia to discuss all things music including his recent solo project, latest book tour, and of course music on vinyl.

Blag, how’d you get your start in music?

I played my first show in Chicago at a bar called the Cubby Bear Lounge. I think it was 1983, so I must have been a junior in high school. I’ve been playing rock and roll for a very long time.

Who were your greatest inspirations growing up at that time?

The biggest one was probably Frank Zappa—I was a huge Zappa fan. My brother was into a more “sophisticated” type of music, so I’d hear a lot of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy and a lot of crazy freeform jazz which I didn’t really understand too much at the time. My folks were also really into musicals, so I guess I always just liked the songs and great songwriters.

How did you know you wanted to pursue a career in music?

I come from a slightly musical family where my dad played trumpet and collected sheet music and my brother played trumpet and would play in the jazz bands. So, music was around us. I was also very into comedy like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the early Saturday Night Live, SCTV. They’d always do funny songs. That’s why I like Zappa so much because it was a novelty and there was humor in it. It took an introduction to punk rock for me to finally figure out like, “Oh, okay, this is something I can do.” But I always loved music and I knew that that was what I wanted to do.

Let’s jump right into The Dwarves. That band started back in Chicago in the mid ’80s, correct?

I came from a town called Highland Park, a little suburb outside of Chicago. We started a band called The Suburban Nightmare, and we did mostly very obscure ’60s covers—just weird songs that nobody knew. That band morphed into the Dwarves around 1985.

What was your biggest challenge as a punk rock band during that time?

We didn’t look like a punk rock band. We dressed kind of ’60s garage, and so we’d get a lot of heat because we’re coming up from the suburbs in our parents’ station wagon with some cute chicks and ’60s outfits and the punks hated us. So very early on we were getting into altercations.

So, you just didn’t fit in at the time?

We were always a band that didn’t fit in. And then even when we became a hardcore band, which was after we’d moved to California and put out a kind of ’60s garage record that we weren’t that happy with—at the time I felt it was too soft. Later, we morphed into more of a hardcore band, and just as we did that was when nobody was playing hardcore anymore and punk was dead. Everything was coming in funky—funky white rock bands and hair metal bands and all that shit—and then we were a punk band. So, we always seemed to do the right thing at the wrong time.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Among the noise and clamor of the Britpop era, Blur co-founder Graham Coxon managed to carve out a niche to become one of the most innovative and respected guitarists of his generation—but it wasn’t always easy.

Graham grew up as an Army kid, moving frequently in his early years from West Germany to Derbyshire and Winchester before settling in Colchester, Essex. A shy child, he had a thing for eating soil and drawing intense visions of monsters; his anxiety was tempered by painting and a growing love of music. These twin passions grew into obsessions, and as he honed his artistic skill at school, Goldsmiths and beyond, his band with school friend Damon Albarn, fellow student Alex James, and a drummer called Dave Rowntree began to get noticed.

But there are things they don’t tell you before you get famous. There are monsters out there. And some even lurk inside yourself. Verse, Chorus, Monster! is an intimate, honest reflection on music, fame, addiction and art by one of Britain’s most iconic musicians.

Graham Coxon is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist. One of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, best known as being a founding member of Blur, Coxon has also released eight solo albums and frequently composes for film and TV. The Waeve, composed of band members Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall, made their live debut in May 2022, along with the release of a new track titled “Something Pretty.” He lives in London.

Celebrating Taylor Swift on her 33rd birthday. —Ed.

I like to think I’m an open-minded individual. But in truth I’m about as open-minded as Cotton Mather. Still, I occasionally attempt to broaden my horizons by listening to music I know damn well I’ll hate. And that’s where Taylor Swift comes in. People I respect have been telling me for years how great she is, but I was damn well sure the odds of my enjoying her music were right up there with being killed by space debris.

But something happened on my way to the vomit bag. Turns out I love Swift’s music. It’s frothy pop fun and comes complete with an important societal message, namely that romantic relationships are hell, guys are cretins who don’t know a good thing when they see one, and the best way to take revenge on the pricks is by skewering them in song. Swift’s tumultuous love life has long made for juicy tabloid fodder, and people with nothing better to do spend a lot of time putting names to the subjects of her songs. One thing they know for sure; fuck with Taylor’s heart and you’ll have your balls handed to you on Disney+.

1989 marked Swift’s total immersion into synthesized pop music. It’s right there in the ad campaign for NYC that is “Welcome to New York,” the only song on the LP not about interpersonal relationships of the fucked-up sort. Instead it marks the end of Swift’s transformation from Nashville ingenue to Manhattan sophisticate. She makes this very clear in the funky “”Style,” which harkens back to “Vogue,” Madonna’s celebration of the Manhattan glam dance scene.

On the beat-heavy “Blank Space,” Swift warns that looks can be deceiving (“I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream”), brags about her superhuman transformative powers (“I can make the bad guys good for a weekend”), but concedes she’s willing to go the distance if you are. On “All You Had to Do Was Stay” boy hurts girl then wants girl back, but she’s not the sort of girl who hands out second chances.

Read More »

Kevin Whelan is anything but ordinary. From a very early age, he gravitated toward music and made that work his lifelong passion. Inspired by legends like Liberace, The Beatles, and Chris Squire, Kevin has forged his own path over a 30+ year career that has withstood the test of time (and then some). The Vinyl District recently sat down with Kevin to discuss The Wrens, his most recent project Aeon Station, and of course all things vinyl.

How did you get your start in music?

I got started in music because my mother bought a piano from one of her coworkers. She’s a schoolteacher and one of her friends was giving up a piano and she got it for a couple hundred dollars. She brought into the house and nobody knew what it was and it sat in the dining room for a long time. I just tried my hand at it, liked it, and then got a teacher. That’s how it started. I think it happens for many musicians in their early teens’ where you just don’t fit in and you’re trying to, and music finds you so beautifully (and unexpectedly).

Who were your greatest inspirations as a young musician?

Oh, my goodness—it’s definitely diverse. Of course, I’d say all the great songwriters have these phases where they’re inspired by bands like they love. For me, it was The Beatles, The Clash, The Pixies, and then on to Radiohead. But I started in piano, I have always shared that my first true inspiration was Liberace. I saw him perform live when I was a teenager in Atlantic City. Seeing that showman aspect and how he communicated with his audience through the piano was a pretty exciting experience, and a unique one to say the least.

How did the Wrens get their start back in 1989?

Yeah, ’89. I started the band, geez, back when I was 16. There were a couple versions at the beginning, but it didn’t become The Wrens until I got to meet Charles and Jerry, and of course my brother was always involved too. We actually got our start because we were going to open for The Fixx, and funny enough that never materialized. Since that didn’t happen, we figured we’d stay together and give it a go as a band. Then very quickly after that, we all moved in together and stayed that way for almost 15 years. It was a pretty deep commitment for sure.

Read More »

Celebrating Dickey Betts on his 79th birthday. —Ed.

You can say what you want about yours truly, but you’ve got to grant me this much; not knowing jack squat about a thing has never stopped me from writing about it. No, I am not one those lily-livered sorts who let something as minor as complete ignorance stand in the way of stating an opinion.

Take the Allman Brothers. I’ve been a detractor for years, based largely on an LP (1971’s At Fillmore East) I’ve never actually listened to. But the way I see it, I don’t have to listen to it; it’s enough for me to know that it contains such interminable blues numbers as “Whippin’ Post” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” for me to write it off out of hand. The road, as Gregg Allman sang, may go on forever, but that’s no reason a song should.

But the recent passing of brother Gregg inspired me to give the Allmans another listen. I mean, ignorance may be its own reward, but sooner or later you have to suck it up and learn something, as unpleasant as that is. That said, I lacked the intestinal fortitude to give At Fillmore East a spin. But 1972’s double-LP Eat a Peach, why not??

And so I did. And I’m here to say that actually listening to the Allman Brothers mostly corroborates what I already believed about the Allman Brothers; to wit, they’re a powerful blues band when they keep things short, and they’re a great band when they write songs that break out of the blues idiom, but set them loose to meander and they’ll wear out your patience, and then wear it out some more.

Indeed, on “Mountain Jam” they wear out your patience to the tune of exactly 33 minutes and 38 seconds. You actually have to take Side Two off and put Side Four on to listen to “Mountain Jam” in its entirety, which cannot be an easy thing when you’re as stoned as you have to be to want to listen to “Mountain Jam” in its entirety. Many an argument must have taken place over which wildly tripping hippie was going to stagger to his feet and do the album turning. Well I say kick out the jam, brothers and sisters. Kick it right off the LP.

Read More »

Talk about your crash course for the ravers. Rave kings Happy Mondays imploded during the making of 1992’s Yes Please—heroic drug consumption, frontman Shaun Ryder’s subsequent admission to a detox program, band dissension, and poor critical reviews spelled the end of the band. And the waning of the UK rave scene and collapse of label Factory Records didn’t help.

But Ryder wasn’t about to give up the ghost. Sans brother Paul, the former 24-hour party person reemerged in 1993 with a new band, Black Grape, and subsequently released a 1995 debut LP It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah. His only former Happy Mondays bandmate to follow along was legendary dancer/percussionist Bez; new members included rapper Paul “Kermit” Leveridge, drummer Ged Lynch (like Leveridge, a former member of Ruthless Rap Assassins), former Paris Angels guitarist Wags, and Oli “Dirtycash” Dillon on ocarina.

“There are no second acts in American lives” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, but they obviously do things differently in Madchester, because It’s Great When You’re Straight ….Yeah is a funky dance masterpiece. Like the best Happy Mondays releases it’s less an LP than an infectious get-down dance party, and proof that if the rave scene was no longer sorted for e’s and whizz, its spirit lived on thanks to It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah and its joyously shambolic, loosey-goosey, nonstop grooves.

The LP opens with the gospel (or perhaps I should say anti-gospel)-flavored “Reverend Black Grape.” Accompanied by guest Bledynn Richards on harmonica, Leveridge commences to preach a tent sermon guaranteed to outrage the devout (“Standing in the pews/Talking bullshit, bullshit, bullshit/Bullshit, I want to know, I want to know,/Can you feel the Spirit of the Lord?”).

Read More »