“My earliest musical memory involves vinyl.”
“I was four and my mom bought me my first two records—Thriller and Synchronicity by The Police. I remember playing those albums over and over again until I had almost every word memorized. At that age the whole process of learning how to use a turntable, putting what I thought at the time was a massive piece of plastic on it, and then having this amazing music blast out of the speakers was pure magic. That was it. I was hooked for life. And looking back I think by becoming a producer/artist I’ve been trying to recapture that childhood feeling ever since.
My best music store experience involves the now closed Tower Records in Atlanta, GA. At the time I was an assistant engineer at a big Atlanta studio. I was assisting on a Lionel Richie session and the guitar player he had been using couldn’t make it that day. By sheer luck the head engineer told Lionel I play and I ended up tracking guitar on a song that night. I thought for sure they would have his main player come in and replay my parts.
But I was pretty shocked to find out he ended up keeping mine. This was my first real credit on a big commercial label release. The day it came out I drove to Tower records at 7:00am and waited in the parking lot for them to open at 8. I bought the Coming Home CD, opened it in my car and stared at my credit while playing the song probably ten times. RIP Tower Records. Thanks for one of my best musical memories!
—Graham Marsh
NEW RELEASE PICKS: Ruth Mascelli, A Night at the Baths (Disciples) This the solo debut from New Orleans-based Mascelli, who’s noted as part of Special Interest, an outfit, unheard by me, that’s tagged as a combo of no wave, glam, and industrial, frankly very enticing, but right now there’s this LP to consider, which is described as progressing from Mascelli’s electronically focused output as Psychic Hotline (that I’ve also not heard). To elaborate, A Night at the Baths is inspired by techno, acid house and ambient, with Mascelli explaining further that the album is an “audio diary” of their experiences in “various bathhouses, dark rooms, and gay clubs” while touring with Special Interest and traveling alone. Crafted so that each track is representative of an individual room or space, parts of this, such as opener “Sauna” and “Libidinal Surplus,” unfurled about how I expected (both are dancefloor thumpers), but as Mascelli is skilled and inventive, that’s in no way a negative. Other cuts, such as the spacy “Hydrotherapy” and the ’70s surrealism of “Missing Men,” divert from the anticipated very nicely. A-
koleżanka, Place Is (Bar/None) Brooklyn-based Kristina Moore used to be in Triathalon, but she’s currently devoting herself exclusively to this project, writing and singing the songs and playing the guitar as Ark Calkins assists on bass and drums. koleżanka can be tagged as art-pop, though the sound moves around a good bit, ranging from dreamy to electronics-tinged (synths and a drum machine are involved) to even soulful. A few of her songs thrive on directness suggesting that in a better world, they’d be hits, specifically early track “$40.” Moore has a powerful voice well-suited for the foreground as she delivers the occasional high-note flourish, but she seems more invested in making her album instrumentally interesting, which is admirable, even as the songs don’t always end up where I’d prefer them. The key is that she avoids bad decisions. But “Vegan Sushi,” which reminds me of Stereolab, could’ve lasted for another four minutes (it’s over in under two and half, waaaa), and lands in a highly enjoyable place. Strong for a debut, and very smart. B+
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICKS: Obits, Die at the Zoo (Outer Battery) Featuring singing guitarists Rick Froberg and Sohrab Habibion, bassist Greg Simpson and drummer Alexis Fleisig (who replaced Scott Gursky in 2011), Brooklyn’s Obits broke up in 2015, with their final studio album Bed and Bugs released two years prior. This live recording (a dozen songs on the vinyl, with the full 15 offered via accompanying download) captures a long set from Brisbane, Australia in 2012, and it’s a sharp, energetic affair. Before Obits, Froberg was in San Diego stalwarts Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, as Habibion and Fleisig were members of DC’s Edsel, credits that highlight a background in both post-hardcore and beefy garage-punkish rock with a touch of the Stooges thrown in. In 2021, this guitar-centric and rhythmically hefty sound is quite welcome, and that it derives from a band of savvy vets makes it even better. That Outer Battery didn’t just dump this on wax by shaving off the last three tracks is indicative of the overall quality; ‘tis also a very attractive thing, on yellow wax (the pink is sold out). A-
Kippie Moketsi & Hal Singer, Blue Stompin’ (We Are Busy Bodies / The Sun) South African saxophonist Moketsi was a groundbreaking member of the Jazz Epistles alongside Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, and Jonas Gwangwa. US saxophonist Singer played in the bands of Jay McShann, Oran “Hot Lips” Page, Roy Eldridge and many others, and in 1959 Singer cut an LP for Prestige with Charlie Shavers’ band titled Blue Stompin’, its opening composition also commencing this album, played in 1974 while Singer was in South Africa on a State Department tour. It the best of the four tracks on this reissue of an LP originally released in ’77 by The Sun label. It’s also the only cut to feature Singer, just so you know. The other selections by Moketsi’s band, if not quite as strong, are worthwhile enough to make this a desirable item. Note that as of this writing, there are 14 remaining for purchase on Bandcamp (copies are also available in stores). Moketsi opens “Blue Stompin’” wonderfully, all by himself. The full band’s groove thereafter is a swank reminder that Singer hit #1 on the R&B chart in 1948 with “Corn Bread.” A-
Indie Labels Address Vinyl Warping Due to U.S. Heat Waves: As customers report warped and damaged records, labels like Ba Da Bing and Joyful Noise are attempting to mitigate the issue. As punishing, dangerous heat waves have become a massive problem in the United States over the past weeks, one minor consequence is that vinyl record shipments are being warped by extreme weather. Ba Da Bing Records, which released the new Cassandra Jenkins album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, sent an email to customers noting that multiple people had 
Vinyl Sales Power John Mayer’s ‘Sob Rock’ to Number One: Pop Smoke’s Faith debuts at Number Two. John Mayer’s Sob Rock comes with an old-fashioned price sticker on the cover, as if it’s an LP from the Eighties, and it launched at Number One on the Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums chart thanks to 
Penfolds Designs Rare Record Player To Mark Anniversary of Grange Wine: Only seven of them have been produced globally. Australian winery Penfolds has created a limited-edition record player in celebration of the upcoming 70th anniversary of their flagship wine, Grange. Each record player is individually hand-crafted by Symbol Audio, with only seven pieces produced globally. The record player takes on the classic “all in one” console design from the 1950s, the same decade in which Penfolds’ pioneer Max Schubert made the first vintage of Grange while experimenting with wine-making techniques he observed in Bordeaux. In addition to featuring luxury accessories from Riedel, Chateau Laguiole and Monopole, including a hand-blown glass decanter, the record player comes with a hidden wine compartment that houses two rare investment ‘White Capsule’ Grange magnums from 2010 and 2017, intended to be aged and consumed no earlier than around 2030. The record player’s cabinet design also reserves room for storing eight wine glasses and 
Smashing Pumpkins announce new vinyl release, ‘Live At The Viper Room 1998.’ The band’s second archival release comes from a Billy Corgan acoustic set. Smashing Pumpkins have announced the release of a new vinyl, ‘Live At The Viper Room 1998’, available to pre-order next week. The band’s second archival release was recorded at The Viper Room in West Hollywood, California, on January 15, 1998. The 13-song set saw Corgan perform Smashing Pumpkins songs in acoustic form. “The thing you hear in the Viper Room show is you’re really sort of being allowed into the studio where the songs don’t have the accouterment of all the bells and whistles,” Corgan said in 
Wichita, KS | Former Teacher Explores Love Of Heavy Metal With Wichita Record Store The Gate: Russell Horning began his journey as an educator in Mexico. Then, after teaching high school and middle school in Wichita, he decided to make a career change. Wichitan Russell Horning opened The Gate record store in May 2021. Located at 115 S. Pattie, the shop serves as Wichita’s home for heavy metal records. It’s stocked with a vast array of classic metal albums — looking for Ozzy Osbourne’s long out-of-print Speak of the Devil? Horning has it — as well as new stock from around the globe. The Gate feels less like a retail space and more like a friend’s living room. There are classic metal books and magazines on sale as well as the types of rarities only a true fan would take the time to notice. Horning’s road to opening the shop is an unlikely one. After teaching English for nearly 20 years, he decided to follow his passion for heavy metal and create a space that is uniquely his own and which seems poised to become a destination for 
Bruce Dickinson recalls how the record store was his sanctuary: “Record stores, when I was a kid, before the Internet — you can go and listen to everything for free now on the Internet, but back then it was a bit more difficult. You would have to go into an actual record store and you would ask to listen to a record and you’d listen to probably most of the album and you wouldn’t buy it, ’cause you didn’t have any money. But you were in the store with all these people who loved music, and you’d talk about music and you’d hang out, and just being there was like being recharged when you were a kid. It was just, like, ‘Oh my God. I’ve got school. I’ve got this. I’ve got that. I wanna escape my parents.’ You get on a bus, you go to the record store, you hang out and meet all these people who think and talk music and think like you, and 
