Mitski New Vinyl Thursday

It’s Mitski New Vinyl Thursday at The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven. Check out this week’s list of new vinyl arrivals:

Animal Collective – Time Skiffs (Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive, Digital Download Card)

Adele- 30

Bastille – Give Me The Future (Orange Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Beths – Auckland, New Zealand 2020

Billy Bragg – The Million Things That Never Happened (Blue Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Specter At The Feast

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Wrong Creatures

Bob Marley – Soul Rebels Dub (Yellow & Red Haze Vinyl)

The Beach Boys – “Feel Flows” The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 (Boxed Set)

Brent Cobb – And Now Lets Turn To Page

Bonobo – Fragments (Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl, 140 Gram Vinyl, Indie Exclusive, Digital Download Card)

Weekly Review:

You might gather from my past reviews that I’m not the biggest EDM guy. Admittedly, it probably wouldn’t be the first genre I would dip into when choosing my favorite music of all time.
But as a true lover of sounds, in general, I have found something to enjoy in pretty much every musical form. Okay, maybe I’m still looking for a Dubstep DJ that’s gonna open that door for me, but there is a lot I have found to appreciate within the realm of House music.
Bonobo is the project if UK born, LA based electronic musician Simon Green. While Green often tours solo as a DJ, he established a live touring ensemble In 2004.
The latest album by Bonobo “Fragments” has really been a not so guilty refuge for me lately. While producers like Flying Lotus, Four Tet and Mad Libs have been pushing the genre into all the little cracks and crevices it is has yet to reach, Bonobo seems content to work with the broad strokes that make Electronic Dance music as effective at moving your emotions as it is at moving your ass on the dance floor.
Whether your psyching up for a morning jog or a night out in the town, Polyghost, the opening track to Fragments, with its plucked atmospheric string sounds and ambient oscillating synthesized waves feels like emerging from some sort of cocoon.
 The piece seamless merges into “Shadows,” a beautiful chill out track featuring Jordan Rakei. It’s kind of hard to to envision any music created in the past couple years separate from the pandemic and the lyrics to this song appear even more rich
when viewed under that lens:
“Consider that my time away
Was working for the soulI studied all I had to face
The fear inside me grows
Save me, save me from the unknown
While I daydream, I leave this world to follow
My footsteps are sinking to the hollows
I can retrace the memories in my shadows”
The next standout song is “Tides” featuring a very poignant and soulful  vocal performance by Chicago based singer/ poet Jamila Woods. Like much of Bonobo’s work, the song unfolds like a dream and slowly drifts off on a sea of watery string arrangements.
The rest of the album consists of more traditional rhythm based house tracks that lean in a more world beat/ chill out style.
Fragments closes with a out with the the track “Day By Day” featuring Kadja Bonet.
There’s nothing revolutionary about what Bonobo does. Sometimes it can be satisfying to just see an artist display such mastery of a particular  form.
I mean, I love a to see a Picasso or a Jackson Pollock completely twisting art into all sorts of places I never imagined it. But sometimes it’s also enjoyable to watch a Bob Ross masterfully dabbing away at his hundred-thousandth exquisite, fluffy little cloud.
Striking limited edition double red marbled vinyl! – Major Matt

Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble – Heliopolis

Caravan – It`s None Of Your Business (140 Gram Vinyl)

Cavetown – 16/04/16 (White Colored Vinyl)

Curtis Mayfield – The Very Best Of Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield- There’s No Place Like America

Childish Gambino – Camp

Cat Power – Covers
Weekly Review:
In the mid/ late 90’s I went to go see the band Wilco at a venue called Tramps in New York City.
The opener was a disheveled looking female who slowly took the stage with an old silver tone guitar slung over her shoulder. Her stringy brown hair obscured her face completely. After shuffling about for what seemed like an uncomfortable amount of time she launched into a slow, nearly unrecognizable, version of Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones. Even amplified, her whispery voice was barely audible over the walla of the crowed. The performance was almost too painful to watch but at the same time there was something intriguing about how she made no attempt to appease or even engage the crowd.
Chan Marshall’s (aka CAT POWER) performances from that period are the stuff of legend now. It was not uncommon for her to stop mid song and simply start playing something else, or strike up an extended  conversation with someone in the audience. Other times she would just start singing whatever words seemed to come into her over a couple simply strummed chords.
Though she’s come a long way since those awkward early solo shows, attributing many of them to drinking issues,  Marshall has managed to maintain a signature form of vulnerability throughout her eleven studio albums.
From indie rock “It” girl, to Memphis soulstress, to full on pop star, Marshall projects growth while at the same time maintaining an air of mystery. This is never more apparent than when she chooses to cover other peoples work.
Cat Power’s most recent album of covers, her third to date,  entitled simply “Covers ” has recently been released on Domino Records.
Though every new Cat Power release is a culmination of what has come before. The general production style feels more reminiscent of early mid period refined indie sounds of “Are You Free.”
True to form, the opening track to “Covers” (Frank Ocean’s “ Bad Religion”) bares little resemblance to the original outside a flowing quality of longing and searching. Marshall makes an interesting revision, translating the original lines from the song “allahu akbar” to its potential English translation “praise the lord.” This simple change expands the meaning of the song to encompass certain Christian based practices.
“Unhate” is a re-realization of her own track, Hate, from “The Greatest” album.
One of the more standout tracks from the album is a spirited rendition of “Pa Pa Power.” A song from actor Ryan Gosling’s musical project Dead Man’s Bones.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is a slow brooding version of Iggy Pop’s “Endless Sea” off the New Values records.
Perhaps the most true to the original is the Nico cover of the the exquisite “These Days.” I have often considered Marshall a more healthy and empowered, modern day, version of Nico. Both voice that perfect balance of hope and melancholy.
The album closes out with perhaps one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful songs of all time, IMHO, Paul Westerberg’s (The Replacements) “Here Comes A Regular.”
The cherry on top of this diverse collection is a fitting nod to Billy Holiday’s “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
Indie Exclusive on gold vinyl!  – Major Matt

Don Julian & the Larks – Super Slick (Blue Colored Vinyl)

The Dead Milkmen – Welcome To The End Of The World

Drive-by Truckers- The Dirty South

Drake – Take Care

Eels – Eels : Extreme Witchcraft (Yellow) (Limited Deluxe 2LP + CD Boxset) (Yellow Colored Vinyl, With CD, Limited Edition)

Fugees – The Score

Goo Goo Dolls – Greatest Hits Volume One – The Singles

Grant Green – Grant’s First Stand (180gm Vinyl)

Halford – Resurrection

HARARI – Genesis

Hank Molby – Soul Station (180gm Vinyl)

Hippo Campus – Lp3 (Purple Clear Vinyl, 140 Gram Vinyl, Limited Edition, Indie Exclusive)

John Lee Hooker – Plays & Sings The Blues (180gm Vinyl)

Jethro Tull – The Zealot Gene (With CD, Black, Gatefold LP Jacket, With Booklet)

Weekly Review:

Classic hard rock heroes Jethro Tull haven’t released an album in nearly 20 years, but it doesn’t take long
to recognize The Zealot Gene by the band’s signature sounds of a nimble flute juxtaposed against
progressive rock synthesizers and hard rock guitars.
Flautist, singer and songwriter Ian Anderson remains the only founding member in Jethro Tull – and,
indeed, the only musician present here who also participated in Tull’s previous release, 2003’s Christmas
Album. Anderson’s voice is warm and crisp and his storytelling ability hasn’t diminished.
Across these dozen tracks, Anderson weaves stories about the bombing of Hiroshima (on “Mrs.
Tibbets”) and the betrayal of Jesus by Judas in the garden (“The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde”). On the title
track, Anderson warns of “the populist with dark appeal, the pandering to hate / Which xenophobic
scaremongers deliver on a plate to tame the pangs of hunger and satisfy the lust.”
The message never comes across as strident, thanks to buoyant arrangements that blend folk and rock,
with touches of prog here and there.
Three of the four musicians backing Anderson here, also played on his 21 st century solo work, blurring
the line and begging the question of what the difference is between an Ian Anderson solo album and
one from Jethro Tull. The answer might just be marketing, but regardless it is good to have this classic
voice and sound addressing contemporary issues. -Joel Francis

Jon Batiste – WE ARE

Kenny Cox – Clap Clap The Joyful Noise

Korn – Requiem (Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Koichi Matsukaze Trio – At The Room 427

Lady Wray – Piece of Me (Deep Emerald Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Weekly Review:

Although R&B singer Lady Wray released her debut in 1998, Piece of Me is just her fourth album (and
first since 2016). Piece of Me was recorded in three stages, during which Wray was pregnant, a new
mother and finally in a post-vaccination pandemic.
The emotion and turmoil of these phases bubble just under the surface of these dozen songs, and
occasionally bubbles to the surface. Album closer “Storms” captures a lonely moment when Wray was
away from her daughter and fiancée. The tender “Melody” was named after and inspired by Wray’s
daughter, who also appears on the track.
Producer Leon Michels deserves a lot of credit for putting Wray in an environment to shine. His
arrangements range from stripped-down, guitar (or piano) and voice to bigger productions that echo
what one might hear on an album released by the Daptone or Colemine labels. One of Michels best
tricks is bringing back the sped-up chipmunk sampling technique found on Kanye West’s early singles.
Anyone missing Amy Winehouse or Sharon Jones will find a lot to love on Piece of Me, but Wray is her
own artists who demands to be heard in her own way. She may take her time between albums, but they
are always worth the time. -Joel Francis

Lady Gaga – Dawn Of Chromatica (Clear Vinyl)

Larry Douglas Alltet – Dedications

Leonard Bernstein – West Side Story (Original Soundtrack)

Lucinda Williams – Lu’s Jukebox Vol. 6: You Are Cordially Invited….A Tribute To The Rolling Stones

Weekly Review:

When the Rolling Stones wanted to channel the Deep South in 1969, they went to the swamp, recording
three tracks at the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. The truth is, that marshy aesthetic
informed much of the Stones’ work during their peak ear of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams had the good fortune of growing up in Louisiana. Born with the
muddy sound the Stones chased in her blood (and vocal cords), Williams chose the perfect subject for
the sixth – and final, to date – entry in her Lu’s Jukebox tribute series.
You Are Cordially Invited rounds up a dozen songs from the world’s longest running rock and roll band.
While Williams isn’t shy about covering the Stones’ biggest hits, she doesn’t have any twisting them into
new forms. Here, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is a fuzzed-out nugget of garage rock, and “Street
Fighting Man” is stripped back (but by no means dialed down) and reimagined as a backroads anthem.
Lesser-known tracks fare even better in Williams’ hands. “Moonlight Mile,” “Salt of the Earth” and “Doo
Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” sound like they were written for Williams to perform. These songs are
infused with so much of Williams’ spirit – harkening back to that muddy, Deep South spirit the Stones
coveted – that if you placed them strategically on Williams’ original albums, one might not believe she
didn’t write them.
The Lu’s Jukebox series was an experiment for Williams to shine a light on some songs and artists she
loved and play with her incredible band while touring was off the table. It has proven to be a rousing
success. While one hopes that the circumstances that created this enterprise never return, You Are
Cordially Invited closes the chapter so convincingly one can’t help that there might be a few more
volumes in the future. -Joel Francis

Lauryn Hill- Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lady Blackbird – Black Acid Soul

Weekly Review:

The cover of Lady Blackbird’s debut album hints at something dark and psychedelic. Listeners expecting
a moody, trippy experience will be disappointed. Instead, we are treated to 11 haunting songs of
romance and heartache in the vocal jazz tradition.
Blackbird, born Marley Munroe, carries the weary hopefulness of Nina Simone, the anguish of Billie
Holiday and soaring grace of Mahalia Jackson. The songs here pull from expected places, such as
Simone’s “Blackbird,” which opens the album and introduces Munroe, and Bill Evans’ “Fix It.” But
Munroe is also capable of turning Allen Toussaint’s R&B romp “Ruler of My Heart” into a torch song. Tim
Hardin’s “It Will Never Happen Again” has never sounded this elegant.
The closest Black Acid Soul gets to living up to its title comes on a cover of the James Gang song
“Collage.” The closing title song – an original – is layered in mysterious textures with Munroe’s vocal on
top.
Black Acid Soul lingers long after the final note has died, leaving a haunting residue in the air. There are
only two options at this point: play the album again and wallow in its rare atmosphere, or turn the page
with something completely different. In my house, it’s 50-50 which will happen. -Joel Francis

Mitski – Laurel Hell (Opaque Red Vinyl)

Mary Lou Williams – Mary Lou Williams

Miles Davis – Live Evil

Montrose – Montrose (180 Gram Vinyl, Red Colored Vinyl, Limited Edition)

Ornette Coleman – Round Trip – The Complete Ornette Coleman

Otis Redding – The Best Of Otis Redding
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake – Demos

Poppy – Flux (Blue, Black, Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Prince – 1999 (150 Gram Vinyl)

Prince – Sign O The Times (150 Gram Vinyl)

Prince – Purple Rain (Picture Disc Vinyl LP)

Pinegrove – 11:11 (Red Clear Vinyl)

Weekly Review:

The global pandemic seemed to create the perfect environment for a band that has recorded all of its
catalog in home studios. Surprisingly, indie rock band Pinegrove ventured to commercial studios for the
first time for 11:11, its fifth album.
The resulting 11 tracks are a concise and focused songs, right down to the mostly single-word titles.
Most of the performances hover around three minutes, although album opener “Habitat” more than
doubles that length. These song titles also convey songwriter Evan Stephens Hall’s theme of nature:
“Flora,” “Cyclone,” “Respirate.”
For Stephens Hall, nature is both something to celebrate and a cause for concern. A lyric like “I insist it
wasn’t always like this / I saw the sun, saw red in the grass / With every fiber vibrating alive” (in “Flora”)
captures both sides of this dynamic. Several songs – “Orange,” “11th Hour” – are explicit calls to arms
about the imminent dangers of climate change and political inaction to address these threats.
Although Stephens Hall and guitarist Sam Skinner produced the album, the band enlisted former Death
Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla to mix 11:11. The result is an earthy mixture of indie rock and
Americana. The result is a catchy, engaging album that will please longtime Pinenuts, as the group’s fans
are known, while plowing enough new soil to grow the band plenty of new converts as well. -Joel Francis

Pinegrove – Skylight

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon

Pearl Jam – Vs. (180 Gram Vinyl)

R.E.M.- New Adventures in Hi Fi

Ryan Adams – Big Colors (Red Vinyl with Bonus 7″)

Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd – Jazz Samba (180gm Vinyl)

Stanley Turrentine – Rough & Tumble

Sunn 0))) – Metta Benevolence Bbc 6music : Live On The Invitation Of Mary Anne Hobbs (Red Clear Vinyl)

St Paul and the Broken Bones – Alien Coast (Limited Edition, Gold Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Weekly Review:

On their fourth album, St. Paul and the Broken Bones turn away from the buoyant, horn-laden, retro-
soul dance songs to deliver a darker, more reflective set of songs.
The church organ and gospel singing that open the album on “3000 A.D. Mass” swell to a point that it
feels like the speakers will explode, but it turns out this is just an 80-second tease that gives way to a
mélange of psychedelic rock, synthesizers, hip-hop rhythms, jazz and Spanish guitar.
Named after the European imperialists’’ nickname for the Gulf of Mexico during colonization, much of
The Alien Coast grapples with the conflict between good and evil. On “3000 A.D. Mass,” lead singer Paul
Janeway cries “Lord, sink your teeth so I can feel it in my spine/ the fire and the brimstone” on “3000
A.D. Mass.” This gives way to an interpretation of Spanish painter Bartolomé Bermejo’s painting, “Saint
Michael Triumphant Over the Devil” on the next song, “Bermejo and the Devil.” This, in turn, leads to
“Minotaur,” a look at Pablo Picasso’s use of this mythical beast to portray the authoritarian Spanish
government.
This ponderous weight is lightened in a few places. The disco song “The Last Dance” opens with Janeway
instructing listeners to “Lose yourself in a song that doesn’t want to make you want to cry / God knows
we need it right now.”
It would be easy for St. Paul and the Broken Bones to continue mining their throwback Stax-inspired
sound. While the current sonic shift might alienate fans who want more of the same, the band should be
applauded for following their muse and experimenting with more adventurous terrain. -Joel Francis

Thelonious Monk – Live In Montreal 1

Thelonious Monk – Live In Montreal 2

Tori Amos – Under The Pink

Tori Amos – Ocean To Ocean

The Traveling Wilburys- The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1

Voka Gentle – Writhing!

Wendell Harrison Tribe – Get Up Off Your Knees

Wes Montgomery – Incredibel Jazz Guitar Of (180gm Vinyl)

The Whitmore Sisters – Ghost Stories (White & Purple Swirl, 140 Gram Vinyl)

Young Gun Silver Fox – Canyons

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Turntables! We got ’em. From starter tables to audiophile, and everything in between, we have you covered. We are honored to once again be carrying a full line up of the award winning, top of their class, made in America, U-turn Orbits! We have all the colors- including the high performance walnut and maple. Get here fast for best selection. Get yours today!

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Enjoy the music and we will see you soon. Your loving Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven staff:

Sherman, Gordon, Cat, Matt, Dylan, Doyle, Heather, Dave and Lain