Pink Floyd New Vinyl Thursday

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

21 Savage & Metro Boomin – Savage Mode II (140 Gram Vinyl, Red Colored Vinyl)

311 – Mardi Gras 2020 (Orange Colored Vinyl)

Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers – Moanin’

Arctic Monkeys – Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive, Digital Download Card)

Alice Coltrane – World Spirituality Classics 1: Ecstatic Music

Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad – Jazz Is Dead #6 – Gary Bartz
Weekly Review:
Not to be confused by the Grateful Dead cover band by the same name, Jazz Is Dead is a record collaboration concept series created by Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Both of these gentlemen are known for their skills as as artists, producers and DJ’s in their own right.  Some of you may know Ali Shaheed as 1/3 of the Hip Hop act A Tribe Called Quest.
Jazz is Dead is an opportunity for these two icons to pay homage to some of the great Jazz artists that they have sampled and drawn upon as inspiration throughout their careers. Cool idea right?!
Past JID collaborations include iconic musicians including Roy Ayers, Doug Carn, and Marcos Valle .
The most recent installment #6 is with legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz, who broke through to the public as a member Miles Davis’ post Bitches Brew band where he  tangled on a nightly basis with the likes of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, and more.
In 1970 Bartz went on to form his own group, combing soul, funk and r&b with jazz and radical black politics.  Bartz weathered the storms that challenged  jazz in the 1970’s and thrived throughout that decade and beyond, making jazz-funk a masterpieces like “Music is My Sanctuary” and getting sampled by A Tribe Called Quest and Jurassic 5. – Major Matt

Alice in Chains – Facelift [150 gram vinyl]

The Black Angels – Live At Levitation (Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

The Black Crowes – The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion

Weekly Review:

On their first album, the Crowes were old time soulful rock and roll saviours.  They were a retro treat, an antidote to the Poisons and Bon Jovis and Warrants.  By their second album, the Crowes became artists.  Fraught with tension, brothers Robinson battled over creative direction.  Songs were recorded, re-recorded, dropped, replaced.  But it all happened very quickly.  The songs were written in a matter of weeks, and the album was recorded in a matter of days, according to Chris Robinson.

Remedy was a #1 hit for a stunning 11 weeks.  A slick groove and funky electric piano make this one a blues rocker for the ages.  In one track, the Crowes stepped away from their previous derivative sound, and hit the warp drive.  It’s such tremendous leap in terms of growth.  Barbara and Joy have the chorus covered while Chris scats his way into the charts.
The acoustic side of the Crowes comes out on “Thorn in My Pride”,  Congas and organ add a slightly psychedelic slant, but the song also gives way to an electric jam.  Another single and another hit for the Black Crowes.  Going further into electric blues, “Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye” is raw and exposed.  The band and producer George Drakoulias captured a warm and bare sound, and no track shows it off better.  You can hear the hum of hot amplifiers.  And those amps get cranked up on “Sometimes Salvation”.  Heavy blues, emphasis on groove.

There’s a dark swampy vibe to “Black Moon Creeping”, but heavy with growling guitar explorations.
An acoustic cover of Bob Marley’s “Time Will Tell” sounds like a jam, but those things are often the magical moments.  That’s what “Time Will Tell” is, a magical moment.  It’s a snapshot of a group of musicians just singing and playing with their hearts.
Southern Harmony and the Musical Companion is an essential album for any rock collector with integrity.  They don’t come more authentic or proudly individual than this.  Get some. Albert Schmurr

Black Pumas – Black Pumas (Bonus Tracks, With Bonus 7″, Deluxe Edition, Color Vinyl)

Brown Sugar – Brown Sugar Featuring Clydie King [140-Gram Black Vinyl]

The Beatles – Abbey Road Anniversary

The Beatles – Let It Be

The Beatles – Revolver

Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (Deluxe Edition, 180 Gram Vinyl)

Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill

Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children

Bob Marley – Legend (180 Gram Vinyl, Special Edition, Reissue)

Bill Withers – Live at Carnegie Hall [180 gram Vinyl]

Bill Withers – Greatest Hits (150 Gram Vinyl, Download Insert)

Can – Future Days (Limited Edition, Gold Colored Vinyl)

Carrie Underwood – My Savior (White Colored Vinyl)

Charley Crockett – Lonesome As A Shadow

Charley Crockett – The Valley

Chester Thompson – Powerhouse (Orange & Black Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive, Remastered)

The Cars – Moving in Stereo: The Best of the Cars

Curtis Mayfield – Roots

Chris Stapleton – Starting Over [180 gram Vinyl]

Dinosaur Jr – Sweep It Into Space
Dizzy Gillespie – 20th & 30th Anniversary
Dropkick Murphys – Gang’s All Here
Duke Ellington – Money Jungle (180 Gram Vinyl)

David Bowie – Changesonebowie [180 gram Vinyl]

Def Leppard – Hysteria [180 gram Vinyl]

Doja Cat – Hot Pink [150 gram Vinyl, Pink Colored]

Fantastic Negrito – Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?

Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here

Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One

Hasaan Ibn Ali – Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album

Harry Styles – Fine Line (Gatefold LP Jacket, Poster, 180 Gram Vinyl)

Harry Styles – Harry Styles

Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters

Ian Noe – Between The Country

Jason Isbell – The Nashville Sound

Jewel – Pieces of You

John Lennon – The Plastic Ono Band 2 x LP
Weekly Review:
There has been a lot of useless debate about who the most talented Beatle is.  I like to think of them as a rotating sonic version of the four food groups. You really need them all for a balanced diet.
When John Lennon released his first solo record Plastic Ono Band in December of 1970, The Beatles had only been officially dis banded for approx seven months.
Lennon had recently been experimenting with a new type of analysis, at the time, called Primal or Scream Therapy, ( a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma.)
The choice to work with legendary producer Phill Spector was not strange in and of itself. But the fact that the end result would be such a sparse and introspective record was somewhat out of character for Spector’s lush, wall of sound, highly arranged productions.
With songs like Mother and God coupled with rumored tensions between Spector and Lennon, post Beatle pressures and the scream therapy, one might speculate the goal was to strip away all of the mental as well as sonic baggage he had accumulated up to this point in his life of just 29 years.
It’s a record is hauntingly beautiful testimony of love and rebirth. No one knows what more greatness could have come from Lennon after his life would be brutally cut short just eleven years later. But if this would have been his only solo album it would have it would have been enough for me. – Major Matt

Justin Townes Earle – Kids In The Street (150 Gram Vinyl)

Jlin – Dark Energy

L’Imperatrice – Tako Tsubo (Gatefold LP Jacket, Digital Download Card)

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV [180 gram Vinyl]

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III

Mad River – Mad River

Michael Jackson – BAD

Nirvana – Unplugged In N.Y.

NOFX – Single Album

Norah Jones – ..Til We Meet Again (Live)

The Offspring – Let The Bad Times Roll (Orange Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Outkast – Stankonia

Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz [Remastered, 180 Gram Vinyl]

Pink Floyd – Live At Knebworth 1990 (180 Gram Vinyl, 45 RPM, Gatefold LP Jacket)

PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her

PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her (Demos)

Porcupine Tree – Octane Twisted (Live Box Set)

Weekly Review
Even though the band, Porcupine Tree, may be defunct at the present, their prog-presence loomed large in the early to mid 2000’s, and their catalog of releases are still highly sought after. So it was somewhat of a surprise to see a ‘new’ release from them – and it’s a welcome one at that. ‘Octane Twisted’ is a 4 LP live box set, highlighting the band’s 2010 tour of their 2009 album ‘The Incident’, in which they perform in its entirety. Released on CD only in 2012, this is the first time to be released on vinyl, spread across 7 sides of wax with an etched side completing the 4 LPs.
It’s a shame Porcupine Tree disbanded after this tour, because it is evident through the music that they were firing on all cylinders. Lead vocalist/guitarist Steven Wilson, bassist Colin Edwin, keyboardist Richard Barbieri, percussionist Gavin Harrison, and guitarist John Wesley are a well oiled machine playing off each other with precision, yet with a lot of feel, dishing out melancholic melodies with ferocity and finesse. The songs that comprise ‘The Incident’ take up 3 sides of real estate, however, as the song states – “Time Flies” when the music envelopes you in this live setting. The musicianship is simply off-the-charts breathtaking. And these renditions of ‘Hatesong’ and ‘Arriving Somewhere But Not Here’ demand repeat listens.
In addition to the music being a pleasure to listen to, the production for this vinyl release is a show in and of itself! Every instrument and vocal has its place. And the quiet parts are just that. This whole package is an impressive addition to Porcupine Tree’s discography, and I am more than happy to have twisted my normal distaste of live albums and invested in adding this exceptional box set to my collection. by David Lombardo

Weekly Review #2:

Nearly a decade after its initial release, the final statement (to date) from English progressive rock
quartet finally receives a lavish vinyl treatment. The four-LP live set presents the band’s 2009 album The
Incident across the first three sides. The remaining space is dedicated to epic performances that draw
from the band’s back catalog (and an Incident bonus track for good measure).
In its studio version, The Incident is presented as one continuous piece of music. Hearing the songs
broken up with bits of between-song banter and obligatory pauses to flip the record can be jarring for
those used to hearing the whole work in one go. Hearing the band feed off the crowd’s energy and push
the performances makes up for these inconveniences.

The final three sides (the last side is an etching) go deep with a 15-minute medley of “Russia on Ice” and
“The Pills I’m Taking.” A similarly lengthy reading of “Even Less” gets an entire side to itself. After
hearing the band stick to the script with a relatively straightforward reading of The Incident, witnessing
them stretch out and play off each other on these extended outings casts their musicianship in a new
light.
Dedicated Porcupine fans have been clamoring for new material for some time. Twisted Octane will
hopefully make the weight a little more bearable – and bring new fans up to speed in the meantime. -Joel Francis

Prince – Purple Rain (180 Gram Vinyl, Remastered)

Pixies – Bossanova

Queen – Greatest Hits 1

Queen – A Night at the Opera

Robert Glasper – Better Than I Imagined (Feat. H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello)

Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Everybody Loves the Sunshine (Yellow Colored Vinyl, 40th Anniversary Edition, Reissue)

Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine (XX 20th Anniversary Edition)

Rush – 2112

Sarathy Korwar – My East Is Your West (Gatefold LP Jacket)

Serj Tankian – Elasticity (Purple Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

Sleep – Sciences

Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto – Getz / Gilberto

Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury

Sturgill Simpson – Cuttin’ Grass

Sturgill Simpson – Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 2 (Cowboy Arms Sessions, Blue White Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)

 

Spiritualized – Lazer Guided Melodies

Weekly Review:

When Spiritualized’s debut album was released in 1992, the 12-track CD was broken into four color-
coded sections. Now accessible as individual sides on a double-album reissue, these suites are even
more sumptuous.
The red section starts things off with a trio of love songs. These are the most traditional rock songs with
sheets of guitar over galloping basslines and even a horn section on “If I Were With Her Now.” The green
section contains a mash-up of J.J. Cale’s “They Call Me the Breeze” and the Velvet Underground’s “Run
Run Run,” but then drifts into dreamy, atmospheric pieces.
LP two kicks off with the blue section, a continuation of those heavenly star-bound explorations. These
songs are nearly twice as long as most of the ones on the first record and signal their astral intent in the
titles: “Take Your Time,” “Shine a Light.”
The concluding black suite stays in the realm of Brian Eno and Pink Floyd. “Angel Sigh” floats like a
psychedelic dream between powerful blasts of guitar. “Sway” is a blissful meditation and “200 Bars” is a
lush, stately melody.
This reissue kicks off a series that returns early Spiritualized to vinyl and will appeal to fans of
adventurous indie rock and celestial shoegaze. -Joel Francis

Slowdive – Souvlaki [180 gram vinyl]

Sade – The Best of Sade [180 gram Vinyl]

Sun Ra – Astro Black

Weekly Review:

Nearly 30 years after his death, jazz bandleader, visionary and interplanetary ambassador Sun Ra
remains a challenging icon. With more than 100 albums to his name and an uncompromising
experimental vision, Ra’s catalog (and music) is daunting.
Released in the early ‘70s, Astro Black should appeal to jazz and fusion fans that Miles Davis
contemporaneous work, such as Live-Evil, is too reined in. The sound centers on Ra’s various keyboards
and upright bass player Ronnie Boykins, with various horns coming and going between those two poles.
The opening title song features June Tyson reading Ra’s poem. “The universe is in my voice,” Tyson
intones. “The universe speaks through this song. Ra was experiment with synthesizers, including the
then-new Moog, during this time and his electronic solos surface frequently throughout the album.
“Hidden Spheres” opens with African rhythms, gradually adding bass, then saxophone.
On “Discipline 99” you can hear the Duke Ellington big-band influence Ra always professed, until the
piece evolves into something more cosmic. The second side is devoted to “The Cosmo Fire,” a multi-part
suite.
Out of print for decades in America aside from a limited run a few years ago, Astro Black is a challenging
listen that curious souls may want to sample online before buying. -Joel Francis

System of a Down – Toxicity (140 Gram Vinyl)

Selena – Ones

Theon Cross – Fayah
Weekly Review:
If you’re like me, when someone mentions the tuba you start envisioning people with large mugs of beer dancing to polka music under a large tent or perhaps that great big round thing wrapped around the person in the back of the marching band that sounds like something your body does after two bowls of chili.
As if there needs to be another example of the very exiting contemporary UK Jazz scene, Theon Cross is a British tuba player and composer.
Fyah is the first full-length album by Cross, featuring the same core trio that appeared on his 2015 EP, Aspirations. The other players are saxophonist Nubya Garcia and drummer Moses Boyd, who each have heralded projects of their own.
To quote a recent NPR article: “What they all achieve together feels like another planted flag: an exuberant convergence of groove-forward improv, U.K. grime, Jamaican dub, Afrobeat and electronic music, with the low end exerting a lot of pull.”
… In other words, this ain’t  your grandpa’s tuba music, unless you have an extremely cool grandpa! – Major Matt

Tame Impala – The Slow Rush (Colored Vinyl, Red, Light Blue, Indie Exclusive)

Tom Petty – Finding Wildflowers

Weekly Review:

A companion piece to last year’s Wildflowers and All the Rest release, Finding Wildflowers is a
compelling capture of Tom Petty at an artistic peak.
Many of these 16 songs will be familiar, but sequencing these alternate versions, dropping familiar
touchstones – “You Don’t Know How It Feels” is missing – and adding unheard songs from the same
sessions makes Finding Wildflowers a distinct though complementary listen to the mother album. The
material on Finding Wildflowers are complete songs – no song fragments or aborted takes – that finds
Petty and his stellar band finding their way but still creating a sensational journey for the listener.
The jaunty “A Higher Place” opens the collection, with Mike Campbell’s stinging guitar standing in for
the rising water. Originally the second-to-last track, “Crawling Back to You” appears on the first side and
builds to a thunderous piano climax. The unreleased “Driving Down to Georgia” was played on the
Wildflowers tour but never made it to album, while the jokey “Girl on LSD” surfaced as a b-side.
Finding Wildflowers was originally released as part of the super deluxe edition of Wildflowers. As a
stand-alone release, it offers more casual (or less wealthy) Petty fans a fascinating and satisfying peek
behind the creative curtain. -Joel Francis

Thee Oh Sees – Floating Coffin

Todd Snider – First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder

Weekly Review:

For an album with such an irreverent title, singer/songwriter Todd Snider’s 18 th release is a surprisingly
reverent affair. Mixed between the jabs at organized religion and tongue-in-cheek wit are poignant
tributes to the many friends Snider has lost recently.
Avant garde guitarist Col. Bruce Hampton is namechecked in the opening song “Turn Me Lose (I’ll Never
Be the Same).” John Prine gets a somber, heartfelt tribute on “Handsome John” halfway through the

album. That song is followed by “Sail on My Friend,” a tribute to Yonder Mountain String Band founder
Jeff Austin.
These passings also seem to inform the spirit of carpe diem that inhabits “Never Let a Day Go By” and
the story of a man who quit his menial job on “The Get Together.”
Elsewhere, “That Great Pacific Garbage Patch” deals with pollution (over air raid sirens) and “Battle
Hymn of the Album” ties police brutality with the spirit of John Brown.
Snider approaches many of these folk songs with a loose, funky flair aided by a shuffling backbeat that
makes many of the songs feel less somber and serious than the lyrics imply. And if all that still seems too
ponderous, there’s always a song like “Stoner Yodel Number One” to take the edge off. -Joel Francis

Townes Van Zandt – Somebody Had To Write It

Tyler Childers – Long Violent History [140 gram Vinyl]

Ultramagnetic MC’s – Critical Beatdown [Expanded Edition, Limited 180-Gram Yellow Colored Vinyl With Bonus Tracks]

Various Artists – Soul Slabs Vol. 1

Various – Singles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Who – The Who Sell Out (2LP Deluxe Vinyl Reissue Edition)

Weekly Review:

In the late 1960s, ships with broadcasting towers set up in international waters, but close enough to
England that their programming could compete with the stodgy BBC. Pete Townshend paid tribute to
these pirate radio stations on The Who’s third album, The Who Sell Out.
Sell Out captures the both maturation of Townshend’s songwriting and the band as a singular musical
unit. Both the songs and the performances are more detailed and nuanced than on previous releases,
while holding on to the humor and youthful exuberance. For example, “Odorono” contains several
distinct movements and tells the sympathetic story of a girl who longs to meet her favorite singer. It’s
also a spoof ad for deodorant. Elsewhere on the album, “I Can See For Miles” was a Top 10 hit, while
“Rael” pointed the way to Tommy.
This expanded reissue adds another album of outtakes from the Sell Out sessions. Most of this material
has already been included with previous editions, but little has been available. These tracks don’t extend
the Sell Out experience, but do a great job of proving how prolific – and enjoyable – the band was circa
1967. -Joel Francis

Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

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