It’s Primus New Vinyl Thursday at The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven. Check out this week’s list of new vinyl arrivals:
ABBA – Voyage (Blue Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Ari Lennox – PHO (Deluxe Edition)
Black Stone Cherry – Kentucky (180 Gram Vinyl, Colored Vinyl, White, Digital Download Card)
Black Sabbath – Vol 4
The Beach Boys- Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971
Billy Joel – The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1 (Boxed Set, With Book, Photos)
Charlie Haden – Nocturne
Charles Mingus – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (180 Gram Vinyl)
The Cure – Seventeen Seconds (180 Gram Vinyl)
Danzig- Danzig 5: Blackacidevil
Weekly Review:
After releasing four albums of heavy, devil-obsessed, blues-based rock across six years, Glenn Danzig
needed to try something new in the mid-1990s. Retaining only drummer Joey Castillo from the previous
album’s lineup, Danzig started experimenting with the industrial sound popularized by Nine Inch Nails
and Ministry.
The resulting album was sonic departure from the previous Danzig albums and a turning point in the
band’s catalog. Electronic percussion and industrial sounds dominate the album, to the point that even
Danzig’s vocals are often distorted and processed.
One element to remain unscathed were Danzig’s lyrics. As with the previous – and subsequent –
releases, the lyrics are sexually suggestive, dominated by the devil and designed to shock. I’m sure the
manufactured controversy helped the band’s image and sold some more albums back in the day, but
today they just sound sophomoric and cartoony. We’ve become far too desensitized as a society to bat
an eye at the opening lyrics to the opening song, “7th House:” “Girl, I’m gonna make you come/You’re
your body with my gun.” Shrug.
Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell plays guitar on three songs, including a cover of Black Sabbath’s
“Hand of Doom,” which might be the album’s best track. Here, Danzig finds a nice mix of acoustic drums
and industrial programming, with Cantrell’s guitars providing interesting textures.
It’s a shame Danzig couldn’t find this balance more often on the album. Industrial programming and
effects are too much of a crutch on other tracks that unsuccessfully mask incomplete songwriting. When
everything clicks – as on the excellent “Sacrifice” and “Come to Silver,” another track with Cantrell –
Blackacidevil is an interesting experiment in styles. -Joel Francis
Danny Elfman – Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Red, White, Clear Vinyl)
Dream Theater – View From The Top Of The World (Gatefold LP Jacket, Colored Vinyl, Black, With CD, With Booklet)
Ed Sheeran – = (White Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Fela Kuti – London Scene (Colored Vinyl, Red, White, Blue)
Fugees – The Score
Garbage – Beautifulgarbage (Deluxe Edition 3 LP, 20th Anniversary Edition)
Helen Merrill – Lilac Wine (180 Gram Vinyl)
Horace Tapscott – Dial ‘B’ For Barbra (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Hayes Carll- You Get It All
Weekly Review:
The Americana branch of roots music provides a wide path for artists to follow. Over the course of his
nearly 20-year career, Hayes Carll has darted between folk, country, rock and blues. For his eighth
album, You Get It All, Carll dispenses with the side trips and sticks to strictly country. In a big way.
Co-produced by Carll’s wife, Allison Moorer and guitarist Kenny Greenberg, You Get It All is a
songwriter’s country album. The kind that would have fit right in with the ‘70s Nashville scene
containing Guy Clark, Tom T. Hall and Billy Joe Shaver.
Carll tackles some tough subjects across the album’s 11 songs, but he does it with a dry wit that keeps
him from sounding preachy. On opening song “Nice Things,” Carll imagines God returning to Earth,
taking in the state of the planet and humanity and concluding “This is why y’all can’t have nice things.”
On the sly title song, Carll lists all the attributes he’ll give to his partner including “all my humble, all my
braggin’/all my on and off the wagon” before declaring “I’m all in, so lose or win, you get it all.”
One of the album’s most poignant moments is “Help Me Remember,” a song about an old man
struggling with dementia asking his partner to help him remember who he is and what he did with his
life. The song is based on Carll’s experiences with his grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s.
Carll has been criminally underappreciated throughout his career. You Get It All is another solid entry in
his catalog that will please longtime fans and – one hopes – earn him some new ones as well. -Joel Francis
Houndmouth – Good For You
John Carter – Dauwhe
Jerry Garcia – Garcialive Volume 14: January 27th, 1986 The Ritz
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard- Butterfly 3000
Kirsty MacColl – Kite (Limited Edition, 180 Gram Vinyl, Cream Colored)
Kurt Rosenwinkel – Piano Solo
Kendrick Lamar- Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Kanye West – College Dropout
La Luz – La Luz
Weekly Review :
La Luz (Spanish for “The Light”) is an American rock band based out of LA by way of Seattle. They’ve just released their fourth studio album on Hardly Art.
Known for layered vocal harmonies and a light “surf noir” sound, this self titled album was delicately produced by arranger/ composer Adrian Younge.
La Luz are no stranger to working with talented producers. Black Keys guitarist and godfather of the Neo-Soul sound Dan Auerbach produced their last album (Floating Features) and the album before (Weirdo Shrine) the group collaborated with indie surf legend Ty Segall.
Younge’s light touch Jazz informed production style combined with a hint of late sixties psychedelia is a perfect combination for this set.
Equal parts indie surf and classic Bond soundtrack, the opener “In the Country” emerges like the surface of a shimmering lake of spring reverbs and distant tambourines.
The single “Watching Cartoons” is a pandemic inspired funky, romp about staying inside a little too long, while the song “Metal Man” sounds like a futuristic go-go space jam complete with 2001 synth driven alarm sounds and a harmony chorus that rivals the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High.”
“Lazy Eyes and Dune” is a slow, minor, descending epic that is just about two bars shy of The Beatles’ “I Want You,” only sung by a chorus of angels.
This is the kind of album that sounds incredibly cohesive yet always has something new to offer with each repeated listen. Presently, I’m obsessed with the natural picked bass sounds that seem to pop out of the mix at just the right places.
For fans of Broadcast, Khruangbin, and The Association. Great artwork and fun orange vinyl!
– Major Matt
Lilly Hiatt – Lately (CASSETTE)
Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin 1
Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV
Lucifer’s Friend – Lucifer’s Friend
Mouse Rat- The Awesome Album
Weekly Review:
The sitcom Parks and Rec has been off the air for six years, but it remains beloved enough to receive a
much-belated release from Mouse Rat, the band loveable doofus Andy Dwyer, as played by Chris Pratt,
fronted on the show.
Parks and Rec fans will delight in each of the album’s 16 tracks. Whether or not the music holds up for
non-fans is an entirely different matter. Pratt is a decent vocalist, but he’s not missing a second career
as a singer. His best attribute is the way he embodies Dwyer’s goofy earnestness.
Musically, Mouse Rat do a good job of aping Barenaked Ladies on “Sex Hair,” Hootie and the Blowfish on
“Menace Ball.” The rest of the album hits that mid-‘90s sweet spot of jangle pop embodied by Gin
Blossoms, Dave Matthews Band and Goo Goo Dolls.
Most of the songs hover around the two-minute mark, never outstaying their welcome. Of note among
the originals are several numbers songs from the great American songbook, including “The Way You
Look Tonight,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” Wilco fans will be
interested in the final two tracks featuring Scott Turner from Land Ho!, better known outside of Pawnee,
Ind. as Jeff Tweedy. -Joel Francis
Mastodon- Hushed And Grim
Mr Bungle – The Night They Came Home (Orange Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Neal Francis – In Plain Sight (Colored Vinyl, Red)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- B-Sides & Rarities
Weekly Review:
Rarities collections are typically the province of completists. The second clearinghouse of Nick Cave’s b-
sides with the Bad Sides is filled with enough great songs and hangs together as an album well enough
to entice casual fans as well.
The first album in this double-LP set starts where the first collection of Bad Seeds b-sides, released in
2005, left off. The jangly “Hey Little Firing Squad” arrives from the Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! and gets the
collection off to a jaunty start. The next song, “Fleeting Love,” culled from the same sessions, sounds like
Leonard Cohen. After a captivating duet with Debbie Harry, Cohen makes an official appearance. The
Bad Seeds first covered Cohen’s “Avalanche” as the opening track on their debut album. The new
version presented here, recorded almost 30 years later, is spare and tearful.
Spoken word pieces dominate the second side of the first platter. The moody, non-album a-side “Give
Us a Kiss” bridges the distance between the cinematic spoken works and more traditional songwriting. A
previously unreleased, live version of “Push the Sky Away” performed with the Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra provides lush, hopeful ending to the first set.
Comprised of 16 tracks, the second record contains all previously unreleased material. These studio
outtakes are pulled from sessions for the three most recent Bad Seeds albums, recorded between 2011
and 2018. Cave’s voice and a piano are the only instruments on many of the songs. On early drafts of
songs later included on albums, Cave’s lyrics are both blasphemous (on “First Skeleton Tree”) and
profane (on “King-Sized Nick Cave Blues” and “Steve McQueen”).
Devoted fans will appreciate having these odds and ends in one place and pour over the plentiful
unreleased material. More casual fans will appreciate hearing these new wrinkles in Cave’s catalog and
songs from the archive until Cave’s next formal release. -Joel Francis
Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine
Old 97’s – Fight Songs (Deluxe Edition, 180 Gram Vinyl, Limited Edition)
Old 97’s – Too Far To Care
Opeth – Ghost Reveries
Primus – Green Naugahyde (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, Green Colored Vinyl, Anniversary Edition)
Pat Metheny – Side-Eye NYC
Paul Thorn – Never Too Late To Call
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon (180 Gram Vinyl)
Pink Floyd- A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (Boxed Set, With Book, Remastered, 40th Anniversary Edition)
Released in 1981, containing some of their most well known hits, including the number two Billboard charting single “Start Me Up,” “Tattoo You” is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970s.
Due to a combination of tour obligations and rumored tensions amongst members the band was finding it difficult to arrange recording time for a follow up to 1980’s “Emotional Rescue.”
As the story goes, their management team spent three months combing through outtake and used material from past recording sessions to come up with the bones that would be become “Tattoo You.”
The album title was originally planned to be simply “Tattoo.” Jagger has stated that even he doesn’t know where the “You” came from. The title is reported to have caused a rift between Jagger and Richards, with Richards speculating that Jagger had changed the title without seeking his input.
To celebrate forty years since its inception “Tattoo You” is getting the Super Deluxe Treatment. The 5LP vinyl box set includes the album, bonus tracks and a famous 1982 live gig in London’s Wembley Stadium as well as a 124-page book of photos and lenticular artwork.
This album has a lot of personal meaning for me because the last track “Waiting On A Friend” was the first song I ever learned on guitar. Admittedly, at the time, it had as much to do with my guitar teacher’s tastes as it did with mine. But it’s still a great song and a great entry point to the band for me.
I recall the video for waiting on a friend, a simple sketch of Mick and Keith hanging out and all of them meeting on stoop in New York City. Even though I was only about twelve at the time I’m sure it was contributing factor to my love for that town.
Also, in light of the great Charlie Watts recent passing I feel like this record displays some of the best in- the-pocket drumming ever committed to tape!
Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia (Gatefold LP Jacket, 3LP)
R.E.M.- New Adventures In Hi-Fi (25th Anniversary Edition)
Snail Mail – Valentine (Gatefold LP Jacket, Limited Edition, Gold, Indie Exclusive)
Sade – The Best of Sade [180 gram Vinyl]
Sao Paulo Underground & Tupperwear – Saturno Magico
Sophisticated Lady Jazz Quartet – Left Coastin (180 Gram Vinyl)
Smoke – Risin’ Up (Limited Edition)
Type O Negative- October Rust
The War on Drugs- I Don’t Live Here Anymore
Weekly Review:
The fifth album from the Philadelphia-based indie rock band the War on Drugs stars with a gentle
acoustic guitar and piano. The melancholy melody provides a surprisingly low-key album opener; it feels
more like a poignant note on which to close an album. Performed on all-acoustic instruments, the song,
“Living Proof,” also suggests a new sonic path for the band.
With about 90 seconds left, “Living Proof” finally sounds like the War on Drugs: a locked-in rhythm
section with Krautrock precision, a blend of soaring guitars and synthesizers and lyrics that sound both
pensive and optimistic at the same time.
I Don’t Live Here Anymore doesn’t change the band’s sound as much as tweak it here and there (check
out the stabbing synth solo the song “Victim” or the choir vocals on the title song). The War on Drugs
still sounds like the best part of those Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley and Bruce Hornsby
albums. It’s the same sound that Jon Mayer tried to ape with maddening inefficiency (or just pure
laziness) earlier this year on Sob Rock.
This album is the sonic equivalent of a favorite old blanket that comes out of the closet this time of year
and provides instant warmth and comfort on a cold morning. The War on Drugs don’t do enough new
here to win over skeptics of their previous work, but will keep everyone else satisfied and delighted. -Joel Francis
Weyes Blood- Titanic Rising
Weekly Review:
Natalie Mering’s fourth album is a sumptuous slice of SoCal pop that recalls the singer/songwriter
releases of the 1970s.
Titanic Rising was released in 2019, but is receiving a new reissue. On the album, Mering, who performs
under the name Weyes Blood, sees signs of catastrophe everywhere, but maintains a steadfast hope
that it’s not too late to improve the situation.
On “A Lot’s Gonna Change,” the album’s first song, Mering wishes she go back in time to when the world
was simpler, but encourages the listener that “Your gonna be just fine/But hey/A lot’s gonna change/In
your lifetime.” The lush arrangement that makes the song sound like a lost Carpenters outtake further
buoys the optimism.
For the song “Movies,” Mering compares past romantic relationships to forays on the silver screen,
announcing “I’m bound to that summer/Big box office hit” in the first verse, before realizing “I wanna be
in my own movie” by the end.
Fans of legacy artists Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon will find lots to love here, but Titanic Rising connects
on a contemporary level as well, as part of a current scene including Laura Veirs and Zola Jesus. -Joel Francis
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