It’s Weezer New Vinyl Thursday at The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven. Check out this week’s list of new vinyl arrivals:
13th Floor Elevators – Easter Everywhere (Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl)
49 Winchester – Fortune Favors The Bold
Air – Moon Safari (180 Gram Vinyl)
Art Pepper – Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (180 Gram Vinyl, Deluxe Edition, Virgin Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare – Transparent Blue (Colored Vinyl, Blue)
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Ava Max – Diamonds & Dancefloors
Aretha Franklin – Greatest Hits
Belle and Sebastian – Late Developers (w/Booklet)
Brad Mehldau – Finding Gabriel
Brad Mehldau – Live In Tokyo (180 Gram Vinyl, Limited Edition, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Brad Mehldau – Nearness
Brad Mehldau – Suite: April 2020 (140 Gram Vinyl)
Boygenius – Boygenius (Extended Play)
Chet Baker – As Time Goes By: Love Songs (Colored Vinyl, Clear Vinyl, 180 Gram Vinyl, Limited Edition)
Coldplay – Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends
Crosby Stills Nash & Young – So Far
Cage the Elephant – Tell Me I’m Pretty (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
The Cure – Pornography (180 Gram Vinyl)
The Cure – The Greatest Hits
Curtis Mayfield – Curtis / Live! (140 Gram Vinyl, Colored Vinyl, Brick & Mortar Exclusive)
Throughout the 1960s, soul legend Curtis Mayfield wrote and sang songs of hope, beauty and love. As part of the vocal trio the Impressions, Mayfield delivered Black pride anthems like “Keep on Pushing,” love songs like “Gypsy Woman” and big hits like “It’s Alright.”
As the calendar flipped to 1970, Mayfield wanted to do something different, on his own. The opening track on Curtis, Mayfield’s solo debut was unlike anything in the Impressions catalog. A fuzz bass introduces Mayfield’s vocals, drenched in echo, sounding like a prophet on a mountaintop. Wah guitar, aggressive drums and funk horns fuel “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below We’re All Going to Go.” The upbeat “Move On Up,” the album’s other single, is powered by a horn line so infectious that Kanye West sampled it 30 years later for “Touch the Sky.”
These two songs comprise nearly half of Curtis’ run time, but there are even more gems tucked behind the singles. “We the People Who are Darker Than Blue,” “Wild and Free” and “Miss Black America” are affirming anthems of Black power. Ballads “Makings of You” and “Give It Up” celebrate the joy of a long- term romance.
Mayfield didn’t rest on his laurels, releasing the double-album Curtis/Live less than a year later. Impressions material such as “Gypsy Woman” and “Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey)” get new arrangements that match Mayfield’s funky new direction, while “People Get Ready” is stark and intimate. A pair of new songs blend well with the songs from Curtis. Several monologues provide insight into Mayfield’s mindset at the time. Curtis/Live not only does a nice job summarizing Mayfield’s career to that point, but illuminates the path he’d travel for the next several years. -Joel Francis
Death Grips – The Money Store (180 Gram Vinyl, Download Insert)
Deftones – White Pony (Indie Exclusive, Deluxe Edition, Anniversary Edition)
Deftones – White Pony
Don Covay & the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band – Different Strokes For Different Folks (Indie Exclusive, Red Colored Vinyl)
Donald Byrd – At The Half Note Cafe, Vol. 1 (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
Domi and JD Beck – Not Tight
Weekly Review
Going off the cover art of the debut album “Not Tight” by Domi and JD Beck one might be forgiven for mistaking it as the latest Lady Gaga offering or at least some new indie teen pop sensation.
The album’s cover is a far cry from the traditional classic understated Blue Note style. Both figures on the front are sporting clothes that would easily fit into any post mil-lineal’s / Generation Alpha’s / whatever we’re calling the kids these days’ closet. The image is complete with with a hyper stylized distant city and a sky filled with ominous blue smoke.
Zooming in on the hype sticker, a look at the guest musicians on this album only serve to thicken the plot: Anderson .Paak, Thundercat, Herbie Hancock, Mac DeMarco and Snoop Dogg. Now, I’m intrigued!
Domi and JD Beck are a jazz duo consisting of French keyboardist Domi Louna and American drummer JD Beck. Both have been described as child protégés. They met at the 2018 National Association of Music Merchants Show, and then again a month later at Erykah Badu’s birthday party.
In 2019, they worked backing up Thundercat and Anderson .Paak, and toured with progressive rock band Chon. In 2021, they co-wrote the song “Skate” by the Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars collaboration, Silk Sonic. Not bad for a couple of teenagers.
It is difficult to describe the progressive jazz fusion, EDM influenced sound of “Not Tight,” which is clearly an ironic title considering the uncanny level at which both of these artists lock into a wave of expanding grooves and melodies.
For reference, the recent works of their good friend/ Kendrick Lamar bass player Tundercat’s 2020 album “It Is What It Is” would be a good jumping off point for the smooth progressive palate Domi and Beck draw upon. Thundercat is also the featured vocalist on the infectious track BOWLiNG, perhaps the first jazz song ever writing about… bowling?
Mac DeMarco provides vocals for the dreamy jungleesque TWO SHRIMP, while the most accessible track on the album PiLot features two nice contrasting rap performances by Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes.
We all love our Classic Blue Note Tone-Poet reissues. But “Not Tight” is a nice opportunity to see where Jazz is headed. And from my perspective it sounds pretty damn interesting! -Major Matt
Etta James – Hits (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Elle King – Come Get Your Wife
Weekly Review:
Elle King is the girl your parents warned you to stay away from.
“Tulsa” finds the country singer plotting revenge on a two-timing man. On “Try Jesus,” King seeks a different sort of salvation after many mishaps with men. If the lyrics don’t provide enough clues, King’s cry of “a-freakin’-men” on the chorus spells out her intent.
The next track has been floating around online and coasting at the top of the chart for a couple years. There’s not much subtext to “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” because anyone not smiling when the doubletime banjo kicks into the chorus doesn’t have a pulse. This duet between King and Miranda Lambert will be the anthem for all bachelorette parties for the next 30 years, and rightly so.
Similarly, the gnarly blues of “Out Yonder” manages to combine many of these themes into one song. King asks a low-down man “Who’s doin’ lines? Who’s huffin’ glue?” while preaching “Jesus might love ya/but that don’t mean I do.”
Come Get Your Wife has several tender moments as well. Dierks Bentley pops by for “Worth a Shot,” a heartfelt pop song about rekindling lost romance. “Jersey Giant” is a bittersweet bluegrass number from the pen of Tyler Childers. The tender love ballad “Love Go By” closes the album.
On her previous albums, King delivered pretty straightforward hard rock. Come Get Your Wife proves that King can have a career as a country star, if she wants it. – Joel Francis
Forest – Forest
Ghost Funk Orchestra – A Song For Paul
The Grateful Dead – Ready Or Not
The Grateful Dead – Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
Grant Green – Green Is Beautiful (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)
Goat – Oh Death (Cloudberry Swirl Vinyl)
Weekly Review:
Not much is known about the Swedish rock ensemble that goes by the name Goat. Band members wear masks and the number of musicians fluctuate. What is known, however, is that Goat have been delivering adventurous psychedelic rock with strong world music influences for about a decade. Oh Death, the group’s fourth studio album, continues this winning streak.
Opening cut “Soon You Die” opens with a vicious fuzz guitar riff that Jack White would envy, before sliding into the Indian-tinged “Chuka Pesa.” The third song, “Under No Nation,” rests in the valley between Afrobeat and funk before dissolving into free jazz. Clearly, Goat are able to cover a lot of territory in very little time.
With so many styles, Oh Death could be guilty of sonic whiplash, but the sequencing maintains momentum even as genres shift. The polyrhythms that propel these performances do a great job of keeping everything cohesive. Somehow, Goat is able to be musically lawless while maintaining a steady groove.
The vocals on Oh Death are more concerned with providing another texture than delivering anything approaching straightforward lyrics. Sampled dialogue delivers some more clues, but Goat thrive in the nebulous. What isn’t a mystery is that Oh Death does a great job of making the listener feel very alive. -Joel Francis
Iron Maiden – From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-10
James Brandon Lewis – Eye Of I (Gatefold LP Jacket)
Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade – Longgone
Kraftwerk – Man Machine (Limited Edition, Remastered)
Kevin Morby – This Is A Photograph
Kyuss – Blues For The Red Sun (Gold Colored Vinyl, 140 Gram Vinyl, Brick & Mortar Exclusive)
Lizzo – Coconut Oil
The Lumineers – The Lumineers – 10th Anniversary Edition
Lauryn Hill- Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Muriel Grossmann – Natural Time
Muriel Grossmann – Union
My Chemical Romance – Black Parade
Michael Jackson – Thriller (Gatefold LP Jacket)
My Chemical Romance – Black Parade
Nina Simone – The Hits
Neil Young – Harvest Moon
Parliament – Osmium
Pharoah Sanders – Karma (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)
Primus – Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble (Limited Edition, Gold Colored Vinyl, Gold Foil O-Ring / Jacket)
Rikki Ililonga – Zambia (Colored Vinyl, Smoke)
The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street (180 Gram Vinyl)
Robby Steinhardt – Not In Kansas Anymore
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth – Murray Street
Sonic Youth – Sister
Sonic Youth – Evol
Steve Marcus, Miroslav Vitous, Sonny Sharrock, Daniel Humair – Green Line
Sunny War – Anarchist Gospel (Indie Exclusive, Clear Vinyl, Red, Sticker, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Slipknot – Slipknot (Colored Vinyl)
Soccer Mommy – Color Theory (Indie Exclusive, Limited Edition, Yellow Colored Vinyl)
Tame Impala – Live Versions
Tyler Childers – Live On Red Barn Radio I & II
Taylor Swift – 1989
Taylor Swift – Fearless (Taylor’s Version, Gold Colored Vinyl)
Taylor Swift – Midnights (Mahogany, Jade Green, Moonstone & Blood Moon Vinyl Editions)
Tom Petty & Heartbreakers – Damn The Torpedoes (180 Gram Vinyl)
Van Halen – 1984 (180-gram)
Van Halen – Women and Children First (180 Gram Vinyl, Remastered)
Weezer – SZNA: Spring (Indie Exclusive, Colored Vinyl)
Wet Leg – Wet Leg
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter Wu-Tang
XTC – Mummer (180 Gram Vinyl)
Zach Bryan – American Heartbreak
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Sherman, Gordon, Matt, Dylan, Doyle, Heather, Gregg, Dave, Kimmie, Daniel, and Lain.
