It’s Woodstock New Vinyl Friday! Check out this week’s new vinyl arrivals:
Arlo Guthrie – Best Of Arlo Guthrie (Green Colored Vinyl)
Anderson Paak – Ventura (Black)
Amyl & the Sniffers – Amyl & The Sniffers
Weekly Review:
Naming your outfit after amyl nitrate and sporting mullets is certainly one way to get noticed. Playing hard as nails, speedy Rock & Roll is another. Musically, it’s Husker Du, Black Flag, and the Stooges. Yeah, we’ve heard it all before. But isn’t that the point? As Neil Young once sang, “Rock & Roll will never die.” This is neo-Punk 101 played fast and dangerous. And Amy Taylor is your punk cheerleader, chanting out put-downs and one-liners with all the panache of a modern Blondie.
Where bands like Courtney Love’s Hole mined similar influences with a patina of self-conscious posturing, there’s none of that here. With bad hair cuts like this, the agenda isn’t to pose for magazines. One listen to ‘Starfire 500’ and its clear they’ve come to rock and rock hard. ‘Gacked On Anger’ is a furious whirl with sarcasm and charisma. ‘Cup of Destiny’ and ‘GFY’ are pounded out examples of the bands easy-to-flow and hard rockin sound.
On ‘Angel’ they dial it back a notch, throw in some glam hooks and promises of, “I’ll be your little angel”. But she’s not exactly happy about playing the part. ‘Monsoon Rock’ follows, with a barrage of Stooges Funhouse riffs and an emotional weather report that is pure fun. Where ‘Control’ is pretty indistinguishable from the rockers that preceded it, ‘Got You’ is an album standout with its mix of sass and unabashed refrains like, “Walk in the room and I start gushing.” As far as love songs go, this is truly the sound of gushing. And where ‘Punisha’ is paint by numbers Punk, ‘Shake Ya’ is irresistible Ramones “Hey Ho Let’s Go” dance Rock.
They make no bones or apology for drawing on the Punk tradition of the Sex Pistols, Ramones and Stooges. Where so many other bands of this kind come off as contrived and careerist, there’s none of that going on here. There’s a genuine commitment to the racket being made and they really have no other agenda than to make it. It’s all about personality and energy and good old-fashioned fun. And there’s nothing wrong with that. As bands progress, they tend to lose what brought them recognition in the first place. And who knows where this band will go. But there’s a lot of talent here and an unfeigned understanding of Rock and Roll. All I can say is, they caught my ear and I’m looking forward to their next move. -Albert Schmurr
Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield (Rhino Exclusive 2019, 180 Gram Vinyl, Mono Sound)
Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield Again (Rhino Exclusive 2019, 180 Gram Vinyl, Mono Sound)
Buffalo Springfield – Last Time Round (180 Gram Vinyl)
Baby Huey – Living Legend (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Bleached – Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? (Colored Vinyl, Limited Edition)
Borns – Dopamine
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Colored Vinyl)
Chris Stapleton – Traveller
Chvrches – Love Is Dead (Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Everything But the Girl – Amplified Heart (25th Anniversary)
Weekly Review:
The English duo of Tracey Thorne & Ben Watt captured lightning in a bottle when they released their 8th studio album titled “Amplified Heart” back in 1994. The only issue with this release is that it never was made available on vinyl. CDs ruled the market in 1994…in 2019, vinyl rules once again, and we’re graced with a 25th Anniversary, FIRST TIME ON VINYL issue of this highly lauded 90’s classic.
With a title like “Amplified Heart”, one would think there would be a lot of electric guitar present, yet the only thing amplified here is the sentiment and melancholy of the lyrics…most every song has an acoustic guitar augmenting romantic lament delivered with so much emotion by either Tracey or Ben, or both.
What drew attention to this album, for better or worse, was the pulsating bass driven song “Missing” that ironically churned it’s way into dance clubs all over the world by way of a Todd Terry re-mix, and spent a then record of 55 weeks on the charts. However, the strength of this album doesn’t rest solely on this one single. The fusion of folk and jazz stylings throughout make for a cohesive, comfortable, moody safe-haven for the listener.
The album opens with “Rollercoaster”, an apt-titled song given the emotional rollercoaster these songs evoke. With titles like “Troubled Mind” and “I Don’t Understand Anything” that follow, one would think it’s nothing but a downhill ride…not so. What I love about EBTG is how their melancholy is couched in the optimism of the melody, something that made me a fan back on their 5th studio outing, “The Language Of Life” (I strongly recommend that one, as well).
Other stand out tracks on “Amplified Heart” are “Get Me” and “25th December”, the latter being an unofficial holiday song with Richard Thompson providing a guitar solo.
“Disenchanted” may be the last track, yet you’ll be anything but after listening to this beautiful album. Give it a spin, because now you can…the way it was meant to be. -David Lombardo
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
The Grateful Dead – Fillmore West, San Francisco 2/28/1969 (5LP Box Set, 180 Gram Vinyl)
Greg Foat – Mage
Kanye West – College Dropout
Kanye West – Late Registration
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real – Turn Off The News (Build A Garden) [Explicit Content] (180 Gram Vinyl)
Los Lobos – How Will The Wolf Survive (Back To The 80’s Exclusive, Indie Exclusive)
Lee Morgan – Cornbread (180 Gram Vinyl)
Mac Dre – Best of Mac Dre 1: Part 1 (180 Gram Vinyl)
Mac Miller – Swimming
Nirvana – Nevermind
N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton: 20th Anniversary Edition (Bonus Tracks)
Pink Floyd – Meddle (Gatefold LP Jacket, 180 Gram Vinyl)
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Queen – News of the World (180 Gram Vinyl, Collector’s Edition, Reissue)
Queen – Greatest Hits I
Rach Portman – Chocolat (Music From the Miramax Motion Picture) (Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl, Pink)
The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger
ScHoolboy Q – Blank Face
Spice Girls – The Greatest Hits (Picture Disc Vinyl LP)
Weekly Review:
It’s been 23 years since the Spice Girls burst on to the scene with their smash hit Wannabe and 12 years since their Greatest Hits album was released (on CD). That all changed recently when the Greatest Hits album was released for the first time as a limited edition picture disc vinyl record. The 15 song re-release contains nine Number 1 singles, including (but not limited to) ‘Wannabe’, ‘2 Become 1’, ‘Say You’ll Be There’, ‘Spice Up Your Life’ and their number 2 single ‘Stop’ (I always found it ironic that ‘Stop’ was the the title of the song that broke their string of number 1 hits.)
It’s a comprehensive look at their best years and was delivered just in time for their most recent live romp across Great Britain. The Spice Girls have always held a special place in my heart as Spice World was one of the first albums I reviewed for my high school newspaper (something that was still a thing when the Spice Girls were big). During the late nineties, early 2000’s their perfectly blended Britannica pop stood out in a world of boring boy band ballads. I am not interested in owning (or waiting) for all of the albums to be released on vinyl, so this compilation is a perfect album to “Spice Up Your Life.” If you are interested you better act fast as there were only 2,500 copies produced. -Brad Simmons
Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
The Temptations – Cloud Nine (Limited Edition)
Thelonious Monk – Monk’s Dream (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Tim Buckley – Album Collection 1966-1972 (Black, Oversize Item Split)
Tony Newton – Mysticism & Romance (Deluxe Edition, 180 Gram Vinyl, Remastered, Reissue)
Twink – Think Pink Iv: Return To Deep Space
Tycho – Weather (Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Umberto – Helpless Spectator (Digital Download Card)
Various Artists – Woodstock (Blue & Pink Colored Vinyl)
Various Artists – Woodstock Two (Orange & Green Colored Vinyl)
Various Artists – Woodstock Three (Black, 180 Gram Vinyl)
Various Artists – Woodstock Four (Black, 180 Gram Vinyl)
Wendell Harrison – Dreams Of A Love Supreme (180 Gram Vinyl, Black & Clear Vinyl, Reissue)
Thanks for checking out the Woodstock New Vinyl Friday list!
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Enjoy the music and we will see you soon. Your loving Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven staff:
Sherman, Gordon, Daniel, Dylan, David, Jonathan, Dionna, and Heather.
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