Monthly Archives: April 2018

Press Play is our Monday recap of the new and FREE tracks received last week to inform the next trip to your local indie record store.

The Fretless – Jenny Bear (Live)
Jodee Lewis – Buzzard’s Bluff
Sleepspent – Something
Mickelson – No Such Luck
Echo Bloom – Song For Steven
PBG The Prince – Movie Star
M3tymes – The Life & Tym3z of a Hustla

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
RF Shannon – Tooth Ache

Marz Money – Lying
Parker Longbough – Jack Ryan
Feverbones – Sleepwalking
Sleepy Zuhoski – Daydream
JOYNER – Welcome to Your Life You’re a Star
Scratch – Newer Things
HI Lo Ha – Thinkin’ ‘Bout A Friend
Indonesian Junk – Tonight

So I’m riding shotgun in my pal Keith’s 1964 grey Rambler American outside Littlestown Pennsylvania with my pot-smoking buddies when Lenny leans over the front seat with an 8-track in hand and says, “Put this shit on. It will blow your minds!”

So we eject F. Zappa’s Hot Rats and pop his 8-track into the player and what comes out of the tri-axe speakers in faux wooden cases does indeed blow our minds because it’s some kinda vapidly upbeat bugle blurt of the sort that would make the IDEAL theme song for a wacky TV sitcom about a grouchy Nazi doctor living under an assumed name in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn.

“What is this flatulence?” I shout. “It sounds like somebody’s farting a clown!”

“It’s messing with my high!” bellows Keith.

“This is the music that was playing in the bunker when Hitler shot himself!” cries Dan from the back seat.

“Kill it! Kill it!” I scream, the way you would if you happened upon a hissing 8-foot Komodo dragon hunkered atop your stash.

“Aww, come on guys,” says Lenny. “It’s jazz! Don’t you guys like JAZZ?”

And so it was that I first laid rueful ears upon Chuck Mangione’s easy-listening landmark, 1977’s Feels So Good.

Read More »

PHOTOS: RICHIE DOWNS | We trust that you’ve heard by now that Saturday, April 21, 2018 is Record Store Day, which is for us less of a “Christmas” and more akin to Thanksgiving—a day to be thankful for the mom and pop, indie record shops that yes, see a spike in sales and foot traffic on this particular Saturday.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention, you’re aware that each year the Record Store Day folks choose an ambassador for the event—kindred souls who live and breathe the culture of both records and record stores. This year RSD has chosen rap duo Run the Jewels as its 2018 ambassadors, following Metallica, Jack White, Dave Grohl, Chuck D, Iggy Pop, and St. Vincent among others have also lent their support. In addition many countries across the globe choose their own special ambassadors.

Which got us thinking…heck, we’re here every day preaching the brick and mortar gospel and singing the praises of the bands and artists who press their music to wax—we might just merit a Record Store Day ambassador ourselves!

And as such, we’re delighted to announce that mega-talented, global recording artist Kimbra is our very own ambassador for Saturday’s shop-a-thon. Kimbra’s brand new release Primal Heart arrived in stores yesterday, April 20, 2018—which means you can snap it right up on vinyl today! She’s also on tour with Beck into June.

Touring earlier this year in advance of Primal Heart’s release, she joined us for a record rummage at Washington, DC’s Som Records, and as you’ll see, she’s as knowledgeable as she is engaging and warm. And she’s got great taste in music too.

So, onward—we’re record shopping with Kimbra at Washington, DC’s Som records!

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of Liz Phair’s landmark album Exile In Guyville and on May 4th, Matador Records will release Girly-Sound To Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Box Set. To whet the appetites of old and new fans alike, Liz has shared another song from the Girly-Sound tapes, “Bomb,” which morphed into the Exile In Guyville track “Stratford-On-Guy.” Liz’s self-directed video for “Stratford-On-Guy,” newly-digitized and upscaled to HD, can be watched on YouTube.

The upcoming release is an extensive, limited edition 7-LP or 3-CD box set to celebrate the anniversary of her classic album. The box set contains the first official restored audio of all three 1991 Girly-Sound tapes from the original cassettes. It also contains the 1993 Exile In Guyville album remastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge. Also included is a lavish, thick book, which contains an extensive oral history by Jason Cohen, plus essays by Liz Phair and journalist Ann Powers. The vinyl version of the book also contains never before published photos, unseen artwork, and ephemera.

Also set for release on May 4th is Exile In Guyville, a reissue remastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge, available on CD or double LP. The album has not been available widely on LP in years. Originally released in 1993, Exile In Guyville is a seminal album and a feminist landmark. Its legendary status has only grown over the years. It’s continually included in countless lists…Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest albums of all time + 100 best albums of the ’90s, Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, etc. Numerous essays and think pieces have been written about it and the number of accolades piled on is endless.

Read More »

The first time I met Myles Kennedy was when he was on tour with his band The Mayfield Four back in 1998. The band was touring in support of their Epic Records debut Fallout, and they were starting to get traction on their new single “Don’t Walk Away.” A radio hit for a rock band at this time was make or break, and these guys were one of the best live bands on the planet, the label just had to get people out to see them.

The band was in between tours and had a few days off in my hometown of St. Louis, and I was the only Sony Music rep in the city, so I got to spend a few days with these guys taking them around the town. I remember Myles being an introvert and a really nice guy. Get on the right topic with him, and he’s not only incredibly insightful, but he’s the anti-rock star.

The Fallout tour came and went and the Mayfield Four, although not having a breakout year, laid a solid foundation through relentless touring and radio support from the label. Things would go quiet for a bit while they prepped their sophomore release, the mystical powerhouse that would become Second Skin.

I remember being in New York City for our annual Sony meeting and one of the execs from Epic records came out to introduce the new Mayfield Four record. Almost instantly you could hear snickers and snarky comments from the ultra-hipsters from the college department who didn’t get it because this was a “commercial” rock band, but the ones who were in the room who got it, their ears perked up. The Epic exec introduced the record by saying it was, and I quote, “one of the most unique and incredible rock records they had heard in some time.” (The only other time I ever heard praise for a rock band like this internally was when Incubus delivered Morning View.)

Second Skin was one of the most incredible records I had ever heard in my entire life. From start to finish it was a masterpiece of modern rock. Huge guitars, crashing percussion, all laying the foundation for Myles Kennedy’s incredible vocals. Unfortunately, the record came and went as many records do on the major label assembly line, but this one would continue to amass fans and become legendary in its own right. According to Myles, this left him disillusioned with the music industry.

Read More »

Let me tell you something about myself, dear reader; when the first word that comes to mind when I hear a band is “zany,” I reach for my revolver. And such is the case with Oingo Boingo, the New Wave band who turned “wacky” into an aesthetic and in so doing charmed the skinny neckties off a whole lot of people back in the 1980s.

Under the leadership of Danny “I Make Soundtracks Now” Elfman, Oingo Boingo created a very skewed ska- and world music-tinged New Wave that put the emphasis on whiplash, herky-jerky tempos, quirky arrangements, and nonconventional scales and harmony. If your tastes run to the off-kilter and you like a vocalist who does his level best to annoy, I recommend Oingo Boingo wholeheartedly.

Rock critic Robert Christgau dismissed Oingo Boingo with the words, “These guys combine the worst of Sparks with the worst of the Circle Jerks.” Me, what I hear when I listen to 1989’s The Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet is an admittedly mischievous mashup of other, better bands. The Cars, Devo, Wall of Voodoo, Sparks, The English Beat and a whole slew of other New Wave outfits I never cared very much for to begin with all come to mind. All of which probably means I’m not the fairest judge of the merits of the album under review, but hey–I get paid big bucks to listen to records and proffer my opinion on them, and I guess it’s just Oingo Boingo’s lucky day.

Skeletons in the Closet collects 12 songs from the three LPs Oingo Boingo recorded during their tenure with A&M from 1981 to 1983, and makes as helpful an introduction to the ostensible charms of the band’s early work as any of the aforementioned studio LPs. I’m listening to it on free Spotify, and it’s hardly an auspicious sign that I find myself looking forward to the commercials.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Immediate Records presents Humble Pie On 79th Street, limited edition vinyl LP—a secret release for Record Store Day UK, April 21.

With Record Store Day fast approaching, you won’t find this special compilation LP by one of the UK’s most iconic bands in any store on April 21st. Except one. Humble Pie On 79th Street will only be available from Pie & Vinyl. Obvious? Or are we bucking the trend of Record Store Day in the manner that Andrew Loog Oldham, legendary founder of Immediate Records and Rolling Stones manager might have done? Or does this one-off LP celebrate the spirit of RSD more than any other release?

Inspired by the beautiful pied-piperess Katherine who led us all to Pie & Vinyl and discoveries that linked her vibrant, musical town of Portsmouth & Southsea, an amazing record store and the timeless sounds of Humble Pie to dramatic events in Southsea over 40 years ago that culminated in a truly local effort to press the LP in Portsmouth and have it on sale in Southsea for Saturday April 21.

Says Immediate Records reissue producer Rob Caiger: “Wouldn’t it be great if by doing all of this, a new fan on Record Store Day discovers Humble Pie – in Pie & Vinyl – and feels the same excitement hearing ‘Natural Born Bugie’ as I did in my own local record shop Downtown Records many years ago. There’s no better place to hear new sounds (however old…) then in a record shop—and that’s just one reason why we should celebrate Record Store Day.”

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Formed in Stratford, near New Plymouth, New Zealand in 1981, Nocturnal Projections was the explosive project of legendary and prolific brothers Graeme and Peter Jefferies (who would later form This Kind of Punishment before launching their solo careers), who along with friends Brett Jones and Gordon Rutherford, created some of the most energetic and influential avant-garde punk rock to emerge from the country.

Largely ignored during their tenure (but revered and referenced in the years after their breakup) and often compared to UK contemporaries like Joy Division, Comsat Angels, The Fall, or Wire, Nocturnal Projections stood well apart – never enjoying the luxuries of unlimited studio time, music videos or international fame, Nocturnal Projections possessed a driven, rough-hewn serrated edge that cut through the lot comparisons to the UK post-punk exports of the era. They were ahead of their time, completely singular, and for those that had the benefit of seeing Nocturnal Projections play live – formative, with a dedicated cult following to this day.

As residents of New Plymouth’s Lion Tavern during their first year as a band, they perfected their soaring, impactful live set locally (often as the only band, without an opener and 3 hours to fill!) before heading off to Auckland in January of 1982, performing with bands like The Fall, John Cooper Clarke, and New Order at venues like The Mainstreet Cabaret, The Rumba Bar, and Reverb Room. *The band recorded three EPs at Stebbing Studios in Auckland: The self-titled and self-released 7” single released April 1st of 1982, with the “Another Year” 12” EP following later that year. Their self-titled three song 12” was recorded in 1983, and released by the band posthumously that June, after the band called it quits. The Jefferies would move on and regroup with Rutherford and sound engineer Andrew Frengley shortly after the NPs fell apart to work under the This Kind of Punishment banner.

Read More »

“My earliest memory of my first introduction to music was my father blasting The Beatles’ Rubber Soul in our living room. My brother and I would dance around and sing along to “Drive My Car.” My father’s love for The Beatles, The Doors, The Dave Clark Five, and Herman’s Hermits would be passed on to my brother and me in the form of punk rock, hardcore, and hip-hop.”

“Growing up, my father used to frequent a record store called Wow! Music in the Hudson Mall, in Jersey City, NJ. He would always randomly browse and pick up any record that MIGHT seem like he would enjoy. I wouldn’t understand until later in life the satisfaction he would get watching his collection grow every week. It’s something that to this day, my brother and I would bond over with him.

Having an older brother who started DJing in the pre-Serato era made a huge impression on me when it came to hunting, purchasing, and collecting music. Browsing the used vinyl section and the $1–$5 crates of old records at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ, and Jack’s Music Shoppe in Red Bank, NJ not only became a hobby, but an obsession.

Read More »