Part four of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases presently in stores for September, 2019. Part one is here, part two is here, and part three is here.
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICKS: The Roots, Things Fall Apart (Geffen / UMe / Urban Legends) One of the best records of 1999 and a hip-hop cornerstone gets a deserving deluxe reissue here, spread across six sides of vinyl with sides five and six holding Questlove-curated bonus tracks. There’s also a 24-page booklet with essays from Black Thought and Questlove (who also delivers track-by-track liner notes) and photos. And that’s just the standard version. The collector’s edition offers the three LPs on clear vinyl with a die-cut slipcase with all five covers as interchangeable lithos, plus a bonus sixth cover and foil stamp numbering. And the music hasn’t gotten subsumed in the trappings, as this isn’t an attempt to gussy up a pretty good record but is rather a wholly fitting presentation for a masterpiece.
The Roots’ fourth full-length really drove home their organic reality as not just a crew or collective but as a band. That is, they were and remain an outfit utilizing live instrumentation. On their Wikipedia page, there is a quote crediting them as “hip-hop’s first legitimate band,” which strikes me as wrong. I mean, I don’t think Smokin’ Suckaz wit Logic was very good, but I wouldn’t call them illegit. I completely agree that The Roots are hip-hop’s first great, or maybe better said, the style’s first non-gimmicky band (I’ll add that Guru’s Jazzmatazz is accurately described as a project and a collab). But the thing (well, one thing) that makes Things Fall Apart outstanding is that it never loses its handle on hip-hop’s core essence. It simply deepens the genre’s possibilities rather than trying to be something else. A+
Bro David, Modern Music from Belize (Cultures of Soul) Even if I didn’t care for this record, which is the latest in this label’s reissues of global groove music, I’d probably hold onto a copy due to the sleeve, as it offers an illustration of a lion with a rather confused look on its face. Confused why, exactly? Because there is a person standing on its back with a globe in each hand. Bluntly, that’s the kind of thing I like to have around the house. But what’s nice is that I need not worry about keeping an LP that’s main interest is visual, as Modern Music from Belize is both an enjoyable listen and an insightful (and succinct) dip into the work of Bredda David Obi, who is a new global music discovery to me and I’m guessing to most folks reading this. It’s the dedication of this label that has brought this music into a brighter light.
This is not just a taste of Bro David, whose recording career began with No Fear in ’84, followed by Cungo Musik in ’87 and We No Wa No Kimba Ya in 1990, it’s an intro to the danceable pop of Belize, a Caribbean country often overlooked when focusing on the region’s music during this era. With this said, the seven tracks included here, which are taken from the three LPs above (all pricey in original form, so obviously folks beyond Culture of Soul’s operator Deano Sounds are hip to this stuff) isn’t a radical departure from the more well-known strains of the Caribbean; there’s a whole lot of reggae, in fact, plus a general vibe of positivity that never gets overbearing, in part because the record’s low-budget reality insures against slickness. Bro David called his synthesis kungo (or cungo) and it’s a treat. A-
Kingston, ON | 15,000 CDs available at special symphony sale: In the Kingston Symphony’s warehouse off Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, volunteers are busy sorting through several thousand compact discs from two donors, musical works that will be available to the public starting next week. The warehouse is usually jam-packed with vinyl records, but next Wednesday volunteers are throwing open the warehouse doors to CD enthusiasts for a special, first-time CD sale, with proceeds — as usual — supporting the Kingston Symphony. The sale offers up to as many as 15,000 titles, available to the public from Oct. 2 to 5. “Some people have mistaken this for the vinyl sale, and it’s not that at all,” Brian Weir, with the volunteer committee of the Kingston Symphony Association, said. “This is a special collection.” It all started with the donation of 8,000 CDs from a Toronto lawyer, musician and 
Mark Hollis’ Lone, Self-Titled Solo Album Set For Vinyl Reissue: The record will be available with original artwork – a printed inner sleeve with lyrics and credits – and it has been remastered at Abbey Road. Mark Hollis’ lone, self-titled solo album, is set for reissue on heavyweight vinyl through UMC/Polydor, on 18 October. The record will be available with original artwork – a printed inner sleeve with lyrics and credits – and it has been remastered at Abbey Road. The only solo album by the late Talk Talk frontman, Mark Hollis was first released by Polydor Records in January 1998. Despite being released as a solo album by Hollis, it was originally intended to be credited to Talk Talk, under the name ‘Mountains of the Moon’. A 
Staunton, VA | New record store opens in Staunton; Owners wish to share their love of vinyl: Ken Bahrs Jr. remembers listening to the vinyl records of Charley Pride and the Moody Blues with his mother growing up. He loves the scratching sound it makes right when you put the needle on the record and it spins for just a bit with a crackle as the song starts up. Vinyl evokes a certain memory for him, and many others. “I think when you play a record, it takes you back,” he said. “When you play an old record on an old player, you can hear the difference.” He and his wife, Tanya, have been collecting and selling records for years in various booths like the Factory Antique Mall in Verona or similar businesses across the state. Now, they are bringing their collection to the people of Staunton with their new store 
Ashby, UK | Owner of record store explains decision to auction off more than 40,000 records and CDs: There will be between 350 and 500 lots up for sale. The owner of a record store of which most of the contents are going up for auction says the decision to move on from the shop has not been an easy one. Ben Duncombe first opened The Attic music shop in Ashby Town Hall four and half years ago. In that time he has collected an impressive stock of more than 40,000 records and CDs, as well as various memorabilia and music equipment. Now most of the stock, including the shops fixtures and fittings, is going up for auction. The 36-year old from Ashby said: “One of the main reasons I have decided to move on is because I want to spend more time with my wife and daughter. “When you are self-employed, you don’t get an awful lot of holiday time because you are constantly working.” Ben says that the decision to sell the stock 
Coachella Valley, CA | From Vinyl to Venue: Record Alley Hosts Local Bands Every Sunday: While the Coachella Valley has birthed some of rock’s greatest musicians and has been overflowing with intense musicality for decades, record stores here are few and far between. In fact, there’s really only one provider of CDs, vinyl and all other things that music fans need—and that store has been doing so since 1978. “Record Alley is the hub of music,” said Scott McLaughlin, a Record Alley employee and local musician. “Back in the day, everybody used to come in here—celebrities and even local stars like Joshua Homme or Jesse Hughes. It was a cool hangout spot, even back when it was just CDs.” Turns out Record Alley is still a cool hangout spot: The store has started hosting performances by two music acts each Sunday afternoon. These shows are planned by McLaughlin; I sat down with him recently to discuss his musical journey and 
ARChive strives to keep vinyl musical heritage alive in digital age: The turntable needle drops and the sounds of an obscure band The Motifs ring out, bouncing off mountains of records lining the musty warehouse housing America’s largest pop music collection. The cavernous independent private music library, known as the ARChive of Contemporary Music, on a non-descript street in lower Manhattan’s Tribeca neighbourhood claims more than three million recordings — mostly vinyl and some CDS and cassettes, not to mention a vast collection of memorabilia. “You’re just constantly discovering things that you wouldn’t know,” its co-founder B George told AFP from his desk tucked behind the stacks. In an age dominated by streaming and the ephemerality of digital media, places like the ARChive can prove vital to preserving physical copies of music that can be key to future listening. News over the summer that some 500,000 recordings from legends like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Joni Mitchell and Eric Clapton were destroyed in a 2008 blaze at Universal Studios threw the 
