She’s a woman of mystery: she goes by the moniker A Girl Called Eddy, but doesn’t mind if you call her Erin Moran; her last album came out in 2004, but then appears with a new project that is so fully realized and produced that you feel as though she hasn’t missed a beat; she’s from New Jersey, but the word on the street is that she’s living somewhere in England. The cover of her latest release—Been Around—features Moran, sunglasses on and coat collar popped, seemingly in a fast vehicle whisking her away to somewhere intriguing. Or, maybe she’s just trying to get by like the rest of us.
Been Around is an excellent album—with a great-sounding white vinyl release, as well. If you’re on the hunt for a sophisticated blending of theatrical composition coupled with hooks and earworms that will haunt you for days, then consider this interview your ticket to the show.
Join us as we chat with Erin Moran from her West Village safe house to discuss the production of her new album, her many musical influences and how—even if you become a sophisticated global jetsetter—when you’re from New Jersey, you’re always from New Jersey.
Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Sharp Notes each Saturday evening at 6pm and TVD Radar on Sundays at 5AM on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.
San Mateo, CA | Longtime Redwood City business faces dilemma on whether to call it quits or reinvent: Gary Saxon has owned The Record Man in Redwood City for the last 35 years. Saxon’s business has served the local and online community with all forms of vinyl recordings, as well as CD’s and tapes. Music for Gary Saxon, known to locals as the Record Man, is like a religion. His first spiritual experience came when he listened to a record by the classic rock band, AC/DC, the sounds from the record inspiring him to throw his arms in the air like a congregation in prayer. “When I would go to church and I’d see people raise their arms, it looked weird to me because I didn’t feel that way. … [When listening to music] I thought that must be what people were feeling. That’s when you realize how deep these things go and I had an epiphany about people’s feelings towards god,” said Saxon. …“The idea is that hopefully I’ll have a couple more years here,” said Saxon. “If not, relocating in the Bay would be wonderful. … I’d love to relocate and keep it going. There’s been a renewed interest in vinyl that if you told me about years ago, 
Ft. Thomas, KY | People of NKY: Phil Breen has heard it all and he really prefers his old-school record store: …Phil had graduated from Dixie Heights High School in 1977 and quickly discovered that he had an uneasy relationship with the idea of college. He was in and out of it. A good break came when he was offered a job at Record Alley in Erlanger, a few months after it opened in 1979. He learned all of the ins and outs of running the business: inventory, ordering, payroll and in-store promotions. After a few years, he was ready to open his own record store. On Sept. 1, 1989, Phil’s Records opened its doors in Ft. Thomas. He had amassed a personal collection of over 3000 record albums, two thirds of which would be a big part of his opening inventory. Phil was ambitious and expanded to a second location in Ft. Mitchell the next year, and then, in 1991 he opened four more stores in an agreement with Sight In Sound, a chain of home audio/stereo equipment stores. …It is a great, old-school used record store. He gets the stuff. After having been in the record business for 41 years, he has a deep bench of customers, as buyers and also sellers. These relationships have helped him 
Outside of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and Scotland’s Incredible String Band, the British folk-rock boom never really gained all that much commercial traction in the United States. And while albums from those groups were pretty easy to find, particularly second-hand in US record stores for years, those acts didn’t really gain huge followings on US shores.
Madison, WI | Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘We’re Only About 10% Down for the Year:’ Turns out the Madison record store has taken only a modest hit from the pandemic — but threats facing the U.S. postal service could be “debilitating.” In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened Strictly Discs in 
Madison, WI | Quarantine Tunes: Local record store owners share their playlists: We chatted with MadCity Music Exchange owner Dave Zero and B-Side Records owner Steve Manley about what they have been jamming to lately and the power of music in isolating times. Celebrate National Vinyl Record Day on Aug. 12 by masking up and stopping in, or check out MadCity’s and B-Side’s online shopping options.: What have been your go-to quarantine albums to listen to on vinyl? Dave Zero: At first I started with the 
NEW RELEASE PICKS: Sylvie Simmons, Blue on Blue (Compass) I was pretty taken with Sylvie, the 2014 debut from Simmons, who’s still probably best-known for writing biographies of Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, and Neil Young. Sylvie was produced by Howe Gelb, who returns for Blue on Blue, the recording of which started in 2017 but was delayed by Simmons’ accident resulting in broken bones, nerve damage, and an unusable left hand. After surgeries, Simmons, who sings and plays ukulele, wrote some new songs. The resulting album is uniformly strong with a few highlights of magnificence. It’s important to repeat whenever praising Simmons that her wielding of the uke never once succumbs to preciousness (the Cohen influence is palpable, but nicely understated); instead, the instrument can remind me more of the harp, but less ornate, and that’s fantastic. Simmons’ singing is also a treat as the band playing with her is strong and the songs are excellent. A gem. One of 2020’s best, even. A
V/A, Imaginational Anthem Vol. X : Overseas Edition (Tompkins Square) I’ve never thought of physical formats and the purely digital experience as being an either/ or proposition, and my perspective has only deepened in our post-Covid 19 world. Along with the positivity that has resulted from assorted benefit releases, it’s a flat fact that for many artists, the main or indeed the only source of revenue right now (beyond government assistance) is their music; promptly offering new stuff at the moment generally means going the digital route, as pressing plants were already backed up prior to temporary pandemic shutdowns. The same goes for labels. Now, Tompkins Square already had a few digital-only items out before all this coronavirus madness commenced, but the majority of their discography has been on vinyl or compact disc (CD the norm for their superb line of box sets). However, over the last few months, most of the label’s titles have emerged without a physical option.
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICK: Duck Baker, Plymouth Rock : Unreleased & Rare Recordings, 1973-1979 (Tompkins Square) This collection is intended as an extension, or in Baker’s words from his most-excellent accompanying reminiscence, a companion piece to Tompkins Square’s 2018 Baker archival set, Les Blues Du Richmond, which I rated as one of the best of that year. Plymouth Rock hits the same levels of quality, opening with a medley of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (with the playing bringing Joseph Spence to mind) and “America the Beautiful” that’s elevated by a brief transitional tune-snippet so killer I just can’t spoil it. As outlined by Baker, due to the existence of later recorded versions, the tunes heard here weren’t chosen for Richmond. Now, if you’re a newbie, you might be thinking the contents are best suited for hardcore Baker fans, but that’s a rather severe misapprehension of the situation as it pertains to one of the finest guitarists the US of A ever produced. Hopefully, this’ll be on wax soon with Baker’s notes splashed across the back cover. A
London, UK | London Gets New Record Store, Next Door Records: It’s located in Shepherd’s Bush and will stock new and second-hand vinyl. A new record shop is opening this week in West London. Located in Shepherd’s Bush, Next Door Records will operate as a record shop, café and bar, and will stock new and vintage vinyl which, the shop’s owners say, “will span a variety of sounds for both the 
Dundalk, IE | Bringing a Dundalk music community together in the centre of town: A long time had passed since Dundalk had a fully-fledged – traditional – record shop on its streets, but when Classified Records opened its doors back in August 14, 2015, music-lovers rejoiced. At a time when the idea of buying a physical record seemed to be a thing of the past, owner Neil Waters thought otherwise, a brave move at an already difficult times for high street shopping. But five years on, this ever-popular shop, situated in the Demesne in the centre of town has, Neil feels, helped “accelerate the re-emergence of vinyl as a popular music format that was once considered defunct.” He adds: “Once again, vinyl is universally en-vogue and has also developed into a concrete interest for younger music lovers who grew up in the digital age. It’s truly a small wonder that this analogue technology can thrive in a wireless world of Spotify, music apps, free downloads and cloud sharing.” Neil, who takes up station in the shop every day, comes across as a record addict, he 
