Category: music
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Oliver Nelson with Eric Dolphy, Straight Ahead, 1961 on Prestige / New Jazz
Nelson on sax and clarient, with Dolphy also on sax, bass clarinet, and flute, supported by Richard Wyands on piano, George Duvivier on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Recording supervised by Rudy Van Gelder. Nelson had earlier recorded Screamin’ The Blues with Dolphy and Richard Williams. It is safe to say that if you…
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Various Artists, L80s: So Unusual, 2023 on Numero Group
Really interesting package here – the sleeve is basically denim, with a pocket looking like an 80s jeans pocket, complete with lipstick mark and phone number (which actually rings Numero group). Part of a series Numero group did: “The Cabinet of Curiosities,” each of which is said to be in “lavish” packaging. The contents: Yes,…
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Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, 2017 on Dead Oceans
First release on Dead Oceanes from Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, and her/their second full length LP. It’s an eclectic record but I really enjoy it. (The AV Club at the Onion called Zauner a “21st-century Björk” – though that makes me wonder why Björk isn’t a 21st-century Björk). My copy is the 2023 reissue…
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David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972 on RCA Victor
I came to this album indirectly and backwards – from the Bauhaus cover (“Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilley, and the Spiders from Mars”). But what a magnificent album it is. I think Bowie was at his greatest creative height in the early 70s (as much as I do love his later…
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La Lupe, Queen of Latin Soul / Reina De La Canción Latina, 1968 on Tico
Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond – aka La Lupe – was a Cuban singer who emigrated from Cuba in the early 60s. (According to Wikipedia, while performing in Havana, she earned fans including Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Marlon Brando – can’t vouch for any of that). She performed and recorded…
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Baby Rose, Through and Through, 2023 on Secretly Canadian
Debut album on Secretly Canadian for Baby Rose (aka Jasmine Rose Wilson) and her second album. Sort of a psychelic soul throwback – her voice gets lots of comparisons to Nina Simone but as though Simone was fronting a contemporary R&B group. It’s not that she’s imitating or calling back to an older form –…
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Tinsley Ellis at Shalin Liu, Rockport
If you’ve never been to the Shalin Liu performing arts center in Rockport, it’s a fantastic venue, with a large scale window backing up to Rockport Harbor. Last night we saw blues guitarist/singer/songwriter Tinsley Ellis, who put on a great show. That’s his 1937 National resonator guitar on stage above – he walked on with…
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boygenius, boygenius, 2018 on Matador
Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker are boygenius – this was their debut self-titled EP, which came out in 2018. They recorded and produced the EP in just four days at Sound City in LA. Love the nod to Crosby, Stills & Nash’s debut album in the cover photo. They’re joined here by Anna…
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Maria McKee, Peddlin’ Dreams, 2005 on Cooking Vinyl / Eleven Thirty
McKee was the front woman for Lone Justice, who put out two albums in the 80s, but has gone on to a solo career that has resurged in the new millenium. This is a really great and surprising record, including a cover of Neil Young’s “Barstool Blues” and “(You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am”…
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Def Leppard, Pyromania, 1983 on Mercury
For me this is one of those albums I loved as a 13 year old, then outgrew for many years (aka thought I was too cool for something so massively popular and unapologetically hair metal) but have come again to appreciate with wiser ears. It was their massive breakout, with “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages,” and…
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Pink Floyd, Animals, 1977 on Columbia
What a fantastic album – from the opening note to the closing. I came to Pink Floyd later – not discovering their albums in the sequence they came out, but starting with The Wall and then branching out, eventually getting back to the Syd Barrett days. This record was their 10th studio LP and came…
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Ray Barretto, Acid, 1968 on Fania
Barretto played with Charlie Parker, José Curbelo and (for four years) Tito Puente. His debut on Fania records, it’s a great boogaloo recording bringing latin jazz to rhythm & blues. “Deeper Shade of Soul” was sampled by Urban Dance Squad on their debut single back in 1990. My copy is the 2023 Vinyl Me Please…
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Peter Buck, I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again, 2014 on Mississippi/Change Records
The follow up to Buck’s self-titled debut release, also on Mississippi Records out of Portland OR. Buck works again here with Scott McCaughey, William Rieflin, Corin Tucker, and Jenny Conlee, but also Patterson Hood who co-wrote and sings “Southerner.” Also includes a cover of The Mummies’ “(You Must Fight To Live) On the Planet of…
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U2, Lemon (Remixes), 1993 on Island
Lemon was one of the singles from Zooropa – in the era while I was just entering grad school and thus not really following bands or collecting vinyl – so right in the dearth of 90s and 2000s vinyl in my collection. Was happy to find this EP of remixes on yellow translucent vinyl, including…
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13th Floor Elevators, Flivver, 1988 on World Productions of Compact Music
I first heard Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators on fourth or fifth generation tape copies from friends in the 80s, but didn’t really come to appreciate them fully until much later. This record, on a bootleg Italian label with releases in the late 80s and early 90s, gathers live performances from The Avalon…
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David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, 1973 on RCA Victor
Bowie’s sixth studio album, this was the followup to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It features Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, and Woody Woodmansey (aka the Spiders From Mars). It was recorded during breaks in the Ziggy Stardust tour. Includes a cover of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” as well as “The Jean Genie”…
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Koerner Ray & Glover, The Return of Koerner Ray & Glover, 1965 on Elektra
“Spider” John Koerner, Dave “Snaker” Ray, and Tony “Little Sun” Glover were a Minneapolis blues/folk trio who met at the University of Minnesota and played frequently in Dinkytown and the West Bank. This was their third release on Elektra and the the last before a seven year gap – capturing their early folk/blues approach. Produced…
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Nikki Lane, Denim & Diamonds, 2022 on New West Records
Nikki Lane’s fourth full length – her third on New West – produced by Josh Homme. My copy is the purple vinyl edition purportedly limited to 300 units per the hype sticker, which I got directly from New West. From the title track: My boss called me up, said if you don’t tow the line…