Tag: Newbury Comics
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Deee-Lite, The Very Best of Deee-Lite, 2001 on Rhino / Elektra
If you only know Deee-Lite (yes, that’s four e’s total) from “Groove Is In The Heart” you should check out this collection. It includes 20 songs across all three of their studio albums in a 2xLP gatefold. It came out on CD in 2001, but the vinyl was a 2025 Record Store Day exclusive. My…
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Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, Back to Back, 1959 on Verve
Great album recorded Feb 20, 1959 in session with Duke Ellington (piano), Johnny Hodges (sax), Al Hall / Sam Jones (bass), Jo Jones (drums), Les Spann (guitar), and Harry Edison (trumpet). (That’s Papa Jo Jones, not Philly Joe Jones). All the productions in the Acoustic Sounds Series sound great, and this is no exception. My…
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The National, Laugh Track, 2023 on 4AD
Tenth studio LP from Matt Berninger, Aaron & Bryce Dessner, and Scott & Bryan Devendorf, better known as The National. (With all the producing Aaron Dessner had been doing around this time I’m glad they found time to make the album). It was announced only days before its release, getting called a “surprise” album by…
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Old & In The Way, Live at Sonoma State: November 4th, 1973; 2025 on Round Records
American bluegrass band with Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, John Kahn, Peter Rowan, and Vassar Clements. This was recorded live (as the title says) in the fall of 1973 at Sonoma State two years before their debut album was released in 1975 (thought it was also recorded in 1973, about one month before this show). Ramblin’…
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The Beat, The Beat at the BBC, 2025 on Rhino/BBC
I can’t help but still think of them as The English Beat, since that’s how I came to know them. The spine credits this as “The Enlgish Beat / The Beat at the BBC.” Proofreading is hard, y’all. Collects all the BBC sessions, including three different sessions with John Peel, but also Mike Read and…
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Waylon Jennings, Songbird, 2025 on Son of Jessi
This is a posthumous release, based on material Jennings had recorded between 1973 and 1984 in his home studio with band members from the Waylors. The recordings were selected by Shooter Jennings and overdubs added to flesh out the production, but he has said the production was very minimal. There’s a great episode of The…
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The Dropkick Murphys, Turn Up That Dial, 2021 on Born & Bred Records
The Dropkick Murphys formed in Quincy Massachusetts in the mid 90s, with Ken Casey, Rick Barton and Mike McColgan – Casey’s the only one still involved as of this recent LP. They created Born & Bred as an imprint to release their own music through the Independent Label Group / Alternative Distribution Alliance. My copy…
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Iron and Wine, Lori, 2023 on Black Cricket Recording Co
Tribute EP to Lori McKenna, released as a limited edition sky blue vinyl record in 2023. It’s a double-sided EP, with the same four tracks on each side, though the track order doesn’t actually match what’s printed on the jacket. I’m a huge fan of Sam Beam (Iron and Wine) and of Lori McKenna so…
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Justin Townes Earle, Live at Grimey’s, September 4th, 2014, on BMG.
Though it was recorded in 2014, and released in 2015 on Vagrant Records, my copy is the 2023 Record Store Day reissue on BMG – two 45rpm records in blue vinyl. This was recorded the month Single Mothers was being released but also includes songs that would be on Absent Fathers My copy via Newbury…
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Conor Oberst, Ruminations, 2016 on Nonesuch
Oberst was hospitalized in 2015 in the middle of a tour for the punk band Desaparecidos, and this album was written and recorded in the recovery from that experience. It was recorded in Omaha in just two days, with Ben Brodin as Engineer, Mike Mogis doing the mixing, and Bob Ludwig mastering. My copy is…
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Echo and the Bunnymen, B-Sides and Live (2001-2005), 2022 on Demon Records
Released digitally in 2007 by Cooking Vinyl, but reissued on vinyl by Demon Records for Record Store Day 2022, on clear vinyl. A number of songs from Live at Reading Festival 2005, a remix of “Rescue,” and some acoustic versions. Great pressing and package. My copy via the discount rack at Newbury Comics in the…
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Sharon Van Etten, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, 2022 on Jagjaguwar
Van Etten’s sixth full length and fourth on Jagjaguwar, this was one of my favorite albums of 2022. Van Etten produced along with Daniel Knowles, with musicians Devin Hoff (bass), Jorge Baibi (drums), and Charley Damski (keys) joining on most tracks (along with a few others). My copy via Newbury Comics in the Natick Mall
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Various Artists, Bills & Aches & Blues, 2021 on 4AD
Compilation 4AD issued in celebration of their 40th anniversary. It’s a bit hit-and-miss, as such collections often are – for some reason the two Breeder’s tracks (Tune-Yards take on “Cannonball” and Big Thief’s take on “Off You”) stand out to me as does Tkay Maidza’s take on The Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?.” My copy…
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Cat Power, Covers, 2022 on Domino
Chan Marshall’s third album of covers. Like the previous two, it includes a re-recording of one of her own – the song “Hate” covered here as “Unhate.” Favorites for me include The Replacements’ “Here Comes a Regular,” Nico’s “These Days.” and Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” My copy is the…
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Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San Francisco 1973, 2021 on Philadelphia International Records
There’s a complicated set of dates here – recorded in 1973 and released originally in 2012 on CD by Philadelphia International Records and Legacy (Sony’s label for reissues), but then released for the first time on vinyl for Record Store Day 2021. The performers are MFSB, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Three Degrees,…
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Lucinda Williams, Southern Soul: From Memphis to Muscle Shoals & More, 2021 on Highway 20
This is volume 2 in Lu’s Jukebox In Studio Concert Series – six episodes recorded at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Florida as a benefit to venues who could sell streaming tickets through their own sites via Mandolin. The second episode of “Lu’s Jukebox” will take place on Thursday, November 12, 2020 with “Southern Soul:…
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Various Artists, Newbury Comics 30th Anniversary, 2008 on Rhino.
Promotional record originally handed out at Newbury Comics on Record Store Day in 2008. I found a copy at Vinyl Destination in Lowell, MA. Not sure what the theme is – reissues, box sets, and new albums coming on Rhino and ATCO that year? I love picking up random compilations with unexpected pairings on them,…
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Billy F Gibbons, Hardware, 2021 on Concord Records
Billy Gibbons is best known as one third of ZZ Top, but has released a lot of music under other side brands as well. This LP, his third “solo” recording, came out in 2021 and is Gibbons working with Mike Fiorentino, Matt Sorum, and Chad Shlosser. I also saw Gibbons at the Cabot Theater in…