NEW ALBUM AND REISSUE
LP REVIEWS
(Compiled from previous EndlessGroove review columns)
| Another great package by Sundazed Records: The Byrds - The Columbia Singles '65 - '67. Featuring original mono mixes, unreleased singles, rarely heard B-sides, terrific packaging (including an eye-popping layout of original labels and picture sleeves), liner notes by producer Terry Melcher, and session and release details. The Byrds from this period didn't sound like anybody else, and as the liner notes say: "No one has ever had a stronger run of singles." If you like The Byrds, or '60s Rock 'n Roll, you've gotta have this set. | |
| I always loved the duel guitars of Robyn Hitchcock and Kimberley Rew on The Soft Boys' albums Can of Bees and Underwater Moonlight. Now, after a short 20 year hiatus, The Soft Boys are back, strings ablazin'. Nextdoorland is filled with Hitchcock's trademark quirky songs, the tight rhythm section of Matthew Seligman and Morris Windsor, and the aforementioned delicious riffage of Hitchcock and Rew. LP buyers get a bonus 7" with a live version of "Underwater Moonlight." I'll be eagerly awaiting the next Soft Boys album in 2022. | |
| Folk rock legend Linda Thompson's Fashionably Late is her first new album in almost 20 years. With lots of help from her son Teddy, and longtime British folk rock scene cohorts Dave Pegg, Dave Mattacks, Danny Thompson, Martin Carthy, and former husband Richard Thompson (he literally "mailed in" his contribution) Thompson has produced a beautiful album. Her strong and pure voice has, as they say, the sound of truth about it. "A British folk rock masterpiece!" proclaims the promo sticker. Time will tell, but some of the songs, "Weary Life" in particular, sure sound that way to me. | |
| Tom Waits had my head spinning for awhile, releasing two albums at once. Written with Kathleen Brennan, Alice shows Waits' softer, romantic, sadder side. He gets downright weepy at times, only really cutting loose on "Table Top Joe." "We're All Mad Here" might be the song Waits' fans like the most from this set. I have a sweet cat named Alice, and I sing her the title song. She likes it. Maybe I'm getting soft, and maybe so is Waits, but I've already played this album more than any Tom Wait's album since 1983's Swordfishtrombones. | |
| Tom Waits' second new release is Blood Money, and the first two songs are "Misery is the River of the World" and "Everything Goes to Hell." This is the clanking and banging, ranting and raving, pissed and mad Tom Waits that's the darling of the smart and hip. Quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of this Tom Waits. Which is not to say that every now and then, when that dark and mean streak in my soul rears its ugly head, I might put on Blood Money and rant along with it. I hope just not too often. | |
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BRAINWASHED - GEORGE HARRISON (LP edition with gatefold cover and 12" x 12" lyric booklet including a 12" x 24" photo of George in the center spread). I first listened to Brainwashed with some trepidation. I was fearful the songs would be lame and that George wouldn't have any voice left. Well! My worries were unfounded. George is in fine voice, cracking good songs, splendid production by George, son Dhani and Jeff Lynne (who by and large has kept his studio gimmicks at bay). George's personal philosophy and love of Indian music permeates the album, but he never goes preachy or tedious. Perhaps my fave George solo album since All Things Must Pass. A fitting farewell, then, from Beatle George. Peace. |
Where can you find this LP by George Harrison for sale? Try GEMM! |
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BUY - CONTORTIONS & OFF WHITE - JAMES WHITE & THE BLACKS (2 LP reissue on Munster Records, with bonus live tracks, rare pictures & extensive liner notes). James Siegfried (AKA James Chance and later James White) honed his musical chops digging Thelonius Monk, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Art Pepper, Lester Young and Charlie Parker. Diving into the emerging New York punk rock scene in the late 70s, he blew noisy and chaotic saxophone for the seminal band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. He then formed his own group, the Contortions, and later James White and the Blacks. Jagged, cacophanous sax, keyboard and guitar lines coupled with half-shouted/half sung irreverent and smart lyrics (and an insistent, almost disco-ish beat on Off White) earned White's groups the stylistic badge of "No Wave." "Punk Jazz" might be another good descriptor. This stuff is pretty far removed from the New Wave pop that crept onto the airwaves in the late 70s and early 80s. If you like it a little on the wild side, this splendid reissue is for you. |
Where can you find this LP by James White/Contortions for sale? Try GEMM! |
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GYPSY '66 - GABOR SZABO (reissued on vinyl by Speakers Corner/Impulse) Some of my snooty jazz friends don't hold Gabor Szabo's work in too high a regard because it's not "purist" enough -- which is exactly why I like it! This is a beautiful exact reproduction of Gypsy '66, Szabo's first album on Impulse, by the audiophile label Speakers Corner, pressed on heavy 180 gram vinyl. Szabo brings his electric/acoustic guitar and his gypsy and Indian influences to a wide range of material. Included are songs by the Beatles and Burt Bacharach/Hal David, and originals by Szabo and Gary McFarland. Session men include McFarland, Richard Davis, Grady Tate, Willie Rodriguez, Sadao Watanabe and Barry Galbraith. Liner notes by Nat Hentoff. Terrific! Speakers Corner has reissued a number of vintage Impulse jazz LPs, and I hope they branch out -- how about Szabo's Bacchanal, guys? |
Where can you find this LP by Gabor Szabo for sale? Try GEMM! |
| ELEPHANT - THE WHITE STRIPES (Red and white vinyl LP edition with Meg dressed in black!) Elephant is The White Stripes breakout album. I've actually heard "Seven Nation Army" on commercial radio more than once, and "Black Math" on the sound system at the local Borders Books! Their success is not really surprising at this point, despite the uniqueness of their music. Let's face it: Jack White can play guitar and write songs. Period. His music springs from the American roots of Blues, Country and early Rock 'n' Roll, and blows across the stagnant Pop music landscape like a miracle of fresh air. Something new, but old. Something forgotten, now remembered. The duality of the band (Jack's mastery of the guitar, Meg's rudimentary drumming) is echoed in the music: at times humorous, at times heartbreaking; a gentle, naive love song followed by a cynical jaundiced rage. A band with depth and character, who are not afraid to market themselves. They've come along right when we needed them. |
Where can you find this LP by The White Stripes for sale? Try GEMM! |
| AFRICAN RHYTHMS - ONENESS OF JUJU (Strut
Records vinyl LP reissue with bonus tracks, band history & photos) In 1975 James Branch (aka "Plunky") and his band Oneness of Juju brewed up this exciting blend of funk, jazz, African beats and socially conscious lyrics. At the time this album failed to break into the charts, but it has since been heralded as a classic. It now rightfully takes its place beside the works of '70s African American music pioneers such as Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic, Gil Scott-Heron and Stevie Wonder. If you dig those guys, then you need African Rhythms. |
Where can you find this LP by Oneness of Juju for sale? Try GEMM! |
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FEVER TO TELL - THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS (vinyl LP picture disc edition) The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the current dahlinks of the New York
garage rock scene, and Fever To Tell is their bid for fame and
glory. And they might just achieve it. |
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