Origami Around
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@vinylbibyl
Belated Record Store Day 2018 haul...
Flaming Lips The Story of Yum Yum and Dragon (7″) Warner Bros 2018
David Bowie Let’s Dance Demo (12″) Chyrsalis 2018
Baby Huey The Living Legend Run Out Groove 2018
Jethro Tull Moths (10″) Chrysalis 2018
I struck out at Puscifer Records in Jerome on the big day, but Ebay revealed all the items I was looking for and at regular retail prices a mere 2 weeks after release day. Very happy with this smattering of groovy music.
Made the trek down the valley, and back up the cliffside, to Puscifer the Store in Jerome, AZ for Record Store Day 2018. The shop, which is actually only in part a record store, is the child of Manynard James Keenan, semi-famous frontman for several contemporary concept rock bands. The basement houses new/used vinyl, in addition to a poster stand and a barbershop (Barbifer). Meanwhie the ground level has clothing and merchandise. Each of Maynards musical projects and offshoots (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer) have suitable representation in each corner of the store. Maynard the man is also known for being a vintner, operating Caduceus Cellars a literal stonesthrow down the road. Quite the renaissance man, he is.
Alas, Maynard was nowhere to be found on this day, and neither were any of the 4 sought-after items on my special-release shopping list. Though seemingly well-stocked in everything else, missing were these: 10″ Jethro Tull EP Moths, a 2LP compilation of Baby Huey, and a Flaming Lips 7″ single that is filled with pink beer. I suppose none of these were meant to be mine, but I didn’t walk away empty handed:
Gary Numan Savage 2016 BMG
King Crimson USA (Live) 2014 Discipline Global Mobile
A Perfect Circle Eat the Elephant 2018 BMG
The only one that’s been sent ‘round for a spin so far has been the Crimson album, which is sonically superb, especially so for it being a live disc recorded a full 43 years ago. This period of the band, though still defined by Robert Fripp’s searing guitar precision, heavily featured John Wetton’s thunderclap of a bass. The opening track, “Larks Tongue in Aspic Pt. II” is a true jackhammer, as is “Easy Money” side 2. I think I know what to expect of A Perfect Circle’s latest, as this was spinning on the P.A. during my visit, and I liked what I heard. The Gary Numan record will be somewhat unchartered waters, as I’ve not heard any of his studio material later than ‘96, and he’s been keen to evolve.
Goblin Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) Soundtrack 2011 AMS/Cinevox
Love is... being gifted this on my 6th wedding anniversary by my tender, adorable bride Salle. Goblin’s vinyl output is relatively scarce, and much of their standout fare (including soundtracks to “Suspiria”, “Profondo Rosso”, along with this one) have unfortunately remained entrenched on my “want” list rather than housed in my collection. The availability of these full albums on Youtube has softened the blow a little bit, but the quality and listening experience is quite obviously compromised. The 2011 AMS/Cinevox re-releases have made the analog hard-copies a bit easier to come by, as a few months back I welped with glee upon finding this in the soundtrack bin at Zia’s in Tempe, but the exorbitant sticker price ($39.99) gave me pause. Luckily, the uber-resourceful Salle noted my consternation on that fateful summer day, and somehow captured and withheld this iconic soundtrack from my fiscally prudent self without my knowledge... until yesterday.
On this side of the Atlantic, horror fans know George Romero’s film as “Dawn of the Dead”, which was a follow-up to 1968′s genre vanguard “Night of the Living Dead”. Aurally, 1978′s “Dawn of the Dead” was fluffed out with stock music until Dario Argento got involved with the international release, titled “Zombi”, and he recruited trusted collaborators and Italian countrymen of Goblin to rework and improve the score with a more ingrained and sinister vibe. At long last, I now have this soundtrack, a crown jewel, to stand alongside less-heralded Goblin releases such as this one among a few others. Goblin’s musical profile can best be described as organic, eclectic minor-key instrumental funk. One of a kind stuff, and mandatory listening for fans of prog, early metal, and offbeat 70′s hard rock.
Rush 2112 1976 Mercury
I’ve gone through a few different phases in my life when Rush had my full-attention as a listener. I cycled through their back catalog many times over and devoured every tidbit I could find online explaining Neil Peart’s often dense and obtuse sci-fi lyrics. Still, 2112 never quite worked for me as an all-time classic. The apocalyptic story arc (inspired by Ayn Rand’s “Novella”) that unfolds within side one’s sprawling title track is surreal and thought provoking, yet all the empty space within the long instrumental overture sniffed of a young band flapping their wings. The trio was still a couple albums off from truly fermenting their unique sound, which I feel they achieved beginning with Hemispheres. By this time, bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee had developed a comfort with incorporating Moog synths and bass pedals, allowing Rush to add a needed sense of texture and depth in both the studio and live settings.
A couple of the standalone tracks on side two are colorful curiosities. “A Passage to Bangkok” is weed-enthusiasts triptych. “The Twilight Zone” is an obvious nod to Rod Serling’s supernatural tv series which ran from 1959-1964 on CBS. Two separate episodes (”Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?” and “Stopover In A Quiet Town”) served as the lyrical inspiration. The album closer “Something For Nothing” is a fitting closer to how I feel about this album, and mid 70′s Rush in general: some serene moments in the verses, followed immediately by the screeching, nails-on-chalkboard chorus.
Captain Beyond Sufficiently Breathless 2013 Purple Pyramid
Captain Beyond was a transatlantic conglomeration of early 70′s rock nomads. The core of the lineup consisted of a pair of players from the then-recently-defunct American psychadelic group Iron Butterfly, including Larry “Rhino” Rheinhardt (guitars) and Lee Dorman (bass). Deep Purple’s original lead vocalist Rod Evans, had also made himself available after leaving his Purple bandmates behind in England in pursuit of a more glamorous lifestyle in the Hollywood hills. This new “supergroup” made a pair of albums that pocked the rock landscape, but were mostly an afterthought compared to the legendary status that their earlier bands achieved (or were soon about to in Evans’ case, as Ian Gillian would prove to be a more capable replacement). Sufficiently Breathless is the Captain’s second and final offering, and its a stimulating, dare I say pleasant, spin that scratches both progressive and hard-rock itches. The instrumentation is varied, the melodies are catchy, and the musicianship is tight.
The Purple Pyramid label that produced this neatly packaged set surrounding the red vinyl LP is one that specializes in progressive and psychadelic music. A subsidiary of L.A. based Cleopatra Record, Purple Pyramid focuses not only on re-releases from the 60′s and 70′s by the likes of Tangerine Dream and Santana, but they also market contemporary releases from artists that started out in that genre, such as this terrfific Nik Turner release. Their packaging always seems to be on point.
Caspin Tertia 2009 The Myline Sheath
Tertia is the second release by Massachusettes post-rock instrumentalists Caspian. For a band that relies primarily on guitar, bass, and drums, they still effectively manage to employ a broad palette of colors and shades. They draw the listener in with a sparse acoustic appetizer, but always close with a pulverizing finish, a thick, distorted wall of sound that swallows one’s senses.
Ordinarily, I would gripe about an LP that spins at 45rpm, as I have to manually change the belt on my turntable to do so. In this case, the sonic quality coming out of my Pioneer floor speakers is crystalline, so I’m not as prone to complain.... though I suppose in a sense this paragraph accomplishes that anyways.
Steeleye Span Now We Are Six 1974 Chrysalis
Now We Are Six alludes to the addition of a full-time drummer to the Steeleye Span ranks, and simultaneously signaled a greater shift towards the rock side of their folk-rock identify. To further assist with that end in mind, heavyweights from the rock world were brought aboard, with Ian Anderson (of Chrysalis label-mates Jethro Tull) lending a hand with production, and David Bowie adding an alto sax to one track. When the new boy Nigel Pegrum (drums) is encouraged to do his thing on numbers like “Edwin” and “Seven Hundred Elves”, the record soars. However, the inclusion of a couple a cappella nursery rhymes (”Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “Now We Are Six”) and a Phil Spector ballad (”To Know Him Is To Love Him”) really sinks the proceedings and reeks of album filler. Like most Steeleye discs, there’s good, bad, and indifferent, yet their singular style and sound makes them worth stocking in a collection.
Journey Infinity 1978 CBS
Infinity was the 4th release from Journey, but it was a first of sorts in that it marked the band’s entrance into the friendly confines of American FM rock, thanks to the addition of new lead vocalist Steve Perry. Containing evergreen gems like “Lights” and “Wheel In The Sky”, this album helped former Santana foot-soldiers Neal Schon (guitar) and Gregg Rolie (keys & vocals) find a polished formula that at last succeeded where the previous 3 records hadn’t. The “Feelin’ That Way”/”Anytime” medley has Perry and Rolie sharing vocal duties to great effect, and makes one wonder why this tactic wasn’t attempted with more regularity prior to Rolie’s departure from the band, following the à propos titled 1980 record Departure.
I had the fortune of seeing Journey play a twin-bill with The Doobie Bros. a few months ago down at Phoenix’s Ak-Chin Pavillion. Steve Perry is no longer in the fold, but that suits my Filipino wife just fine given that her countryman Arnel Pineda is now the one wearing the tight pants and belting out the hits at center stage.
101 Strings East of Suez 1960 Stereo Fidelity
Love the music, and am equally enamored by the packaging, yet the two seem strangely disconnected. The pleasing classical melodies awake the senses as much as does the scantily clad belly dancer inspiring a hookah pipe on the jacket back. However with the absence of Middle Eastern instruments, scales, and rhythms, the two ends do not seem to meet. There is nary an oud, saz, or riq to be found. The liner notes’ promises of “scintillating percussive effects that depict the busy bazaars of Baghdad” or “the tent harems of Arab Dance” fail to be delivered.
The 101 Strings project was one that spanned 30 years and delivered an astonishing hundred-plus albums, with titles spanning such ethnic and geographic spectrums as A Night In The Tropics and The Soul of Spain. They claimed to employ 101 strings to “utilize various harmonies and voicing and not weaken the dynamics or quality of any one line when playing counter lines.” I grant them that, as the music does indeed to have several harmonal forks ones’ ears is allowed to wander down at any given moment. They also boast having the finest musicians in Europe for recording, and among them are “eleven concertmeisters in the first chairs”. Any type of meister is pretty good in my book, but eleven, my goodness!
Yes Drama 2009 Friday Music
Despite the unmistakable Roger Dean cover, the absence of both Jon Anderson (vocals) and Rick Wakeman (keyboards) makes this 1980 album somewhat of an afterthought in the Yes catalog. To replace those keystone pieces, remaining members Chris Squire (bass), Steve Howe (guitar), and Alan White (drums) merged their talents with another band that was experiencing international acclaim due to their sudden hit “Video Killed the Radio Star”. It’s creators The Buggles were a new-wave English band that shared management with Yes, and the principal players Trevor Horn (vocals) and Geoff Downes (keys) were both big Yes fans and ideal fits to plug into the equation. Drama is the result. As a whole, it possesses several distinct traits of a Yes classic: technically brilliant playing; forceful bass that is in the forefront of the mix; unpredictable stops and starts; and vocals in the alto-tenor range that closely resemble those of Horn's predecessor Anderson. While “Does It Really Happen” is one of the best songs the band has ever recorded, I’m afraid the rest of the songs barely cut mustard, and likely explains why this ended up as their lowest charting record in 10 years. Curiously, the next Yes record would put together another odd conglomeration of bedfellows, yet would yield the band’s biggest chart success in 90125, and turn the band onto an entirely new audience via MTV.
The Who It’s Hard 1982 Warner Bros.
Exactly how hard is it? I’d say it’s a luke-hard Who album. Who’s to say it even qualifies as a Who album if Pete Moon ‘aint even on it. Sill, there’s some redeemable qualities. I consider John Entwistle’s bass part in “Eminence Front” to be one of the best ever. His restraint during the intro/verse is juxtaposed next to his focused tenacity during the chorus to such a dramatic effect. Pete Townsend’s colorful, illustrative lyrical language (sung by Roger Daltrey) on “Athena” also serves as an album highlight, even if the song is just meh.
My favorite amateurish joke I like to play on the wife whenever we’re dialed into The Who:
Me: Do you know who plays this song?
Wife: No I don’t (or some variation)
Me: Who?
Wife: I said I don’t know...
Me: Who?
(etc.)
Air Supply The One That You Love 1980 Arista
Their are two main Russells of Air Supply that share vocal duties, and thus supply the oxygen. The shorter-statured (and red-panted) Russell Hitchcock serves as the lead vocalist, and can belts out the high-pitched, anthemic choruses. while the lankier (denim-wearin’) Graham Russell holds down the songwriting chores and carriers a verse here and there. Air Supply concocts power ballads that fall somewhere between Barry Manillow and Journey on the soft-rock side of the pop spectrum. This album, their highest charting, is chock-full of familiar radio friendly hits, none more epic than the title track.
I saw Air Supply at Tonawanda, NY’s crown in-the-round jewel, the now-defunct Meloday Fair, summer 1993. I had free tickets (thanks Dad’s work!) and took a male coworker of mine from the cinema, with the idea being the place would be teeming with chicks. It was, though we surprisingly still struck out. The concert stood out to me or being the first time I recall seeing a Chapman stick being employed in a live setting.
Joni Mitchell The Hissing of Summer Lawns 1975 Asylum
Hissing marked the beginning of a more experimental period for Joni, in which she began to musically cavort with jazz cats in addition to her comfortable circle of folk-rock peers. The instrumental and vocal delivery was intentionally more free-form than what was found on her earlier output, and was initially received as a disappointment given the pop-friendliness of preceeding records. The folkies she called on for help with this album included David Crosby, Graham Nash, and James Taylor, though their contributions are a scant backing vocal on the intro track “In France They Kiss On Main Street”. For the remaining tracks, she dialed up jazz stalwarts Max Bennett (bass), Victor Feldman (keys & percussion) and a couple of silky-smooth guitarists formerly with Steely Dan: Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Larry Carlton. Following Hissing, Joni branched out further into the jazz realm by pairing up with heavyweights Pat Metheny and Charlie Mingus, among others, for future releases. The one that immediately followed, Hejira, included Jaco Pastorius and is a real treat.
Joni, who once described herself as a “painter derailed by circumstance”, created the cover art. Were this copy in finer condition, I would easily consider hanging it up on a wall. The image best matches the collage of musical ideas happening on the track “The Jungle Line”, which fuses samples of African drummers from Burundi with fuzz synth, and lyrical references to urban counter-culture.
Herb Alpert Rise 1979 A&M Records
Herb ditches the dusty Tijuana flea markets for the disco floors of New York City. Rise came nearly a decade after his run of numerous #1 albums and Grammy’s with the Tijuana Brass concluded. However, this new formula of mixing his trademark horn with late 70′s dancefloor beats apparently worked, as the lead single and title track summitted the charts. “Rise” got a big boost from it’s usage on a recurring vignette on the popular General Hospital soap opera. Another track, “1980″, was a submission for the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, which the United States ultimately boycotted.
The iconic A&M label deserves some mentioning due to Herb being partially responsible for launching such groundbreaking acts as Carole King, The Police, and Soundgarden (among others). Alpert is the “A” to Jerry Moss’ “M”. Founded in 1960, the label developed a pretty immaculate string of successful albums and artists until it was acquired by Polygram in 1989.
Damien Jurado Visions of Us on the Land 2016 Secretly Canadian
Having owned just 1 other album of Jurado’s (2003′s Where Shall You Take Me), I didn’t quite have the highest expectations for this set, and probably would have passed on it if not for the gorgeous gatefold art. The colorful, surrealist collage was apparently painted by Jurado himself, and it sealed the deal whilst staring up at me from the bin at M-Theory Music in San Diego.
Though he’s from Seattle (and was once on the SubPop roster), I had always pegged Jurado to the midwest/Great Plains, as I recall him singing about heartland topics, and his straightforward delivery and acoustic instrumentation seemed far removed from the grungy leanings of the Pacific Northwest. I’ve seen Jurado perform live twice (once as an opening act, and again as headliner), and to say he has an unassuming stage manner is putting it mildly. I suppose that’s part of his charm, the soft sell. Anyways, after unwrapping this 2 LP package, I feel confident saying that Damien has truly grown in his arrangements and songwriting over the years, as the lush instrumentation and studio experimentation shows a courage and maturity that was missing 13 years ago. I’ve yet to fully digest the richness that is spread throughout the album’s 17 tracks, though I’m anticipating giving this a regular slot in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Might then be time to revisit other releases of his, namely the 2 that preceded Visions that were also produced by Richard Swift, Maraqopa and Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son. These three albums collectively form a story arc, so I’ve heard.
Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra Atlantis
A few years ago, I waxed a bit about Sun Ra and his shenanigans in music and mysticism while revisiting his 1959 Jazz In Silhouette record. Here’s another record of his that was recorded about 10 years later (late 60′s), and demonstrates how he went further “out there” with the passage of time. This recording features Sun Ra rather predominately on the Hohner clavinet and sounds like an extended jam session that got stuck in the weeds... often. Though the jacket boasts of a mighty cast that comprises his Arkestra, rarely is there a sense of cohesion, as I sense there’s never more than 2 or 3 individuals playing at the same time. It’s laborious, and I don’t dig.
Bonobo Black Sands 2010 Ninja Tune/Just Isn’t
Bonobo is the alias of British musician/DJ and downtempo pioneer Simon Green. Green plays a laundry list of instruments (piano, bass, guitar, mandolin, organ, harmonium, harp, vibraphone, music box, samples, etc.) to assemble this 2 LP set of tunes that are equal parts earthy and atmospheric. The lush combination of analog and digital sounds transcend time and space, and the linear arrangements climb throughout each song til the ears are awash with an ethereal backdrop of sound. Bonobo is aided on a few tracks by vocalist Andreya Triana, with mixed results. While Triana’s vocals are soothing and at times angelic, the human voice detracts from the otherworldly combination of rhythms and melodies. Still, Black Sands is a contemporary favorite of mine.