I return to you folk with more tales of my foolish expenditures. Why continue to spin the hamster wheel each week if not to earn enough scratch to waste on the most inconvenient way to consume music? I'm gonna share a few of my recent cops from online record purchasing (as I live in the heart of a southern swamp that is literally 195 miles from the nearest record emporium).
With all that out of the way, I present these to you, the curious reader. Don't forget to shower me in social media upvotes and hearts. Additionally, please respond in the comments if you know of some hot new music I should be wasting money on. Daddy is sick and needs his medicine.
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Sun
2021 issue on Tequila Sunrise wax via Night Time Stories
I had not heard of Khruangbin prior to last year when I caught one of their live sets on Youtube, but like many others, I was hooked on the downtempo vibe pretty quickly. I first came to know about Leon Bridges thanks to his wonderful set on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert channel (notice a trend here?) and have also been similarly enamored. Well, wouldn’t you know it, these guys got together and cranked out an EP. The title track is about as good as it gets and is undoubtedly one of the best singles to come out of pop music in 2020.
I had aspirations of grabbing this EP earlier, but was pleasantly surprised and glad to be presented the opportunity to grab a colored variant that resembles the Texas sun on the LP jacket. This particular pressing presumably sounds just like the rest, just on a different color. This version is exclusive to Newbury Comics and is reportedly limited to 1000 units so if you’d like to grab it, it would be advisable to do so soon. Based on my limited experience, limited release Khruangbin goes fast and acquiring out of print Newbury exclusives gets expensive.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective (Volume One)
2013 2xLP issue on black wax via A Recordings LTD
Brian Jonestown Massacre is recommended for fans of solid mid tempo psych and noisy garage rock. They’ve been around for ages, so naturally, have amassed enough material for a best-of compilation. This release is spread over 2 LPs and covers a large chunk of the band’s output from the 90s and early 2000s. I’d recommend giving the track Anemone a spin (I think it may be their most well-known track, but I’ve never heard them on the radio or anything so who knows?). Whenever I decide to get back on drugs, this one will be in heavy rotation on my turntable.
Bush – Razorblade Suitcase: In Addition
2017 2xLP issue on black/white swirl wax via Zuma Rock and Round Hill Records
Yep. More 90s rock. Bush isn’t even close to the cream of the crop for the 90s rock explosion, but they are a guilty pleasure of mine. Supposedly, our Canadian friends know them as Bushx due to some legal dispute with an older Candian Bush. Anyway, this is the second full-length album the British group pushed out and followed the massive hit that was Sixteen Stone. For Razorblade suitcase, the band brought in Steve Albini, a legendary rock producer who recorded some of my favorite records like Nirvana’s In Utero and Helmet’s Betty.
While it didn’t sell as big as Sixteen Stone or have as many memorable tracks, it has the best sound of any Bush album (though they got progressively worse after this).
The Cure – Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
2016 2xLP issue on black wax via Fiction Records
I’m a bit too young to have been around for The Cure’s heydey, but have grown to appreciate them and their catalog in recent years. That old fart ThomW (RIP) tells me that this record was super hot shit when he was running the yard back in high school, so I choose to believe it to be true. Of the Cure records I’ve gone through, I’d rate this one or Disintegration as my favorite, so I had to have it.
Finding original copies in clean shape has not been affordable (which makes sense as it was originally purchased by chain smoking goth teens who didn’t own tape decks in the 80s). It was reissued a few years back in a limited-run Record Store Day edition that was nearly impossible to score at retail price. Thankfully, Fiction Records and Rhino saw fit to repress that special edition and get some copies back into the wild.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Roots & Herbs
2020 issue on black wax via Blue Note Records (Tone Poet Series)
To make sure folks who hate themselves enough to consistently read these posts don’t think I’m a total drug guy who is stuck in 1995, I often post my jazz pickups. But if we’re being honest, I’m really starting to get into jazz in earnest, which probably means I’m turning into an old fart. Being old and farting aside, being good at drumming is cool no matter what genre or decade you are talking about. Art Blakey is handy with the sticks and this LP is forty minutes of aural bliss.
The Tone Poet Series from Blue Note records aims to reissue some of the most legendary releases from the label’s 80-year history making use of the best mastering facilities and engineers available without charging typical audiophile release prices. Eagle-eyed shoppers can score these Tone Poet records for under $20 most of the time and all of them I’ve tried have been outstanding. If you see the hyper sticker with the blue Tone Poet label while at the record store, know that even if you end up disliking the record, some nerd audiophile will be willing to pay to take it off your hands.
Grinderman – Grinderman
2018 issue on bright green wax via Mute/BMG
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds own. Grinderman is a side project that sees those fellas dump out sweet albums under a different name. This loud, bluesy record first came out in 2007 and features a hella cool jacket with a green monkey. More than a decade later, the vinyl edition got a new issue pressed onto green wax that resembles said monkey. Obviously this was a no-brainer for me. If you like Nick Cave or are a fan of rock that may be a bit off the beaten path, this is one to look out for. I really love the second Grinderman album, but finding an affordable copy has not proven easy.
Lowrider – Refractions
2020 issue on translucent red wax via Blues Funeral Recordings
Lowrider hail from Sweden and are considered to be legends of stoner rock and metal on the back of their only release, 2000’s Ode to Lo. Some twenty years later, the boy are back with an all-new album called Refractions. Just listening to it, you wouldn’t think that these guys had been on a twenty year hiatus. Like Ode to Lo, this thing rips and is a must-listen for all stoner/desert/doom fans who worship at the altar of Kyuss/Sleep/Sabbath/etc. I’m not sure how Sweden continues to produce sweet desert rock bands every three months, but I’m glad to be living in this particular Marvel cinematic universe timeline where it is possible. Also shout out to Greece, who is also churning out wild shit at breakneck speed (and some of those records will be making an appearance in future editions of this blog).
Anyway, thanks for stopping by for my livejournal and I hope to see you next time when I share more dumb shit that I shouldn't have bought!
