Clara Engel is putting together her new album and she needs our help. If you visit her page on Kapipal Clara will tell you all about it. What I’ll tell you is I love the idea of helping independent artists make records by buying their records.
Ashley Paul
Hidden Face / Leave Mine
Ashley Paul plays guitar, saxophone, clarinet, prepared strings, bells and sings. And it all sounds stark and lovely. 7″ on Emerald Cocoon and part of their Alone Together Series (#2).
Kip Hanrahan
Desire Develops An Edge
First I have to thank Stephen for this wonderful Christmas present and second I have to apologize to Jack Bruce, I just didn’t know. From 1983 released on Kip’s own American Clavé, this is an LP and an EP’s worth of unabashed joy in music making. I’ll let you Google the crap out of all the stuff stuffed into this record but it can feel, at times, like you’re listening to a few great radio stations at once. Jack Bruce’s vocals are killer. Crushingly tasty (sorry, I just didn’t know) and the supporting cast Directed by Kip Hanrahan are equally scrumdiliumcious. Latin, jazz, bossa soul to break your heart and free your mind.
I’m nearly certain Stephen bought this record brand spankin new at Other Music even though its an original from 1983 (just goes to show ya). Maybe they have a few left but my guess is you can find it for a song. And you want this record. No, you really want this record.
Thanks to Stephen for pointing me in this direction. She’s from Jersey, ya know.
Flower Travellin’ Band
Satori
Reissue of the 1st studio album from the Flower Travellin’ Band first released in 1971 on Atlantic in Japan. Joe Yamanaka (vocals, harmonica), Hideki Ishima (guitar), Jun Kozuki (bass guitar, guitar), and Joji “George” Wada (drums). Fans of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Cream (and LSD) who don’t have this and buy it will love it to pieces. Heaviness incarnate.
Philip Glass
Solo Music
During my last visit to PREX which was inspired by Stephen’s convincing argument which went something like – do it – I had the choice of getting 2 LPs for $150 or a whole bagfull. I opted for the latter.
| TOP TEN VINYL ALBUMS | TOP TEN VINYL ARTISTS | ||||
| Title/Artist | Units Sold | Artist | Units Sold | ||
| 1 | Abbey Road/ Beatles | 41,000 | 1 | Radiohead | 64,000 |
| 2 | Helplessness Blues/ Fleet Foxes | 29,700 | 2 | Black Keys | 58,200 |
| 3 | Bon Iver/ Bon Iver | 27,200 | 3 | Bon Iver | 47,100 |
| 4 | Sigh No More/ Mumford & Sons | 26,800 | 4 | Beatles | 43,300 |
| 5 | King Of Limbs/ Radiohead | 20,800 | 5 | Fleet Foxes | 42,600 |
| 6 | 21/ Adele | 16,500 | 6 | Tom Waits | 30,200 |
| 7 | For Emma Forever Ago/ Bon Iver | 16,200 | 7 | Wilco | 30,100 |
| 8 | Whole Love/ Wilco | 14,900 | 8 | Jimi Hendrix | 29,700 |
| 9 | Brothers/ Black Keys | 14,200 | 9 | Bob Dylan | 27,400 |
| 10 | El Camino/ Black Keys | 13,800 | 10 | Nirvana | 27,000 |
| TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS | TOP TEN SELLING ARTISTS | ||||
| Title/Artist | Units Sold | Artist | Units Sold | ||
| 1 | 21/ Adele | 5,824,000 | 1 | Adele | 6,744,000 |
| 2 | Christmas/ Michael Buble | 2,452,000 | 2 | Justin Bieber | 3,393,000 |
| 3 | Born This Way/ Lady Gaga | 2,101,000 | 3 | Michael Buble | 2,985,000 |
| 4 | Tha Carter IV/ Lil’ Wayne | 1,917,000 | 4 | Lady Gaga | 2,828,000 |
| 5 | My Kinda Party/ Jason Aldean | 1,576,000 | 5 | Lil’ Wayne | 2,651,000 |
| 6 | Sigh No More/ Mumford & Sons | 1,420,000 | 6 | Lady Antebellum | 2,180,000 |
| 7 | Take Care/ Drake | 1,247,000 | 7 | Glee Cast | 2,104,000 |
| 8 | Under The Mistletoe/ Justin Bieber | 1,245,000 | 8 | Jason Aldean | 1,884,000 |
| 9 | Watch The Throne/ Jay Z & Kanye West | 1,232,000 | 9 | Taylor Swift | 1,847,000 |
| 10 | Own The Night/ Lady Antebellum | 1,204,000 | 10 | Drake | 1,591,000 |
To the age of the short attention span.
Ilyas Ahmed
With Endless Fire
I loved Ilyas Ahmed’s double LP Between Two Skies / Towards The Night and his Record Store Day split 45 with Steve Gunn and this one sounds even tastier. It also made the Volcanic Tongue Tip Of The Tongue where they call it, “A magical album”. From Immune:
With Endless Fire is presented with the utmost highest production standards – mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk in Portland, OR and cut to vinyl by Roger Seibel at SAE in Phoenix, AZ the album is pressed on high-quality virgin vinyl at RTI and housed in a heavy-duty old-style tip-on gatefold jacket printed by Stoughton. Also included is a free download coupon.
LP is limited to only 1,000 copies
check out the In The Groove Records blog
The world, specifically Raleigh, NC, welcomes a new Record Store! I think I’ll celebrate this evening with a nice cold Dale’s since there’s no better excuse for celebration than a new record store except perhaps actually visiting one and buying records. Twittering Machines reader and now record store proprietor Greg Rollins sent me an email to let me know he’s taking the plunge, “As the following posts show, I have done what many said I shouldn’t. I believe in this…I’m going all in.”
Here are a few articles on the opening:
On Glenwood Avenue, a new, old-fashioned record store for Raleigh, INDYweek.com
In the Groove Records Opens for Vinyl Lovers on Glenwood South, New Raleigh.com
Let’s all wish Greg and In The Groove Records the best of luck. And stop by next time you’re in Raleigh. Road Trip!
In the Groove Records
Specializing in Used LP’s
Buy Sell Trade
14 Glenwood Ave South, Raleigh NC 27603
Suite #22, In the Carter Building
W-F: 11am – 6pm
Sat-Sun: 12pm – 5pm
Remember this picture? I snapped this with my iPhone at the Disney store in DisneyWorld when we were there in November. Turns out Disney pulled this puppy from their shelves when they realized all kinds of shit was wrong with it in Disney World terms (possible copyright infringement issues aside, the Joy Division reference isn’t exactly your standard issue Disney image material). Now its selling for $200+ on eBay.
Winterpills
All My Lovely Goners
For their upcoming release, Winterpills is looking to offer a lovely vinyl-version. Here’s why from the band:
Why vinyl, some of you fans may ask? Aside from the obvious plus in terms of artwork, and arguably the sound, releasing our music on vinyl brings the wispy, ephemeral nature of digital music these days back down to earth in something of real, tangible value. Something to see on a shelf or a table from across a room and it catches your eye. Something you hold in both your hands and open up, and explore, while the music plays. Those that love vinyl already know this; those that have forgotten may like to be reminded; those that have never known are in for a treat. Also, did you know that vinyl sales rose 39% last year – more than any other part of the music business?
If you’d like to help make this happen, go to the Winterpills Kickstarter page and pre-purchase your very own copy. $20 will get you the LP + download, $25 and the band will sign your LP, $50 adds a limited edition silk-screen poster (I happen to know that lead singer/songwriter Philip Price is also an amazing visual artist – don’t you hate people like that?), and it goes up from there which gets you more and more up to and including an in-house performance (within a reasonable distance from where the band calls home).
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (September 25, 1923 – December 26, 2011)
I had it in my head that I’d drive over to see Sam Rivers in Orlando during one of our Florida visits. I never did.
