Month: April 2021

On the evening of listening to this it was International Jazz Day, so it felt appropriate to throw down on a record that I hadn’t listened to, nor that I’d added to Discogs. Primitivo lights the side off with some exceptional Jazz Flute, I felt more at home with Jessica’s Day, and especially Unit 7, which is my pick for Side A. I did like the overall sound of this record and appreciate what it is for a recording from the 80s in more a traditional 50s and 60s sound. I love jazz and will always have time and space for wherever it goes and whatever it sounds like.

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I can remember a cousin of mine being a big fan of Cameo in the late 80s. I just didn’t get it, and I don’t think it’s aged very well. The silly vocals, guitar solos, whistling sounds. Yeah, Cameo didn’t age well. I did find a track on Side A that I almost liked, Back and Forth, but then there’s a guitar solo somewhere in the last third of this track, which is about 1/3rd longer than it should have been anyway.

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I remember getting this album in 2007 and just wondering what in the world it was, where it had come from, and if there was more of it. As it happened, there was more, as Burial’s self-titled album was still making waves when it’s successor came along and stomped again into the scene. This still makes me shake my head when I listen to it and it feels like an old, musty wool blanket that’s so soft, but delightfully imperfect. Worthless, but priceless.

Side B has the wonderful Homeless, which bangs in the best two-step way possible, but Shell of Light just floors me every time because it does what Burial does best: more with less. Fantastic.

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This is a neat, 6xLP set that covers a few decades of Jazz classics from Robert Johnson to John Coltrane and everything in between. The discs are pretty well packed, however, and the recordings are pretty clean but many of the earlier ones are mono, which isn’t a surprise. I picked Side D as it seemed very promising, and indeed it was. The track The Man I Love, a Gershwin tune, performed by the Coleman Hawkins Quartet, really stood out to me in many ways. I especially loved the solo performances by the bass and horn. This is a collection I need to experience front-to-back one of these evenings.

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This is a neat little EP with three tracks on one side and three remixes on the other. All of the Side A tracks are top notch, and it was really very difficult to pick between them. They’re so familiar and beloved by me that it’s picking which kid gets the donut with sprinkles, and Rained the Whole Time was that kid. It fits everything I love about this era of Shlohmo’s work, and of artists in a similar vein who were making woozy music. This EP may also be mostly responsible for Fluid, my first solo channel on SomaFM.

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I’ve been a fan of Lusine’s sound for a long time but this was one of the first chances I had to pick of vinyl, so I took advantage of it. It’s a 45RPM speed, four sides, and I picked Side D, as it’s usually unloved. I wasn’t disapppointed one bit and the track Flyway has almost all of the characteristics I love in his tracks, save for vocals. A really fantastic cut.

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This is an unusual one for a few reasons. The first is that it’s a single, arguably one of the best 80s tracks ever made, but the B-side has a track that also came up in YouTube right after it. It’s a 45RPM single, which isn’t uncommon, but is of note. This is also a promotional copy, probably from a radio station. Someone’s Calling is that B-side track that I really quite like and while it sounded familiar, the name didn’t. Good cut.

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Discogs calls this “synth-pop” and I agree, a little, but it has so many triplets that there should be a trap note in there somewhere. Another of my late friend Carl’s collection, this one always intrigues me for a few reasons. The song titles are mostly compound words. The singer is very well mixed in but her range is in fixed notes. So. Many Triplets. Lots of synths done pretty well. It’s like Sylvan Esso, but a little earlier and not as good.

Side B was my pick because I’d heard it less, but I was surprised after listening to Saltkin and then finding it was produced by Jon Hopkins, who I am familiar with. It really sounded better produced, and more coherent, but without sounding different. It was my pick of the side amongst some other pretty neat tracks.

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This is one of a very few reggae records I’ve picked up over the years, but it’s certainly an interesting one that I really enjoyed listening to. Side A is full of nine tracks and it was a bit tricky to pick from, but the final track on the side, the only instrumental, really felt the best. Soulful Mood capped off a really fun listen. Notable mentions to Trust the Book and Man A Wall also.

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A neat little EP on white vinyl, this is one of a handful of records that I got from KWCR over the years, whether directly or indirectly. I picked it partially because I’m pretty sure I’d never listened to it, but knew a little bit about the band. It’s a nice blend of pop rock and electro, so Side A’s Found Out was what I expected and was pretty nice to listen to. Simple. Easy.

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