Czarface New Vinyl Thursday

It’s Czarface New Vinyl Thursday at The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven. Check out this week’s list of new vinyl arrivals:

A Tribe Called Quest- People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm (25th Anniversary Edition)

Weekly Review:

The Native Tongues movement – a combination of soul and jazz samples with conscious and introspective lyrics – was already underway when A Tribe Called Quest dropped their 1990 debut, but the impact of that album not only solidified the movement, but laid the groundwork that artists continue to follow today. It’s not hard to draw a line from People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm to J Dilla, Mos Def, Common, the Clipse and even Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

What makes Travels and Rhythm so groundbreaking isn’t just that Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad tackle issues that still resonate today, such as police brutality, eating healthy and sexually transmitted disease, but that they handle these topics without sounding like a public service announcement. In other words, Tribe makes sure the listener can nod along to both the beat and the message.

Mixed among the conscious numbers are less weighty songs that shine just as bright, including the story/song “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo” and love song “Bonita Applebum.” Today, Muhammad is best known for his incredible Jazz is Dead series with Adrian Younge. Here, he and Q-Tip keep the music bumping with samples from Funkadelic, Lou Reed, Earth Wind and Fire, Donald Byrd and more.

Travels and Rhythms landed on many best-of lists the year it was released and has become even more celebrated in the 30-plus years since its release. It deserves a place in any hip hop, soul, jazz or socially conscious library.- Joel Francis

Billie Eilish- Happier Than Ever

Weekly Review:

It’s been just two years since Billie Eilish’s debut, the uniquely untamed When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, but a lot has happened in that time. Global pandemic aside, Billie Eilish became an adult, and while the idiosyncrasies of her teenage self are still present, she’s spent a lot of time self-reflecting on fame, and the pressures of a public life. This all lends itself to the deceivingly subdued Happier Than Ever, a sophomore effort that strikes a balance between sarcasm and self-awareness, combining the vintage tones of her idols (Amy Winehouse, Frank Sinatra) with the futuristic pop landscape of the day. While the songs move at a mid-tempo pace, a run like “Billie Bossa Nova,” “my future,” and “Oxytocin” finds the singer-songwriter never attempting the same style twice, from the Latin groove of the first to the primal, Nine Inch Nails-esque electronica of the last. While lacking the immediacy of her debut, the growth on an album like Happier Than Ever is self-evident; all it requires of listeners is a fair shake. Join the team at the final underground for this and all your other holiday shopping needs.- Albert Schmurr

Billie Eilish- When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?

Billy F Gibbons- Hardware

Billy Preston- 16 Yr Old Soul

Weekly Review:

True to its title, soul singer and organist Billy Preston was just 16 years old when this all-instrumental set was recorded.

Album opener “Greazee” sounds like a lost Booker T. and the MGs cut, with Preston getting fine assistance from drummer Earl Palmer and guitarist Gene Edwards. “Lost and Lookin’” finds Preston on the piano playing a melody somewhere between gospel and jazz. Covers of “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” and “Bring It on Home to Me” don’t add much to the original versions, but reveal a depth in Preston’s playing that feels much older than 16 years.

By the time of this 1963 album, Preston had already been a member of Little Richard’s band and played on Sam Cooke’s Night Beat album. By the end of the decade, Preston would add time with Ray Charles band and a period sitting in and recording with the Beatles to his resume.

16 Yr. Old Soul displays the seeds of the legend Preston would become and contains some compelling performances. While nothing in Preston’s catalog is as good as the two albums he made on the Beatles’ Apple label in 1969 and ’70, this is a fun record full of promise and more focused than much of the singer’s later releases. – Joel Francis

Black Sabbath- Master Of Reality

Charley Crockett- Music City Usa

Cherry Glazerr- Apocalipstick

Corinne Bailey Rae- Corinne Bailey Rae

Curtis Mayfield- There’s No Place Like America

Weekly Review:

The cover of soul legend Curtis Mayfield’s sixth studio album depicts a White family smiling at a cheerful future on a billboard, while a line of poor, Black Americans wait wearily below the sign. 

Across the album’s seven songs, Mayfield sings about gun violence on funky opener “Billy Jack,” poverty on “Hard Times” and resilience in the face of struggling on “Blue Monday People.” Mayfield’s high falsetto is comforting and reassuring on the ballads “So in Love” and “Love to the People.”

There’s No Place Like America Today doesn’t punch as hard as Mayfield’s self-titled solo debut or the Superfly soundtrack, but it has more force and focus than the middling disco-informed albums that followed. Second-tier Mayfield is far from awful, making There’s No Place a worthwhile addition to soul fans who have already devoured the singer’s earlier work.- Joel Francis

Czarface- Czarface Meets Metal Face

Deftones- Ohms

Weekly Review:

Originally debuting in 1995, Deftones still makes a name for themselves over 20 years later. In 2020, they released “Ohms,” keeping longtime fans intrigued and making room for new admirers. 

For a while there, my favorite album of theirs was tied between “Diamond Eyes” and “Saturday Night Wrist,” but after a top to bottom listen of “Ohms,” I’d say it’s tied between “Saturday Night Wrist” and “Ohms.” The reason “Diamond Eyes” was knocked out of the ring upon the release of “Ohms,” is quite simple to me. The fact that they can create something so intricate yet simple and beautiful after over 20 years of creation is spectacular to me. There seems to be a flow throughout the entire record that some of their other work lacks. Deftones can be classified under rock, sure, but after listening to “Ohms” in its entirety, I’d say their newer work falls under nu metal, experimental rock and shoegaze. Some of their other albums such as “Diamond Eyes” reflects this variation as well, but with “Ohms” they really nailed the experimental aspect while still sticking to their roots. 

One of my favorite tracks off this record is, “Pompeji,” for a couple of different reasons. This track is #6 off the album, making for the perfect midpoint for listeners. A lot of artists (and fans for that matter) don’t seem to pay much attention to the core of the album. Most are focused heavily on the intro and outros. Deftones on the other hand does a good job finding and combining elements to make for the perfect midpoint. Another reason I really like this song above others is due to the variation. It sways between chaos and symphony instrumentally and vocally, making for a captivating listen. 

Overall I think this album is one of their best pieces of work and I’d recommend it to just about anyone that enjoys an interesting listening experience. -Nova Stebbin. 

Descendents- 9th & Walnut

Donald Byrd – Places and Spaces

Weekly Review:

When it comes to Jazz trumpeters few could match Donald Byrd’s career when it comes to longevity.  Born in 1932, while still in high school,  Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II was noted to have already performed with legendary vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. 

Unlike another more famous jazz trumpeter, Miles Davis, who’s career at times he appeared to shadow, Byrd’s works as an academic and a mentor would be as important to his legacy as his albums. 

Where Davis was clearly the center of his own universe (perhaps Jazz’s first true rock star), Byrd was the elder statesmen, always willing to take a young upstart under his wing, as he did with a young piano player by the name of Herbie Hancock when he gave him his first gig at Blue Note performing on Byrd’s 1961 album Royal Flush. 

As Hancock puts it: 

“He was the first person to let me be a permanent member of an internationally known band. He has always nurtured and encouraged young musicians. He’s a born educator, it seems to be in his blood, and he really tried to encourage the development of creativity.”

Throughout his long and illustrious career Byrd would work with some of the true legends of including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk

In the mid seventies he was one of the rare early Bebop artists that was able to successfully branch out into other forms of funk and even disco. His most successful effort in that period was his 1966 Blue Note release “Places and Spaces. ” Lucky for us Blue Note has just reissued “Places and Spaces” remastered from the original analog tapes.

Unlike the dark sonic exploratory missions of Davis, Byrd focused on the the upside of popular culture and in between trumpet runs, he wasn’t afraid to sing a bar or two. “Places and Spaces” opens with the reflective disco inspired track “Change (Makes You Want To Hustle).” 

Byrd waxes over a groove that would not be out of place on an Earth, Wind, and Fire record: 

Things just rearrange

ChangeStrange

Nothing stays the same

Change

Makes you want to hustle”

The Songs: “Wind Parade,” “Dominoes,” and “Places and Spaces,” have all been sampled heavily by hip-hop artists. Many even attribute early sampling of Byrd’s songs as integral to the early development of the genre of Acid Jazz. 

Places and Spaces is the fifth of a number of albums Byrd produced with the team of brothers Fonce and Larry Mizell. Also know for working with  70’s R& B hit makers like LTD and Taste of Honey, the Misell Brothers were greatly responsible for the sultry, funky sounds if this seminal record in Jazz history. 

– Major Matt

Doug Carn- Adam’s Apple

Duke Pearson- Merry Ole Soul

Eddie Hazel- Game, Dames And Guitar Thangs

Genesis- The Last Domino?

Weekly Review:

Compiling a retrospective collection for Genesis is never an easy task. The band’s sound (and popularity) changed a lot over its 28 years as a recording entity. The Last Domino? is constructed roughly like the setlist for the tour of the same name, which the band says will be their last.

This 26-song collection goes heavy on the band’s hit-laden albums Genesis (released in 1983), Invisible Touch (1986) and We Can’t Dance (1991). Nearly all the singles from these albums are represented here, comprising half of the set’s total tracks. That’s good news if you like the lighter, ‘80s poppier songs.

Fans of the band’s more progressive days from the 1970s aren’t ignored, however. The third and fourth LPs contain the biggest songs from Peter Gabriel’s tenure with the group, including “The Carpet Crawlers,” “The Musical Box” and “Firth of Fifth.”

Genesis have received several different compilations over the years and there’s no unreleased material here as bait for collectors. Furthermore, Genesis albums from the 1980s (all quite good) can be found at reasonable prices in the used album bins. For a curious fan with deep pockets, this remastered collection is a good primer. Otherwise, start with Invisible Touch, Genesis or the underrated Duke.- Joel Francis

Glass Animals- Dreamland

Glass Animals- How To Be A Human Being

Jimi Hendrix- Are You Experienced

Kanye West- College Dropout

Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin 1

Liam Kazar- Due North

Miles Davis –  Live- Evil

Weekly Review:

One of the more promising RSD Black Friday releases in 2021 was the colored vinyl reissue of the 1971  Miles Davis album “Live- Evil.”

The album consists of a combination of  live and studio tracks, the former taken from a gig at the Washington, DC club The Cellar Door on December 19, 1970 and the latter taken from sessions that took place in Columbia Studios in New York City on the 3rd & 4th of June early that same year. 

The first track “Sivad” (Davis backwards) from the Cellar Door gig, is a plodding, funky exploration featuring some fantastic keyboard playing by Keith Jarrett as well as Gary Bartz on soprano and alto saxophone. It also features some truly amazing work by one of my favorite guitar players John McLaughan.  The over 15 minute jam sets the the tone for much that is to come.  

The tracks on Live – Evil fall into two categories for the most part: Longer tripped out jams that center around a simple bass line and usually funk inspired groove and tracks like “Little Church” (also from the Cellar Door gig) a shorter atmospheric piece that finds Davis digging into longer, drawn out tones of his signature muted trumpet sound with the use of effects typically reserved for electric guitar or rock studio production  like reverb and delay.  

“Live- Evil” was originally conceived to be a spiritual companion to the breakthrough album “Bitches Brew.” But as Davis succinctly puts it the Live- Evil became “something completely different”.

With such a broad scope it’s is difficult to say exactly what the “something” is that Davis is talking about. He offers us a few clues clues. Perhaps one of the most obvious is the amazing album art by French surrealist painter Mati Klarwein. He also painted the cover for “Bitches Brew.”  

Here’s a quote by Klarwein about the motivation behind the cover art for “Live Evil” taken from Davis’s biography “So What.” 

“I was doing the picture of the pregnant woman for the cover and the day I finished, Miles called me up and said, ‘I want a picture of life on one side and evil on the other.’ And all he mentioned was a toad. Then next to me was a copy of Time Magazine which had J. Edgar Hoover on the cover, and he just looked like a toad. I told Miles I found the toad.”

Perhaps more than any other musical art form Jazz has processed the complex relationship between live and recorded music.  The intermingling of live and recorded tracks combined with the album art sends some interesting signals about Davis’s perspective. 

I’m a huge fan of this period in Miles Davis’s career.  Live- Evil falls between the albums “Jack Johnson” and “On The Corner.” If you enjoy this record I would recommend checking those out as well. – Major Matt

Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Nina Simone- Her Ultimate Collection

Weekly Review:

Jazz singer Nina Simone’s ability to inhabit well-known songs gets the spotlight in this 16-song anthology. Her Ultimate Collection finds Simone recontextualizing songs by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, George Harrison and Randy Newman, as well as familiar numbers “My Way” and “Mr. Bojangles.”

Simone’s piano playing on “Just Like a Woman” is nearly as enthralling as her vocals. She inhabits “Suzanne” like the character was a close friend. “Here Comes the Sun” becomes a delicate hymn in her hands.

Lesser-known songs such as the playful “Ain’t Got No – I Got Life” and sensual “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl” are just as engaging as the big numbers.

There are a few Simone originals mixed in as well. “Revolution” details the endeavor for equal rights. “It’s not as simple as talkin’ jive,” Simone sings, “the daily struggle just to stay alive.” The closing song, “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” is Simone’s best-known composition. This hope-filled anthem covered by Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin, among others.

While Her Ultimate Collection doesn’t quite live up to the billing. The compilation sticks to Simone’s time on RCA and draws mainly from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. A true ultimate Simone collection needs to include earlier material from her stint on Verve and more protest songs. Despite these shortcomings, as a single-LP introduction, this is a fine place to begin.- Joel Francis

Norah Jones- I Dream Of Christmas

Olivia Rodrigo- Sour

Panic! At the Disco- Death of a Bachelor

Weekly Review:

Panic! At the Disco has been a hit ever since their song “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” debuted in 2005. Fast forward 11 years and 3 albums later, Panic! At the Disco still does a fantastic job bringing something new to the table, keeping fans satisfied. 

“Death of a Bachelor,” debuted in 2016, bringing with it the most popular song off this album (and their discography), “Death of a Bachelor.” This song is track #5 off the album, leaving room for tracks 1-4 to introduce the album with cheer, and a cacophony of interesting new sounds from Panic! 

One of my favorite songs off the album has to be, “Golden Days,” track #8. I personally find the chord progression in conjunction with the harmonies really interesting and attention grabbing. This is also one of the more explosive songs off the album. The verse flows beautifully into the bridge that seamlessly bleeds into the chorus as it builds and gets louder and louder. This song reminds me of, well, golden days. It took me down a road of nostalgia and left me with an optimistic perspective of the future; all around a feel good track.

Another favorite is, “Death of a Bachelor,” for obvious reasons to anyone who’s heard it. Brendon Urie’s range in this song is insane- I can’t even hit those notes. On top of admiration for Brendon’s vocals, the instrumentals in this track are smooth and well pieced together. With hints of jazz, pop, and R&B, it makes for an interesting, intriguing listen. 

Most often than not, artists will either try too hard to be different and end up ruining their name, or they struggle to create something different that separates themselves from others. Panic! At the Disco really nailed this album, because they not only brought something new to the table, but they made it flow with their other work. I personally love this album for many reasons and I highly recommend listening to it. -Nova Stebbin

Pink Floyd- The Dark Side Of The Moon

Weekly Review:

Pink Floyd is a master of musical storytelling, and perhaps their collaborative magnum opus is Dark Side of the Moon. The recording sessions were perhaps the most creative and masterfully polished of Pink Floyd’s many years of excellent musical creation. Preceding the height of Roger Waters’ narcissism with The Wall, where he pushed the other band members out of songwriting for the album, with the Dark Side of the Moon his genius songwriting skill was still met with the genius of David Gilmour and collaborative skill of fellow bandmates Nick Mason and Richard Wright. Not only did it reach the height of Pink Floyd’s skill and collaborative ability, but Dark Side also had the luck (or fate, or whatever you want to call it) of being engineered and produced by none other than Alan Parsons, perhaps one of the greatest sound engineers of all time, whose work both as a solo artist with the Alan Parsons Project and as an engineer on others’ albums such as The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Let it Be, and Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat, has inspired generations of sound engineers to come, and whose credits include multiple of my favorite albums of all time, including Dark Side. This culmination of songwriting and producing knowledge and talent shows in the composition and aura of this album which often seems to reach beyond music. Sometimes while listening to this album I feel more like I’m watching a play or movie, or swimming in a pool, or simply existing. The first time I listened to this album was while away at a summer academy in the middle of nowhere at 14 years of age. I listened to it while painting one day and ended up listening again and again until I had listened to it at least a couple times every day for the entire length of the academy, every time getting so lost in the music I would forget anything else was going on around me, and almost become one with it and with whatever painting or other project I was working on at the time of listening. I won’t bother pointing out specific songs within the album as being highlights of its listening experience, as the album is so well crafted, every song plays into the others to the point that without one the whole album would be off balance, like a perfectly placed stone archway where every stone is equally supportive, and each and every song in the album could be equally considered a masterpiece on its own. If you do not already have this album in your record collection, it is a must-have above almost all others, no matter your music taste, I have it in good confidence that you will enjoy Dark Side of the Moon if you enjoy music.- Josh Wilson

Pink Floyd- The Division Bell

Porcupine Tree- Deadwing

R.E.M.- New Adventures in Hi Fi

Weekly Review:

The 10th album from Georgia music titans R.E.M. is a bit of an outlier in their catalog. It doesn’t fit with their college rock masterpieces of the ‘80s, celebrated acoustic albums of the early ‘90s or roaring guitar rock of Monster, the album that preceded Hi-Fi.

Recorded mainly at soundchecks, in dressing rooms and other stops along the massive Monster tour, New Adventures in Hi-Fi bears the scars of life on the road and stardom. Song titles – “Leave,” “Departure” – arrangements or lyrics, all point to a band in motion and close to exhaustion. Michael Stipe sounds both frazzled and frustrated on lead single “E-Bow the Letter” singing “This fame thing, I don’t get it.” On “Bittersweet Me” he confesses “I’d sooner chew my leg off/than be trapped in this.”

Musically, Hi-Fi sounds like a band killing time before showtime (as on the brief instrumental “Zither”), dropping a bombastic show-stopper (“So Fast, So Numb” is just one of many great rockers here) or engaging in the infectious introspection that drove previous singles up the charts (“E-Bow the Letter, “Electrolite”).

New Adventures in Hi-Fi covers a lot of territory, but it holds together surprisingly well. Despite being worn out by the rigors of the road, R.E.M. sound urgent and engaged in their performances. Although not as widely celebrated as other releases, Hi-Fi is a sleeper entry in the band’s Top 5 albums.- Joel Francis

Robert Plant- Raise The Roof

Weekly Review:

It seems a lifetimes ago that Plant and Krauss released their six-Grammy-winning album of duets, Raising Sand (2007). That year, the first iPhone came out. This long-awaited second instalment of covers is a dose of musical reassurance that, despite the turmoil in which we find ourselves, some things remain constant. Roots music and rhythm and blues have always played a long game in matters of the human condition.

What worked as a treat then continues to work now: Plant dialled down to a sultry croon at times and at other times rasping outward with a yearning kind of blue-eyed soul, Krauss’s country tones alternately balance while contrasting are frisky yet timeworn. The production really adds a wonderful layer that pulls the listener in with a  superlative band creating nuanced tension discreetly, as required.
The whole collection of burnished, lesser-known gems is a great installment and a great pickup from the team at The Vinyl Underground.
Albert Schmurr

Samantha Fish- Kill Or Be Kind

Steve Earle & the Dukes- J.T.

Sting- The Bridge

Weekly Review:

After collaborating with reggae artist Shaggy and reworking his old material, Sting finally gets around to delivering his first collection of original solo material in five years. 

Unfortunately, The Bridge is such a safe and predictable album that it hardly ends up mattering. The album is perfectly suited for background music while doing chores around the house or shopping in a department store.

The Bridge’s greatest strength lies in the production. “Loving You” moves off a soft club track. “The Hills on the Border” bears an Irish lilt, while “Harmony Road” boasts a pretty sax solo from Branford Marsalis. Other tracks fare less well. “For Her Love” mimics “The Shape of My Heart” and “If It’s Love” opens with some cheery whistles that could serve as the hook in a lifestyle brand commercial.

Sting develops some interesting lyrics, discussing Jonah and the whale on opening song “Rushing Water” and returning to Biblical stories again on “The Book of Numbers.” Sting’s story on “The Bells of St. Thomas” could be interesting if the music and vocal delivery offered any support. The first-person recount of “The Hills on the Border” fares better.

The biggest problem with The Bridge is that any interesting points it tries to make are buffered out by tempos that all feel the same and a voice that is way too comfortable (and comforting) to deliver anything with urgency or interest. 

At the end of the day, it is hard to know who The Bridge is for. There may be a group of Sting fans who have worn out their copies of 57th and 9th, Sting’s previous original solo release, and are hungry for more midtempo pablum. Everyone else should return to Sting’s more inspired work from the 20th century.- Joel Francis

Sugar- Copper Blue/ Beaster

Sugar- File Under: Easy Listening

U2- Achtung Baby

Weekly Review:

After becoming one of the biggest bands in the world at the end of the 1980s, frontman Bono declared that U2 were going away to “dream it all up again” a few days before the dawn of the 1990s. When the band returned near the end of 1991, the earthy, earnest, organic sounds of The Joshua Tree had been replaced with electronic and industrial elements and glib, sarcastic lyrics.

Most bands would wait until they were no longer riding the wave as top entertainers in the world before reinventing themselves. U2 not only pulled off the feat, but they did so while remaining true to themselves and maintaining their momentum on the charts. Achtung Baby not only topped the charts around the world (including in the United States), but spun of six singles (four of which were Top 40 hits in the U.S.).

Sonically, Achtung Baby put U2 in the company of Depeche Mode and other dark, electro-rockers. The Edge ran his guitar through seemingly every effect known, making his instrument sound like everything but a guitar. Ballads “One” and “Who’s Going to Ride Your Wild Horses” harkened back to the band’s earlier era, while “The Fly,” “Even Better Than the Real Thing” and “Mysterious Ways” pushed the band down a new path they’d wind up exploring for the rest of the decade.- Joel Francis

It’s the thirtieth anniversary of U2’s career redefining album “Achtung Baby,” or as lead singer Bono put it: “”the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree.”  

With their legendary 1987 album “The Joshua Tree,” along with subsequent “Rattle and Hum” tour, concert film, and  live album by the same name, U2 had become one of the biggest rock bands in the world. 

As these things go, with great fame often comes great back-lash. Despite “The Joshua Tree” becoming one of the best selling albums of all time, the band’s romanticized portrait of American culture, along with Bono’s public hi-jinx (including spray painting graffiti on a public art sculpture during a surprise concert in San Francisco) the band was often labeled as pretentious  and  criticized for taking themselves  too seriously. 

Inspired by the recent reunification of Germany, as well as some of the techno and industrial dance music coming out of Berlin at the time, the band decided to set up shop at the famous Hansa Studios in 1990. The Studio was located in an area called Kreuzberg  just 150 meters from the former Berlin Wall.  

Needless to say, things got of to a rocky start. There were divisions in the band about the new direction. Drummer and Bass player, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton were happy with the band the way it had been operating, while guitarist Edge and singer Bono were interested in introducing new sounds and new technology to the bands musical palate.  

Hansa was in disrepair since it’s heyday of recording seminal albums by David Bowie and Iggie Pop in the late 70’s. Producer’s Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois had to ship in equipment just to accommodate the level of quality the band was accustomed to. The location of Hansa’s Studio 2, in a former SS ballroom, added to the general dark vibes of early days of tracking.  

The difficulties reached their peak when Bono and Lanois nearly came to blows while recording the track “Mysterious Ways.”  

As the legend goes Eno would purposefully distance himself from the project, dropping in once a month and employing his “Oblique Strategies” method by juxtaposing random esoteric notes to different mixes. 

The break through would be with the song “One.” The group created the basic structure of the the song through an improvised jam and it seemed to bridge the two burgeoning factions of the band. 

After six months in Berlin the group returned to Dublin for Christmas break and  would complete the album there in the seaside manor Elsinore in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey. The band nicknamed the the house “Dog Town” for the “tackiness” of its exterior dog kennels. 

Here is where Bono would develop his Fly persona, based upon an oversized pair of sunglasses he wore in the studio to lighten the mood. 

Achtung Baby would go on to be a huge success for U2. Bill Wyman from Entertainment Weekly called it a “pristinely produced and surprisingly unpretentious return by one of the most impressive bands in the world”.

It topped critics lists and won the 1992 Grammy for Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group and was nominated for Bast Album of the Year. 

I have to admit that when the album first came out I was resistent to the huge sonic shift. But this reissue sounds fantastic! The intricately layered arrangements are a strong testament to a band not afraid to evolve and explore, even when they had the most to lose.  – Major Matt

Various Artists- Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix 1 (Original Soundtrack)

Wiz Khalifa- Rolling Papers

 

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Shuttlecock Music:

Which records, tapes, and CDs are your favorite local artists buying? On this episode of Record Shopping with Shuttlecock, we head to The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven (7621 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Missouri) with Kansas City-via-Chicago singer-songwriter Liam Kazar to do some digging. Tune in to find out what he copped. Liam Kazar’s debut album, Due North, is out now via Mare/Woodsist and is available at record stores and on all digital streaming platforms. Follow @ShuttlecockMag on social media and visit www.ShuttlecockMusic.com. Grab a t-shirt, button, or magazine from www.ShuttlecockMag.BigCartel.com to support the channel. Make sure to like, subscribe, and share.

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Enjoy the music and we will see you soon. Your loving Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven staff:

Sherman, Gordon, Cat, Matt, Dylan, Doyle, Heather, Dave and Lain