It’s Tune-Yards New Vinyl Thursday at The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven. Check out this week’s list of new vinyl arrivals:
Anthrax – Sound of White Noise
Airto – Seeds on the Ground -The Natural Sounds of Airto (Limited Edition, Blue Colored Vinyl)
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Black Pumas – Black Pumas (Bonus Tracks, With Bonus 7″, Deluxe Edition, Colored Vinyl)
Binker & Moses – Journey To The Mountain Of Forever (Indie Exclusive)
Brittany Spears – Oops I Did It Again [Picture Disc Vinyl LP, 140 Gram Vinyl, 20th Anniversary Edition]
The Black Crowes – Shake Your Money Maker (2020 Remaster, Deluxe Edition, Remastered)
Carl Perkins – Dance Album of Carl Perkins (Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Charles Mingus – Black Saint & The Sinner Lady [Limited Blue Colored Vinyl]
Charles Mingus – Pithecanthropus Erectus (180 Gram Vinyl, Bonus Track)
Charley Crockett – Lil G.l.’s Blue Bonanza
Charley Crockett – Valley
Chvrches – Love Is Dead
Curtis Mayfield – Roots (Orange Vinyl, Rhino Black History Month)
Cécile McLorin Salvant – Womanchild
Charlie Parker – Bird Of Paradise: Best Of The Dial Masters (Limited Edition, Green 180 Gram Vinyl)
Cats in Space – Atlantis (Limited Edition, Black, Reissue)
Crazy Horse – self-titled
Weekly Review:
Before they were Neil Young’s band de jour, Crazy Horse was an independent ensemble known as the
Rockets. Released in the wake of Young classics Everybody Knows This is Nowhere and After the Gold
Rush, the first Crazy Horse album benefits from the association with Young while showing how strong
the band could be without him.
Thanks to the Young connection, producer Jack Nitzsche and guitarists Ry Cooder and Nils Lofgren bring
some high-profile help. But guitarist and singer Danny Whitten chips in five of the album’s eleven songs.
Whitten’s contributions include the ballad “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” later covered by Rod Stewart
and Rita Coolidge and “(Come on Baby, Let’s Go) Downtown,” which Young liked enough to add to his
concerts at the time.
The other tracks might not be as celebrated, but are a strong set of earthy roots-rock heavy on the
guitar. Then just 19 years old, future E Streeter Lofgren wrote two songs and sang one. Nitzsche had
several co-writing credits and a turn at the mic as well.
Sadly, the first Crazy Horse album was also this line-up’s last. Less than two years after this release,
Whitten died of a heroin overdose. His passing effected Young so profoundly he and the other musicians
here (with the exception of Nitzsche and Cooder) processed it on the dark masterpiece Tonight’s the
Night. More than a footnote, fans of early ‘70s Young will want Crazy Horse in their collection. -Joel Francis
Dan Lacksman – Dan Lacksman (Limited Edition, Green Colored Vinyl)
Dead Moon – What A Way To See The Old Girl Go
The Doors – An American Prayer (180 Gram Vinyl)
The Doors – Strange Days (180 Gram Vinyl, Reissue)
Deftones – Around the Fur (180 Gram Vinyl)
Doja Cat – Hot Pink [150 gram Vinyl, Pink Colored]
David Bowie – Labyrinth Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
David Bowie – Diamond Dogs
Dave Brubeck – Time Out
Editors – Black Gold – Best Of Editors
Electronic System – Vol. II (Yellow Colored Vinyl, Limited Edition)
Electronic System – Tchip Tchip (vol. 3) (Orange Colored Vinyl, Limited Edition)
Evanescence – The Bitter Truth (Clear Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Ella Mai – Ella Mai
The culmination of nearly three years of work, The Freedom Affair’s debut Freedom Is Love on limited edition random color vinyl, is an instant soul classic, on par with some of the best new neo-soul artist like Aaron Frazer and Budos Band it also fits in quite nicely with any classic by The Marvelettes or Martha and the Vandellas.
But this album doesn’t stop there with its impeccable commentary on the classic soul sound. The song One Nation could have been a lost outtake from Sly and the Family Stone.
Colemine Records calls the Album, “Politically Charged Music for the dance floor!” This one is definitely worth a spin at your soon to be Coming Out Of COVID Dance Party! -Matt Roth
I’m a little late to the Fleet Foxes game. I was first exposed to them through the back door of, their drummer, Josh Tillman’s side project Father John Misty.
The latest album by Fleet Foxes: Shore feels a little like waking up the next morning after a Hurricane and realizing that the sun is still shining and the birds are still singing. Fleet Foxes prime creative force Robin Pecknold is quoted as saying he wanted to write an album that would celebrate “life in the face of death.”
There’s quite a bit of water imagery throughout Shore, not to mention the title itself. In dream analysis water typically represents the unconscious places our minds go. It can also represent birth and change.
This is a good one to just sit back and let wash over you! – Matt Roth
band have played a sort of progressive folk-pop, reminiscent of much older bands like
Crosby Stills & Nash or maybe, at times, Fairport Convention. Digitally released six months
ago on the autumnal equinox, Shore is finally being released the week of the vernal equinox.
The timing is no coincidence; much has been made in interviews and press about the album
about how it’s a celebration of life amid death.
The studio band gives the songs plenty of breathing room, allowing for flourishes with an
occasional piano loop, odd meter, modulation, or brass arrangement. Daniel Rossen and
Christopher Bear from Grizzly Bear add a lot to the album (and, at times, it almost feels like
it could be a Grizzly Bear side project). It’s less folk than the earlier Fleet Foxes records and
a little more of the chamber pop of Crack-Up, featuring elegant, pristine production with
stacked harmonies.
Perhaps Pecknold is a little heavy-handed at the beginning of the record with “Sunblind,” as
he enumerates many artists who he has found to be inspirational who have also passed on.
The gesture seems a little unnecessary as the presence of Richard Swift and Arthur Russell,
two of the musicians he mentions by name, is felt throughout the album. It’s a small
misstep, though, as the album seems to start in earnest with the third song and Pecknold
spends the next 13 songs exploring topics of water, emotions, and the passing of time.
There is some weighty, yet optimistic content here to reward the listener. Maybe it’s
because the record was recorded during the pandemic or maybe it’s just the overall pacing
of the album (or both), but when Pecknold sings about making peace with himself it seems
sincere. Perhaps it’s even an invitation for the listener to do so, as well? The album’s timely
encouragement continues with “I’m Not My Season,” as he states his thesis concerning the
celebration of life amidst death more plainly, “You’re not the season you’re in.”
Shore, the fourth album in 13 years under the band’s name, is a treat to be enjoyed with
headphones or to fill an entire room. As Pecknold’s artistic development continues, so do
his budgets and ability to create ornate, intricate albums like this. His attention to detail,
whether with sounds or with lyrics that paint a similarly detailed picture, is what will
repeatedly bring listeners back to the album. -Jonathon Smith
Goat Girls – On All Fours
Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction
Greta Van Fleet – From The Fires
Glass Animals – Zaba
Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a Man
The Hold Steady – Open Door Policy
John Coltrane – My Favorite Things
John Coltrane – Lush Life
John Coltrane – Blue Train (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Japan – Quiet Life (Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl, Red)
Jon Batiste – Anatomy Of Angels: Live At The Village Vanguard
Jon Batiste – Hollywood Africans
Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over the Country Club
Weekly Review:
On the Marvel Comics television show Wandavision, the Scarlet Witch creates an idyllic, white-picket-
fence suburban community to escape the traumas of her past.
Pop songstress Lana Del Rey may not be running from the same ordeals, but has built a career out of
constructing a similar utopia, then flipping it sideways. In the video for the title track of her sixth album,
Del Rey and her friends dress like ultra-wealthy, waspy housewives. As the group reenacts scenes that
seem drawn from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, Del Rey sings “I’m not unhinged or unhappy/I’m still so
strange and wild.” Everything feels painfully staid and predictable until night comes and the women all
turn into sexy werewolves.
Chemtrails Over the Country Club, the album, follows a similar route. Torch songs sung in a high voice
loaded with pop culture references and thinly veiled innuendos as to what will happen next should the
boy be lucky enough to end up with the singer.
On “White Dress,” the first song, Del Rey sings alone in a register so high her voice is barely above a
whisper. She rhymes waitress with white dress, name-checks the White Stripes and gushes about being
seen at the Men in Music conference.
By the end of the album, Del Rey, Weyes Blood and Zella Day trade verses on a cover of Joni Mitchell’s
“So Free,” a song about a street musician who pours his soul into playing for himself, not money or
adulation.
The gradual transformations across Chemtrails are what makes it such a fascinating listen. At first it
seems like Del Rey is giving you the same thing all over again, but somehow the two of you are in
another place, unsure how you got there, compelled to take the voyage again. -Joel Francis
Leonard Cohen – Songs of Love and Hate
Leonard Cohen – Dear Heather
Leonard Cohen – Leonard Cohen Greatest Hits
Loretta Lynn – Still Woman Enough
Weekly Review:
Country music icon and feminist hero Loretta Lynn never really disappeared, but the four albums she’s
released in the last five years feel like a comeback. The latest of these, Still Woman Enough, tweaks the
title of Lynn’s 1966 release You Ain’t Woman Enough and has the same warmth and aesthetic that have
marked all of Lynn’s albums since 2016’s Full Circle.
Still Woman Enough celebrates women in country music and winds up being a nice summary of Lynn’s
enduring legacy as well. New versions of chestnuts “Honky Tonk Girl,” “One’s in the Way” and “I Wanna
Be Free” rub shoulders with tributes to the Carter Family a Stephen Foster cover and spoken-word
version of “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Guests Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker, Carrie Underwood and Margo
Price help out along the way, bringing the concept full circle.
Lynn is 88 years old and suffered a stroke a few years ago, but you wouldn’t know it here. The
performances are spirited and engaging and at 35 minutes the album doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Still
Woman Enough isn’t Lynn’s best album, but it is a worthwhile addition to her considerable legacy and
reminder why she has been – and continues to be – a vital voice in country music. -Joel Francis
Weekly Review#2:
I first learned about Loretta Lynn from the 1980 film Cole Miners Daughter starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones. I was honestly not much of a country fan but I recall my sister and I loving to quote various lines from the film. Her life story is truly the stuff of legend.
In 1980 I wasn’t old enough to understand the complexity of her music and the true feat of what she had accomplished as an artist and a woman in Country music. This new one is great bridge to the past of some of her greatest hits!
Her latest studio album: Still Woman Enough (her fiftieth to be exact) doesn’t cover a lot of new ground but the title track, featuring guest vocals by Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood is almost with the price of admission alone.
Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash keep the production minimal which allows us to appreciate how well Lynn’s voice has not just held up but seasoned through the the years with a slightly shorter, more confident cadence.
For me the weight and impact of this one harkens back, slightly, to the massively successful American Recordings of the early 90’s that kickstarted the final chapter of the legendary Johnny Cash.
This albums version of Keep On the Sunny Side is going on my next Return From COVID mixtape for shizza! – Matt Roth
Madlib – Sound Ancestors
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew [140 gram VInyl]
Miles Davis – We Want Miles
Mac Miller – Swimming In Circles (Deluxe Box Set)
Nirvana – In Utero
Nirvana – Nirvana
Neil Young – Young Shakespeare (Deluxe Edition & Standard)
Orville Peck – Pony
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary Of A Madman (Picture Disc Vinyl LP, Remastered)
Panic! At the Disco – Death Of A Bachelor (Silver Colored Vinyl, Anniversary Edition)
Prince – Purple Rain (180 Gram Vinyl, Remastered)
Paul Stanley’s Soul Station – NOW AND THEN
Philly Joe Jones – Blues For Dracula
Paladin – Charge [180 gram Vinyl]
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound (180 Gram Vinyl)
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Pink Floyd – Animals
Pink Floyd – Meddle
Rage Against the Machine – The Battle Of Los Angeles
The Raveonettes – Chain Gang Of Love [180 gram Vinyl]
Rival Sons – Rival Sons
Roland Haynes – Second Wave (Remastered Vinyl Edition)
Richard Buckner – Bloomed
Sonny Rollins – Way Out West (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Sunny War – Simple Syrup (Blue & Red Split Color Vinyl)
Silke Eberhard, Nikolaus Neuser And Talibam – This Week Is in Two Week
Smith/Kotzen – Smith/Kotzen(Red, Black, Smoke Colored Vinyl)
Steve Earle – Townes: The Basics
Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
Steve Earle & the Dukes – J.T.
Weekly Review:
Veteran singer-songwriter Steve Earle has never been shy about applauding his heroes. In the past, Earle
has recorded albums dedicated to the work of Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. But Earle took these
tributes to another level when he announced his plan to record an album of son Justin Townes Earle’s
songs just months after his son’s passing.
Released on Justin’s birthday, J.T. contains 10 of the younger Earle’s best songs drawn from across his
eight-album, 12-year career. The nature of the project adds considerable heft to the performances, but
Earle and his group deliver mostly straightforward performances of songs about love, loneliness and
wrestling with demons. In other words, the core elements that make all of us human.
Given all this, the songs are surprisingly upbeat and jaunty. There are several moments I found myself
caught up in the song, tapping along to the rhythm only to be ambushed by a lyric like “Well I tried so
hard and now my will is breaking’/Baby even more I still love you” (from “Maria”).
Justin’s songs are a preamble to “Last Words,” the closing track. Here Earle tries to put words to an
unspeakable grief and winds up with a song even more affecting than his oft-covered “Goodbye.” It is
impossible to listen to “Last Words” without being moved. J.T. will never be background music, but is an
essential collection of great songwriting and what it means to be – and feel – human. -Joel Francis
Slowdive – Souvlaki [180 gram vinyl]
Spoon – Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon
Weekly Review:
Texas indie-rockers Spoon had the unenviable task of distilling the best moments from their 25-year,
nine-album career onto a single platter. This job would have been easier if Spoon had a bevy of radio
hits or their albums weren’t so reliably stellar and consistent.
Freed from these constraints, Britt Daniel and Jim Eno, the soul of Spoon since the start, were free to
assemble the compilation as they saw fit. Everything Hits at Once contains most of the band’s songs that
got some airplay or popped up in movies or TV shows, but there are also several deep cuts.
Everything Hits at Once skips the band’s first two albums and leans heavily on the five albums released
between 2001 and 2010. Fans can quibble over omissions, but its hard to deny this condensed capsule.
From the minimalist groove of “I Turn My Camera On” that opens the set to the obligatory new song
that closes it (an honestly great song), Everything Hits establishes Spoon as an underrated and
underappreciated band.
The biggest problem with Everything Hits at Once is that it can’t contain everything. It’s too bad All the
Weird Kids Up Front, a companion collection, was a limited Record Store Day release. A double album
with both volumes would ben an almost perfect primer. As it stands, newcomers and causal fans will still
find much to love. -Joel Francis
Tune-Yards – Sketchy. (Blue Colored Vinyl, Indie Exclusive)
Thollem / Parker / Cline – Gowanus Sessions II
Tom Petty – Wildflowers and All the Rest
Thelonious Monk & Art Blakey – Blue Monk (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Thin Lizzy – Nightlife (180 Gram Vinyl)
Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds Of The Western World
Timothy Leary – Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl)
Valerie June – The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers
Weekly Review:
Despite its confident title, the third album from Memphis soul singer and songwriter Valerie June carries
a heavy load. She’s weighing lost relationships and dealing with grief and acceptance, which makes for
an empathetic – and sumptuous – listen.
Opening track “Stay” opens with a gospel/soul piano line delivered with a bit of Beale Street asphalt
before blossoming into a lush orchestral arrangement complete with flutes and tympani. “I don’t know
how long I’ll stay,” June sings. Uncertainty never sounded this luxurious.
“Stay” is buffered by a nearly one-minute orchestral interlude before the acapella opening of “You and
I.” These moments let the listener pause, take stock and regroup before the next song. “You and I”
alternates between a cousin of doo wop in the intro to gently strummed guitar on the bridge to an
almost African drum part that feels even more tribal once the horns join in.
Thanks to production from Jack Splash, who has also worked with Solange, Alicia Keys and Kendrick
Lamar, The Moon and Stars is a stately listen, but it never stays in one place for too long. On “Call Me a
Fool,” another stand-out track, soul legend Carla Thomas lends backing vocals.
This is only June’s third album of the past decade. The care and time she invests in letting her ideas
marinate until they can be expressed properly is evident through the album. Fans will flourish among
The Moon and Stars while June’s next round of songs germinate. -Joel Francis
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
Various – Singles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Willie Nelson – That’s Life
The Who – Who’s Next
Weezer – Weezer (Blue Album)
Wes Montgomery – Groove Yard (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)
FLASH SALE!
50% OFF Any 1 Drive By Truckers LP – Thursday, March 25th ONLY!
Turntables! We got ’em. From starter tables to audiophile, and everything in between, we have you covered. We are honored to once again be carrying a full line up of the award winning, top of their class, made in America, U-turn Orbits! We have all the colors- including the high performance walnut and maple. Get here fast for best selection. Get yours today!
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Here’s where we talk about the virus. We are all freaked out. We are all nervous and anxious. We are OPEN. If you want to come shop in person put on your mask and we will say hello, give you a virtual high five- a virtual hug if we know you that well- and we will keep our distance. We love all of our customers and are glad to keep this little bit of normalcy in these crazy times. With that being said, we will also offer various other ways to get your vinyl fix. We have always shipped music and we will continue to do so. We also offer curbside pick up. Call us, pay, call us when you are outside and we will deliver your freshly sanitized purchase to your car.
Thanks for reading this week’s Tune-Yards New Vinyl Thursday post! Mention that you did before you check out and we will take 20% off of ANY one item in the store! Offer good through 3/31/21.
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 Max
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