Indie Vinyl

Califone "All of My Friends are Funeral Singers" LP

2009-12-15T10:12:34Z

Perhaps one notch willfully odder than, say, Yo La Tengo, Chicago's Califone have always had an organic, wooden, or "natual" feel to their music. Their newest, All of My Friends are Funeral Singers, is even more so than their five previous albums. A song like "Salt" is positively rootsy. The interesting production has strange sounds popping out everywhere. The cover art matches the record perfectly. And you've got to love a band named after a record player. One of 2009's best, on the Dead Oceans label.

William Elliott Whitmore "Animals in the Dark" LP

2009-11-15T10:11:33Z

I did a fair amount of traveling the roads of the Midwest on my old job; it is the thing I miss most about those 12 years. A favorite hidden spot I loved to travel through was along the Mississippi River between Burlington, Iowa & Hannibal, Missouri. There were no four-lane highways there when I started my regular trips from St Paul to St Louis. Nowadays there is, it's called The Avenue of The Saints, connecting the two saintly burgs. An old customer of mine (still a dear friend) in Cedar Falls hipped me to the new highway, which is really a collection of different roads that makes the most direct route between the two cities.The 50-cent toll bridge over The Des Moines River at that little pointy corner of extreme Southeast Iowa seemed from a different time. The lack of tourists made this area a secret. The natural beauty of the river & surrounding terrain always seemed magical, especially at twilight, which it always seemed to be when I drove this stretch. Add to that the earthy feel of Keokuk, the stateliness of Quincy, Ill, and the mystique of Hannibal, I savored this journey, and long for it today.

This is the land William Elliott Whitmore is from. His family is a large cadre of outlaws & artists known for throwing some of the biggest & wildest parties in South East Iowa. They really know how to live. His songs reflect his home.

His new LP, Animals in the Dark, is out on the Anti label, home to some other modern-day larger-than-life characters like Tom Waits & Neko Case. Perfect company. William sings like a man at least 30 years his senior, and his voice sounds so soulful & real that he is a true force of nature. His songs on this LP in particular seem so pointedly direct they'll grab you & not let go until they are over. Accompaniment of acoustic instruments on this LP are not only tastefully subdued, but recorded ideally. Little gloss is brushed over this record, and I glad it isn't there. So much beyond the pigenholing his music usually gets, William is the real deal. Perhaps the greatest musical artist Iowa has given us so far. A great LP.

Kurt Vile "Childish Prodigy" LP on the Matador label

2009-11-09T11:11:06Z

I have been completely sucked in by this genius. If there were any worries that Kurt Vile might lose some of his offhanded charm by releasing his newest LP on biggie Matador, you can be pleasantly relieved to know that "Childish Prodigy" holds up to 2008 favorite "Constant Hitmaker"'s promise. Maybe the vocals are a bit better recorded, but there's still enough reverb & echo to keep it weird. Modern-day Indie Psych has found its master. A friend of mine refers to his favorite casual home-spun recordings as being "Front Porch Music". I christen Kurt's latest LP as being decidedly-recorded music for the back porch, to be listened to on the tattered sofa that has somehow survived 8 Minnesota winters while remaining outside (and out of the snow, 'natch). This is where I first heard "Constant Hitmaker", and it is the ideal place to listen to "Childish Prodigy", as long as this Indian Summer keeps up (61 degrees today! It's November!).

Michael & The Mumbles 1966 LP- newly issued Nov '09

2009-11-04T10:11:22Z

Michael Yonkers has certainly benefitted from the rise of the internet & the ability of music fans to find even the most reclusive of musical enigmas. A few short years ago Michael was unheard-of amongst many Minneapolis-area music fans, only the most ardent of local music veterans seemed to be hip to this 40-plus year recording artist. That all changed with Clint Simonson's De Stijl label and his unearthing of the unreleased 1968 LP "Microminiature Love" LP in 2002. The realization that Minnesota had its own world-class cult rock n roll artist in Michael Yonkers seemed to help complete the local music landscape historically. Reissues of ultra-obsure recordings such as the 1973 Lp "Grimwood" via De Stijl/Sub Pop and the soon-upcoming issue of more seventies recordings "Lovely Gold" by Galactic Zoo/Drag City have heightened the legend. His current recordings are also quite notable and powerful. Suddenly, Michael has gone from being truly underground to one of the most prolific recording artists Minnesota has ever seen.

Which brings us to the "Michael & The Mumbles" LP, which was released yesterday. The thing that I just can't get over about this LP is the fact that these are ALL ORIGINAL SONGS; what band that wasn't on an international level was recording all original material in 1966? It just goes to show that guitarist/singer Michael, brother drummer Jim, bassist Richard Paske, and keyboardist Jim Woehrle treated their music and this LP as a true art form, not just to make the kids dance. Historically, this is a very significant LP due to this fact, both to Minnesota music or to anywhere.

How does it sound? Michael told me he recorded this LP on a Crown reel-to-reel player he had purchased as a kid, and he had recorded it himself. The fact that from such humble origins comes this pounding and powerful frat-rock & garage stomper is also almost beyond belief. This LP easily ranks up there with The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird", The Fendermen's "Muleskinner Blues", The Litter's "Distortions" & TC Atlantic's "Live at The Bel-Rae Ballroom" as one of the most rocking-est 1960s LP to come from the frozen north. It is now part of this pantheon of records, even at one day old. The hindsight needed to rate it this highly comes instananeously once you hear it.

If you like primitive rock n roll, this is a must-have, and if you're a fan of vintage simple lo-fi recordings, it's a no-brainer. "Michael & The Mumbles" help show that Minnnesota was one of the best indie recording scenes of the 1960s.

Espers "III" LP on the Drag City label

2009-10-28T11:10:03Z

Wow. REALLY pastoral, haunting, & psychedelic. I love this. A dash of rock, a dash of 1960s British folk, absolutely perfect for a leaves-falling late October day. Great playing, lots of strings, and great sound. Perfect cover art to look at while listening- ideal for the large LP-size format. A nice suprise, and highly recommended.

TOP TEN recent Indie Rock (& related) LPs

2009-09-22T11:09:47Z

Yo La Tengo "Popular Songs"

Kraftwerk "The Man Machine"

Chooglin' "Sweet Time"

Galaxie 500 "This is Our Music"

White Hills "Heads on Fire"

The Devil Makes Three "Do Wrong Right"

Amon Duul II "Yeti"

Guru Guru "UFO"

Vivian Girls "Everything Goes Wrong"

Mission of Burma "The Sound The Speed The Light"

New batch of LPs from DRAG CITY-four quick reviews

2009-09-18T04:09:36Z

Beautiful & pastoral (mostly), the new batch of Drag City releases arrived one recent late summer day. Jim O'Rourke's "The Visitor" is nicely acoustic and beautifully arranged. Six Organ of Admittance's "Luminous Night" is sweet, but with a dark creepiness underneath. Helena Espvall and Masaki Batoh's "Overloaded Ark" is dreamy & trancelike, Then along comes Monotonix's "Where Were You When it Happened?" with a kick in the teeth, kick-ass hard rockin' ala Mudhoney. Yeah, hup!

Yo La Tengo "Popular Songs"

2009-09-07T11:09:28Z

Yo La Tengo's 16th full-length album is a masterpiece, and they continue to remain as interesting as any time in their 25 year history, a feat unmatched by any other group. This is their best album of all. Are they the best band of all time? I'm considering it; this album is the convincing evidence I'll need to make that decision.

"Popular Songs" contains the eclecticism of their last two studio LPs, the maturity of the previous two, and adds a bit more fuzzy psych to up the ante a bit. They couldn't have made a better album to please me at least.The packaging is so eye-poppingly perfect for the vinyl collector; the sound is beautiful.

It is great to see a band you truly love surpass all of their influences, continue to hold on to their obvious passion for music itself, all while keeping their sense of humor.

This is the best album of 2009 hands down, probably the album of the decade.

Genius & Love indeed.

Brian Jonestown Massacre "Methodrone"

2009-09-03T08:09:48Z

The Brian Jonestown Massacre have been tough to miss for the past 20 years. Have you ever seen the BJTM in concert or seen the roc-doc film about them called "Dig"? This San Francisco-based loose-knit group have toured heavily for the past 1

5 years, so they've played your vicinity. The film had legs, esp on DVD. They've been hard to avoid, really.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre may have been the best mirror of Rock n Roll's true spirit we've been given over the past two decades. I've seen friends fly high in ther presence, only to crash & burn afterward. Leader Anton Newcombe is almost scary in his dedication to the true rock n roll embodiment.

This band has actually evolved quite a bit since their inception, and this double-LP record is a reissue of their first full-length, originally released in the mid-1990s. Although this record clearly documents the Shoegaze-y beginnings of the band, their overt Stoogey Stonesishness comes through also.

"Methodrone" on LP is truly a trip. Expensive, but worth it.

five quick Krautrock classics

2009-08-25T05:08:13Z

Faust "So Far"

Amon Duul II "Yeti"

Can "Out of Reach"

Kraftwerk "Radio Activity"

Cluster "Cluster 71"

If you think The Animal Collective, LCD Sound System, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, or Fujiya & Miyagi haven't heard these albums, guess again.

Faust "So Far"

2009-08-25T04:08:55Z

2009 sees the release & reissue of various Faust LPs, all on different labels. "So Far" has always been my fave Faust LP; all their albums are radically different from each other, but all are pleasing nonetheless. 4 Men With Beards get the honors with "So Far", a great-sounding record (check those drums!), that is catchy & complex at the same time. Way ahead of their time, this 1972 LP has affected Indie Rock since the beginning, and I'm happy to witness that great Krautrock like this continues to do so. Great album cover, eh? Nod to Spinal Top not intended.

5 quick Proto-Punk classics

2009-07-22T11:07:31Z

These laid the groundwork for The Ramones & Punk Rock in general. My favorite music of all! These five are guaranteed to cook your goose.

MC5 "Kick Out the Jams"

The Stooges "Fun House"

New York Dolls "New York Dolls"

Flamin' Groovies "Slow Death"

Velvet Underground and Nico "Velvet Underground and Nico"

Fiery Furnaces "I'm Going Away"

2009-07-22T11:07:01Z

The new FF LP "I'm Going Away" feels as comfortable as an old sweatshirt that has been stretched out & frayed at the sleeves. The Fiery Furnaces' eighth album is decidedly weird as their others, but this band is always solidly based in trad-rock & even bluesy arrangements. The fact that they can play the hell out of their instruments certainly helps. Satisfying in a way as most avant garde-leaning modern jazz LPs are, perfaps The Fiery Furnaces are now the Jazz Messengers of Indie Rock? A welcome album for the hottest part of summer.

Peter Walker "Rainy Day Raga"

2009-07-16T08:07:08Z

This mid-sixties LP helped homogenize the drone tone of exotic folk & Indian sounds to American Rock & Roller's ears. When I say homogenize, I don't mean it in a negative way: this LP sounds positively perfect in form, a truly beautiful LP. Along with Sandy Bull's output of the same decade, "Rainy Day Raga" is a top fave of mine. Summer is the perfect time to reissue this on vinyl- great for the long hot days & steamy nights

Headdress "Lunes"

2009-06-23T10:06:21Z

Speaking of psychedelic classics, this new LP by Texas duo is mind blowing! If your idea of psychedelia is excess in instrumentation and arrangements, this LP will set you straight. Much like early Spacemen Three, this music can be minimal & gritty too. "Lunes" is the sound inside my head when I'm not listening to something else, and if I ever formed a "band", it would sound very much like this. Spooky, sleazy, & droning, it is the perfect late night soundtrack. I can't get enough of this record. Entirely appropriate for vinyl- pick it up soon, it is limited.