Buffalo Tom – “The Only Living Boy In New York” / “The Seeker” (Record Store Day 7″ single)

Today I’m going to talk about the 7-inch single that Buffalo Tom released on Record Store Day. (Si-SMR-045 Scrawny/Schoolkid Records)

This special single consists of two excellent cover versions: Simon & Garfunkel’s The Only Living Boy in New York and The Who’s The Seeker.

While respectful of the originals, Buffalo Tom created two incredibly solid, poignant renditions; the kinds this criminally underrated band has gifted us with throughout the years. The production by David Minehan (leader of another legendary Boston band, The Neighborhoods) is tight, on-point, and devoid of frills or gimmicks, allowing for the band’s raw energy to deeply move you. The Only Living Boy in NY, in particular, is loaded with urgency and the bittersweet emotion that is quintessential Buffalo Tom.

The Seeker revamps the Paul Simon’s original with fast-paced, shimmering guitar work filling up the room and leaving you with no choice but to jump up and down, and play air guitar to it like no one is watching.

The long and short.

Please go buy both this single and Quiet And Peace, the band’s full length album; let the emotional songwriting overwhelm you with its intensity. I promise that Buffalo Tom’s songs will stay with you forever.

Belly – “Feel” (RSD 10-inch E.P.)

Today I’m going to talk about Belly. After well over a couple decades from “King“, Belly’s 1995 album, the Rhode Island/Massachusetts-based indie rock band chose Record Store Day to tease us with an exclusive 10-inch blue splattered vinyl E.P. titled Feel, limited to 2,000 copies in the U.S.

The EP features 4 songs; Army Of Clay and Human Child, two very solid indie-pop numbers lifted from their tantalizing new album Dove, out on May 4, 2018. While it is yet unclear if the songs will appear on the LP in the same exact versions, this release include the EP-only StarryEyed, a delicate acoustic piece equally dramatic and dreamlike. A cover version of Hushabye Mountain (from the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack) rounds off this nice package.

The long and short.

A great come back from one of the most original bands that laid the tracks to modern indie pop-rock; this EP’s songwriting is incredibly inspired and the production is tight and on point. Absolutely grab a copy if you can track it down, while waiting with trepidation for the upcoming new Belly album.

The Breeders: All Nerve (Bonus Tracks CD)

Today I am going to talk about All Nerve, the new album by The Breeders, recorded with the lineup that put them on the indie rock map in 1993: Kim Deal (vocals, lead guitar), twin sister Kelley Deal (guitar), Josephine Wiggs (bass), and Jim McPherson (drums).

Since her years spent with the Pixies, Kim Deal’s music has always had that trademark Deal-y sound; the rocky, grungy roughness around the edges juxtaposed with sweet melodic hooks. This new album comes after a decade-long hiatus and it sounds as fresh as their early material, infused with maturity, shimmering songwriting and explosive creativity and manages to deliver a nice fare of killer tunes and no fillers.

The release I am reviewing is from Japan (4AD/Beat Records, Catalog #4AD0035CDJP), available on Amazon JP, which I would recommend for its two exclusive bonus tracks: Joanne and Gates Of Steel, a couple of masterful and imaginative cover versions of Michael Nesmith and Devo songs, respectively, that entirely justifies importing this CD.

The first single off the album—Wait In The Car—is a groovy, propulsive, joyous tangle of guitars and pop sensibility, while the opener Nervous Mary, a powerful rocker kicking off this work is contrasted by a glorious grower, the eponymous All Nerve, and a gorgeous lower key tune: Spacewoman.

The enthusiastic surf style of Walking With A Killer sparkles and spices up the already diverse mood of this work, while MetaGoth—probably my favorite tune on the album, with its driving bass and new wave-y sonics—in its clean, sparse instrumentation, delivers one of the most urgent and focused performances, featuring Jo Wiggs on lead vocals. Dawn: Making An Effort has an almost otherworldly quality echoing a post-rock canon thanks to its multi-layered sound and cryptic lyrics, while Blues At The Acropolis sounds huge, magnificent and monumental, with its wall-of-sound quality.

The long and short: All Nerve is an exquisitely creative collection of indie, pop, punk-rock, surf, Americana, and more experimental sounds. It is what I have come to expect from the Deal sisters and a whole lot more and, predictably, I am not disappointed. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy!

Calexico – “The Thread That Keeps Us” (2-CD Deluxe Edition)

Today I am going to talk about Calexico‘s new album, The Thread That Keeps Us, which was released by ANTI- in North America and City Slang in Europe. And it is the European Deluxe Edition that I would like to consider for this review, as it features a bonus mini album/CD consisting of 7 additional tracks, totaling the offering found on this release to a whopping 22 songs.

Joey Burns and John Convertino’s ninth studio album under the Calexico guise maintains all of the trademark traits that we have so loved throughout the years that the Tucson, Arizona duo has graced us with its own unique, incredibly inspired blend of smoky Americana, noir-tinged desert folk-blues, (spaghetti) Southwestern moods, and mariachi influences.

However, what is apparent on this new work is Calexico’s embrace of new influences and styles that add extra flavoring to the quintessential formula and permeate the whole work’s general feel. End Of The World With You being the one benefiting the most from the new trajectory, in its bright ’90s indie rock style and light hearted chords, yet one of their most overtly political songs to date. Flores Y Tamales, Another Space, and Under The Wheels—the excellent second single)—all raise the tempo and add some groove and danceability to the mix. Thrown To The Wild and Eyes Wide Awake manageto relay some of the main sentiments expressed so far, while reassessing the journey in another unexpected direction, slowing the pace and rendering the tones darker, more evocative, and magnificent.

The Bonus CD—a true gem—features a more free form and laid back version of Calexico; a time of reckoning after the places we have journeyed on to with The Tread That Keeps Us. Songs like Longboard, Luna Roja, Curse Of The Ride, and Dream On Mount Tam sound more cohesive than the main disk, and function as the soundtrack to an imaginary road movie. An incredibly nice addition to an already outstanding release.

The long and short: Do yourself a solid and grab this Calexico album; the mature, inspired songwriting and its rich, ultra-layered and textured sound attest to one of 2018’s best albums yet.

Mogwai — Every Country’s Sun (Super Deluxe Edition)

Today I’m going to talk about Every Country’s Sun, the latest work from Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. Released by Rock Action in Europe and Temporary Residence in North America as a stunning Deluxe Edition and consisting of a lift-top box set containing the conventional CD, a double LP on white vinyl, and a bonus 12-inch EP featuring six previously unreleased demo recordings.

Creating sound tapestries and patterns for movie soundtracks has allowed the band to further enrich its offering (1,000 Foot Face) by introducing a more mature, more diverse sound palette with the addition of increasingly multilayered, more immersive soundscapes. Such a feat was certainly achieved with the inclusion of poppier numbers, like Party In The Dark—a sung track reminiscent of New Order—juxtaposed with more austere and concise production (Aka 47, or Don’t Believe The Fife).

This album confirms Mogwai’s ability to write and produce music that is atmospheric, urgent, somber, and euphoric and attests to the band’s capability of developing in the most disparately creative directions, yet being capable to tastefully circle back to some of its familiar cyphers, moods, and elements that have characterized Mogwai’s canon over the years. The demo recordings, exclusive to the Deluxe Edition, are a perfect example to support such statement, so are 20 Size and Fight For Work, another sung track that can only be found on the CD released in Japan by Hostess Records in really nice a packaging which can easily be obtained on Amazon).

This album by Mogwai is another killer, it’s been in my music playlist since its release and I highly recommend it!

Track listing:
1. “Coolverine” 6:17

2. “Party in the Dark” 4:02

3. “Brain Sweeties” 4:44

4. “Crossing the Road Material” 6:58

5. “aka 47” 4:16

6. “20 Size” 4:44

7. “1000 Foot Face” 4:31

8. “Don’t Believe the Fife” 6:24

9. “Battered at a Scramble” 4:03

10. “Old Poisons” 4:30

11. “Every Country’s Sun” 5:38

12. “Fight For Work” 6:49 (Japanese CD bonus track)

Deluxe edition bonus tracks:
1. “Acoustic Wash” (Demo Rough Mix)

2. “Baritone 2” (Demo Rough Mix)

3. “Bass Tuned to C” (Demo Rough Mix)

4. “Bends” (Demo Rough Mix)

5. “Frez” (Demo Rough Mix)

6. “Ludicrous Ripper” (Demo Rough Mix)

Automatic For The People 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition

Today I’m going to talk about The 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of Automatic For The People by R.E.M., a band that certainly shouldn’t need an introduction, but since its sad demise occurred in 2011, I will gladly share a few words on this incredibly influential group.

R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia. Formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe. After a remarkable debut single on Hib-Tone, a small independent label, and a slew of critically-acclaimed early albums that garnered them increased success in the college rock circuit, R.E.M. signed to Warner Bros Records in 1988. If Green (1988) was universally lauded by listeners and critics and Out Of Time (1990) broke the band into the mainstream, Automatic For The People (1991) became a worldwide hit and stayed at the top of the charts for many months going on to sell 18 million copies globally.

With its perfect mix of somberness (Monty Got A Raw Deal), playfulness (The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite), anger (Drive), and melancholy (Find The River, Man On The Moon), AFTP proves to be the definitive album by anybody’s standards. This beautiful 4-disk, 12”x12” lift-top box deluxe edition features fresh remaster of the original album, a brand new remix of all the songs in Dolby Atmos, a technology that allows for a truly multi-dimensional sound. I did test the disk on my lousy Sony Blu-Ray player piping the audio through a Sonos Playbar, two surround Play:1s and a Play:5 speakers…and it really wowed me! I was really impressed with the quality and spatiality of the whole rendition, offering a rich, shimmering, all-immersive soundscape.

This boxset includes 20 never-before-heard demo versions of the songs, plus previously unreleased tracks Devil Rides Backwards and Mike’s Pop Song. A third disk features a performance recorded live at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA, 11/19/92—the only concert the band played for the AFTP album. The fourth disk is a Blu-ray including all the music videos for the album, press kit interviews. the package is rounded of by a nice hardbound book featuring awesome photographies by Anton Corbjin, song lyrics and liner notes.

The long and short: this is the definitive edition of AFTP and the ultimate reason for owning a piece of this legendary band’s art. Here is a link to R.E.M.’s official website, if you would like to purchase a copy.

Record Store Day bonanza.

Record Store Day: what a wonderful time of year for nerding out! For the uninitiated, RSD is the day when music labels and record stores come together to celebrate the beauty of record collecting. On this fateful day many record stores worldwide come together to offer beautiful pieces of vinyl and special editions in limited quantities in hopes to harness music aficionados worldwide and get them to visit their local record store. It is an incredibly noble cause and I try to honor it every year. Well, this year was a damn bonanza! Here’s what I scored for myself:

Although I will discuss each release in separate posts, I can tell you guys getting up at 6:30am on a Saturday morning was well worth it. Some of these releases will just exist in their very limited run, some will be reissued, but what ultimately matters is being able to support the artists, labels, and record stores participating in this fun initiative.

The long and short…

Even if you weren’t able to cop any records on the day of, it’ll still be worth it to pay a visit to your local store and buy physical records and CDs; it will make listening to music an incredibly richer experience than streaming music or downloading files that will pile up in a big heap with a zillion other and will be just as easily forgotten.

Why buying records & CDs matters.

I have been a huge music fan ever since I can remember, and was raised in a family where music always played a major role. I started buying records and CDs when I was 11 years old and never stopped. I believe that any form of art should have a tangible incarnation (music needs a CD/record, movies/shows need a DVD/blu-ray disk) which is why this era of digital downloads is extremely troublesome to me. While digital downloads may be convenient, they render the work of art utterly cheap and disposable, thus: forgettable. My goal is to present music by interesting artists coming in rare, valuable, and hard to find physical formats, so that owning these products becomes even more meaningful.

Legal Disclaimer

Please support the artist by purchasing their music, merchandise, and attending their concerts. Some of the information on this blog is collected from music related pages and websites. I don’t claim to own the copyrights to any of the music that shall be posted on this site. It is intended for promotional purposes only, with the intent that the reader/listener will enjoy what they heard here, and go out and legally procure a copy of said song/record/CD, etc. If you are the copyright owner of material posted on this site and would like the content removed, please contact me and I will comply.