Music I Liked And Didn't - 8/31/06 - 9/12/06

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BRAINBOMBS: I Need Speed / End Up Dead 7” (Big Brothel) - I rarely buy 7”s anymore and, furthermore, I’ll admit that I had stopped keeping up on the Brainbombs, but this 7” is a pretty solid return to their grimy, riff heavy early form. My pick: End Up Dead.

GRAILS: The Burden Of Hope LP (Robotic Empire) - I ‘ve been sooooo into the incredible Black Tar Prophecies series, that I decided to catch up on their debut full length. Although similar, this release is more straightforward and less dark and heavy (and, therefore, less pleasing) than BTP. Still worth hearing/having.

3/3: Sanbun No San LP (Shadoks)- This excellent lo-fi proto-punk LP (as my friend Karl said/described it so well, “Is it blue jeans or spiked collar punk?”) from this pre-Friction unit is clearly one of the “roots” of the modern Japanese underground sounds (Gaseneta, High Rise, and so on) that people in my set are so into. While I’m thrilled to have this and on vinyl, as well, it’s too bad that it has been released by Shadoks, instead of a label like PSF, because many of the people who would normally be interested in such things might not ever be aware of its existence on a label viewed as being primarily a reissuer (and often of dubious quality, to boot! pun intended) of “Hippie” music and whose items sell for between $40-$50. Well, despite the high price, I’d advocate that you get on it now or lose out forever.

YO LA TENGO: I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass 2XLP (Matador) - While I’ll readily admit to enjoying some of Yo La Tengo’s work and even to owning a few of their albums, overall, my impression of them has been that they’re an
over-rated bunch of fairly talented musical dilettantes. Their latest release doesn’t do much to change my opinion in the sense that they tackle a lot of styles, again, in an almost collecting merit badges for cogniscente cool fashion, but I have to admit that I enjoyed more of the material here than I didn’t and so it makes the grade. My favorites included the long, jam tracks (Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind; The Room Got Heavy; Daphnia; and The Story Of Yo La Tengo) as well as some well-crafted songs like, Song For Mahalia and The Race Is On Again.

V/A: Ghana Soundz, Volume 2 2xLP (Soundway) - Added the first volume a couple weeks back and I finally got around to checking out Volume 2. Just like Volume 1, this is Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion from 1970's Ghana. If you’re into Fela, King Sunny, the Ethiopiques series, and so on, then you’re probably going to want/enjoy this collection of true rare (i.e., tracks that are not from the small circle of the genre’s known suspects) nuggets.

More from my recent numerous Amoeba used vinyl scores:

LOUNGE LIZARDS: No Pain For Cakes LP (Island) - This release was recorded by the Mach III version of the Lounge Lizards. I personally feel this is the strongest version, with performers such as Roy Nathanson (saxophone), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone), and the great, Marc Ribot (guitar), joining the Lurie brothers. Solid Avant Jazz! I‘m anxiously awaiting the “Voice Of Chunk” reissue (due out soon!) by this same version of the Lounge Lizards.


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 104/60%

Did Not Add 70/40%