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L.I.S.A. (LP)
Odd Holiday
Maybe my favorite project of 2023, with Mattie on the mic throughout & Daylight Robbery with teh dusty, soulful, lovably weird production
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Lightweight Heavy (LP)
Fat Jon
2023 repress of the classic instrumental project from 2004. Not to sound like an amateur audiophile in the Discogs comments, but a phenomenal pressing.
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Uptown Rulers / Uptown Rulers (Professor Shorthair Remix)
Connie Price & The Keystones
Apani B Bly is back! Easily one of my very favorite MC's ever since the Polyrhythm Addicts EP, and she's definitely still got it. Now who's gonna finally press up her 2003 solo album on vinyl?
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Live From Austin, TX '89 (LP)
Waylon Jennings
A record that makes you wanna fire up the hog on a hot summer's night and take a ride down easy street
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New Heart Designs (LP)
Turnstile/Bad Bad Not Good
A real sonic adventure remixed for your pleasure. Underwater Boi = still very 2-steppable
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Good Time/Hard Time (LP)
Teleman
Even more well written lyrics set to the same perfect blend of synth and guitar pop delivered by Teleman in their first full length album since 2018. A bit more personal at moments than their previous work, but certainly no less danceable.
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JJUUIICES (LP)
TTRRUUCES
Harmony rich and heavily (though not overly) produced psych-pop fills the sophomore album by TTRRUUCES. Welcome is the scattering of genre-bending tracks throughout.
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The Days of Wine and Roses (Expanded Edition) (LP)
The Dream Syndicate
An expanded edition of the 1982 paisley classic. Though it is well worth a listen in its original form, the 40th anniversary edition is full of welcome additions (with 54 total tracks!) A plethora of very well recorded live songs and some fantastically loud, fuzzy backstage rehearsals (including some surprising but very well done covers) fill out the bonus content.
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Lovelife (2023 Remaster) (LP)
Lush
Remaster and re-release of (I'll add a "probably" here to protect my future self) the finest Lush album. Wonderfully constructed tunes with lots of jangle in the guitar and excellent hooks, what more do you really need?
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Lemon Lights (LP)
Seablite
The newest LP from the San Francisco group is filled with stellar vocal production and some classic dreamy guitar sounds. Give it a go if you need your fill of some high energy, reverb-laden shoegazey pop.
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Let’s Stomp! Merseybeat and Beyond 1962-1969 (CD)
V/A
This is a new three CD compilation box set from Cherry Red sublabel, Strawberry Records. A great listen from start to end; with 93 songs stretching tactfully from the classic to the obscure (and a rather nice full-color, track by track booklet), there’s more than one sitting of great British R&B to be had here. Two standout tracks are Ian and the Zodiacs’ cover of “Beachwood 4-5789” (with some clever lyrical alterations) and the original US version of the Ray Davies penned masterpiece “All Night Stand” by the Thoughts. Several previously unreleased songs also feature, including some from Joe Meek’s so called “Tea Chest Tapes.” If you’re on the hunt for a fantastic collection of merseybeat, freakbeat, and British blues, you need look no further!
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Wino From Another Planet (LP)
Wino Willy
I've generally been a fan of the releases from MarQ Spekt's Grilchy Party imprint, but this album from New Orleans producer Wino Willy surprised me in a major way and far exceeded my expectations. Wino Willy has been quietly crafting quality albums for a bunch of modern rap talent over the last year, with solid full length collaborations with Him Lo, Pro Dillinger, Daniel Son, Rahiem Supreme and Maze Overlay amongst others. This solo offering from Wino Willy is his most definitive statement as a producer to date, and highlights his spacey and jazzy production while pairing it with a nice variety of ill MCs. Along for the ride are billy woods, Da Buze Bruvaz, Fatboi Sharif and Gabe 'Nandez to name only a few. While all of the MCs hold their own over Willy's beats, I was especially excited to hear new verses from MarQ Spekt, who's been MIA on the mic for many years. I was very impressed with how well Wino Willy managed to cater his production to the diverse cast of rappers here, with beats ranging from traditional to abstract without sacrificing the sequencing or flow of the album. Top quality product and looking forward to more releases from Wino Willy in 2024.
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Mother's Day (1980)
In my tenure at Amoeba Berkeley, I had the pleasure of working with an awesome guy named Bruce Anderson. Bruce had worked at a movie theater for many years prior to his time at Amoeba, and we used to bond over our mutual love of B-movies and backwoods horror. Bruce's favorite of all time was "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but the other two movies that he'd often talk to me about at length were "Mother's Day" and "The Unseen." I'm not generally not a huge fan of Troma movies, but I definitely side with Bruce on "Mother's Day," which dishes out an exceptional mix of twisted horror and black comedy while poking fun at the slasher genre before slashers even became popular. This gorgeous 4K from Vinegar Syndrome really gives this movie the treatment it deserves, with outstanding picture quality and audio accompanied by an abundance of special features. Bruce is no longer with us, but every time I throw this disc on, I can only imagine how excited he would have been about it.
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Monster Squad (1987)
Unlike 98% of horror movie fans, I was not a kid that grew up watching "The Monster Squad". And as far as Fred Dekker's movies go, I've always considered myself a bigger fan of "Night of the Creeps" than this one. I decided to revisit "The Monster Squad" last year when Kino reissued it on 4K, however, and found myself enjoying it a lot more than I remember. It's clearly a kid's movie, complete with a "PG-13" rating, but it has spooky creature effects and profanity that would probably merit an "R" in 2024. What really sealed the deal for me were the amazing documentaries included in this release, which feature interviews with the most of the kid actors in the movie, who reflect upon it as adults. Great work on the restoration and packaging as well.
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Spider Labyrinth (1988)
I had somehow never seen "Spider Labyrinth" prior to this release, though I'd heard that it was one of the great unsung Italian horror movies of the late 80's. The movie pretty much blew me away, with tremendous atmosphere reminiscent of Dario Argento mixed with elements of Lovecraftian horror. I was also stunned by the picture quality on this restoration from Severin, which truly restores this gem to something that likely looks better than when it was first released in theaters. Definitely a worthy blind buy for Italian horror aficionados.
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Punk Rock B-Boy (CD)
Buck 65
Buck 65's return to form in the last few years has been a major inspiration to me, and his series of home run projects continues with this album. "Punk Rock B-Boy" is not as focused an album as his "Super Dope" project from last year, but the free-flowing feel of the songs on display here is creative and full of fun nods to old school hip hop. The drums are once again immaculate, with eccentric breakbeats that could only be the product of serious record digging. The sampling throughout is a breath of fresh air as well, with some cool lo-fi blues samples and traditional funk riffs keeping the tempo of the album upbeat. Buck's oddball raps are loaded with wit and character, with songs bemoaning sugar addiction, odes to digging at record stores, and traditional rap braggadocio delivered with that signature Buck 65 weirdness. And to top everything off, Buck released this album back-to-back with a full collaborative album with doseone & Jel, "North American Adonis", which ranks highly amongst my favorites of 2023 as well. The man simply can't be stopped.
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Anton Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 0-9 // Wagner: Orchestral Music (CD)
Andris Nelsons /
This 10 CD box set should serve as a celebration of Anton Bruckner's 200th anniversary of his birth. This set contains all of his ten symphonies including at least 9 different preludes and overtures of Richard Wagner's operas. All are performed by the legendary orchestra from Leipzig, Germany; Gewandhausorchester and conducted by Andris Nelsons who now leads the Boston Symphony. These orchestral pieces are lush and munificent readings that will satisfy all cravings which pine for an enormous sound but is sympathetic to shifts of mood. If I had to think of a criticism that I was forced to make in regards to this set, I would need to borrow a comment a colleague of mine mentioned in a review he wrote in that Nelson's fault is that he loves Bruckner's symphonies too much. I highly recommended these recordings and for such a low price, one can not go wrong.
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