WTF? They’re under the category “Funeral,” which is between “Food & Wine” and “Furniture.” Perhaps you’d like The Lady of Guadalupe? Or The Kentucky Rose? Everyday lowest possible prices.
Monthly Archive for February, 2009
We all found out this week that one of the bastions of independent music, Touch and Go Records, is changing drastically. While it’s not closing shop entirely, it is reorganizing and cutting jobs. Thanks to the murderous economy, the historic and important indie label will no longer distribute and manufacture releases for other, as-important labels like Merge, Drag City and Jade Tree. (Stereogum has a list of other labels affected plus the official press release from TAG owner Corey Rusk.) And that sucks.
Touch and Go will, however, continue to act as a record label.
Most everything’s been said about how the album is dead or dying and what putting out “records” will look like in the future, so rather than wax on all that, we’ll just say this: we like the trend of releasing records only in vinyl and digital formats. Buy the vinyl and get a free download, or skip the vinyl and simply download the album. Pleases the snobs like us who want the vinyl sound quality, the pretty, tangible album art, but also portability, and it also satisfies little Jimmy Next Generation who only needs mp3s, singles and Adderall.
Rusk summed it up sadly but sweetly: “It is the end of a grand chapter in Touch and Go’s history, but we also know that good things can come from new beginnings.”
These were actual headlines this week in Nashville’s big newspaper, The Tennessean. While mostly this periodical is a reliable outlet for local and national news, sometimes reading The Tennessean is like reading the Onion. Except not funny.
From Valentine’s Day 2009:
Darwin Still Divides Believers in the Bible
First two lines: “The Rev. John McCullough believes in God. He also believes in evolution.”
ZING!
And related from 2/7/09:
Clergy seek reason in creation vs. evolution fight
Apparently there’s still a fight.
This is one from Friday, 2/13/09:
Four Tennessee legislators want Obama to prove citizenship
Speechless.
Luckily, there was this editorial Sunday, 2/15/09:
Lawmakers look dumb for reviving Obama hoax
Finally a reasonable person. But still! First it was the English-Only thing, and now this. Some filters somewhere need replacement.
***Wax from the Stacks is a column that reviews vinyl picked up at garage, estate, and stoop sales, thrift stores or record stores. Typically, they’re older albums, and many times reviews are based on first-time listens. We sort through our stacks in search of gems, and we let you know whether these records are worth searching out.
vinyl front cover (click to see larger pic)
George Duke’s 1979 release (rereleased in 2001), Follow the Rainbow, drew us immediately because of its glorious, chromatic cover. Duke, polyester shirt open to reveal a wooly paradise, points us past tropical shrubs toward a moonscape over which float neon Moogs, trumpets, Flying V’s and bongos. In fact, Duke’s album covers are always sorta crazy. This is funk.
Context: Duke made his name as a piano/synth guy in the 60s and 70s. A funk pioneer, he’s collaborated with everyone from Jean-Luc Ponty to Cannonball Adderley to George Clinton to Frank Zappa. He’s also produced records and has dabbled in Brazilian-influenced jazz. Notable popular song: “Dukey Stick.” On his Website, he says Follow the Rainbow was influenced by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
Worth seeking out? Yes.
How much should you pay? Up to $6 for the vinyl at a garage sale or used record store, or you can buy the CD on Duke’s Website for about $10. Then again, you could pay a lot more for it at Amazon.
Best to listen when: Nice mood music for a party, but better to listen when you’re feeling down or cleaning your house. This record grooves, hits hard with moving bass lines, positivity, and synth sounds from another dimension. These elements plus song titles like “Party Down” and lines reminding you to “Don’t forget to party down / Get your feet back on the ground / ‘Cause you owe it to yourself / To have some fun” make for an uplifting experience.
Highlights: While Duke’s lyricism is magical (”Dukey stick blastin’ on a show and tell / with the funk and a street of dreams”), the best parts of Follow the Rainbow are its instrumentals. Particularly “Festival.” It’s like a soundtrack for a Showcase Showdown! A new dining set! His and hers jet skis! An all-expense paid vacation to Bucharest! Enter oddball synth sounds, wicked acoustic guitar scales, and a laissez-faire notion of being. This track also evidences Duke’s move toward Brazilian-influenced chord structures and rhythms.
Another highlight is the funk philosophy from the precursor-to-hip-hop track “I Am For Real,” in which the whole band pitches in vocally for some group rapping: