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White Laces

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White Laces

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: White Laces. The Album: White Laces. The Store: Deep Groove. The Price: $9.99.

Discovering a new band is like moving to an unfamiliar city. Relocating means new street names, new restaurants and new experiences. Finding a new band brings you new sights, sounds and perspectives, along with the hope that they’ll book a concert nearby, so you can dig even deeper. Both make the world seem like a slightly bigger place than it was before. So when you find a band that kicks ass and hails from your beloved hometown, all that’s familiar is filled with renewed possibility. The feeling is electric, and hearing White Laces for the first time was like stepping on a live power line while walking through my living room. I found out about White Laces from Richmond Playlist, an awesome blog that covers both local bands and nationally touring acts who are stopping in town. Right away, I loved how complete they sounded. Complex musical ideas are executed thoughtfully, as chaos and calm work hand in hand to paint vivid and cohesive sonic pictures. I wanted to hear more, and when I saw their 12” EP at Deep Groove, I knew it was meant to be. Check out their song “Sick of Summer” and if you dig, head to their page on SoundCloud to hear more.


The Beatles

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White Album

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: The Beatles. The Album: The Beatles (The White Album). The Store: Plan 9. The Price: $9.

My big sister Cary is the coolest person I know. From an early age, she had awesome taste in music, and was always willing to help me see the light. But of all the recommendations she’s given me over the years, I’m thankful for one above all others: the Beatles. Her Beatles obsession began in middle school, and while mine wouldn’t kick in until much later, she passed on an appreciation for their songs as sacred texts, along with a few of the Beatles posters that once covered her bedroom wall-to-wall. My vinyl collection also didn’t start until long after hers, and it was actually a story I heard on All Songs Considered while driving home for Thanksgiving that made me so eager to seek out my own copy of the White Album.

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Girl Talk

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Collaboration Week: Day 5. The Collaborators: Gregg Gillis and Hundreds of Artists. The Album: All Day.

Girl Talk can hardly be called “collaborative,” given that it’s just one guy, Gregg Gillis, working alone, compiling samples from hundreds of songs he’s not licensed to sample. However, I couldn’t resist including him here, because in mashing together artists from all ends of the musical spectrum, Gillis acts as a musical cross pollinator, buzzing from genre to genre, decade to decade, answering questions no one knew to ask, like “What would a Ludacris/Black Sabbath collabo sound like?” The first time I heard Girl Talk, he was combining two songs I did know, Biggie’s “Juicy” and Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” but a big part of the enjoyment of his music happens unexpectedly, when you hear a song he sampled and realize, “Hey I’ve heard this before …” It’s a light bulb moment of both discovery and familiarity, because even though you may have never heard the whole song before, you already love a piece of it. His latest effort is called All Day, and you can download it for free here. And check out the video above for a few snippets of his recent show in Richmond at the National.

Nicki Minaj

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Pink Friday

Collaboration Week: Day 4. The Collaborators: Nicki Minaj and Everyone. HER Album: Pink Friday. (Editor’s Note: NSFW lyrics run rampant in these links.)

Give it up for the Queen of the Collabo! Guest appearances are the glue that holds the world of hip hop together. Artists appearing on one another’s tracks is a form of currency, both figuratively and literally, which makes Nicki Minaj one of the richest gals around. Kanye West, Drake, Trey Songz, Urshr, Ludacris, Britney Spears … she’s collaborated with nearly every big name the top 40 has to offer, often stealing the show with her distinctive, raunchy and schizophrenic delivery. The fascinating thing about Nicki is that her debut album was received well, but not really well, as if people fell in love with her only in small doses. I think Pink Friday captures her personality perfectly … cutesy one minute, fierce the next, and always captivating. Check out her album, and in honor of Collaboration Week, check out my favorite Nicki guest verse, on “Bottom’s Up” by Trey Songz.

Postal Service

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Give Up

Collaboration Week: Day 3. The Collaborators: Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard. The Band: The Postal Service. The Album: Give Up.

Some collaborations are like one night stands, crazy in the light of day, leaving you wondering, “Did that really happen?” Others are like long, drawn out affairs, where you’re tempted to tell those involved to “Get a room!” But in some instances, lightning strikes, something special results, and a world of possibilities seems to appear. In 2003, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello, also known as Dntel, worked together from different sides of the country to create Give Up, an album that went on to sell over a million copies, appear in a million commercials, and change my perception of sampling in pop music. Ever since, rumors have swirled about a follow up album, only to be squashed, time and again. I can’t help but think that the Postal Service would be one of my favorite bands, if only they were a band. However, in this case, it’s clearly better to have loved and lost than the alternative. Check out the Postal Service performing “Nothing Better” on Morning Becomes Eclectic in May of 2003.

The Very Best

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Warm Heart of Africa

Collaboration Week: Day 2. The Collaborators: The Very Best and Ezra Koenig. The Song: Warm Heart of Africa.

When you have a trusted point of reference, unfamiliar music seems a lot less daunting. I’m a big fan of Vampire Weekend, partly because they wear their African influences on their collective sleeve, and have made an unfamiliar musical tradition seem approachable. Frontman Ezra Koenig took this idea one step further by collaborating with the Very Best on their full-length debut, Warm Heart of Africa. Koenig’s appearance on the title track gave me a place to start listening, and I was handsomely rewarded for taking the chance. The album is brilliant, pairing Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya’s hypnotic voice with clever European electro-pop production to build a wonderfully diverse collection of songs, some perfect for a crowded dance club, others for an afternoon on the beach. Click below to try out Warm Heart of Africa’s title track, which sounds great, no matter where you enjoy it.

Mavis Staples

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You Are Not Alone

Collaboration Week: Day 1. The Collaborators: Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy. The Album: You Are Not Alone.

It’s a collaboration celebration! Sometimes they work, sometimes they’re strange, but collaborations are almost always entertaining, and can be a great way to find music you were destined to love. My first introduction to Mavis Staples was the result of another collaboration – the Staples Singers performing with The Band in The Last Waltz – but I hadn’t sought out her solo music until Jeff Tweedy came into the picture. The Wilco frontman produced her latest album, You Are Not Alone, and even wrote two of the songs. It’s outstanding from start to finish, full of tenderness, soul, joy and a heaping helping of Jesus. Who knows if I would have given the album a chance without Mr. Tweedy’s involvement, but I’m deeply thankful these two got together. Check out title track “You Are Not Alone” below, and brace yourself for a heartwarming listening experience.

The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

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Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Various. The Album: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto. The Store: Plan 9. The Price: $10.

This might be the coolest picture ever taken. I came across this album cover while flipping through records at Plan 9. My first thought: “Whatever these dudes are selling, $10 is a bargain!” What they’re selling is The Indestructible Beat of Soweto – a snapshot of the diverse urban pop music scene of early 1980’s Johannesburg. This record is totally infectious. Modern influences like jazz and blues combine with a number of African styles, and the result is a 45-minute head-bobbing, day-brightening, spontaneous-dance-inducing party, with a Ladysmith Black Mambazo cherry on top. Should I have expected anything less from an album with such a great cover? The “Unity” visor? Amazing. The red fedora? Home run. The pointing? On point. Take a listen.

Simon and Garfunkel

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Bookends

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Simon and Garfunkel. The Album: Bookends. The Store: Deep Groove. The Price: $4.

It’s the summer of 1993. “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors is the bees knees. The fam takes a trip to New Jersey, and while we’re there, my 60’s-music-loving uncle hands me a copy of Bookends. Being 10 years old and painfully unhip, I figure, “Oh, it’s those two princes everyone’s talking about.” Who knows how long I carried this horribly wrong assumption. I still can’t look at the cover of Bookends without thinking of the Spin Doctors. On Sunday, I found a gently worn copy, which filled a hole in my record collection and gave me an excuse to listen again. Each time, I hear something new to love. This time it’s the exhilarating hand-clappin’, foot-stompin’ percussion on “Fakin’ It.” See what I mean?

Johnny Otis

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Rock 'N' Roll Revue

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Johnny Otis. The Album: Rock ‘N’ Roll Revue. The Store: Plan 9 in Richmond, VA. The Price: $5.

My father-in-law recently told me about Johnny Otis, a musician, composer and band leader who was most successful in the 1940’s and 50’s. (he’s also the father of Shuggie Otis). This album is upbeat and fun – part big band, part rhythm and blues, part early rock. Well worth your $5. Johnny Otis fun fact: he once said, “As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black.” Just a Greek dude keeping it real.