Vinyl Record Architect
Paul Rosenblatt's weblog on vinyl records, music, and architecture.
Vinyl Record Architect

John Peel's Record Collection

Fascinated currently with the opening up of legendary British DJ John Peel's personal record archive, week by week , album by album:

"This is the start of an incredibly exciting journey," states John Barker on the John peel website. "To make the contents of John Peel’s personal record collection - one of the most important and eclectic modern music collections in the world - available to the public for the first time, is an incredible honour.

We really can’t wait to start revealing the contents of John’s amazing collection week by week, and we know from all of the media coverage, emails and messages, that you’re all as excited as us. The project had loads of great press coverage when our funding was announced, but some of it got a few of the facts muddled, so we thought we’d better just tell you, here in our own words, exactly what the project is all about."

Growing up in New York City in the 60s and 70s, I never got to hear Peel live, but we had our own brand of DJ there. Pete Fornatale - who I sadly just learned passed away last month at the age of 66 - Vin Scelsa, Cousin Brucie, to name a few. I think I enjoyed them all, but my favorite was probably Scott Muni, who always sounded the most serious about the music he played. because it was serious. It meant something after all.

...and don't forget Dennis Elsas.


You can hear Muni's warmth and sincerity in these audio clips: 

http://scottmuni.com/audio/

For more on Pete Fornatale: 
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 5/15/2012 10:26 PM | Add Comment

How I Spent (on) Record Store Day

  


Saturday, April 21, 2012. Today started like a lot of days here in Pittsburgh: overcast skies, chance of rain. However, today is different in at least one major way because today is Record Store Day. Officially.

Officially. 

Needless to say, in my household, every day is Record Store Day. Unofficially.

What does the official Record Store Day mean to you? For alot of folks, I think, Record Store Day reminds people that there are still record stores, but I don't need to be reminded of that. For some folks, Record Store Day is the day that they pick up new, limited-editon, vinyl pressings of popular contemporary and vintage artists. Not for me. For me, Record Store Day is a sort of strange second Christmas day, a day I open an unmarked box of 100 random records from Jerry's Records to see if there are any keepers, a day I troll dollar bins - or two-dollar bins - for slightly worn copies of albums I want that are missing from my evergrowing collection.

Like Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bayou Country. And a few others.

Before driving kids' to soccer games (one win, one tie) I drive down the hill to Jerry's to collect my unmarked box of records. Every year he generously gives away about 15,000 records, divided into unmarked and sealed boxes of 100, on Record Store day and this year is no exception. 

One box per customer. No purchase necessary. 

Every year, I hope that my unmarked box of 100 records from Jerry's box will yield treasures. I dream of these boxes all year, crammed full of 100 or more worn but playable pop and rock albums - and every year I am surprised by what I find. Surprised may not be the right word; it is closer to anti-climactic. Last year, for instance, I got a lot of polka albums. More than I wanted, to be honest. Not really on my 'must-have' list. But, I am told, polka is an acquired taste and I should have given them a chance. 

Too late. 

This year: Christmas albums. What should I do with them?

Last year, however, there were a few gems mixed in. 

This year, a few gems, too - but keep in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder:

Louis Armstrong: Hello, Dolly!
Robert Goulet, Sincerely Yours... great album cover
Olivia Newton John: Have You Never Been Mellow (guilty pleasure)
Harry Belafonte: Love is a Gentle Thing (1958)
4:35 - An Exciting Evening at Home with the International Pop Orchestra
Glen Gray: Casa Loma in Hi-Fi
Herb Albert: Herb Albert's Ninth
Ray Conniff Singers: Its the Talk of the Town...great album cover
Liberace: Twas the Night Before Christmas...hmmm
Johnny Mathis: Love is Blue
Della Reese: Special Delivery

But the highlights of my Record Store Day are never really in the box. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE the box, but my love is in the anticpation of the box. Not the actuality... Usually, for me the highlights of Record Store Day are in the day's special dollar bins and this year is no exception, again.

My dollar bin trolling at Jerry's and two dollar bin trolling at The Exchange yielded these disks, worth every penny - or dollar. Or two. 

For a buck @Jerry's -
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bayou Country
Bee Gees: Best of Bee Gees, Vol 2
Elvin Bishop: Hog Heaven
Elvin Bishop: Juke Joint Jump
Stephen Stills: Thoroughfare Gap
Jesse Colin Young: Song For Juli
Redneck Mothers
Karla Bonoff
10cc: The Original Soundtrack
Todd Rundgren: Healing
Leon Russell: Wedding Album
Iron City Houserockers: Love's So Tough
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker: Live in Luckenbach, Texas

For two bucks @The Exchange - 
Little Steven: Voice of America
Little Steven: Disciples of Soul
Todd Rundgren: A Wizard A True Star
Don McLean: American Pie
The Guess Who: Share the Land
Woodstock
Billy Joe Thomas
Eric Clapton: Another Ticket
J. Geils Band: Hotline
Dave Mason: Certified Live
Cream: Best of Cream

All fine additions to my collection and I can't wait to hear every last one of them.

After, I clean them.

Now, I need to order some more inner and outer sleeves from Sleevetown....

A collector's work is never done.







Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 4/21/2012 5:28 PM | Add Comment

Record Store Day 2012

Tomorrow is Record Store Day, a day to celebrate vinyl records and - most importantly - to visit and support your local record stores. I plan on making my way to several stores tomorrow, starting with Jerry's and making my way to Soundcat and Mindcure later on.

Where will you be?  Share your discoveries with me.  and I will do the same.

Last year, I snagged a slew of bargains and can't wait to see what is available tomorrow. 

Jerry has fantastic dollar bins and, of course, his free, unmarked boxes of a hundred to give away.

Soundcat and Mindcure have limited edition Record Store Day specials. 

You can't win if you don't play, so I hope you will get out there - and play!

See you in the bins...


 
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 4/20/2012 2:04 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

A Visit to Sound Cat Records in Pittsburgh



I recently paid a not-so-short visit to Sound Cat Records and 4526 Liberty Avenue, in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh - and got a parking ticket. It was supposed to be a short visit and I got distracted and lost track of time. In this age of online shopping, and a few generations past malls' vast parking lot domination of our nation's landscape, parking tickets are almost charming, nostalgic throwbacks to simpler times. Almost - except when you have to pay them, of course. But this is what can happen when you venture into a great little record store like Sound Cat Records in Bloomfield for a quick look around on your way to a meeting and you get into a conversation with the owner of the store, Karl Hendricks - and your quick look around gets longer. You see, shopping in actual, bricks and mortar stores for physical artifacts like records (or CDs) as opposed to Mps3 files has social benefits but takes time. Visits to actual bricks and mortar record stores can be somewhat unpredictable and take more time than you planned or put quarters in the meter for.

And this is a good thing.

Except, of course, for the part about having to pay the ticket.

Walking into a record store is not just about shopping. Shopping online is efficient and anonymous. Shopping at a little neighborhood record store is not at all about efficiency - its about having a personal experience. You might discover something you hadn't planned on looking at, having a conversation, being in a place for some time and getting lost in another world.

Which can sometimes lead to getting a parking ticket.

But, I don't want you to hesitate to get out there and visit your local record store - like Sound Cat or Mind Cure or The Attic or Jerry's here in Pittsburgh - because the rewards far exceed the risks.

The rewards of record stores are nothing new to new record store owner Karl Hendricks who has worked in record stores since he was 18 years old. "It's fun to go to a record store," says Hendricks, "people share in the excitement of going some place with other music fans who like hard copies of things."

Hard copies like records and CDs.

At least for now, Sound Cat Records looks alot like the store  it replaced, Paul's CDs, and the one it replaced, Jim's. No accident, since Hendricks started working for Jim in 1989, and then Paul.

A musician himself, Hendricks - who is the leader of the Karl Hendricks trio when it is active - seems to be in it more for the love of music than commerce. "For me, listening to records is a journey," says Hendricks. "I really like alot of things. I've learned not to have gut reactions to records. I'm pretty open. Just out of curiosity I grew to like jazz and reggae. I began investigating one thing and learned the language of that and it just drew me in."

So, this is why I got a parking ticket, see, because Hendricks knows his stuff and is smart and thoughtful about what he sells. And so, instead of quickly looking around and leaving, I continued talking with Karl Hendricks about starting a record store like he did.

Record store owners are never one trick ponies. Jerry - of Jerry's Records - used to work for a record company and Hendricks is a visiting lecturer in the writing prgram at Pitt.  He is also a bandleader with a new record soon to be released - he just mastered it in a studio on the North Side - but gigging doesn't mesh well with family and teaching.

Running a record store does, it seems.

Sound Cat Records is filled with new records and Cds, used Cds, box sets and some used vinyl. Hendricks can't compete with Jerry's or Mind Cure or The Attic in that arena and doesn't want to, but he has a few bins of the old stuff and I spend some more quality time rifling through before realizing the time and saying a quick and abrupt farewell to Hendricks before discovering my new windshield decoration in the form of a parking ticket.

I pay it quickly, chalk one up to experience, and another up to the experience I had visiting Soundcat.

Was it worth getting a parking ticket? Nothing is worth that waste of money, really, but...

I'll be back. It is a real place, not a virtual one. It's in a really cool neighborhood, with coffee shops and restaurants. And there are other real people in the shop with similar interests to you - they are into music, into hard copies of music, just like you.

You should check it out, too. And say hi for me when you do!


Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 3/16/2012 8:40 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

Best Philadelphia Record Stores - Part 1: Long in the Tooth



On a recent trip to Philly, I visited two great record stores. Long in the Tooth is in the heart of the city, at 2027 Sansom Street, near Rittenhouse Square. The Marvelous is located at 208 South 40th, near the Penn campus.

This week I'll write about Long in the Tooth. Next week, I'll get to The Marvelous. So stay tuned.


Photo: Michael Regan 

It was late Saturday night. A quick dinner and a short walk from my hotel and I arrive at the entrance to 'Long in the Tooth.' A funny window display full of records, plastic soldiers and super heros beckons. Inside a crowd has formed around record clerk Nick Devlin (above). Conversation is lively - about guilty pleasure record purchases, recent band shows in local clubs, and food. Nick teases one guy for something he bought, I think. Lots of talk of recent gigs. Must be a lot of musicians here. Not sure and the background music - some eighties heavy metal? - is cranked up pretty high. Actually sounds pretty good. I am the oldest guy here - this is a twenty something shop.

I look around. Long in the Tooth is divided down the middle into two sections with CDs on the left and vinyl - new and old - on the right. I ignore the CDs and the new vinyl and decide to delve into the overflowing bins of vintage vinyl disks. 

Where to begin?

I always start in the 'Recent Arrivals' section, if a store has one, and Long in the Tooth - LitT, for short here - does. I like to start here because it is usually less picked over and not already organized and alphabetized thus encouraging serendipitous discoveries.

Thrill of the chase.

But nothing here grabs me. It is nevertheless a good introduction to the quality and variety that you can find here. 

Did I tell you I am trying to control my vinyl purchases? My collection has grown pleasantly plump over the last few months. My intent - at least for the next few months - is to focus on mining my existing collection, not growing it.

But, alas, a record store is always full of temptations and here the prices are very friendly and selection is good.

How could I not at least visit.

Ah, temptations of the vinyl variety.

Long in the Tooth's alphabetically ordered rock bins are elevated, requiring balancing on plastic step stools to access them unless you are a professional basketball player or an average height Dutch man. For me, a sub-average height American man, the step stools are mandatory.

Curiously, I like this heightened vantage point. Stepping up precariously on these flimsy plastic stools seems to make the search that much more exciting! Thusly perched, I methodically begin to rifle through the 'A' section, then 'B' before stepping gingerly off one stool and onto another to continue my search at 'C.'

Seriously, this is exercise.

Pretty soon I realize that I don't have the time or the patience to rifle through every record in LitT's selection, hopping from stool to stool. So, I step down from stool two, spin around and realize that there are more albums lined up along the floor. Kneeling, I begin to scrutinize the floor's bounty.

It is a good one.

In one section in front of the clerk's counter is a huge mass of dollar records in various states of minor distress but not unplayable. Scruffy covers, minor scratches, big hair bands, that kind of thing.

In another smaller section, a mixture of better quality albums lines the base of the elevated bins. This section looks more promising in my present mood.

And I can sit on the floor instead of standing on stools.

As the twenty somethings climb over me to pursue their own vinyl explorations, I tuck into my work. I decide that I will not spend more than twenty dollars here- total- trying to economize and focus on what I am not really sure. 

And so I begin.

Long in the Tooth's current offerings appear to be rather strong in 1960s folk and blues. And their prices are really good, with most disks going for five or ten bucks and some even less.

I ignore anything more than five tonight. I pass over alot of interesting records, but I am not made of money.

However five bucks goes pretty far here.

First I find 'Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country.' This early seventies foray into nashville country features Elvis' Scotty Moore on guitar and the Jordanaires. Nelson covers Hank Williams, Arthur Crudup, Buck Owens and Dolly parton, Don Gibson. The list goes on....

Then I find 'Jug Band Music and rags of the South' featuring Maria Muldaur and the Even Dozen Band. It is an Everest Records release, the quirky Brooklyn based label that put out an enormous variety of folk and blues in the sixties and seventies. This a 1978 release and includes Come On In, Rag Mama, and Sadie Green.

Dave Ray's 'Snaker's Here' also calls out to me. This 1965 Elektra release features liner notes by Paul Nelson (later of Rolling Stone fame) and the blues guitar playing of 'Snaker' Dave Ray. The blues singer and guitarist is better known as part of the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, but his solo work is highly regarded. This was his first solo project and includes Muddy Waters' Rock Me, Leadbelly's Blind Lemon, Rambling on my Mind, and Brownsville Blues. On the back of this 1965 album, Paul Nelson calls Dave Ray 'the reigning figure on the urban folk music scene; he is the best we have now, and he figures to get a whle lot better.'


Finally, there is Ginger Baker's Air Force 2. This incredible, forgotten album includes great performances Roebuck Staples' Let Me Ride, Graham Bonds' 12 Gates of the City, and Bakers' own We Free Kings. Allmusic's Joe Vigilone says that 'this material was clearly as hip as Eric Clapton's Layla album, just not as commercially organized or executed...it should be commended for its sense of adventure and elegance....A timeless, but pretty much forgotten rcord which deserved more FM airplay in its day than it got.'

All in all, a good crate dig. Four obscure classic disks for twenty bucks.

Now, to mine the collection I already have...












Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 3/7/2012 12:08 AM | Add Comment

The Right Record Storage for You

Shawn wrote me recently looking for some advice about storing records. 

"Now that I have stuff to play and something to play it on, I was wondering if you have any suggestions for storage. Right now, I have a huge stash from Jerry's big giveaway in a cardboard box - but would like to get something a little more practical and a little more fancy. I've been looking around antique/thrift stores, but not sure what I'm looking for."

Storing your records is a huge subject. There are so many considerations to be made based upon so many factors. How big is your collection? How much room do you have in your house? Where in your house do you listen to your records? How much money do you have or want to spend on this? Are you handy and can you build something yourself.

And on and on.

But there are a few general things to keep in mind first. These are pretty basic, almost common sense, but important to keep in mind. And as I'm often reminded, common sense ain't so common.

For starters - and Shawn, I know YOU wouldn't do this! - never stack your records horizontally! The weight of the records will eventually imprint the covers with the imprint of the record inside while pressing an small dust particles into the grooves. And anyway, impossible to pull out records on the bottom of the stack. So, its just bad practice and don't do it.

But, if you are reasonably sensible, and you are in fact storing your records vertically, you might want to keep these basic ideas in mind. Try to limit the length of the shelf to about two or three feet. Any longer, and most shelves will tend to bow under the records' weight. Worse yet, the weight of that many records will squeeze the albums and tend to create the same problem that horizontal stacks of records create. So, short spans or cubic shelves are best. 

The depth of the shelves is also something to consider. If the shelf is too deep, it will be hard to read the titles on edge of the coves and harder still to pull the records off the shelf. I know: sounds pretty basic, but it'll make a difference.

The ideal shelf depth is about 12 inches. I recently bought and assembled a wall of Ivar shelving from Ikea that have 11 3/4 inch deep shelves that are 15 inches long. this is just about an ideal system and easy to assemble and pretty inexpensive. The uprights and shelves come unpainted, but you can easily paint or stain them if you want to. I left mine unfinished and it kind of gives them a retro, 1970s feel.

Ikea also has a bookcase system called Expedit that comes in a few sizes and can be used horizontally or vertically. The cubic module of the system is perfect for records. I think it comes in black or white, so you can have any color you want as long as its black or white.

Haha.

Of course, Ikea might not work for you. You may want something that looks more traditional, but the principles are the same.

How do YOU store your collection? How many records do you have and where do they live? Do you have a dedicated music room or are they in your living room? What other advice do you have for Shawn?

And Shawn, please let us know what you end up doing.

 




Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 2/26/2012 11:56 AM | View Comments (5) | Add Comment

Why are Vinyl Records Cool and Vinyl Siding is Not?

My friend, John, writes, "Can I ask why vinyl records are so cool and full of soul, but vinyl siding is just the opposite?  As an architect who appreciates vinyl records, I think you are uniquely qualified to answer that question."

Thanks for your intriguing question, John!

Why, indeed!



While I am no expert on what is cool - I am reminded of the classic Tower of Power song of the same name that might provide some answers - I AM an expert on architecture and so can weigh in on that aspect of your question, for sure! 

And maybe the other aspect, too....

Vinyl records are a direct analog transcription of the sound waves that were recorded by an artist in a studio or performance. In this sense, they are real, it is direct and real. Vinyl siding is a synthetic imitation of a real material, wood. Vinyl siding was produced to be a more durable maintenance free version of wood. Manufacturers have for years been trying to improve the visual aesthetics of vinyl siding to make it appear as close  in appearance to natural wood siding as possible. So, its aspiration is to be an accurate immitation.
 
Like a celebrity impersonator.

In contrast, vinyl records were not produced to be the most durable
way to preserve and listen to music, although ironically, they may be more durable over time than tapes, CDs, and even MP3 files. Records require more day to day care than these more recent recording technologies, but long term may have them trumped.

The care that vinyl records do require is probably part of what makes them cool. You need to clean and dust them, keep in clean sleeves, and store them vertically and without too much pressure on them.

All those rituals.

Vinyl siding, by contrast, doesn't require any care. It can't even be carerd for, in fact. However, it doesn't look better with age and dark colors fade over time.

No such thing as patina with vinyl siding.

Vinyl records, on the other hand, don't REALLY degrade over time. That is, admittedly, arguable. The one factor of use, pops and minor scratches, only add to the listening expereince for some like me whi don't mind being reminded that it is a record and it was recorded a long time ago - or a short time ago - and it is special, those pops and scratches are part of the listening expereince.

Like the cool hum of a sports car engine.

And then there are the colorful works of art that protect vinyl records, the jackets, sleeves or covers.

Cover art is cool.

That much I do know.

Hope this begins to answer your question, John.

Readers, please weigh in.

Only 'scratched' the surface of this one, but its a start....

haha
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 2/21/2012 9:23 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Garage Sale Records


After having lunch with Petra, we stop at a nearby Goodwill store for a quick look inside. Of course, there is a bin of vintage records and of course I make a bee line for the bin. 

Petra smiles. So, that is why he wanted to stop into the Goodwill!

Big surprise...

The bin contains three rows of records, each stacked thick with a couple of feet of possiblities. In the first row on the left, I quickly score a double album set of Neil Diamond, Double Gold on Bang Records.


The sepia toned cover - or is it faded gold? - is composed of a slightly enlarged Benday pattern, like a monochromatic Roy Lichtenstein painting or a Warhol. The dot pattern is slightly raised making the album cover tactile.

Pretty cool. Neil Diamond is a guilty pleasure, nothing I dared listen to back in the day, but now, why not?

No risk of possibly appearing cool anymore!


A few minutes pass and a guy steps up to the bin and starts rifling through the right hand row of records. I recognize him, but can't place him. I ask him if he is looking for anything special and he looks up, recognition in his eyes. I suddenly recall who it is. It's George, who has a record garage sale out of his Highland Park house periodically. I went once, by chance, and found some great records, including a couple of Michael Bloomfield solo disks. I make a mental note to check my database to see what else I found there. I remember it was a great sale. Apparently, George has these sales quite frequently,in warmer months, but I don't know when. I quickly give him my card, with my email on it, and ask him to please let me know when his next garage sale is!

He promises to put me on his email list.

George goes on to explain that he has about 15,000 records in his garage and needs to weed them out, that is why he has garage sales. I ask him what he is looking for today, and he says, this and that. 

We chat for a few more minutes and then George leaves the store. We are both smiling about our encounter.

Back to the bin, I tackle the middle row, or what I shall now refer to as the motherlode! Not for everyone, but I find some interesting records, at least for me. 

There is a sealed copy of Willie Nelson's 1982  Grammy Award winning album, Always On My Mind. He also covers Whiter Shade of Pale here.

There is Don McLean's 1976 Solo double album live set. 

There is the Righteous Brothers' This is New! from 1965 on Moonglow Records. In really good playing condition.

There is Duane Eddy's Twangy Guitar - Silky Strings that includes Unchained Melody and Love Me Tender. 

Swee-eet.

There is Tommy Roe's 1966 Sweet Pea album that includes the title track hit as well as a a kind of pop rock cover of the Stones' Under My Thumb and a sappy version of the garage rock classic, Wild Thing, written by Chip Taylor, Angelina Jolie's uncle. It is a mono disk, and probably worth more than the $1 I pay for it. (It seems to be selling for about $15 in good used condition online). But, I am not buying it as an investment - no, no, no. 

I just want to hear what he does to these classic rock tracks.

This record is a lot of fun.

There is also John Klemmer's Touch, a classic 1975 jazz rock fusion record with Klemmer's sax and Dave Grusin on Fender Rhodes keyboards. In a beautifully designed cover by Norman Seeff.


Finally, there is the Bee Gees' 1971 classic 2 Years On, on yellow Atco. One of my favorite Bee Gees songs, Lonely Days, leads off side two.

I nee-eed this record.

Of course, I can't resist any of these. And the price is very right.

So, stop in to your local Goodwill and look around - and check out your neighborhood garage sales, like George's. 

You never know who you might bump into, or what you might find.

For instance, upon leaving the store, we bump into my sister, who we haven't seen for a while.

And then, down the block, Alison, who we had just been talking about.

You see, her dog and my dog are buddies, too.





Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 2/11/2012 1:29 PM | View Comments (4) | Add Comment

Album Review: Jake and the rest of the Jewels - A Lick and a Promise


Back in the 1960s, Bunky and Jake was a gentle Greenwich Village based pop/folk duo - more in the Loving Spoonful mode than Kweskin Jug Band, if that means anything to you. Sweet, happy, soulful. Old and new simultaneously. Hard to categorize except to say that they embodied the laid back, Greenwich Village spirit of the day. Jake - Allan Jacobs - had a sweet fingerpicking guitar style and Bunky - Bunky Skinner - sang harmonies and the occasional lead. The arrangements were simple and straightforward, vocal harmonies with strings entering unexpectedly at times. They wrote the songs together. 


He was a huge Skyliner fan, Laura Nyro, too. 


I missed them completely at the time but they had a following and shared the Bitter End stage with many of their more famous contemporaries like Joni Mitchell. They were written up in the Rolling Stone - the issue fronted by Taj Mahal in 1969. 


I have their eclectic debut, Bunky and Jake. I found it in Johnstown, PA, and snapped it up. I like their vocal harmonies and the jazzy little 1:25 instrumental, Mongoose, on side two. Maybe you can find it online. Worth a look and listen.

Jake first came to my attention when I heard him play Toad's Place in New Haven in the late 1970s as the leader of a band, Jake and the Family Jewels. The Family Jewels included Mike Rosa on drums, Jeremiah Burnham on Bass, and Dan Marsolino on piano. Their album of the same name is one of my favorites and includes a great Dylan cover:

http://blog.vinylrecordarchitect.com/2010/03/06/playing-a-les-paul-junior-with-p90-pickups-rediscovering-jake-and-the-family-jewels.aspx 


Many years have passed since these records came out. I'm not sure what kept Jake and Bunky going over the years, but it turns out they and their relationship survived, although the Family Jewels did not. 


So, when I heard that Jake had put together a new Jake/Jewels album I was eager to hear it. The album, A Lick and a Promise, actually picks up where Bunky and Jake left off, seemingly skipping over the heavier Family Jewels sound. It is credited to Jake and the rest of the Jewels, in acknowledgment of the one original Jewel, Dan Mansolino, on pianos, and some relative newcomers, the aforementioned 'other' Jewels.


Rather than being a new 'Family Jewels' project, A Lick and a Promise is really a Bunky and Jake revival. Gentler, happier. The years didn't diminish their voices, their melodies, or their wonderful, soulful, optimism. My favorite tunes are Stay in Shape, Willy and Toots, For No One But the Moon, Guitar, Guitar, and Don't Let Go. I prefer the tracks that drummer Bernie Soroko plays on - not the drum machine, Jake. Sorry, I like the sound of Jake's vocals against the foundation of Bernie's drumming and Bobo' bass - real instruments in a real context. The somewhat heavier, roots-ier production of the 'real' drum tracks help to ground those tunes. The drum machine sounds too smooth and artificial.


The album grows on the listener as the unfamiliar songs begin to sink in. I think a cover or two would help to create a connective narrative for the project, relating influence to creation. Throughout, Jake's distinctive voice is clear and strong, remarkably unchanged despite the passage of decades. 


His melodies are similarly timeless.


Sadly, Bunky passed away before A Lick and a Promise was released to the public at the end of 2011. The album is a tribute to her enduring spirit, to love, to sincerity - and survival. You've got to hand it to Jake. After all these years, he hasn't lost his vocal chops, his guitar licks, or the promise of a song's power to lift the spirit - and make one dance...
Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 1/25/2012 4:23 PM | Add Comment

Album Review: Mace Ballard's 'The Next Time You See Sky'

Hailed in 2010 as Pittsburgh's favorite band (that is not the Clarks), winner of band contests and local polls, pop punk foursome Mace Ballard have released their first full length album - and it is truly an album. From the first notes of A Beginner's Guide to Beginnings to the last vestiges of Remainder, Mace Ballard rocks hard and smart. Each song is distinctive, but the 13 tracks on the group's debut fit well together to form an intriguing whole, the way albums used to be constructed in the golden album era of the 1970s. This resulting collection is greater than the sum of its parts, as good albums can be, positively betraying the musicians' ambition, intelligence, humor - and musical tastes.

Mace Ballard is a pop oriented punk band, like Green Day, but with other quirkier influences that give them substance and edge. For instance, the second track, Close Reading, starts off like  a Yes outtake before shifting gears and settling into a melodic but insistent punk jam. Time Machines Exist could be a Monster-era REM track, at least at first, before riding guitarist Brandon Lehman's chunky guitar into a Green Day-esque punk anthem. Then, just when you think you've got that track figured out, Lehman lays out an extended prog-rock guitar solo.

Are they a pop/punk group? Yes, and no. In their best moments, they transcend genre, creating a distinctively eclectic sound.

I don't want to give you the impression that Mace Ballard is derivative because they are not. But they do know their music. Do these guys have big music collections? I'll bet they do. Do they listen to an eclectic mix of music. They must. In fact, I hope they listen even more broadly than they do now! You can hear it in the tracks and the tracks don't lie. I love the fact that the songs often veer off into unexpected territory - ballads, harmony vocals, chunky punk guitar, power pop, anthem rock, prog-rock - you name it. In fact, I wish they'd do MORE of that. 

Mace Ballard knows their music and has the chops to prove it. 

Chris Daley's voice fits the band's melodic punk approach. Drummer Steve La Russa's ferocious drumming drives each song as rock drummers should. Brandon Lehman's guitar work is skillful and varied, a strong counterpoint to Daley's vocals. 

Perhaps bassist TJ Angelo's rhythms get a bit lost in Steve Soboslai's polished production which mixes the drums, guitars and vocals almost all equally on top, but the sound of the record is extremely convincing and well produced. I'd be curious to hear more from Angelo next time out - what would a more bass heavy, polyrhythmic Mace Ballard record sound like?

Ultimately, what makes The Next Time You See Sky so listenable is the partnership between Daley's literate and intelligent lyrics and Lehman's melodies and chords. I hope these guys continue to explore their songwriting and push their sound envelope further, beyond the given pop punk genre, into new and more varied places. Bright future ahead.

Now if only it were on vinyl...


Posted by Vinyl Record Architect at 1/17/2012 11:13 PM | Add Comment
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