Here is a bonus post or a late Halloween post, enjoy.
I keep forgetting to bring up the fact that my local radio station, 89.3 The Current, has put out a new
Live Current album, 89.3 The Current: Live Current Vol. 8. They pressed this
one in vinyl and on CD. I was told by some of the DJs that the last time a Live
Current volume was pressed, Vol. 5, that it did not sell very well and that
they would probably not do a vinyl release again. I was very surprised to find
that this one was on vinyl because of what I was told. Needless to say, I took
advantage of the offer right away. The station not only offered the album in
both of these formats but also offered it as a box set. The box set comes with
both the CD and the Vinyl along with a poster of the cover art. I did order a
copy of the box set but have not recieved it yet. I read that the vinyl
pressing is delayed on the web site, just like the Vol. 5 edition was. That is
OK to me as this is such a limited run. I just hope to get it before Christmas.
There is going to be a new Minnesota Beatle Project album
for sale soon. This one is the fourth volume of the series. It will be released
on December 4, 2012. You can get it through Target or your local record store.
The cover art comes from mixed-media artist Gregory Euclide, who landed on many
music lovers' radars back in 2010 when he created the cover art for Bon Iver's
first album Bon
Iver.
The proceeds go to local area schools to fund their music programs. All but one
contributor are from Minnesota.
DeVotchKa are the only band not from Minnesota
contributing to this album. You can see the track listing and artists along
with a graphic of the cover here.
XL records has put up a release date for the new Thom Yorke
album, going by the band name Atoms For Peace now. The album will be called
AMOK and it will be released on January 28, 2013. There is no a preorder up yet
but I will keep you posted.
The next Man or Astro-Man? single, Analog Series Vol. 2, will start shipping this week. I am very excited to get my hot little hands on that when it arrives! Here is a graphic of what Chunklet posted for the vinyl colors.
The next Man or Astro-Man? single, Analog Series Vol. 2, will start shipping this week. I am very excited to get my hot little hands on that when it arrives! Here is a graphic of what Chunklet posted for the vinyl colors.
On with the show…
This is the tenth album from Prince. It was released in
1988. This album was released as a substitute album when The Black Album was
suddenly canceled. The two albums, Black and Lovesexy, are completely opposite
but fans consider them companion pieces. I do not have The Black Album at
present to say whether I think this is true or not. The album was recorded at
Prince's new Paisley Park Records, and most of the album is a solo effort from
Prince. Interesting fact about the initial release of the CD version of this is
that it was released as one track with no gaps in between the tracks.
There were three singles released from this album. The first
single is called Alphabet St.
Initially written as an acoustic blues song, the song's final version includes
a rap by Cat Glover and is full of samples, and generally repeats themes from
the song Lovesexy. The song is
meant to stand in contrast to the gospel of the track I Know which plays off of
the Christian ethics describing Prince's personal belief in Christian concepts
of Heaven, Hell, the Devil, and God. The song is classic Prince and The NPG
fair before The NPG was even named. It is a good fun song but may not be fore
the younger crowd with all of the sexual references. I was in middle school
when this was on the radio and it did not really effect me but I was into it
for the music not the words.
On a side note about this song, 1990s hip-hop group Arrested
Development sampled a word from Alphabet
St. for their breakout song Tennessee in 1992. The group were sued for
their unauthorized use of the word "Tennessee"
and had to pay Prince $100,000. It just shows that samples cost money if you
did not create them originally.
The second single released from this album is called Glam
Slam. The title originates from the sexual quote "Wham, bam, thank you,
ma'am". The song has sexual overtones with a spiritual undertone and fits
the Lovesexy theme of
integrating God and sex. The song is complex musically, recalling "Life
Can Be So Nice" from Parade.
It ends with a chorus of strings. The song is kind of strange in that it is
very slow and mellow in the vocals but has a strong beat behind them. It works
but still feels weird at the same time when I listen to it.
In late 1989, Prince opened a nightclub in Minneapolis named after the song and
partially decorated with paintings by Brian Canfield Mitchell. After eight
years of frustration vis-a-vis its more established rival First Avenue, he sold it to new owner,
Gilbert Davison, former Prince Manager and President of Paisley Park, who
renamed it The Quest. The club became one of the premier nightspots in the Twin
Cities, rivaling First Avenue
as a live music venue, before closing in 2006 due to a fire in the club. The
building was reconfigured following the closure and reopened as the nightclub
Epic.
The last single released from this album is called I Wish U
Heaven. It is another slow song from the album. It is a happy song with
Christian overtones. It is a happy track wishing the best for the people. It is
not necessarily a close relative or significant other but every one since the
lyrics are basically just the title of the son sung over and over.
Side note: This is prince so there are no videos for the singles on line anywhere.
It is an interesting album and deserves a fair listen.
This is the first full length album from Pretty Poison. It
was released in 1988. The group consisted of Jade Starling and Whey Cooler.
Over the summer I made a trip to my local record store and searched for some
records that were released in the late 80s. I had a specific set written down.
I found about half of them. This album was one of them. I only remember hearing
one of the three singles released from this album on the radio and I got this
LP for that one song. It cost me a mere three bucks. I looked at it as buying
the single for a buck and getting the rest of the album for two bucks. It is
still cheaper than paying five bucks for a cheap MP3 album on Amazon and I get
a physical product too.
There were three singles released from this album. The first
single was the title track, Catch Me I’m Falling. It was included on the
soundtrack to the film Hiding Out
(1987), which starred Jon Cryer, The song was later released with this album.
In 2009, VH1 ranked Catch Me (I'm Falling) number 47 on its program 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of The '80s.
It is truly a great song and makes use of as much of the current music
technology as possible. For me this was out on the radio stations when I was
feeling like I was in a rut musically. Everything sounded the same and I did
not know where to go to find new music. I was stuck on the top 40 radio station
and did not know where else to look. This was one of the lights in music simply
because it was pop but still interesting because of the use of samples,
electronic drums and cool sounds in general.
The second single released from this album is called
Nighttime. This was actually a remix of the 1984 version of the song. The song
references Whodini’s 1984 song Freaks Come Out at Night. I don’t remember
hearing this song ever. It is a cool song but not as good as the first single.
It is all electronic sounds through the song. I really like the sound of the
bass in this song.
The last single from this album is called When I Look intoYour Eyes. The song did well in the dance charts but not in the top 40 charts.
This is probably why I had never heard this one either. I don’t see much
special about this track as everything is synth including the horn pops. It
just comes off as 80s plastic. Her vocals are great though. It is probably the
only thing authentic in the track.
I am happy that I have the album but for the casual listener
the title track is the only thing needed off this album.
This is the first album form C+C Music Factory. It was
released in1990. The album was released during the rise of house music to
commercial acceptance throughout Europe and North America.
The group was following on the success of contemporaries Black Box and
Technotronic. The album was a whirl wind success and took the world by
surprise. I remember the singles from this album being played on the radio
during the Sunday morning Top 40 shows during the summer months. My family, mom
and dad included, loved the singles from this album, along with the singles
from both Black Box and Technotronic.
There were three singles released from this album. The first
of which was Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). The rap was performed
by Freedom Williams and the vocal "Everybody Dance Now" by
disco/house music artist Martha Wash. The official music video features Zelma
Davis lip-synching to the actual Martha Wash vocal parts. Wash, perturbed by the fact that her image
had been labeled "unmarketable" due to her weight, successfully sued
to receive proper credit (and royalties). Wash's courtroom efforts spurred legislation
making vocal credits mandatory on CDs and music videos. What really mattered to
me was the music. The video in this case was very boring which made the music
stand out even more. I particularly liked the line, “It’s your world and I’m
just a squirrel, trying to get a nut to move your but to the dance floor.” It
was cute and wasn’t offensive in the least. It is a clean song that has a great
beat. That was all I needed at the time.
Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll) is the second single
released from this album. This song has the same style as the previous single
with the repetitive drums. This song just didn’t seem as strong as the first
single though. It is a good song but it lacked something that the first single
had. It still has the strong female vocals and the male rapping but was not as
good to me for some reason.
The third single released from this album is called ThingsThat Make You Go Hmmm… The single features Freedom Williams and he is also seen
in the song's music video. The song was inspired by a running gag on The Arsenio Hall Show, whereby
Arsenio, while on an alleged long drive, ponders certain thoughts and refers to
them as "things that make you go hmmm....".
There are a few stories that happen in this song. The first
tells of a guys girlfriend’s best friend who is sent over to try to seduce him.
He doesn’t fall for it but she keeps pushing. Finally the girlfriend walks in
and finds that her friend is serious about getting him in the sack.
The next story is about a guys friend who ends up crashing
at his house for a period. The guys wife ends up having a kid that looks like
his friend instead of him.
The third story is about the guy as a kid in high school. He
was involved sexually with her and he assumed that he was her first. He asked
her if this was true, she had a look that said yes but her response was, “Damn,
why you guys always ask me that?”
The last story was from the opposite perspective. A woman
who loved her man but her man seemed to love not only her but other women that
he did not talk about. There were clues to this as well, phone calls in the
middle of the night and mysterious underwear showing up.
I also remember hearing a fourth song from this album a lot.
That song is called Just A Touch Of Love (Everyday). I don’t remember if my
sister had this on cassette or if I heard it on the radio/MTV but I really
liked the synth/organ part that was on this track with the staccato style that
it has. It is a beautiful song with wonderful female vocals.
This is a great album and should be heard at least once even
if it is just to learn about music history.
This is the fourth album from Heavenly. It was released in
1994.
Entertainment
Weekly said that the music, "adds spice with two harmonizing female
vocalists sweetly delivering dry, sarcastic lyrics about things like trying to
get a lover to leave so you can wake up alone.”
From Allmusic said that the album was, "...a cleanly produced sequence
of bouncy, guitar-based pop songs — and fans of the band know just how good
they are at writing bouncy pop songs. The only problem with the album is that it's so painfully
short."
There doesn’t appear to be an official single released from
this album. The album as a whole is exceptional with its tongue in cheek
approach to lyrics and music. This is one of my favorites from the 90s indie
music. This is an album that I have come to poses because of the Heavenly/Bis
split 7” that I got over the summer. I am still waiting to get the first two
albums from this group. I love these last two, this one and Operation Heavenly,
so much that I am very excited to get the other two along with any other singles
that they have put out.
That's all I have for now...
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