Friday, July 26, 2013

Vol. 4 Episode 30



I was lucky enough to find a copy of Man Or Astro-Man's first ever release for a reasonable price last week. The record is in great condition and the sleeve is pretty good too. This will probably be on next weeks post.

I also just recently found out about a local artist called Dessa. Her third album is what attracted me to her music. My local radio has played a few tracks from her new album Parts Of Speech. This will also probably be on next weeks post.

The Dodos have signed with a new record label and have a new record coming out at the end of next month. The album is called Carrier and will be put out on Polyvinyl Records. Release date is August 27th.

On with the show...

This is their first album. It was released in April of 1982. I remember watching the videos for this album on MTV. I was lucky enough to have MTV growing up as a kid. I also remember having a small dish on top of my house so we could get HBO before cable was even a thing. We never had one of those huge dishes though. I was still very young at this point and the hair styles didn’t have an effect on me yet. The album is considered a concept album with a theme of alien abduction. The tracks follow a story in sequence of the abduction.

There were three singles from the album, the first being Telecommunication. This track did not chart on the standard US or UK charts but did do well on the dance charts. The song basically lists different ways that other life forms may choose to communicate. Our choice is telecommunication and has been for quite a while.

The second single released from the album is I Ran (So FarAway). The text on my album only reads I Ran. The version of the song that I have was the one that was on the video. There is a version that has an introduction and an extended ending. This can be found on a different version of the vinyl and all versions of the CD. There is a third shorter version of the song that has a fade out at the end. I have not hear the longer version but would be interested if I could find a copy.

The third single is called Space Age Love Song. I recognize this song just as well as I Ran. It has that same cool echo that was used on I ran and is mostly why I like the song so much. From Wikipedia, “Lead guitarist Paul Reynolds remarked on their 1984 video album "Through the Looking Glass" that he thought of the song's title. He said that the band wrote and recorded it, but couldn't come up with the title. He suggested "Space Age Love Song" because he thought it sounded like a space age love song. His title stuck as the song's permanent title.”


This is the second release from Soul Coughing. It was released in July of 1996. I thought that this album was miles better than the first album they put out. I was very excited to get my hands on this album when it was new. This is one of my favorite albums of the mid 90s music. I was able to see them live at a free multi staged festival some time after this album was put out. I remember having the worst view ever, the back of the stage, but that I was able to hear them well enough. The producer of the first album was unable to produce the second record. Going against the wishes of the band and the record label, Mike Doughty hired David Kahne to give the album a new wave feel.

The album put out three singles. The first was Soundtrack ToMarry (bad audio but actual video). I liked the opening with just an acoustic guitar and Mikes vocals. The simplicity was earth shattering and the dead pan vocals were perfection. The song did not chart that well but for me the song was awesome. I liked it so much that I bought the 7” single. It came on clear vinyl. It was one of my first colored vinyl purchases. I listened to this song so much both on that single and on the CD. I have the lyrics nearly memorized. I have always liked the bass sound from the band too.

The second single was Soft Serve. This song has a groovy bass line. The guitar is electric with a vibrato on it. There is also some keys that are organ like in the background. I was never as much of a fan of this track. I had a friend who loved this track though and I never understood why. He grew up in Chicago and that gave him a different perspective but that is the only excuse that I could give him.

The third single was Super Bon Bon. This track was so cool. The upright bass has just a touch of distortion. There were mainly samples of noise and instruments making noise through the song over the drums and bass. Mikes vocals were over the top of it all in perfect clarity. It was so fun to sing along with the lyrics because they only made sense in the fractions of each line. The lyrics as a whole never seemed to make any sense.

This was never a single but I liked the song Disseminated. The sample used for the main music was so cool. It reminded me of something from a Warner Brothers cartoon. My friends and I also liked the word Chocodile that is used in the chorus of the song. I have no idea what it is but my assumption is that of a chocolate crocodile.

This is an album from the 90s that everyone should hear at least once!


This is the twelfth album by Hall & Oates. It was released early October of 1984. It marked the end of the duo’s success streak. It is also considered one of the records that made the sound of the 80s. I remember seeing the cover of the album and thinking it looked nearly like one of my sisters shirts (it was the 80s after all). I recently found a copy of this album still sealed at one of my local record stores. I was excited even though there was only one song that I was looking for.

There were four singles released from the album. The first single, Out Of Touch, released from the record is why I bought it. I remember hearing the song on the radio as a kid still in elementary school. The song was brought back to my attention when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released. You had the option to change radio stations in the game and the song was featured on the Flash FM channel in the game. In the video for the song the opening track that fades into Out Of Touch is included. It was probably a way to advertise more songs and slightly annoying to cut the track as they fade into each other. The 12” remix version of the song was used for the video.

The second single from the album is called Method Of ModernLove. The song is very interesting but never hit me as a good song. It did hit number five on the charts though so I must be wrong about it. It just doesn’t have a good hook and the synth horns don’t sound right to me.

The third single from the album is called Some Things AreBetter Left Unsaid. It is a quieter song and a bit slower too. For me it kind of has an air of something that could have been used for a movie. I don’t believe that it was but it certainly could have been. It is a good song, better than Method Of Modern Love, but it still doesn’t have that hook like their other hits had.

Possession Obsession is the last single from the album. This is the last track on the album as well as being the last single released from the album. The song just doesn’t seem to go anywhere though. It is a good beat but there is no rise and fall and the hook is so weak.

The first single is really the only song that you need to hear from this album unless you are a fan.


This is the sixth album by Judas Priest. It was released in April of 1980. This album was considered heavy metal at the time like Led Zeppelin was, the music really of the period from rock music. I was never a fan of rock music growing up as a kid. I saw it as my dads’ music. The singles from this album were played on the station that my dad listened to. My parents always asked me to not get into that heavy metal music. They were talking of bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden. It is funny to me now because they were a sub genre to what my dad listened to i.e. not too different. I don’t know what they were thinking. I did end up getting into the heavier rock but not until after I left home. I wanted to find some of the classic rock and get a better understanding of what was propelling the current rock of the late 90s and early 00s.

There were three singles released from this album. The first single was Breaking The Law. I first heard this song through the Beavis And Butt-Head show on MTV. The song is very simple with an easy to chant/repeat chorus. The chorus is repeating the title of the song. The Beavis And Butt-Head were very dumb and this was an easy chorus for them to remember add to this the illegal connotations and it fits them perfectly. It was funny to see idiots act idiotic.

The second single from the album is called Living AfterMidnight. I remember hearing this song on my dad’s radio in the garage. I am not sure if he liked the song or not but he did not change the channel. He never changed the channel really. I think he wanted to hear something other than the tools he used to work on cars. The song is about the hedonistic, rebellious way of living in the 80s. The vocals are what make it work so well. The song really reminds me of the Thin Lizzy album called Jail Break.

The last single from the album is called United. The song hits hard with a simple staccato verse. The chorus smooth’s out to something that can be chanted in an arena setting. It was not a song that I had ever heard before I got the album. It is a good song for an 80s rock song but not something I intend to listen to often.

Over all it is a good album. I got it for cheap and view it as getting the single for a buck and the rest of the album for a couple of bucks extra. It is cheaper than getting a download from iTunes, that’s for sure.

That is all I have for now...

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