Erykah Badu - Vinyl Release circa-21st Century - New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh

Title: New Amerykah,
Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh    [Vinyl Version]
 Artist: Erykah Badu

Return of the Ankh was supposed to be issued earlier than March 2010. It's just as well: 2008's stupefying 4th World War provided such a dense concentration of charged lyrics over ceaselessly vein-melting production work that Erykah Badu could have been forgiven for letting five years pass prior to unveiling something else to soak up.

Return of the Ankh is a relief in that Badu does not attempt to trump herself with a set that is even more intense and powerful than its predecessor. Thematically, it's aligned with 4th World War's relatively lighter songs, "Me" and "Honey," more personal than planetary, less challenging sonically and lyrically. Most of it was actually recorded at the same time as 4th World War.

The list of collaborators, featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow, Madlib, Shafiq Husayn, Dilla, James Poyser, Ahmir Thompson, and Karriem Riggins, is similar, yet the makeup is drastically different, designed for instant kicked-back enjoyment. A pause, deep breath, and a "Here we go" is not required prior to putting it on.

Instead, we get Badu playing around, in the best possible way, with sample-rooted songs like "Turn Me Away (Get Munny)" (a twist on Sylvia Striplin's "You Can't Turn Me Away" and the 1995 hip-hop anthem that sampled it, Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "Get Money"), "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long" (a slightly silly new-love song that reworks Paul McCartney's "Arrow Through Me"), and "Umm Hmm" (its optimism reflected in that of its backbone, Ndugu & the Chocolate Jam Company's Earth, Wind & Fire-like "Take Some Time").

Though the album is so rich with sample-reliant songs that it sometimes resembles a glorified mixtape, a couple standouts were made from scratch. "Window Seat" should appeal to those who have wanted Badu to revisit that lissome sound of Baduizm songs like "On & On" and "Otherside of the Game," and it packs stunning stomp-and-clap breakdowns that sync up with Badu's most halting lines: "I need you to want me/I need you to miss me/I need your attention/I need you next to me."

"Out My Mind, Just in Time" is a ten-minute finale that traces a trajectory of heartache across three movements, beginning innocently enough with a devotional (if pained and humorous) piano ballad that shifts into Muldrow's psychedelic, slow-motion soul-jazz as Badu gets increasingly fragmentary and tripped-out. By the end, she is renewed: "Finally I got a leading role/Introducing Super Dope/Starring in her episode/Hello new world/Out my mind."

Actual next level, as always. [The album was also released on vinyl in 2010.]


~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

SECRET CITIES - Vinyl Record Release - Title: STRANGE HEARTS

Title:   Strange Hearts 
              Vinyl Record Release

Artist: Secret Cities
            Strange Hearts

On its second album (at least under the Secret Cities name), the North Dakota trio works a bit more in the vein with which it first came to greater attention -- intentionally lo-fi/murky sonics crossed with a sprightly late-'60s Beach Boys jones as refracted through winsome indie sensibilities and sonics of the 21st century. A mouthful, perhaps, but it's the best way to describe Strange Hearts, an intentional collage of all sorts of things into the group's own particular shape.

On that front they're one of many bands in recent years who work in generally similar veins -- call it the impact of everything from the legacy of Elephant 6 to the continuing decenteredness of the music industry in general -- but there are plenty of enjoyable songs throughout, even if, as heard straight through, it's a bit repetitive in the end.

But said songs, like "The Park," beginning with quiet vocals and piano before the full arrangement kicks in, and "Brief Encounter," with its stately spaghetti Western horns and flourishes dissolving into a loop of mechanistic rumbles, show that there's a spirit at work amid all the general feeling of collage and homage.

If Strange Hearts isn't per se a major work, it has more going for it than most dull rock-by-numbers out there, a self-contained sonic world.

 ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi

Pharaoh - POWER METAL - Be Gone [Vinyl/Bonus Single]

Title: Be Gone    [Vinyl/Bonus Single]
Artist: Pharaoh

The power metal revival movement has been a predominantly European phenomenon; in the 1990s and 2000s, countless power metal bands were formed in Sweden, Germany, Norway, and other European countries. But predominantly European doesn't mean exclusively European, and one of the American power metal revival bands that emerged in the late '90s (although their first album didn't come out until 2003) was Pharaoh. Be Gone, which is Pharaoh's third album, won't be accused of being groundbreaking; this is a 2008 release that, stylistically, could have been recorded in 1982 or 1983.

Melodic but hard-driving tracks such as "Buried at Sea," "Dark New Life," "Rats and Rope," and "Cover Your Eyes and Pray" get their inspiration from old-school headbangers who emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, and lead singer Tim Aymar favors a gruff vocal style that owes a lot to Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson. Maiden, in fact, is the most prominent power metal influence on Be Gone, although Judas Priest and Ronnie James Dio are obvious influences as well.

This 47-minute import CD is defiantly oblivious to post-'80s developments in metal, and there is nothing wrong with that. There is a place for retro artists as long as they are good at what they do -- and while Be Gone isn't remarkable, it is decent and well executed. There is never any doubt that guitarist Matt Johnsen, bassist Chris Kerns, and drummer Chris Black can play their instruments well -- they aren't lacking in the chops department -- and Be Gone is a likable, if derivative, reminder of the fact that headbangers don't have to be from Europe to contribute to the power metal revival movement.

Performers: Chris Black - Drums; Chris Kerns - Bass; Matt Johnsen - Guitar; Tim Aymar - Vocals


[This vinyl edition included a bonus single.]


BY ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi

LADY GAGA- The Fame Monster [Picture Vinyl]

Title: The Fame Monster   [Picture Vinyl]
Artist: Lady Gaga

Initially planned solely as a standard double-disc reissue in the wake of the blockbuster success of The Fame, Lady Gaga decided to release the new material as a separate EP called The Fame Monster in addition to the standard two-CD set, where it's tacked onto a now standardized version of her debut. It's a nice move for fans, plus it helps emphasize the new material, which does act as a bridge from the debut to a forthcoming full-length.

Everything on The Fame Monster bears a galvanized Eurotrash finish, as evident on the heavy steel synths of “Bad Romance” and the updated ABBA revision “Alejandro” as it is on the rock & roll ballad “Speechless” -- its big guitars lifted from Noel Gallagher -- and the wonderful, perverse march “Teeth.”

Even the stuttering splices on “Telephone,” a duet with Beyoncé, leans to the other side of the Atlantic, which just emphasizes the otherness that's become Gaga's calling card.

And even as she's becoming omnipresent, with her songs mingling with those who co-opt her on the radio, she is still slightly skewed, willing to go so far over the top that she goes beyond camp, yet still channeling it through songs that are written, not just hooks. The Fame Monster builds upon those strengths exhibited on The Fame, offering a credible expansion of the debut and suggesting she's not just a fleeting pop phenomenon.


BY~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

NEW - Illinois Vinyl Record Retailer Entries - For SPRING 2012 EDITION

New Additions To "VINYL RECORD BUYERS GUIDE"

ILLINOIS



Revolution Records56 N Central Park Plaza, Jacksonville IL

Record Room641 W Golf Road, Des Plaines IL

Angelsing Records818 S Seminary Avenue, Park Ridge IL

Fabsound Records LLC2113 W Walton Street, Chicago IL

Record Swap114 E University Avenue, Champaign IL

Record Emporium3057 N Rockwell Street, Chicago IL

Thisit Records Inc10133 S Halsted Street, Chicago IL

Mac's Records5425 W Madison Street, Chicago IL

Permanent Records LLC1914 W Chicago Avenue, Chicago IL

Joyce Records Inc1717 Tonne Road, Elk Grove Village IL

606 Records Inc1065 Aster Lane, West Chicago IL