What's Spinning

Experience Unlimited ‎– Free Yourself (Black Fire Records, 2019 VMP Essentials Pressing)

Another blinder that im glad was reissued. Just could do with Wayne Davis' self-titled from the early Black Fire catalogue now!

On a side note, did we ever get a response from Cam at VMP about the shady lack of credit when picking this as a ROTM?

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The Collection Playthrough Catchup

071 - Various Artists - Willie Nelson: American Outlaw (All Star Concert)

The worst part about this is figuring out the title. Other than that, this was a top flight RSD pickup. I really love how this was structure. A and B sides were pretty much straight tribute concert beauty - Side A really takes off with Micah and Lucas Nelson doing a trio of Willie songs and Nathaniel Rateliff's "A Song For You" is a standout, and the fire really just continues from there. Sides C and D is where Willie does his work and it morphs into what WIllie does so well: collaborations and hangouts. It leads off appropriately with Jack Johnson singing WIllie Got Me Stoned with the Sheryl Crow (After The Fire Is Gone) and George Strait (Sing One With Willie and Good Hearted Woman) serving as my favorite highlights. This one has been spun a couple times since purchase and is a real RSD gem.

072 - K.Flay - Don't Judge A Song By Its Cover

I thought this was one of the more underrated RSD Releases. I totally get it: the full sized singles at full LP (or near them) prices are tough to justify. With that said, give it a run on Spotify, K.Flay has a very unique sound in general. This is a three cover song LP of some of the crown jewels of 90s and early 00s mainstream rock: Self-Esteem, Brain Stew, and Break Stuff. The surprise on this, and possibly value add over just streaming it, is that on the B-Side she has an explanation of her process behind choosing a cover and working on these.

073 - Billie Joe + Norah - Foreverly

OK, FOREVER, I had been saying I don't love this album. I've tried this on CD and streaming, had to have been like 10 different times over the years. Never connected. I found a cheaper-than-normal original press online and I've been trying to build up my Norah collection so I went for it. The vinyl is a totally different experience. I think this is a Bellman/RTI cut and I'm rapidly discovering that as much as we are all deservedly KG Stans here...I might be more of a Bellman guy. The record is a substantial upgrade over the digital experience and I thoroughly enjoyed this listen.

074 - Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor

Speaking of Norah, this is probably my least familiar album of hers for me, its her newest and I just never really got into it? I think it may be a grower as most of her music is, but felt like a good pair for the Foreverly.

075 - Various ‎– Eternal Musical Custom 20

This thing is wild. First, I appear to be the only person on Discogs who will fess up to owning it. I saw this at the used book store for $3 sitting in a bin with, for the most part, the usual goodies (severely beat up classic rock, mass pressed cheap jazz, bird training records, the usual). Japanese OBI with a clearly copyright infringed image of West Side Story on the cover and a picture of a woman dancing on the back who is well out of era. The music is mostly classic Broadway songs...except they're for the most part instrumentals except for like four of them? Might be the weirdest thing I own at this point, I had to have it

076 - Sesame Disco

Hot take alert. For the most part, the best known Sesame Street Disco Themed album is Sesame Street Fever with Robin Gibb singing Trash and Sesame Street Fever and a smattering of the greatest hits (Rubber Duckie, Doin' The Pigeon, C is for Cookie). However, if you want the true Sesame Street Disco experience, this lesser heralded release is what you want. This has the denizens of Sesame Street truly engaging their best disco selves, highlighted by "Me Lost My Cookie At The Disco".

This is all the Dee Gees Fault.



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Talking about Native music in the preorder thread made me go and watch some stuff I haven't heard in a while. Here's an amazing video of the Cozad family drum group from Oklahoma. They've been around for so long it's weird to go to any powwow and not see them there.

Anyway pay attention to a few things. First off these guys are Grammy winners. Second the women old and young behind them doing the backing vocals are incredible and when you have a group playing on all cylinders with both male and females singing it's powerful. Third is Larry Cozad in the middle (dude with cowboy hat and purple shirt, R.I.P.). He's the lead singer of the group but if you watch him he'll nod at some of the guys or point to them all to take over different parts so he doesn't have to carry the whole song himself. He also makes some hand jesters like waving over the drum, or grabbing hold of something "invisible" above it, or closer to the end touching the side of the drum and rubbing it on his throat or chest. That's what we call medicine.

The drum is making "good medicine". It's a traditional, spiritual thing. The medicine can spread around to other people just by being there and listening. That's why going to a powwow, or some other traditional event and hearing the music can make you feel better in a lot of ways. Also the touching the side of the drum and rubbing it on your chest or neck, especially the neck, was to help you continue singing because the song is so powerful that you don't want to stop after a normal run through at least 4 loops. Sometimes the song can be so powerful that you are asked to keep playing.

I'll tell ya, there is nothing more amazing than to be singing in a drum group like that. I've had many opportunities to do this and each one just lifted me up high and I felt amazing afterwards. Spiritual healing and spiritual euphoria done by simply practicing traditional ways. Nothing else felt better to me than that besides singing gospel music in church.
 
Don Peake ‎– Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Terror Vision ‎– T.V.024, 1991/2021

2021 RSD Drop #2 -
Terror Vision Unhappy Campers Club variant - Burgundy/Mint Green Pinwheel With Blue Splatter
Limited/Numbered to 300, #267

Pressed at GZ

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I really should watch this one again. I haven't seen it since the early 90's. All I really remember is Ed and Nadine Hurley running around a house screaming at a kid....and the gimp suit.
 
Guy Warren Of Ghana - Afro-Jazz (Columbia Lansdowne, 1969 First Test Pressing)

How about this for a mega rarity!? 2LP single-sided test pressing which features an incredibly line-up including Guy Warren, Don Rendell, Ian Carr, Michael Garrick, Amancio D'Silva, etc. Guy Warren was actually fairly well known during his prime and was good friends with Thelonious Monk. In fact, in the behemoth Monk biography it states that Warren gave the hat in the photo below to Monk as a gift and he would often wear it around the house or on stage.

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