Rodrigo y Gabriela — Rodrigo y Gabriela

• Artist: Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Title: Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Year: 2007
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – Barnes & Noble in Asheville, NC
• Keeper: Yes

I was in the local Barnes & Noble the other day when I heard a great acoustic version of Metallica’s “Orion.” I headed straight to the music section where a woman in front of me was already asking about it. The clerk grabbed a copy of Rodrigo y Gabriela and I snatched up the last one. I’ve probably played it 20 times in the last few days. I bought it because of “Orion” but my favorites are the originals, especially “Diablo Rojo.”

This was the first I had heard of Rodrigo y Gabriela, but it turns they’ve been on Letterman, Leno, etc. earlier this year. This record came out late last year in the US. They’re from Mexico City, but have been in Europe for a while. They’re already popular there.

I told a friend yesterday that this album was “the greatest thing ever!” I don’t know if he agrees, but I’m sure he too thinks it’s slamming. They have few, if any stylistic rules, and they have some roots in thrash metal. (Gabriela apparently tired of the “testosteronic” vibe of the metal scene.) So how would I describe it? It’s not Flamenco, but it is rhythmic and energetic. It’s not jazz, they play structured songs. Other than “greatest thing ever” and “slamming” I’ll just add that it’s two people playing acoustic guitars and there is a tasty Latin flavor.

There’s a DVD included with some great live performances where the crowds are going nuts and raising the horns. Also included are interviews, a photo gallery, and a great tutorial where they step through the techniques they use so you can play just like them. Ha!

R.E.M. — Document

• Artist: R.E.M.
• Title: Document
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

It’s taken me a while to give this a proper listen because I can’t stop listening to a new record that I’m very excited about. I’ll probably post that one next. Of course, this is a great album and it includes the mega-hits “Finest Worksong”, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, and “The One I Love.” I can’t say I sit around the house playing R.E.M. records all the time, but I have to admit this is well-crafted music that is essentially timeless.

More about R.E.M.’s Document at Wikipedia.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — Damn the Torpedoes

• Artist: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
• Title: Damn the Torpedoes
• Year: 1979
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1979 – Fort Bragg Post Exchange
• Keeper: Yes

I’m not sure about writing this review. I don’t know much about Tom Petty or the Heartbreakers. I can’t compare it to their other work because I only own one other LP by them and it’s a CD. However, Tracy insists I’m the one for this job because: 1) it’s my album, 2) it is the first album I ever bought, and 3) I play it a lot.

It is my album, and when Tracy and I united our vinyl together in holy matrimony, there was no duplicate for Damn the Torpedoes. In fact it was our only Tom Petty record.

It is the first album I bought. I had been living in Germany where ABBA ruled. They were all I heard except for my sister’s cassettes in the car. She is six years older than me, and she forced Ted Nugent, Kiss and Queen on my younger sister and me at high decibles.

When we moved back to the USA my sister moved out to CA, leaving me in a musical void. The radio played disco (it was 1979) and the rock station (there was only one) played a lot of Jimmy Buffet.

One day my friend and I walked to the base PX (post exchange) where she wanted to buy the latest record by The Babys. Maybe I felt pressure to buy a record too – or maybe I was desperate for something better than the radio, or the Firefall and Toto cassettes my sister left behind. I specifically remember picking up an REO Speedwagon album at the store, something with Tuna in the title, but I bought Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes instead (Thank you, Jesus).

Looking back, I think I went with TPHB because of the album cover. It looked fresh. It didn’t look like anything my older sister had, and after years of being called a “copycat” by her, the last thing I wanted was more of her music. I mean, I was about to go into high school, I had to be me (Thank you, Marlo Thomas).

I do play this record a lot. I’ve liked it since the first listen. To me, it has a lot of energy, and in 1979, it sounded new and we all needed something other than Supertramp and Pink Floyd (we still do). The Babys were new too, and I liked my friend’s purchase, but I was always glad the Tom Petty record came home with me. I began to wonder if I was a musical geinus to select such a record with out knowing anything about the band.

There are nine songs on this record. I love eight of them. The ninth, “Louisiana Rain”, is a little too ballad-like for me, yet it is the chorus to “Louisiana Rain” that I am always singing when the album is over. Songs like “Refuge” still sound fresh, but my favorite song has to be “Even the Losers.”

OMD (Ochestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) — Telegraph

• Artist: OMD (Ochestral Manoeuvres In The Dark)
• Title: Telegraph
• Year: 1983
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1983 – Somewhere in Fairfax, VA
• Keeper: Yes

Long overdue, here’s the latest record: “Telegraph” by Ochestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, better known as simply OMD. I didn’t expect to like this very much despite the fact that I bought an OMD record myself way back when, but I have to say I do. This single is an almost eight minute “extended version” of the song with a variety of cool synth sounds and vocals that remind me of Alvin and the Chipmunks, or maybe 999. My favorite bit is the chime sound prominent in the early part of the song. The flip side is a drum-less instrumental titled “66 and Fading” that sounds like the band’s name.

New Order — The Perfect Kiss

• Artist: New Order
• Title: The Perfect Kiss
• Year: 1985
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: Unknown
• Keeper: Yes

I think I’ve left that Mano Negra record cover up there long enough for everyone to enjoy it. This cover for New Order’s “The Perfect Kiss” is also handsome, if not as irresistible. Typical of New Order the cover is minimalist but also refined. This is only a 12 inch single and the cover is a metallic silver with the title embossed along the edge. The dust cover is swanky too with one side colored a deep blue and the other listing the tracks in, again, a very minimalist graphic design.

I like the song. I’m pretty sure “The Perfect Kiss” and Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” were separated at birth. They’re not identical twins stylistically, but I’m here to tell you the melodies are very similar. Now, I’m guessing that few people are fans of both bands, which may be why no one seems to have noticed. But I was working in a chain record store when the Bon Jovi track was a hit. We had a number of teenagers at the store, I was only 19 or 20, and I got to listen this one more times than I care to remember.

Fac 123

Mano Negra — Put@’s Fever

• Artist: Mano Negra
• Title: Put@’s Fever
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1989
• Keeper: Yes

It’s two-fer Tuesday! I don’t know why, but I love this album cover. There’s just something about it. When I first got Put@’s Fever I thought Mano Negra sounded like a more punk, more Latin (even though they’re French) version of the awesome French band Les Negresses Vertes. It still sounds like that to me. It’s French and energetic, with a lot brass. What else do you need to know?

(Note: I later edited the titles using the @ symbol because the correct spelling of “Put@s” was attracting a lot of the wrong kind of traffic.)

The Leather Nun — Force of Habit

• Artist: The Leather Nun
• Title: Force of Habit
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought it when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA
• Keeper: Maybe

Yeah, I don’t really know much about The Leather Nun. I thought they were interesting back then because they had a hard rock edge when there wasn’t enough of that around. I would’ve guessed Force of Habit was their only album, but it’s not. If I remember correctly the pseudo-political “Pink House” was a college radio alterna-hit. I got to see them open for someone, can’t remember the headliner now, at the Richmond Mosque. Maybe I’m imagining the whole show.

Anyhow, Wikipedia describes the band as “Sweden’s dark answer to ABBA.” There’s even a cover of ABBA’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme” on side two. Singer Jonas Almqvist is really more of a talker, and the lyrics are… eh. The music is interesting, but I don’t think it’s a keeper. Is it?

King — Won’t You Hold My Hand Now

• Artist: King
• Title: Won’t You Hold My Hand Now
• Year: 1985
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 4
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: No

I’m so tired of these King 12 inches. “Won’t You Hold My Hand Now” was not motivating me to update this site, but I’m getting it over with now. This single is extra boring. I’m not all-out hatin’ on King, it’s just that this is really blah. Buh-bye.

The Jam — This is the Modern World

• Artist: The Jam
• Title: This is the Modern World
• Year: 1977
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary? Tracy?
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

I’ve been busy making the doughnuts so it’s taken me a while to give this record a proper listen. And The Jam’s This is the Modern World deserves a proper listen, or a few. You get your money’s worth with a total of 13 songs. All of them are exquisitely naked, mod, and short. There’s only one song over three minutes, and there’s one cover, a mod-punked out version of Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour.” Looks like I disagree with The Jam critics, historians and maybe even Paul Weller himself, again.

Back to the doughnuts. Who wants one?

Head of David — Dustbowl

• Artist: Head of David
• Title: Dustbowl
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1988 – Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA
• Keeper: Yes

I was introduced to Head of David by the 7 inch records that use to come attached to Sounds magazine (RIP). Of the big three British music mags it was always my favorite. I still have that four song 7 inch, but I can’t remember the other three bands. I’ll post that one if I live long enough. The HOD song was “Roadkill” (maybe it was live version) and I knew immediately that I had to get some more of that. That song is also on Dustbowl, which wasn’t their first release but it was the first for me. It’s produced by Steve Albini, which is usually a good thing, and this record is no exception. The sound is huge and heavy and still unlike anything else I’ve heard. The earlier stuff is good, maybe the later too, but Dustbowl is essential. My favorite songs are “Dog Day Sunrise” and “Cult of Coats.”

Etched in the run off margins:
SHADOWS side: “Many fine Budgie riffs”
RAYS side: Tortoise enthusiasts all

Long live Head of David.

Country road, take me home… to Asheville in the morning.