RPB / SPX / BRB 2018

Vinyl Vagabonds #9 - Escape from DC edition

The VVers are putting new books (plus some classics) out into the wild during three events over the next few weeks. Come and visit!

Record Fair:
Sunday, August 26th, 12pm-5pm, at the Right Proper Brewery in Brookland, Washington, DCRight Proper Brewery in DC is hosting their 2nd annual DC Beer Week Record Fair! Check out a bunch of your favorite vendors (the VVers perhaps?) with your favorite Right Proper beer in hand. They'll also have food pop-ups plus a tie dye station!!!

Small Press Expo:
Saturday 11am-7pm and Sunday 12pm-5pm, September 15-16, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, North Bethesda, MD
The VVers are tabling for the third consecutive year at SPX 2018! Ahhhhh!!! They'll be sharing a space with your friendly neighborhood DC Conspiracy all weekend long.  Not familiar with Small Press Expo? It's only the premier independent comics show, going strong since 1994.

Record Fair:
Sunday, September 23, 11am-5pm, at the Wind-Up Space in Baltimore, MD

Vinyl Vagabonds Presents: Reggie and Hoop

Annnnd, the VVers will be returning to the Baltimore Record Bazaar after a short hiatus. Check out this free fest held in conjunction with Balto Vintage, hosting a Vintage Flea Market happening in the adjacent YNOT lot. Free with food vendors and DJs all afternoon. Lifehack tip: make a day of this by going to the enormous Baltimore Farmers Market in the morning before the show.

Thank you for Your Cooperation #2 - Verhoeven-Zine

Pile of Dumb Records

What happens when a friend (in this case Master Apprentice VV) gives you a short stack of records for free?  He says he hasn't even listened them.  He also says he does not want to ever see them again.

Do you say:
 A. "Why are you just giving me these?"
 B. "Why haven't you listened to them yet?"
 C. "Thank you for the gift."
 or
 D.  All of the above.

Well, one brave and ultimately foolhardy VVer has chosen to say "D" and accepted these records to review for you.  The other VVer has turned a blind eye to more records entering the house.

What's Eating Gilbert 7" EP Cheap Shots
This sounds like total crap.  VVers made it thirty seconds in and then started skipping large chunks of ... music(?), more accurately wasted grooves of vinyl.  Tried it at 45 speed just to see if that would help.  Nope.  The lead singer's yearning lyrics, Ned's Atomic Dustbin wanna-be, are crushing to the soul.  No no no.  Later on in the night VVer #1 tried to sneak it into the neighbors collection as a joke.  Felt guilty.  Took it back and then left it at one of those little library boxes.

Alcoa/Choir Vandals Split EP
More yearning that is practically unlistenable.  The preening vocals don't even make a dent.  Choir Vandals = thrice yearning crapfest.  The guy has a decent singing voice, but unfortunately he knows it and is just wailing his ass off.  This is not helping anybody aka self-indulgent.  Bye bye.

Dee Cracks Heart Shaped flexi-disc single
Eh, more terrible, and the needle got lifted before 30 seconds pass.  Shouting, stop shouting.  It's really sad that the artist did something special by making it a heart shape and for what?  It should be a broken heart (VVers can make this happen).  Again, tried to sneak it into the neighbors collection as a joke.  Neighbor found it later and proceeded to used it to DJ scratch that night.  It didn't exactly save this one from the great scrap heap in the sky (aka the little library box), but at least it made for an entertaining end to the night.

Stigmata 7"
This actually starts off as a respectable metal tune, until the singer opens his dumb mouth.  Infantile lyrics, grainy voice totally lacking in personality.  Disappointing.  Probably he is fun at karaoke night, but a great singer this does not make.  Even more disappointing is the inner artwork, a picture on the label of side b that just looks a little too cheery for a band that sounds this brooding.  Imagine two bros hugging in their basement (the VVers are pleased to spare you actually seeing this picture).  The back cover of the sleeve is also terrible; a sweaty close up of some old guy's back tats.  Several sweaty tat folds here.  Great choice, Stigmata.  Great choice.  Barfing.

This Means War Use it Up fancy pants picture flexi-disc single
This has "worst in show" written all over it because while this might be the prettiest looking of the pile, it sounds like uninspired drek.  Go back to working at Staples.

The Goodtime Boys 7" EP Things I Still Don't Understand
The VVers made it through a whole song.  Listening to the first five bands on this list must have built up the VVers tolerance to garbage.  No actual good times were had.

Quicksand Interiors
Just can't open it... too traumatized already.  Maybe in the morning...

Courtney Barnett / Kurt Vile Lotta Sea Lice
C'mon, this isn't even fair.  This is actually real music.  The LP, a first time partnership for the two has a nice folksy blend of just rightly stoned songs.  The VVers ultimately decided to gift it to the neighbors as an apology of sorts for constantly sneaking crappy records into their collection.  As it happens, it is the perfect record to receive as a gift if you are a fan of either Kurt or Courtney but unfamiliar with the other.  Not to be confused with the documentary soundtrack for Kurt and Courtney.

Upon receiving these records, the VVers do declare:  
(1)  Apprentice is no longer allowed to spew random crappy records upon the VVers for his own pleasure of getting to read them vent about how absolutely bad they are.
(2)  Apprentice must first suffer through them himself, and then, only then, will the VVers entertain this proposal henceforth.

Zine Release Party and DJ Set

Vinyl Vagabonds will be releasing their 9th zine--the "Escape from DC" edition!  Come listen to a specially curated evening of music and pick up a copy of the zine. 

Friday, July 6

7pm-9pm

Bump 'n Grind

1200 East West Highway

Silver Spring, MD 20910

www.bumpngrind.co

Record selection from:

Off-Speed Enrique 7pm-8pm

Penny Quarbles 8pm-9pm

The VVers will be playing all instrumental tracks from artists/bands known typically for their vocals.   There's enough words in their zine, the music doesn't need them too!  FUN!

Come have a coffee, tea, beer, wine, and/or snack, listen to some tunes, and be the first to get yourself a copy of the new zine.  See you there!

Disclaimer- As usual, these zines are painstakingly screen-printed by the VVers, limited edition, loaded with exclusive artwork, and highly collectable.  No big deal.

Escape from DC (In Reality)

In this episode, the Vinyl Vagabonds will share their next, far superior plan to escape from their home base in Washington, DC, amidst political idiocracy.  (Learn more about their first escape plan here.)  Their means of travel will be a TARDIS-like teleportation device made of the empty cardboard box from their new(ish) turntable.  But where will our heroes go in this magical box???

The answer lies with pizza.  Doesn't it always?  The VVers will be traveling to the fabled Pizza Stork Island.  Whaaaa???  Do explain!

Congrats on your escape from DC Mr. and Mrs. VVers. 
Did you remember to pack your shark repellent?

Not so long ago, VVer2 legitimized the claim that pizza is her desert island food by eating pizza every Friday for a year (really, it wasn't hard).  Therefore, she has earned her worthiness to travel to the magical oasis island where a stork delivers a fresh pizza daily.  Toppings and pizza styles can change (thanks to the world class chefs at top secret Stork Alpha Zone HQ--more on that in the next episode), and foraging for additional toppings--compliments of the island--is also acceptable.  The real kicker here is that hidden under each delivered pizza is a record.  Yes, a vinyl-record-a-day is smuggled to the desert island as entertainment to pass the long, stranded hours (wait, the VVers chose to go here, they weren't marooned)!  But who is sending these records?  And how is it that there is a record player (and electricity) on a desert island?  Relax, and stop asking so many logistical questions geez!  The VVers also know that you are reading this wondering about how the stork manages to transport the records without getting gooey cheese and luscious sauce all over them; the answer is that it just happens and no records or sleeves are harmed in the transport.  Trust the bird.  Most importantly the records are always to the VVers' liking (this is a fantastical island, lest you forget).

Check back in on those rascally VVers next issue to see if they can manage to build a record shelf and hi-fi system constructed entirely out of pizza boxes and coconuts--powered by the sun, of course!  Till next time!

The Vengeful Turntable

Flashback to fall 2017:
There rests a large cardboard box in the middle of the living room in the House of VV.  Inside, a fancy new turntable ordered from Needle Doctor in Minnesota.  With the VVers having a busy week, and needing to rearrange their current electronics arrangement before setting up the new player, the box sat untouched for a few days.

Vengeful spookiness ensued.

Artist rendition of actual real imagined events

On the first night, the VVer's still-functioning basic model Audio-Technica turntable decided to make its voice heard.  It is important to preface this with the fact that since 2010 this AT has been the main platter spinner in the House of VV.  During that time it has gotten a ton of action, 100% reliable, aside from needing the occasional adjustment when the speed control got a little out of whack.  So what happened with the AT on this night you ask?  The tone arm refused to lower to the play the record.  You read that right.  The player refused to play.  Usually the process is simply to push the start button and the AT does all of the work, but not on this night.  The arm would raise, move to hover over the vinyl, and sit there thinking about lowering for a few seconds... then return to the cradle.  No joke.  It did this four times before the VVers applied some coaxing, lowering it freehand.  The VVers took note that it was behaving strangely and moved on.

While playing Soundgarden EP, Fopp, on the second night that the new box sat in the living room, there was a moment the VVers turned to each other with eyebrows raised.  "Oh! It's must be set to 45, the wrong speed!" (typical activity in the House of VV).  Upon pushing the button on the AT to change back to 33, it sped up even more, then equalized.  Apparently it was already at 33, then decided to push itself to 45.  It was definitely wrong and after toggling the buttons an extra time it played correctly at 33.  VVer1 could tell the song was initially wrong because "I was dancing--funk dancing--and Soundgarden is not that kinda band."  The speeds were strange, but it did add some extra fun juice to the synths on the f'ed-up "Fopp (Fucked Up Heavy dub remix)."  A happy off-speed accident?  More likely a message of warning that the house machine was not amused.

On the third night, the turntable chose to be extra well-behaved.  While the VVers were listening to an LP from Mr. Chuck Berry, the record had a skipping groove.  As VVer2 got up from playing Settlers of Catan with the neighbors, and before she made it to the turntable, the needle decided to fix itself declaring: "Look at me, I'm a great turntable!"  "Keep me!"  Thinking that everything was ok, the House of VV went back to the seemingly normal game of Catan, but as it turns out VVer1 was clearly possessed by the indomitable spirit of the turntable.  He spent the rest of the night cheating with total disregard for the rules of the board game while the old AT player spun merrily along.  Curse!

This was the last straw.  The VVers committed to setting up the new player that weekend, and with the viewing of several goofy YouTube videos, were able to get it into action.  "The tables have turned!"
"You've had your turn Mr. Bond!"

It's also possible that VVer1's Dead Cross album was the original source of the curse.  Obviously, right?  It arrived at the same time as the new turntable and with an evil glow in the dark cover and blood splattered vinyl too.  Listen to even one foreboding track and you may very well be convinced that this LP is in fact the origin of the trouble.  Impossibly fast, fierce, and eerie with the ear splitting vocals of Mike Patton (Faith No More), annihilating percussion from Dave Lombardo (Slayer), mangled mayhem guitars from Mike Crain (Retox), and pounding  bass from Justin Pearson (Retox, The Locust, and Head Wound City); these Dead Cross guys are just plain mean.

Flash forward to present(ish) day:
End of story, right?  Wrong.  The new table had all sorts of wingdings and gewgaws that needed adjusting to exact precision.  This took months to get right.  YouTube was helpful.  The instructions and home page of the new Pro-Ject player had some helpful tidbits a well.  But "months" is not an exaggeration.  While everything is going well these days, it had been a mental leap to have to manage something that used to so easily and effectively manage itself.  Beware!

Double flash forward to the year 2076:
From their record-shaped flying saucer, the VVers activate their teleportation device and empty out their storage unit finding the AT!  It has grown horns and acquired a trident, but still sounds great when played.  The VVers of the future applaud the VVers of the past for deciding to keep the vengeful turntable around for the next generation of those possessed with the vinyl hobby.

RECORD WEEKEND COMMENCE!

Record Store Day 2018 is Saturday, April 21.  Go out to your favorite record store, buy something, and talk to people (what?--socializing?!--panic!).  The VVers have always managed to find something interesting on RSDs of the past, so just do it!  Read about our adventures here: 2017, 2015.  I mean, just look how excited Third Man Records was about RSD 2018 back in February when the VVers went to visit their Detroit plant.

For a double-whammy of a vinyl weekend, come buy records and zines from the Vinyl Vagabonds in Silver Spring at Denizens Brewing Co. on Sunday, April 22, from 1pm-6pm.  Consumerism!!!  While there is no guarantee RSD titles will be for sale, there is the certainty of beer brewed on premises.  "I'm thirsty already!"  The VVers will have a bunch of used records for sale as well as a debut of their new weird side-project: Reggie and Hoop!  Its a flip-book zine about records and record people.  Perfect!  (As usual, if you want to mail order one, just message us!)

See YOU next weekend, records in hand!

Hoop Analog and Friends

Vinyl Vagabonds premier their brand new "record comic" this Friday, March 9th at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center as part of the group show, not too high not too low.  The new project, Hoop Analog and His Record Shop, explores a community of record stores and their staff.  Hoop, our hero, conquers the galaxy one record at a time (more or less).

NOT TOO HIGH NOT TOO LOW

MARCH 9 - APRIL 13, 2018
Featuring artists: Jessica Agüero, Andrew Cohen, Eric Gordon, Toni Lane, Anna Sellheim and Lenora Yerkes

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center
4318 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, Maryland 20781

Ahhhhhh!  High priced record art!  Rare!  Limited edition!  Put that sh*^ on eBay!!!

Does Your Collection Need Some Sprucing Up?

Feeling like your record collection is in the doldrums?  Not sure what to get rid of and don't want to add to it?  How about reorganizing?!  The VVers have come up with new fun and creative ways to give your record stash some new zing.  You could possibly even uncover a platter or two you didn't know you had!

Let's get sortin'!

By Genre
Rock, hip-hop, soundtracks, reggae, polka, you know how this goes.  You probably already do this.

Alphabetical
The pinnacle of organization?  Usually its alphabetically last name or group, but make it more challenging and try by album name, or reverse alphabetize to really keep your guests on edge.

By Optimal Time to Listen to the Record
Some albums really just should not be listened to over breakfast, or even in daylight.  Some are perfect to put you right to sleep at night.  Some should only be listened to under the influence.  Others never while hungover.  Some should only be listened to while cats are in the room.  Try organizing your collection by when you prefer to listen to the album.  By hour, by day, by season?

Where it Came From
All records from thrift stores go here, purchased online here, had forever here, borrowing indefinitely from a friend here.  Know where your records came from.  Sometimes, it is the only thing you know about a record (example, "that gold spray stenciled cover from Skully'z in New Orleans": no idea of the name of the band or album, only where it is from).

Chronological
A way to get a perspective on your music.  Organize by year originally released and records get to live near their contemporaries.  Time slices, people!  Or, if you are really weird, you can organize by date issued, meaning originals in one section and reissues and new albums in another.  Seems not right... and yet.

Sleeve Color
Are you one of those people that needs Instagram-able pictures of books or clothes organized by color?  Try it with your records.  Sleeve spines that are in rough shape and peeling/cracking go under beige/white.  Good luck.


Sleeve Spine Width
Here's a fun and tedious idea--arrange your records based on how much room they take up on the shelf!  Skinny to widest please!  Take this further by arranging your records by ...

Gatefold
Create a "gated community" on your record shelf that only houses gatefold covers!  Then work your way down to singles and then those flimsy sleeves that don't really have spines and aren't really sleeves.  The gatefold community reigns supreme!

Record Label
Shouldn't all of your Sub-Pop records live in harmony together?  Don't Motown albums want to share space?  Some labels could be neighbors, such as Gordy and Tamla.  Makes sense.  Could get a little confusing with artists who have lengthy discographies and did a lot of label hopping.  This probably isn't the best idea.


Related Bands
Rage Against the Machine/Tom Morello/Street Sweeper/Prophets of Rage/Public Enemy/Cypress Hill.  Are we playing six-degrees of separation, or should these records actually live together because they all have overlapping musicians?  Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer.  Santana/Buddy Miles/Jimi Hendrix.  Dum Dum Girls/Haunted Hearts/Crocodiles/Flowers of Evil/A Place to Bury Strangers.  Big Business/Melvins/Nirvana/Hole/Foo Fighters/Queens of the Stone Age/Mark Lanagan/Screaming Trees.  Don't even think about trying this with the jazz recordings, everyone worked with everyone!  This actually might be a perfect way to organize.

Buying History
You know what album you got first.  This could be a really fun way to engage your collecting with a little self history reflection.  You would get some perspective on how your tastes may have changed (or stayed the same) over the years.

Listening History
A system like this would have to take place organically over time so the organizing part is generally very simple.  Just empty the first slot on your shelf and the rest should take care of itself.  It could be a little controversial as you're likely to lose track of albums very easily.  However, you'll always have a lock on what you are enjoying and what you aren't.  The biggest plus to that might be that you can figure out what you should put in the "out" box.  "Collector" records that don't get spun often or at all might get a little bit shunned, or maybe they will be more likely to be out of harms way?  Only one way to find out!

By Listener
If you share a collection and have designated records that don't get played in front of the other resident, why not relegate those records to their own little area where the enjoyer of those records knows where they are kept?  This would make it so the un-appreciator of those records never has to see them.  A quick rebut to this method is that one will immediately call the other out for taking up more shelf space than the other and chastise them to keep their amassing collection in check.   This system very acutely provides a visual to any hoarding being done by one of the resident collectors.  Probably should avoid doing this.  Le sigh.

Try a mash-up of styles, then really no one other than you will know where your records live.  Meow.

Randy Thinks You're the Spud

Randy Edleman You're the One 1979
In another chapter of . . . "The VVers braved it so you won't have to!"

Look at this piece of... No No No.  "It burns the eyes!!!"  What is happening here!?!  VVer Master Apprentice found this LP in the outbox of a relative on the West Coast (apparently it was a gift, hopefully a gag gift), shipped it to VVer Secret World HQ, with accompanying letter "Smug asshole cover waiting for a Vinyl Vagabond scathing review if worthy - HAHAHA."  Worthy indeed.

What starts off bad only exceeds expectations as a pulsating poop sandwich.  Dropping the needle reveals playful synth pop, completely void of creativity and soul.  Randy himself sounds like a fifth rate Elton John, lacking any significant musical chops and at times missing his marks.  His back-up singers do their best to sound enthusiastic, earn their pay, and get out of the studio as quickly as possible.  Title track, "You're the One" sounds a little interesting for a brief moment, in tone at least.  And then in comes horsey clackity-clack wood block percussion and the incredibly cheesy chorus.  It seems like an attempt at a Stevie Wonder tune going horribly off the rails.  At the very least, it's not as terrifyingly bad as what happens two tracks later: "A Potato in the Rain" which has the dubious history of being used to terminate pregnancy in farm animals.  It's hard to exactly quantify the level of schmaltz on display in this song, in short, this is a sad, sad, sad song.  It's supposed to be sad.  The VVers doubt this is the sort of sad Randy was going for though.  The track goes on about Randy getting ditched by a lady in favor of another guy.  Don't ask about what happened to the potato.  "Night Music," the only up tempo tune on the album has a 52 second fade-out which actually does have a final piano flourish to end the song... so why the fade-out Randy?  WHY!?!  By far the best/worst song on the album has to be the final track, "All Along the Rhine."  It's a tourism tune that touches on the history and sights of Europe set to a mopey vibe.  The lyrics end with Randy having a hangover.  Suffer through this album and it's guaranteed you will have a hangover as well.

Let's talk about lyrics for a second.  The VVers don't often review albums of love songs and balladry, so with a clothes pin firmly attached to nose, here are a few lyrics to contemplate.  First a line from the song "Thirty Years Old (Mom)": "I've been reading books, I wanna see the world at first hand.  I've been taking looks around, I'm gonna show where I stand.  I've been too locked up, to give my heart half a chance.  See your baby has grown, and it's time I left home."  Really Randy?  You put a song on your album about moving out of Mom's house on your 30th birthday?  WTF.  How about a line from "A Potato in the Rain," ready? "We had planned to take a drive, a postponed romantic ride.  But when I pulled up, another guy had just pulled out.  You waved goodbye, feel I'm falling, feel I'm weak.  I know I'm not in command, so here I stand in endless pain, a potato in the rain."  Endless pain is right.  The only upside is the VVers and friends now have a new code for a bad party time.  Example: "This bar is like a potato in the rain."  "Yeah, let's go."  Does this guy have a fan club?  Does it double as a watch list for the FBI's least wanted list?

Figure A: Totally creepy

But what got this record to the VVers is the album cover.  Look at this guy.  Have you ever seen such beautiful shiny hair?  His image, pointing so earnestly in the VVers faces.  The color of his skin is slightly washed out in a frosted way, perhaps intended to be ethereal, but instead has the appearance of the Grim aka "Awkward" Reaper.  Honestly, the LP has to be placed face down to finish this review otherwise there will be hurling.  As in, this VVer is going to hurl this album into a threshing machine.  Guess what?  The inside sleeve has even more awkward pictures of Randy and yes, in several of them he is pointing at the VVers.  STOP BEING CREEPY RANDY! 

Lastly, credits for "A Potato in the Rain" read: Fender Rhodes, Piano: Randy (Spuds) Eldeman;
Fingersnaps: Randy (Tater-Tots) Eldeman.  STOP RUINING POTATOES FOR THE VVERS!!!  THEY ARE YELLING IN ALL CAPS NOW!  This album is stamped a promotional "DJ" copy and is NOT FOR SALE.  What a shame.  You can't make that shit up, this album is the gift from Satan that keeps on giving. 

RCA Victor Vintage Series

Some records you end up buying almost by accident.  You might know of the artist (but not the specific record) or you know about the reputation of the label it is on.  The VVers have talked about this in the past; sometimes you have faith in a label and buy whatever they issue.  Examples that come to mind: Light in the Attic, Blue Note, Stax.  At some point a few years back, the VVers realized they had a few of these RCA Victor Vintage Series jazz records (Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman) and have since been collecting more, just because.  The iconic, black and white, diamond-shaped wine rack on the cover makes it fairly easy to identify a release from this series.  Had it not been for easily identifiable cover, we may not have picked up Earl Hines (hearing of him, but not hearing him) or Sidney Bechet (again, only known by name, not sound).  What is also nice is that many of them were recorded before vinyl LPs, and thus were available only on shellac 78s from the 1930s and 1940s.  This new series brought jazz and folk music on the as-advertised "microgrooves" of the vinyl record.  Each album is a well curated compilation of these musician's careers.  All the liner notes from this series are fairly thorough, speaking both of the background of the artist and the tracks selected.

"The RCA Victor Vintage Series has been created to bring you selected reissued performances, unavailable for some years, by great personalities of popular, jazz and folk music worlds.  All recordings in the Vintage Series have been remastered with the latest recording techniques, but the artistic values of the performances are the only consideration for inclusion.  There are truly great recordings of the past for your present and future enjoyment."

Duke Ellington Daybreak Express 1964
Recordings from 1931 to 1934, notable contributions from Cootie Williams on trumpets, Johnny Hodges on alto and tenor sax, and Sonny Greer on drums, amongst others.  Tracks are classic Ellington and sound "of the time," whatever that means.  This is perhaps the first of the series that the VVers bought.  The appeal of the cover art, known musician, and track listing certainly helped.  Jazz standard "Dear Old Southland" closes out side one on a familiar sounding high note, yet when turning to the sleeve write-up wanting to learn more about it, the pathetic one sentence just mentioning this song doesn't do it justice.

Leadbelly The Midnight Special 1964
Imagine being teleported to a time of the deepest blues.  You're not even close.  Try a little harder, get into the mind of the dusty field worker.  Leadbelly pulls the blues from his belly and pushes the lead out from his throat.  He belts out tunes like a solo, baritone gospel singer all while strumming on his twelve-string guitar.   Not the sort of record you just pop on for giggles.  He cuts up a howling jam pretty well: "New York Citay! Wooh!  Ain't that a citay! Eeeh!"  Puts Little Richard into perspective.  "Whoa Back Buck" is just amazing.  Good luck figuring out exactly what the words are in this work song--sounds like marbles in his mouth are occasionally spit out by kung-fu "hi-ya" shouts.  Even his back-up singers provide a "whoa, hey, whoa."  "Midnight Special" is especially affecting; swinging in soul and harmony like an ancient spiritual.  The liner notes on the rear sleeve are flush with information.  These VVers didn't know the story behind what the midnight special was--what did they think it was exactly?  "A popular legend among inmates at the prison . . . was that if the midnight express [train] shined its light in a prisoner's window as it went roaring by, that prisoner would be the next man released."  And now you know.

Earl Hines The Grand Terrace Band 1965
Jumping' swingin' rollickin'.  All three apply here to high effect.  Considering he is apparently known as the "King Pianology" his pianology isn't quite the focus here; most tracks feature horns and even the write-up credits saxophonist Budd Johnson for most of the arrangements on the album.  Overall it doesn't matter, it's still a great listen.

Sidney Bechet Bechet of New Orleans 1965
While it assuredly helps when an older record is in pristine shape, the audio on these recordings from 1932 through 1941 are stunningly quite crisp.  Perhaps this is because these New Orleans classics were mostly recorded in RCA Victor's New York studios (as opposed to field recordings) with Bechet on both the clarinet and soprano sax.  His self-taught style sounds like a hummingbird zooming in tight tremolo.  Final track, "Sheik of Araby" is an odd one, he played all the instruments, overdubbing one after another.  This was 1941.  Who did that!?!

Benny Goodman B.G., The Small Groups 1965
Literally every time one of the VVers plays this for others, usually the stand out "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon," someone asks what it is and comments positively on it.  It's a guaranteed conversation piece defined by multiple tempo shifts directed by Goodman's narrative clarinet and accompanied by a playful, shimmering xylophone and crisp female vocals.  About half of the tracks on here are fast numbers that will get your toes tapping in a pleasing frenzy of percussion, while the other half of the tunes are more patient and magical.  All are colored nicely with Mr. Goodman's clarinet and smooth swing.

WILD THANG!

Major League, Motion Picture Soundtrack 1989

Side A
"Wild Thing" by X
This version of the Troggs classic magically combines arena rock with punk bonafides and a helping of dark snarl.  Singer Exene Cervenka's rude delivery of "c'mon shake it shake shake it" is up there among the best things you will ever hear.  Lead guitars peel and shred mightily and disintegrate in lots of fun ways.  There are two stretches of the tune where it appears it's fading out to close, but then it comes back with more thunder.  These slight returns are excellent fun, but... the track suffers a bit from being a touch too long, and the band probably should have picked one or the other.  The percussion is over-produced, an artifact of the 80s.  There are numerous points in the song where it sounds like an entire stadium full of fans are singing along.  Corny?  Nah.  This version isn't better than the original from the 60s, but it absolutely locks in with the celebratory sport movie.  According to the wiki, this track was released by X as a one-off single in 1984.  Did the producers of the film know they had this sick version of the song before going into production?  The tune is so integral to the script and linked to a number of fun parts in the film.  Crank it!

"Crying Shame" by Lyle Lovett
Blue collar blues.  Nothing to get worked up about.  It won't offend you.  Mr. Lyle is also on Curb Records, the label the soundtrack is on.

"Walkaway" by The Snakes
Starts off promising, but then goes into cliche territory pretty quickly.  Still, you've got full-throated rock vocals, chugging percussion, and the sort of bluesy swagger that feels right for a movie about a bunch of underdogs.  The guitars are pretty smokin'.  Too bad about the chorus, which comes close to feeling right, but not quite.  Meh.  This band is also on Curb Records.

"Hideaway" by The Beat Farmers
This one feels right, chugging along with a dark riff over a solid tempo.  Twangy vocals are on point, feeling kind of sad, but in a rock n' roll kind of way.  The chorus works pretty well.  It's not re-inventing the wheel or anything, but you'll get your kicks.  The only wish is that it did not have a fade out.  This one is a nice surprise that this VVer could listen to a few more times.  Guess what? Another Curb Records band.

"How Can the Girl Refuse" by Beckett
Awful.  Imagine the soppiest, late-80s rock/pop with campy lyrics that only make it worse and you're only halfway there.  This is painful.  Backup whispery female vocals too.  No no, make it stop, please, run for your life!  A fourth Curb Records band; we have a trend here...

Side B
"U.S. Male" by Lonesome Romeos
This is just a straight-ahead, honky-tonk thumper.  Is it good?  Yeah, it's pretty good.  The lyrics however are a little strange: "You can't stop a U.S. male" gets repeated a lot.  Not sure what we're singing about here.  Another band on Curb.

"Burn On" by Randy Newman
Aside from "Wild Thing," this is the other most well known song from the movie.  "Burn On" manages to capture the blended whimsy of the film as well as the truth in the sadness that Cleveland and many of the characters (players, coaches, loved ones) fight to overcome in the film.  A song about a once-beautiful, iconic river that impossibly goes up in flames from time to time due to pollution and neglect?  It's as close to a perfect song match to a film as you're going to get.

"Oh You Angel" by Lonesome Romeos
These guys again?  Ah, it's a goofy song, even more forgettable than the other song.  At least that one was a little weird.  Is it over yet?

"Trial and Error" and "Pennant Fever"
These two tracks are part of the instrumental score by James Newton Howard.  If you love the movie, you'll enjoy these.  This is an early score by Mr. Howard (Sixth Sense, Batman Begins, Hunger Games, and a ton of other well known films), with a rock-inflected vibe that is a mix of sporty, playful, and 99.9% fun.  The synths and some of the percussion make it sound a little dated, but this VVer didn't mind.

"Most of All You" by Bill Medley
A sweet love song.  Zzzzzzzz.  Bill has a little gravel in his bass-heavy voice, which means that he really means it.  This one was a little hard to get through--with so many tears and all.  Weep weep weep.

One comment on the abundance of has-beens and never-were musicians on this album.  Never having heard of Curb Records before, this VVer did a little looking around and it turns out the label, was the brain child of Mike Curb, who went on to become president of MGM Music in a merger in 1969.  Seems when Curb Records got the nod to put together the soundtrack, they loaded on a bunch of their artists.  This isn't an unheard of practice in soundtracks, but it does reflect on the lack of consistency of the music.