2015 Year in Review: Concert Edition

Your ever so humble VVers spent a good chunk of 2015 at some ridiculous concerts.   Many of these shows had vinyl treasures worthy of a chronological year in review write-up.  Here are the best of the best in the "Concerts of Goodness that Yielded Vinyl of Greatness" category:

APTBS and Black Clouds
The February cold brought these VVers to Metro Gallery in Baltimore to catch A Place to Bury Strangers.  The VVers own quite a few of APTBS records, but had never had a chance to see them live.  Should you get a chance, you're going to want to bring earplugs.  From the merch table was snagged a metal "trivet" sleeved 45 that can also double as a weapon.  Read more on that here.  The 45 is super-fantastic, also extremely heavy (in both the physical and auditory sense).  In addition, all instrumental act Black Clouds played a strong opening set for APTBS and VVer #1 picked up their LP, Dreamcation.  This transparent vinyl is housed in a transparent printed sleeve with a full size booklet of semi-transparent, grayscaled photographs of haze filled ruinous landscapes.  Bleakly beautiful, and impressibly see-through.  Their album is melodic, atmospheric, and just the right amount of thrashy.  But it's the sleeve and design that keeps haunting.  Hey guys, nice package!

Big Business

April at Ottobar brought VVer #2's first time being exposed to the Biz (and VVer #1's fifth).  Survey says?  Hell yes.  The band was playing in its classic two man line-up which really emphasizes how much they can make the fur fly.  Holy smokes!  Throbbing bass lines, insanity invoking drumming, and barely audible droning vocals.  "Yeowww my head."  Big Biz merch also never fails to impress.  Home came the hand-screened "quadruple single" and gold-on-black screened beer coozies that came with a free download of their new single (while not vinyl, a very nice touch).

Crocodiles
You know what really takes the cake?  Finding out one of your favorite bands is playing in a few hours in the city you are heading to in your tiny rental car.  Totally unplanned and half-way into a leisurely, twelve-hour cross-country drive, these VVers put the pedal to the metal to catch Crocodiles play a stellar set in Austin, TX at Holy Mountain.  Not only was there a new LP, Boys, to be bought (ahead of its actual release date) and signed, the VVers got an entire show of new music plus a few "classics" to jump around to, ending with "I Wanna Kill."  It was lovely and loud, and the VVers got a shout-out mid-show.  Heart.

Levitation (aka Austin Psych Fest)

Los Mundos Dios es Fuzz

Album avoided: Flaming Lips, Good Vibrations.  Hand-carved and multi punctured.  Fifty bucks... Just couldn't do it.  The VVers did come home with some stellar vinyl, inspired from Levitation (purchased in Austin record stores).  Two standouts are the Well's  six-track LP, Samsara, full of churning, bluesy heavy metal, and Los Mundos' EP, Dios es Fuzz, with crazy, Spanish-sung, psychedelic drone rock.  Read more about the entire experience here.

Melvins/Le Butcherettes
Though the VVers and friends went to this show at Ottobar on July 4th weekend to have the Melvins melt their faces, VVer #1 had inside knowledge that Mexican opening act, Le Butcherettes, should not be missed.  He had seen them open for Faith No More at Webster Hall earlier in the year.  Teri Gender Bender, the female lead of Le Butcherettes, put on quite an enamoring and hypnotizing show, so much so that VVer #2 requested that their most recent record (at the time), Cry Is for the Flies, be purchased from the merch table.  The LP is filled with guttural, poetic, power vocals, and a spoken-word track from Mr. Henry Rollins.  On repeat listens the catchiness of this album has burgeoned to the surface and is getting repeat spins.

Flowers of Evil

Yes, the VVers bought a record
directly from this dude.

Sometime in late summer our VVers somehow found out about a house show in DC featuring some of their favorite bands in different line-ups.  Local and awesome Shark Week was headlining, but the big draw was Flowers of Evil, a mysterious punk side project of Crocodiles, APTBS, Young Boys, and SISU.  What a sick basement show!  Not only did the VVers get to rub elbows (and share beers) with some of the band members, but they also got to whoop it up at a really unique performance space (basically a basement laundry room).  The VVers don't usually go in for all this hobnobbing... but could really get used to it!  At the close of the night, out came the debut Flowers of Evil record for purchasing directly from the band.  "Keep the change you bastards!"  The album is eleven songs of 45-speed snarling punk with a hint of psych.  Not only is it a great listen, but VVers are dead certain the names of those involved on the LP are all fake... Donny Desade?  Will Killingsworth (actually a real person)?  Legs McDaniel?

Dilly Dally
These Toronto indie punks played a scintillating gig at DC9 that had VVer #1 all a sorts of happy.  This band will immediately bring you back to 1990 with their raw blend of head-crunching riffage and yowling vocals.  The sloppy vibe put on by the disheveled band members says nothing about their professional chops.  Tight sound all around, especially from guitarist Liz Ball (sonic sorceress) and vocalist/guitarist Katie Monks (destruction arteest).  They heartily earned VVer #1's greenbacks (and high fives) for their debut LP, Sore.  The album captures much of that live vibe and adds to the mix haunting production, shimmering guitars, and one of the grossest album covers ever.  Bravo.

Honorable Mentions
The 2015 honorable mentions go to the bands the VVers saw live this year, but pre-ordered their vinyl instead of buying it at the show.  These include: Shark Week Beach Fuzz, Faith No More Sol Invictus, Heavy Breathing Airtight, and Puscifer Money Shot.  All great and unique concerts with vinyl to match (still waiting on that Puscifer).

Year in Review in review:  Buying vinyl is all fine and good, but buying it at a concert?  That comes with bragging rights.  Seriously, to hand money directly to the artist on the road is something special.  Odds are the band is getting a bigger cut of the merch sale.  You might get a signed album and get to chat up the band a bit.  Unique or limited edition schwag is fairly common on the road.  Overall, what's really important is being able to directly show your appreciation for the band.  To get a keepsake from a great show is icing on the turntable.  Your record comes with a memory.  How sweet.

A Cover-Up?

For your listening pleasure, the Vinyl Vagabonds will be playing an entire night of covers at their next listening party on Friday, October 2, from 7-9pm at Bump N' Grind.  Here's a sneak peek as to how the night may go...

Surfin' USA - Beach Boys (Chuck Berry)
This here blog is about cover songs, so why lead in with this one, not even a true cover?  Read: The foundation of the music is a cover of "Sweet Little Sixteen," but the Beach Boys do their own lyrics and significantly developed instrumentation.  Having not owned any other Beach Boys, it was surprising how it really got these swingin' VVers thinking about how artists pay tribute to other artists.  Berry obviously is a huge hero to the rockers of the 60s, so for the Beach Boys to have done a straight cover would have been perfectly cool, but for them to do this wildly different version is downright revolutionary.  At its peak, the Beach Boys' iconic, high pitched harmonizing gives way to an organ solo that quickly mashes into some lovely electric guitar.  Though it's partially a cover, there really is nothing else to compare it to, even now.

Had ta be Playin' on the Jukebox - Rage Against the Machine (Allen Ginsburg) 
Another untrue cover, but does it matter?  No.  RATM creates the riffing, but the lyrics are Ginsburg's on this flipside to People of the Sun EP.  The beat poetry slam on the absurdity in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination makes perfect sense piped through the ballistic assault that is RATM.  Though this is in many ways a spoken word track, minus the hip-hop, it's completely relevant to the RATM catalogue in representing their political bent.  Also it's dope to hear Zack de la Rocha lacerating this poem over a psyched-out slow jam.  "WORKING TOGETHER IN CAHOOTS!"  You should listen to this.

Do You Love Me - Nirvana (Kiss) 
This is the only Nirvana song that bassist Krist Novaselic ever split vocal duties on.  He's not cut out for this type of singing, but that in no way stops him from completely going for it.  How does that pan out?  Well, it's kind of awesome in its raunchola.  Thankfully, Cobain helps it along in the right spots with his powerful vocals and the Nirvana rhythm section is furiously on point.  The fact that it's a cover of a Kiss song... Kiss sucks.  There, it's out there.  The VVers are not in the Kiss Army.  Something about Nirvana absolutely ruining a Kiss song just makes sense.

Balls to the Wall - Puscifer (Accept)
Not initially knowing it was a cover, VVer #2 thought "Balls to the Wall" was a strange, yet stand-out song included on Puscifer's Donkey Punch the Night EP.  After a chance listen to the early 80's original in the car one night, things started making more sense.  The original version by Accept has a completely metal approach while Puscifer offers two versions: "Pillow Fight Remix" or "Silent Servant El Guapo Mix" both sounding exactly as their remix description describes.  Pillow fight is a fluffy, yet still hard rendition, while the silent is, well, sans lyrics and techno-esque.  The pillow fight remix is the one to hear; the alt-goth take is confident, well produced, and f%$#*^$ing catchy!  Nice work Puscifer!

Strange Moon - APTBS (Dead Moon)
A Place To Bury Strangers takes the obscure Portland, OR band, Dead Moon, and makes it their own.  This EP is drenched in APTBS' full on, echoey, distortion while keeping the garagey sounds of Dead Moon.  What's interesting is that this entire EP is devoted to covering one band (one the VVers had never even heard of).  Usually you might get one cover on an album or an album of all covers, but of multiple artists.  Not here, APTBS crushes their tribute to these 80s/90s unknown punk heros.

Puscifer - Conditions of My Parole - 2011

Don't.Judge.Albums.By.Their.Cover.  Well, at least not in this case.  The sound that blares from the speakers when listening to Conditions of My Parole is truly unexpected.  This is one of those records that I was just absolutely imagining would be lame.  Since the early 90's I've been an ardent follower of Puscifer ringleader Maynard James Keenan and his various bands: starting with the muscular metal prog group Tool, then to the more artsy A Perfect Circle, and now with the very hard to describe Puscifer.  Give me a second to explain why then that I would expect this album to be so crummy.  The first Puscifer LP totally underwhelmed me.  Not awful, but certainly not an "album;" more a pastiche of dance and goofery.  Strange singles welded together into an unwieldy mess.  According to Maynard the plan of Puscifer is to release songs a few chunks at a time as they are completed.  Thankfully Conditions of My Parole is quite the opposite from this in every conceivable way.  Said Maynard as to why Conditions came out as such a cohesive album was that the current line-up was "on a roll."

The album art is shockingly blunt, stupid, and brilliant all at once.  The costumed Maynard in a prison orange jump suit with Sharpied on numbers is comically cheap.  Music is beautiful, punishing, and crafted with care and complexity.  Near every song has this level of sonic effort.  Most of the tracks start out either with a simple beat or acoustic singing/guitar and grow more complex as the song builds.  Far from monotonous, it is done in a way that each song has its own clear identity. Lyrically it's a semi-linear blend of story, emotion, and poetic odes.  Maynard's vocals rarely sounded better and supported throughout by Carina Round; a brilliant vocalist in her own right.  Their duets are the peak reason to call this one of the great albums of 2012.

Stand-out track "Green Valley" begins with Maynard and Carina trading sweetly chanted lines over a calm, acoustic strum.  "You're a stranger until she says that you can stay.  You're a stranger until she says you're journey's over."  A beatific ode to a river or perhaps something more?  It patiently crescendos building to multi-layered guitar effects.  Then, something that sounds like a tuned down sledgehammer enters, followed with piston drums accompanied by Carina's angelic "ahhs" echoing around Maynard's vocals.  It's a complex composition that seems effortless.  If you are looking to listen to a Tool album, you've come to the wrong place.  It's fair to mention that listening to this song might have you bursting into a crab dance once that hellish riff kicks in.  I can't back that up in any way with a useful description.  VVers advice is to go see Puscifer in concert to better understand.

Coming to this as a Tool fan could cloud your expectations very easily.  You might be hoping for Tool's particular brand of soul crushing riffage and howling.  Puscifer doesn't go that way, but it's not something to cry over.  This is due to tracks like "Man Overboard," "Telling Ghosts," and several others where the thunder really gets cranked up.  Instead of getting hit with Tool's heavy, sonic wizardry you get sweet chanting, pounding drum rolls, and crunchy chords.  Yes, it has many layers of effects at times, but it always seems very deliberate.  Not just noodling in the studio.  You also are gifted with a fair punctuation of Maynard's signature growl.  Put this together and get a significant evolution from the earlier Puscifer cannon.

Lyrics on "Man Overboard" are foreboding where "turn it up to 11" could be Maynard's goofy side surfacing to reference Spinal Tap in this heavy music.  "Poseidon is on a mission" to destroy us!  The cacophonous noise doesn't kick in until the end of the track where lyrics "brace yourself for 12 ... all hands on deck." Aquatic references in this song could be a continuation of Tool's epic Aenima which has lyrics suggesting that California will (hopefully) get sucked into the ocean following a giant earthquake; thus turning Arizona into "Arizona Bay." Joy.

The musicality of "Horizons" is elegant.  "Dust devils swept you away.  My recollections are all that's left of you."  Little twinkles of beats and studio flourishes hinge onto the end of each section of this unusual little tune.  All of it sits comfortably on gentle piano notes.  Harmonizing between Maynard and Carina is crisply executed so that it can barely be noticed that there are two people singing.  They synch together perfectly adding a lush power to many tunes.

The album ends on a sweet yet melancholy note with the reflections in "Oceans" and "Tumbleweed."  The last song which rounds out the album features a poignant vocal solo by Carina accompanied by a twangy banjo.  Even in these calmer tracks, there are still undertones of something off-kilter and ominous, which I like.

Having been to Jerome, Arizona where the Puscifer folks do their "thing" (wine making, music, satanic rituals?) makes it easier to grasp the foundations of their musical influences.  It seems like this album is just Maynard making music - with his friends who help him make wine - while hanging around an old mining town on the side of a mountain, in the middle of nowhere.  These friends however happen to also be musically deft and turn in a solid effort on this phenomenal album.  I should also mention that the whole clan appears at their live shows, which these VVers were lucky enough to catch at the Lyric in Baltimore last year.  This very theatrical performance features Maynard in pre-recorded skits of his various personalities (one favorite standout of these is his police officer doppleganger who not so kindly warns the crowd to shut off cell phones and holster cameras).  These goofy skits are intertwined throughout a very earnest performance. It starts with Maynard pulling out his retro, chrome trailer by hand with Carina riding within.  He alone physically brings out every piece of stage scenery; a novel approach.  A stage set of an Arizona desert during sundown transitioning to a starry night prompts them to light a campfire. Performing these tracks energizes Maynard to go off on a few soliloquies of the philosophy of what Puscifer music is all about.  All the many unique, theatric elements melded with their propulsive music made for a stunning show.

Word is they are playing Lollapolooza Chile and Brazil, and although Chicago's line-up is not yet released, hopes are high that they might be playing there.  Since these VVers are going to be in Chicago just around the same time... hope, hope!

Puscifer is also set to release their new EP Donkey Punch the Night February 19th ...  seems like the folk in Jerome have been busy wine and music makin'... hell yeah.

Best of 2012

Best New Vinyl: Puscifer Conditions of My Parole
Honorable Mention: Jack White Blunderbuss

This was a tough call between two heavyweights:  Jack White vs. Maynard James Keenen (Puscifer; also you may have heard of his other bands: TOOL and A Perfect Circle).

Conditions of My Parole is our album of the year.  Without question.  It gets a lot of table time.  As a complete, cohesive album, it has a good variety of tones, tempo, and lyrical experimentation.  Each and every track is sonically pleasing.  In fact, there will be a full blog post about this one soon.  Only major drawback is the 2 LP format which may indeed provide great sound, but leads to many record flips. Just when it's really getting going you got to get up and flip it.  Thanks for the extra cardio Maynard!

Props to Jack White for keeping his amazing debut solo album Blunderbuss to one single record; for new vinyl that is more of a rarity these days, and the VVers appreciate it.  We even played his rendition of "I'm Shakin'" at our wedding this year.  Quite a hit on the dance floor.

Best Used Vinyl: Fleetwood Mac Vintage Years
Honorable Mentions: Sir Shina Adewale and the Super Stars International Verse 7, King Oliver and His Dixie Syncopators

Weird to be writing about Fleetwood Mac, as they are not really a band that has never done much for me.  Going into a quality record store will learn you something for sure.  We happened upon an interest in the Mac whilst browsing at the small but well stocked El Suprimo! in Baltimore.  The store owner was blaring some sick blues and blew our minds when he told us it was early Fleetwood.  The vinyl itself was not ours to have until a month or so later when we picked it up at Joe's Record Paradise in Silver Spring.  Every tune on this two LP set is from "the vintage years" which means what exactly?  The sleeve has no insight on this kind of important info; just a goofy essay from the music producer about the band first getting together.  Having spoken with people in-the-know, we find that the tunes are all late 60s; or in terms of musicians rotating in and out of this band - the years of Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and Jeremy Spencer and recorded on the Blue Horizon label.  Apparently these fellows were deeply into Chicago blues and that was the focus of this era of Fleetwood Mac.  Unfortunately, lead man Peter Green got to be a bit mentally unstable and had to depart the band in 1970 which led to the pop dreck and double pop dreck eras.

Best 45/12": The Faint 2012 Tour 12"
Honorable Mentions: Feistodon, Gary Clark Jr. Presents HWUL Raw Cuts Vol. 1, Lenorable The Prince

VV1: What's our best 45 this year?
VV2: Definitely The Faint 12"
VV1: You just got it, how do you know it's that good?

VV2: Well I've listened to it 12 times, one for every inch!

...which is entirely possible because this EP is full of heavy bass, psychedelic guitar flourishes, computer blippity bloops, "bouch bouch bouch," and chanting lyrics that can put you in a trance and find a way to replay itself in your head after just the first listen.  Only tiny drawback is no artwork.  This one looks as raw as possible with only the crudely stamped info on the all white label.  C'mon The Faint!  Hook me up with a glam cover!

Our honorable mention in this category features a mash-up of Feist playing Mastodon and Mastodon covering Feist.  They've done a sharp job of swapping tunes for this little 45er.  An interesting combination of genres along with a eye-popping collage cover.

Best Concert: Puscifer at the Lyric Opera House, Baltimore; Neil Young at the Patriot Center, VA; The Faint at 9:30 Club, D.C.

Three way tie?  Is that a cop out?  Each one was so good in its own way.  Musicians well into their careers, playing with carefree abandon to a sea of appreciative fans.  Good show(s)!

Best Record That's So Good We Bought It Twice:  Fat Boys (click for full review)
Honorable Mention: Queen II (click for full review)

Yes, there are now two copies of Queen II on our shelf.  I bought the duplicate in hopes that it would sound a bit less distorted than the first copy.  While the sounds are quite similar and I may have wasted my money, I have quelled my curiosity.  The record must have been recorded and pressed that way, and it's not that my copy is grungy.  Fingers crossed for a someday fully remastered version!  Not only will it probably sound and look amazing, but it will also fit nicely into next year's "Best Record That's So Good We Bought It Thrice" category.  2013 is the 40th anniversary of the first Queen album release... c'mon guys, do not let the VVers down!

Our clear winner in this category has to be the 2012 re-issue of Record Store Day and while not seeking it out specifically, it was on our mind to buy since our original copy has seen better days.  While at Joe's Record Paradise, I picked up their last copy merely to ogle the utter silliness of it.  As I stood there wavering over buying it (my self-imposed limit to spend on it was $30, and here it was marked for $29.99) in walks a guy who asked the clerk if they still had the copy that he called about earlier in the day.  Both sets of eyes turn to me in tandem.  PANIC - now I definitely should buy it.  IT'S MINE!  I did feel bad for the other customer, but I got my grubby paws on it first.  And that is the story of how the pizza box came to live in our record collection.  Did I mention that it sounds a million times better than our original copy?  Happiness.
the Fat Boys self titled album.  This re-issue is not only beautifully remastered, but is on 180 gram vinyl (who cares how heavy the vinyl is?  what am I trying to do arm reps with it!?!).  It's also a stunning picture disc of a pizza (pepperoni on the A side and crust on the B, mind you), with bonus tracks and a plush book.  This would have sold us; no problem.  Did I mention that it's all packaged up in a pizza box.  Yes, it is quite deluxe and also takes up a deluxe space in our record collection.  This savory little gem came out for Black Friday

Best Record That Was Not Meant to Be: Neil Young Psychedelic Pill
Ok Neil, we love you, but what the heck is with the insanely expensive vinyl?  Your latest (a triple record) is priced at $75 and even priced at a whopping $80 at the concert.  Now I get that this is a heavy record and that you don't skimp on the sound quality, but this is plainly prohibitive to vinyl junkies who happen to not be wealthy.  Please Mr. Young: stop being mean to us.  I take no pride in having a ripped version of this.

Best Gift Vinyl: A Place to Bury Strangers Exploding Head
Honorable Mentions:  Nirvana Nevermind, Orion Rockabilly

Exploding Head wins this one thanks to my brother picking this up for a random holiday present.  It's totally loud and distorted, but all done with a driving musicality.  Pressed on clear vinyl, which obviously matters, it's the kind of record that is so interesting that we'll need some more time to soak it in before the full review comes.

Rockabilly gets an honorable mention only because we would probably never have the cojones to buy it ourselves.  It showed up as a wedding gift which is pretty stellar.  People must know us or something to be buying us vinyl for our wedding! Did I mention the golden translucent yellow vinyl? Ha.

How about Nevermind for crying out loud!?!  Great record that really sums up my musical leanings for most of the last two decades.  The pressing is on blue vinyl and sounds sharp as ever.

Most Painful Gift Vinyl aka "The Levitated Stylus Award": Isaac Hayes And Once Again,
Honorable Mention: Orion Reborn

To accompany the best vinyl gift of the year, my brother also purchased me Isaac Hayes And Once Again because he "liked the cover."  Haven't we learned anything about buying records just because you like the cover?  This also suffers from the extremely dangerous "Naked Man on the Cover" syndrome.  Is there anything to say about this album?  "TURN IT OFF NOW!!!"

Orion Reborn wins the consolation prize.  It's bad in a way that just defies so much.  Funny that this showed up along with one of our better vinyl gifts, Orion's Rockabilly (thanks Dustin!).  Unlike that fun and light hearted album, Reborn sounds like "Schmaltzy Elvis Shit" - you know that 70's barf inducing type.  I've got nothing to say about the party masks and the shiny jumpsuits.  It was the 70's; I'm willing to forgive.  Pressed on golden translucent vinyl; like putting make-up on a pig.  It does help somewhat to listen to it at 45 speed.  Not enough to salvage anything.  Do not lower that stylus!