GET IT NOW or forever hold…! The case of Aimee Mann & Mobile Fidelity

April 6, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

One of my favourite artists on this planet is Aimee Mann. Album for album there just hasn’t been a record she has put out that made me doubt where she is going. Even her latest effort with Ted Leo, The Both (which I wrote about a while ago), was an incredibly satisfying union that I hope happens over again and again. (Get it here)

However, Aimee has also provided me with perhaps the greatest example of ‘buy it’ or miss out that I can get.

Coming off an Academy Award nomination for the soundtrack to Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Magnolia, Mann released what is probably her most well known record Bachelor #2 or, The Last Remains of the Dodo. The album also included several songs from the Magnolia soundtrack and was incredibly well received by critics and fans alike.

A couple years later Mann released the phenomenal Lost In Space, which was really well received by British critics, and dumped on by North American ones. Regardless, she would appear in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) performing two songs from it. The art work for the project was done by award winning cartoonist Seth, which just added to the cool factor on this record. It still remains one of my favourite.

Of course both of these albums were put out before the recent vinyl revival, so they appeared only on the compact disc format…

UNTIL

2006

Mobile Fidelity, which loves to re-release critically heralded records got together with Mann. Now I also wrote about MoFi a while back, but to briefly recap, they do awesome things with wax, and they do it all on audiophile grade vinyl (180 gram or higher), from original source tapes and in limited numbers. When the album is done right – it is a collector’s dream come true.

Bachelor #2 and Lost in Space were released at the same time and likely would have put you back anywhere between 30 and 45 dollars back in 2006.

Well, nine years later.

A vinyl copy of Bachelor #2 sells for $203.84 off of discogs, and between $226.38 and $320.69 on e-bay.

A vinyl copy of Lost In Space sells for $274.42 on discogs and also $226.38 + on e-bay.

I don’t know about you, but that is out of my price range. I mean maybe if I won the lottery, but, well, like so many other cool things – it’s a nice thought but reality is where I live.

So all I can say is this…

Hey Aimee, if you’re out there, maybe you could re-release these records on vinyl again, and maybe some others too. I promise to buy at least two or three copies of each as my sister is also a fan and they make great birthday and holiday gifts.

P.S. If I could also get ya to sign this poster I have for my kids; it was their first concert ever, and you know, that would be just kinda awesome and stuff, and maybe you know… well maybe bring your Christmas show north to Toronto once… and… well, thanks for considering, and putting out great music, and…

Oh, I get it! David Bowie – Aladdin Sane

April 1, 2015April 2, 2015 / ds barrett / 5 Comments

Ziggy invades America, less a space alien and more a genuine rock star. While it is easy for most of us to see the classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars as the peak of a string of amazing records, it was Aladdin Sane that solidified his rock god status and was the real beginning to his conquest of the States.

So now it has been 42 years since its release, and I’m searching through the various vinyl editions that can be had, when I come across these pieces of magical wax.

Here I was thinking that a 180 gram re-master would be the best thing I can get, but… what the hell is the story with this little gem.

You see, I got it new at a very nice price which to me meant it was a 2013 version, but it has bonus material from the 2003 30^th anniversary set. Well, it seems that it has sailed over from Japan and is a promo copy for 2013 that is not dated. According to Discogs, the only two coloured vinyl disc version of Aladdin Sane to see official release came from Japan on an “undetermined date.” What is weird about it, is that for such a cool limited imported promo pack, the price on e-bay has remained relatively low. In fact, there seems to be a few such Bowie albums on the market that fill a similar niche. If your a Bowie fan that wants stuff on vinyl, check it out.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/David-Bowie-The-Rise-and-Fall-of-Ziggy-Stardust-2XLP-COLOR-VINYL-W-2-INSERTS-/251898411747?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aa650bae3

For A Couple Hours They Were The World’s Greatest Band! Urge Overkill – Saturation

March 31, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

It’s funny the tricks that your mind creates for some screwed up database of how you remember things. As I drive on the 401 there is a man-made lake that you can see as you drive by the Niagara Escarpment, I think it is named Lake Kelso. Hundreds of times I driven by this spot in all seasons, weather, and times of day and every time I smile. The opening chords to “Sister Havana” play in my head and I picture an old Volvo with a tape deck that has wires hanging out, stretching toward a CD player that rests on a pillow on the floor. My roommate Kevin is hyped by this band and is telling me the finer details of their former indie label existence. I’m enjoying the song and nodding a lot as I look through the CD booklet. One song becomes another and by the time we hit downtown Toronto and the final notes of “Heaven 90210” ring out, I’m a fan. I know that when I get home I’ll be picking up this record and telling everyone who will listen, Saturation is a GREAT ALBUM!

Later that night as Urge Overkill took the stage things were a little different than usual. It being 1993, most bands were dressed down in ripped jeans and whatever t-shirt was handy at the moment. These guys were in flashy suits with big gold chains that had carried the UO medallion around their necks. As the show kicked in, the maybe 400 people present were treated to a freakin’ rock spectacle of epic proportion. For the next couple hours this band was convincing this audience that they, Urge Overkill – Nash Kato, Edward (King) Roeser and Blackie Onassis were the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band on the planet. They swaggered, they posed, and they had a great album that was being performed in glorious fashion. Walking out of Lee’s after the show I was a ‘HUGE FAN’ and absolutely convinced they would be massive.

Critics loved them, other rock stars couldn’t heap enough praise on them, and they were in every alternative magazine of the time being ‘rock stars’. But that was pretty much the height of it all. They just didn’t catch on. The next album, Exit The Dragon, didn’t capture audiences imagination the way Saturation had and they broke up.

So here it is more than twenty years later, and I want to honour that day, that time, when for a couple hours Urge Overkill was the world’s greatest band. So I want this:

Problem is the price and the condition. A good clean copy with a mint cover is around $100 once you add shipping. Oh well, maybe Geffen will do a re-release on vinyl… that would be cool! Still I want this album in my collection. I want this beautiful piece of orange vinyl playing at 33rpm as it takes me back to memories of Lake Kelso and Lee’s Palace.

Remember that time Bart crashed into Meg or The White Stripes – Elephant

March 28, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

With Record Store Day 2015 fast approaching I thought I’d go back to one of my favourite RSD releases, The White Stripes – Elephant.

While the White Stripes put out a lot of great material during their career, nothing opened up quite the way Elephant did with “Seven Nation Army.” It thundered to the point of making you rock whether you wanted to or not. It was a hair swinging, face slappin’ opening statement. Things only got cooler when you saw them chasing The Simpsons around to the driving fury that was “Hardest Button to Button”, and yet like Led Zeppelin before them, they could slow it down on a dime with a slow blues or acoustic number that had you grab for your headphones to hear the nuances and emotional depth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs5vHRn1zDU

This limited edition version was released for RSD 2013, as a tenth anniversary celebration and to draw attention to the fact that Jack White was the ambassador for Record Store Day that year.

Album one was a black and red split piece of vinyl while record two was white.

Another little weird thing was that sides were given letter designations except for the front of the white vinyl which was marked “Side 3”, rather than “C”.

The album was re-mastered directly from the original analog tapes making the vinyl a true representation of what White wanted people to hear.

Discogs now has this album listed for $75.28 while e-bay stores are asking in the $50.00 range.

Of course the only thing that really matters is, that this album is awesome and that it is gives you the urge to keep turning the volume up. If you can find a vinyl copy – I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

Which Bleach is Bleach? Nirvana –Bleach

March 25, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

I wonder if any album ever recorded for so little has returned so much?

If the myth is true, those “500 American dollars” have generated a whole frickin’ industry around one record.

Since it first hit the market in 1989, Bleach has gone on to sell 1.7 million copies and is Sub Pop Records biggest seller to date. So how much vinyl is out there?

Well, according to discogs, at least 60 vinyl versions have hit the streets worldwide since ’89. It is super easy to find a new copy at any time. However, recently some pretty cool editions have hit the North American market. Sub Pop released a Deluxe 180 gram double white vinyl gate fold edition back in 2009 that includes a live performance from 1990. Going through chat rooms, it seems that a few of these had complaints about skipping. Personally speaking, my own copy sounds fantastic, so I would just keep the receipts if you’re interested in pursuing one. Discogs has it listed at $34.10 and e-bay vendors are trying to get $100.00. Which is funny because it can be had brand spanking new for about $30.00 at Amazon and local retailers.

The other edition that has started selling for outrageous amounts of money is the most recent release that was put out in limited fashion by Newbury Comics just last year. Two editions of the re-mastered Bleach, one is a clear white splatter while the other is a maroon black splatter, were released in quantities of 750 each and hand numbered. Again, it sounds absolutely fantastic, but the re-sale market is crazy for these. Discogs has the clear/white selling for 61.43 and the maroon/black at 74.98. E-bay on the other hand is asking $100 for one or $150 for both.

Of course, if you are off your rocker nuts with money to burn… the coloured vinyl (specifically the aqua) released by Sub Pop in 1992 can and does sell for over $500 a pop.

Other colours can be had for less… which is kind of a relative term when you spend hundreds on a single collectible record.

“Make Everyday Your Record Store Day” Fade Into You – J. Mascis & Failure – The Posies

March 22, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

Recently I saw an article about Record Store Day and how very small independent labels aren’t seeing a benefit. One owner said that if every day was treated more like RSD than perhaps it would get better results. The other complaint is that big labels waiting to release on Record Store Day squeezes the smaller labels out in terms of printing the records to begin with.

From a record buyer point of view, I’m not sure I get the complaints about big vs. small labels, but I do get that treating all releases like they are part of Record Store Day may pay dividends. In this world where many people just don’t see the value in paying for something they can download or stream for free, music has the feeling of being as disposable as the toys you get for free with the kids menu at the fast food chain. Play with it for a week than toss it, because if you didn’t pay for it, it just doesn’t mean shit anyway.

BUT…

Instead of offering some downloadable shit sounding garbage, you offer a unique product that plays on multiple formats of a listener’s choice.

Musicians make a product that is collectible, so that fans don’t just want to hear your song, but also feel they must have what you’re selling. Give it colour, give it flash, and make it really damn cool.

On Black Friday/Record Store Day back in November 2014, I missed out on J. Mascis doing a cover of the 90’s cult classic “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star. It is a phenomenal song that you have probably heard play in the background of some moving scene from a number of various movies and TV shows. Seriously, a quick internet search came up with 39 instances in which it was used.

Anyway, Mascis released a very limited amount as a 7” inch single and every record store in the city was sold out of their few copies by the following day. I was able to eventually find a copy, but that was after months of searching. Now yes, I could hear it on Spotify, or buy it from itunes, but I’m a fan. J. Mascis and his band Dinosaur Jr. They are not some disposable artists who I toss on a mix and forget about, they are legendary artists who continue to make relevant music and deserve to make a living from it. In turn, they have not only supplied great music and performances, but done events and created product that their fans believe in. Some of it is released on RSD and some not, but it is all very cool.

Hell, Mascis and fellow Dinosaur Jr. member Lou Barlow signed a poster for my 5 year old son after an acoustic show a few years back, which is the kind of gesture that can help to create lifelong fans who are vocal about purchasing the music of the bands they love. (It also had nothing to do with RSD.)

My point of course though, isn’t just about RSD. Earlier this year the Posies re-released their debut record Failure on vinyl for the first time. It was put out by Omnivore Records as a limited print on yellow 180 gram vinyl. Failure had been long out of print and highly sought after by fans. So now, a person can test drive this record on Spotify if they don’t know the music, but if like me, you are a fan, here is a very cool copy in your hands, and a download card so you can take your music on the road to play on your ‘whatever’ device. Again, it is very cool product that doesn’t wait for a special day to be released.

http://omnivorerecordings.com/music/failure/

Each week I see new releases on vinyl being put out in cool new ways, and when an artist I love matches up with product I can hold in my hands for a great listening experience, then I drop some coin and pray they sell enough music to continue making a living off this crazy music biz. The only difficulty for people who like vinyl is finding all the cool things out there, but then again, that is also part of the fun.

“The Waiting Is The Hardest Part” – Juliana Hatfield Three: Whatever, My Love

March 19, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

One of the hardest things about getting those limited edition… well, anything, is waiting. If you want that 1 of “500 copies” or “1000 copies” only on some blue translucent vinyl with green polka dots – you will either wait in a line on Record Store Day, pre-order from the artist and/or label, or take part in a crowd funding campaign that promises you product in the end. Any way you slice it – there is going to be a wait.

This also doesn’t take into account the waiting list that exists to produce vinyl. In many cases CD and digital downloads are available months before an artist can get their vinyl produced. The reason for this is that only so many vinyl print machines are left since the demise of vinyl record sales back in the early 90’s. No one expected the resurgence of vinyl in the last few years, so now everyone is going to those few places that produce records with all their jobs. Both major labels with extensive back catalogues and indie labels trying to produce cool new product for vinyl collectors are fighting for time at the press.

So here we are in 2015, and the Juliana Hatfield Three have released Whatever, My Love for us music fans. In fact, if you want the CD copy or digital download you can get it right now. Hell, you can stream it for free on Spotify. It just that my preference is vinyl, so I’m now waiting until summer nears conclusion for my pre-order to arrive in the mail.

http://www.alr-music.com/julianahatfield3/

Now the vinyl edition comes with a download card and offers a choice between clear or purple marble, and it looks really awesome, so from my collector viewpoint, I’m getting something really cool. The album itself sounds like the natural follow up to Become What You Are from back in 1993 (which it is) and has a really easy going feel that I think has been missing from her music in the last few years. However, the record company might have done me a favor by giving me a download code now, so that I’m not without owning the tunes until August. Guess I’m stuck streaming for now.

“Oh Woe is me?” – The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015 / ds barrett / 2 Comments

It isn’t easy to understand how taste and emotional turmoil mix together to breed meaning into songs that were not intended. How a simple line can be grasped on as hormones and depression impact how you hear something, and then you use it like a type of lifeline. So here I am, a young teen, feeling like a big bag of shit, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack is playing in the background at some party. I’m sure there is an unrequited crush somewhere around, because, well, there always seemed to be some sort of unrequited crush going on until I was old enough to not give a shit. (Then it became boy is confused with too many choices… but I digress.)

Now the first half of the Rocky Horror is almost impossible to be depressed to, I mean come on, a bunch of 15-16 year old fools screaming the words to “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite” as if half of them have a clue is always an amusing spectacle. (I can honestly say that at 16, the themes of open sexuality and personal choices/freedoms were lost behind, the “want sex – want sex – want sex” images my brain was interpreting.”)

However, it is song three “Over At The Frankenstein Place” that has always made me return to this album. In my mind, it stands out as another example of a perfect rock influenced pop song. It has a simple message with enough naivety to make you believe in happy endings. In the one line “There’s a light, light in the darkness of everybody’s life” I could slip out of my “oh woes me” life, and believe that even “I” could be happy too. (Yeah, it’s overly dramatic, but, it was also a very long time ago.)

On its own the song can be as happy and uplifting as you want it to be. Put it in a mix between the Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and the Hollies “Bus Stop” and it fits great. There is just enough syrup to see life in primary colours, which is why I had such a strong feeling towards it as a teen. Somebody saying “everything will be all right” sounds like horse manure when your depressed, but hear it in a song – a light starts to glow over your head. Of course, now there is the inevitable “But.”

As a concept album and movie, the second half holds up musically, but is really so goddamned depressing you have to listen to the first half again to cheer yourself up. The whole ‘happy ending thing’ is just blown to shit with Frank dead, and Brad and Janet climbing out of the mud barely able to look at each other. Like life itself, everything is so much more complicated than a ‘perfect pop song.’

Which leads us to the question – should I buy it on vinyl?

Well yeah, of course!

Order this frickin’ collectors copy from Newbury Comics. Why?

Because my context

And the songwriters context

And anyone else’s for that matter

They don’t mean a thing.

This is a record that has one eye on fun and another on nostalgia and will have you laughing and singing along regardless of any context. The pink translucent vinyl just sends this over the top and makes it the perfect gift for the person who sat beside you as you tossed rice at the screen.

https://newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=103-2045070N

If I could go back to that guy I was at 16 I’d shake him and say “Relax, shut your face, do the “Time Warp” and stop worrying about all the shit that hasn’t happened yet. Afterall Dude, your still in the first few songs.”

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Greatest Hits – It’s Rowan Approved!

March 1, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

As I first sat down to write this, I desperately tried to separate Jett the rock star, from Jett the ‘female’ rock star. Just look at the music by itself without the distraction of a person’s gender and ‘rock mythology’ getting in the way.

Couldn’t do it. The very first song on this record is “Cherry Bomb,” a tune about youth rebellion, underage girls and promiscuity all from the female viewpoint.

My opinion is that next to the Ramones, Joan Jett is the ‘coolest’ (not to be confused with ‘Best’ ‘Greatest’ or ‘Favourite’) rock star to have walked the earth. Gender is part of that package. When I was a skinny kid on my banana-seat bike she was belting out “Cherry Bomb” with the teenage Runaways appealing to both the stoner set and emerging punk scene. During my own adolescence as big hair metal was killing the airwaves, she was singing about loving rock ‘n’ roll in a way that was both kiddie-pop and rock power simultaneously, and being welcomed into the boys club as a peer. Then in 90’s she was rock aristocracy as a virtual ton of female driven bands claimed her as influence and anointed her to the status of ‘rock god.’ Who else but Jett could be welcomed into the fold by rockers, punks and metal-heads a like.

This all came about not because she sang meaningful folk songs, or using her sexuality to sell records through image, but by jumping into the ‘rock’ game straight up and singing about being a disaffected youth and sex from a female perspective. These being two of the most common themes of rock music coming from her rock ‘n’ roll heart. Like the Ramones, she didn’t follow a trend, her jeans and leather image never really changed from beginning to present. Instead she just turned the amp up and rocked out.

It is hard to imagine a world where Hole’s Live Through this, Phair’s Exile On Guy Street and even Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill exist without Jett blazing a trail of ‘fuck you – I’m a woman who rocks’ right down the middle of male dominated guitar/loud amp highway. As if to prove this point Jett is the first woman to win the Revolver Golden Gods Award which honours metal performers. Put it this way, when record companies wanted nothing to do with her in the post Runaways era – she just started her own label and then sold records in the millions.

So I pick up this “Cherry Bomb” red vinyl copy of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Greatest Hits (ordered from Newbury Comics http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=103-2040175N ) and my kids immediately start bouncing their heads around and dancing at the lunch table to “Bad Reputation.” My ten year old says “does this mean she doesn’t care what people think of her.”

Me: Yep.

Him: That’s cool.

Me: Yep

Him: Who is that?

Me: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Him: Can we listen to this again?

Me: Any time you please.

Him: Can I work the turntable?

Me: Not a chance.

So, we have an incredible record and it is Rowan approved. What more can you ask for?

Update Elastica & Alan Cross & Record Store Day

February 27, 2015February 27, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

As some of you might remember, I wrote a little blog about Elastica and a possible release for Record Store Day 2015. I had heard the rumour through Alan Cross on his segment Adventures in Vinyl on CFNY 102.1theedge in Toronto.

https://barrettbites.com/2015/01/19/the-mystery-of-elastica-and-alan-cross-on-the-path-to-vinyl-glory/

Anyway, his reply to the question was to look at discogs, which I did AND

http://www.edge.ca/2014/12/11/adventures-in-vinyl-elastica-line-up-1995/

Nope.

As far as I can tell there is nothing going on. The Elastica eponymous record was already re-released on vinyl in May of 2014 (on red translucent vinyl to boot), and has not shown up on any advance lists for Record Store Day 2015.

Oh well, …