Oakland's Vinyl Vault - xx

It's the 21st century, and this week we're actually going to listen to some music from it! Yes, not all of my vinyl is 30+ years old.  So, this week enjoy the eponymous debut album from the xx.

Release date: August 17, 2009
Singles: Cystalised, Basic Space, Islands, VCR

Before I get into the music, let me comment on the cover design for this album.  The black part of the cover you see above is the outer cover, with an x cut out, with the inner sleeve being white.  While this is a nice idea and looks good on its own, it is rather annoying for storage purposes. This is because if you try to slide an album in next to this one, it invariably gets caught up in the x cutout part, and you end up damaging the xx cover.

Anyway, once you get over that fact and put the record on the turntable, everything gets better.  The music is simple and rhythmic, and the vocals are captivating.  The result is a album that is great to listen to.  It is not overpowering, so makes great background music for most activities, or you can simply close your eyes, lie down and enjoy it.

Rating: 6 thumbs up - The rhythms and vocals of the songs combine in such a way that seems to get instantly stuck in your head.  There is just something about the simple arrangements and wonderful vocals that is really quite enthralling.  I encourage you to check it out.

This album was well received critically, and things are looking good for the future of the xx.  You can really see the joy on their faces in this music video for "Crystalised."



Pat is crazy.

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Born in the U.S.A.

This week we have another iconic album, this time from that decade of decades, the 1980s.  It's our first repeat artist, the Boss, this time with Born (wait for it...) in the USA!

Release Date: June 4, 1984
Singles: Dancing in the Dark, Cover Me, Born in the U.S.A., I'm On Fire, Glory Days, I'm Goin' Down, My Hometown

Is it patriotic? Is it not? Does it really matter?  All I know is that Born in the U.S.A. turned Bruce Springsteen from a rock 'n' roll star into a superstar.  This album had as many top ten singles as Thriller (all freakin' 7 of 'em!).  That should give you an indication of how successful it was.

So, I think, the obvious question is: did he sell out?  And the answer is: sort of.  Musically, there is a much more commercial feel to the songs.  The synthesizer, that staple of '80s pop music, was used by the E Street Band for the first time.  The songs are upbeat, and have a great, driving energy to them.

But lyrically, the New Boss is, as the Who would say, the same as the Old Boss.  He's still singing about union halls, losing your job, hard times, desperation, and the struggle to overcome.  So it's not exactly the "rah-rah America is the greatest" album that it is sometimes portrayed to be.

On a completely separate note for you Conan O'Brien fans, this album also features a familiar back-up singer: La Bamba.  As far as I can tell, this was his first association with the E Street Band, one that continues today, as he played with them at last year's Super Bowl.

Rating: 13 thumbs up (one from each of the original colonies!) - Despite it's more commercial feel, the Boss still manages to put the same passion and energy into this album that he did in his previous ones. Plenty of bands sell out a little bit to be more successful commercially, but nobody has done it better than the Boss, as evidenced by the record tying 7 top ten singles produced.

Now what goes hand-in-hand with selling out musically?  Making music videos!  Normally, I try to give you all a non-single song to listen to that maybe you haven't heard before. But this video is too good to pass up, thanks in large part to Steven Van Zandt.  Here's "Glory Days." Enjoy!



Pat is crazy.

Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Chicago II

This week's album features winds from the Windy City. That's right, it's the band with the least creatively named albums of all time: Chicago, with their album Chicago II!

Release date: January 26, 1970
Singles: 25 or 6 to 4, Make Me Smile, Colour My World

Chicago II (officially named Chicago, since the first album was before they shortened their name from the Chicago Transit Authority, but referred to as Chicago II because pretty much all of their over 30 albums are named "Chicago (number)"), like the band's first album, is a double album.  Although the first album was a success, Chicago II is the album that really made the band a household name, and for a good reason: it's a great album.  All three of the singles off this album charted in the top 10, and "25 or 6 to 4" is still one of their biggest hits.  And the rest of the songs aren't too shabby either.

The first disc flows really smoothly, with the highlight being the "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" suite of songs.  The third side of the album doesn't flow as well as the other 3 sides, but more than makes up for it by having three great songs in "Fancy Colours," "25 or 6 to 4," and "Memories of Love."  Early Chicago was not afraid to get political, and did just that on the fourth side, with the great song "It Better End Soon."

Rating: 10 thumbs up - Even though it's a double album, when it ends I always want more.  Great album from start to finish.  It's also a really easy find, as there are a ton of Chicago albums in every record store ever, and you should be able to get a copy on the cheap (I got mine for $0.50), so there's no excuse for not having it!

Well, I wanted to play you "It Better End Soon," my friends, but I could not find it in video form on the big truck that is the internet, so instead I will class up the joint a little with some "Fancy Colours" (and you know it's fancy because they added the "u" to the word color!)



Pat is crazy.

Happy Birthday Karl