Playlist Week of 2014-05-31

* Le Sieur de Machy: Pièces de Viole 1685 (Savall) (Telefunken LP)
* J.S. Bach: Preludes, etc. (Segovia/Tureck) (Saga LP)
* Italienische Blockflötenmusik (Telefunken LP)
* Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners (Riverside CD)
* Thelonious Monk: Alone In San Francisco (Riverside CD)
* Stanley Clarke: Stanley Clarke (Nemperor LP)
* Myra Melford’s Be Bread: The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 CD)
* Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (NuVoid Jazz LP) (test pressing)
* Bootsy Collins: Ahh…The Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (Warner Bros. CD)
* Shuggie Otis: Introducing Shuggie Otis (Epic/Legacy LP)
* DJ Spooky: Optometry (Thirsty Ear CD)
* El-p: I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (Definitive Jux 2LP)
* Grateful Dead: May ‘77 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 14HDCD)
* Van Morrison: Poetic Champions Compose (Polydor CD)
* Van Morrison: Avalon Sunset (Mercury CD)
* The Moody Blues: A Question Of Balance (Threshold LP)
* Death: …For The Whole World To See (Drag City LP)
* Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Get Happy!! (Universal/Mobile Fidelity 2-45RPM LP)
* Echo & The Bunnymen: Heaven Up Here (Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity LP)
* X: Wild Gift (Slash LP)
* Sonic Youth: Smart Bar Chicago 1985 (Goofin’ 2LP)
* Cocteau Twins: Lullabies To Violaine (d.1-2) (4AD 4CD)
* Guided By Voices: Cool Planet (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Boards of Canada: Twoism (Warp EP)
* Boards of Canada: Music Has A Right To Children (Warp 2LP)
* Boards of Canada: In a Beautiful Place Out In The Country (Warp EP)
* Boards of Canada: Geogaddi (Warp 3LP)
* Anathema: We’re Here Because We’re Here (KScope CD)†/‡
* Ambarchi/O’Malley/Dunn: Shade Themes From Kairos (Drag City 2LP)
* Agalloch: The Serpent & The Sphere (Profound Lore CD)
* Grails: Deep Politics (Temporary Residence CD)†
* Watter: This World (Temporary Residence LP)
* Verma: Coltan (Trouble In Mind LP)
* Verma: Sunrunner (Trouble In Mind LP)
* Locrian: Return To Annihilation (Relapse 2-45RPM LP)
* Nothing: Guilty Of Everything (Relapse LP)†

†=iPod/iTunes
‡=car

Commentary:

Test pressings for my new album were approved on Thursay and was I given a quick tour of United Record Pressing while I was there. Wow! How cool is that? All the presses were cranking away full steam - but I was only allowed to take pictures of a few. Can you guess whose records I was not allowed to photograph? Haha. It was completely fascinating to watch the whole process, from baking the labels onto the vinyl "puck" to seeing the finished product dropped onto a spindle. Frankly, it's amazing they sound as good as they do, given the rather crude manufacturing process. The smell on the factory floor was certainly unique: a blend of printer's ink, vinyl and machine oil. Yum!

The most interesting - and downright moving - part of the tour was seeing the famous "Motown Suite":


United used to press all of Motown's 45RPM singles in the 1960s and when artists and company representatives would travel down to Nashville, they were unable to find suitable accommodations due to the era's racist Jim Crow laws. Whether out of enlightenment, good business sense or both, United decided to build an apartment upstairs, complete with two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and spacious lounge areas. It's sad to think of such legends as Stevie Wonder and The Four Tops being denied a hotel room at the height of their fame, but their presence definitely permeates in these walls even today. Frankly, I got chills being in there.

Another cool thing: vintage record players scattered around:



United offers public tours of the facility every Friday at 11:00am - well worth a visit if you're ever in town. Cosmomologies is on track for a June 30 release date, if all goes as planned, and it's going to be great. You can download the digital album right now and pre-order the limited edition vinyl LP on Bandcamp. Thanks for your interest and support! See you next week.