Tampa Calling

Brought straight to your desktops by Lee at Vinyl Fever.

VINYL:

AA Bondy – American Hearts
Their latest (2008) release, now available on vinyl.

Amon Duul II – Yeti
“Yeti” was the second album by Amon Duul II and is quite a musical achievement. This is a double LP set and contains some of Amon Duul’s most impressive work – delivering their thick, full-fledged, multi-layered sound with dense instrumentation and a certain epic vastness. This is Krautrock in the full depth of its power: huge, towering, dark and completely devoid of any happy optimism, but still bound full of energy. An essential bit of the psych/prog era. Released with the original artwork.

Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Deluxe reissue features the original album remastered and a bonus disc of 12 rarities, live tracks and B-sides.

David Bowie – Man Who Sold The World
David Bowie – Pinups
High-end Simply Vinyl label pressings.

The Clash – The Clash
The Clash – Give ‘Em Enough Rope
The Clash – Combat Rock
High-end Simply Vinyl label pressings.

The Dead Weather – Horehound
The latest musical adventure by Jack White epitomizes the alt-rock ethic: do the music you love, do it yourself, and do it fast. The Dead Weather brings together lead singer Alison Mosshart (half of the London-based lo-fi post-punk duo The Kills), Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita, The Raconteurs’ bassist Jack Lawrence, and White on drums and vocals.

Iggy & The Stooges – More Power
Digitally remastered collection of rare studio recordings from the Raw Power era.

Son Volt – American Central Dust
Now available on vinyl. Read the rest of this entry »

I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into Friday’s concert at Mahaffey Theater featuring an un-costumed, un-amplified-to-11 Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. Maybe I was thinking too hard about it? After all, when you go see a band, they play their songs.  When you go see a comedian, he does his material. With Guest, McKean, and Shearer, reality lay in between — a hilarious, two-hour multimedia jaunt down memory lane complete with stories, clips, and songs predominantly from two classic film satires about seemingly disparate genres of music. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW RELEASES in VINYL:
Akron/Family – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
Their musical vocabulary runs deep – it’s not just Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, and The Grateful Dead that inform this record; the band feels at home and self-assured. With limited outside assistance, the trio has made a focused, powerful and unified work. This is the new psychedelic rock.

Beastie Boys – Check Your Head 4LP BOX
An ultra-deluxe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case and limited to 2000 copies.

Chimaira – The Infection Picture Disc

Elvis Costello – Complicated Shadows b/w Dirty Rotten Shame 7″
Looks really cool and retro. “Complicated Shadows” is on the album but the flip side, “Dirty Rotten Shame” is an exclusive song for this piece.  This was supposed to be out for Record Store Day, but production was delayed.

Fleet Foxes 7” – Mykonos b/w False Knight On the Road
“Mykonos” is the centerpiece of the Sun Giant EP released last spring and included with the popular vinyl version of the band’s debut, Fleet Foxes.  Beautifully packaged in a gatefold sleeve, the single is backed with a previously unreleased cover of the traditional folk ballad “False Knight On The Road,” made popular by Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson.

The Horrors – Primary Colours
Their debut, Strange House, was as controversial as it was celebrated, landing them on the cover of NME in their native England. Produced by Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and noted video director Chris Cunningham (Aphex Twin, Bjork). ‘‘Genuinely, gloriously deranged.” –The Onion

Killing Joke:
• Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
• Fire Dances
• Killing Joke
• Night Time
• Outside The Gate
• Revelations
• What’s This For?
Limited edition 2-LP sets.

Mastodon – Crack The Skye
Finally on vinyl! Regular and limited, double 45-RPM deluxe edition.

Bob Mould – Life and Times

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
While touring in support of last year’s debut, Conor Oberst, Conor and the Mystic Valley Band began writing new songs. The result is the first album credited to this group. Oberst’s songwriting and delivery remain an engaging presence, but the addition of songs by Taylor Hollingsworth, Nik Freitas, and Jason Boesel make for a multi-textured and colorful collaboration. The Mystic Valley Band also includes Macey Taylor and Nathaniel Walcott.

Read the rest of this entry »

In response to Leilani’s “Top 10 Stupid Band Names,” I’d like to point out that, yes, not only are some band names stupid, or bad - sometimes they’re downright stolen.

We’ve all sat around stoned, drunk (even sober) and thought up – or accidentally stumbled upon - the next greatest band name EVER. There’s got to be a list of those names somewhere, right? I seem to remember someone saying, “We’ve got to write that one down!” 

There are plenty of band names inspired by literate source material or that just make sense (Steely Dan, named after a dildo in William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch or The L.A. Guns and Hollywood Roses combining to form Guns and Roses). But to lift the name of your group straight out of another artist’s catalog instead of establishing a new identity for your sound, your band, your business? It’s like starting up a fast food chain and calling it “Big Mac’s.”

As my wife pointed out, the only time a tribute should be paid to a band’s song is when you’re actually paying tribute to that band – as is the case with “Paradise City: The Guns N Roses Tribute” or ”Strutter: The Ultimate Tribute to Kiss.”

Here’s my list of offenders (in order of offense taken):

Read the rest of this entry »

What will acoustic funk favorite Christie Lenee perform from '68?

WMNF’s Flee is straying from his typical tribute show tradition. Instead of having a diverse lineup of local acts honor a single artist he has asked all the bands listed below to cover a tune from 1968 for the community radio station’s upcoming New Year’s Eve bash.

Songs I would like to hear from that year? How about killer renditions of The Rolling Stones’ “Factory Girl,” The Beatles’ “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City” and The Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat.” Seriously, that would be a rad setlist!

Rewind: The WMNF Tribute to the Music and Songs of 1968 w/ Boon/Christie Lenee (pictured)/Crabgrass Cowboys/Ted Lukas/Johnny Zoom/Lush Progress/Midnight Bowler’s League/Rancid Polecats/Roppongi’s Ace/Talk to Mark, Wed., Dec. 31, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa.