New Arrivals (Grails, Porcupine Tree, Explosions In the Sky, Hard Goods)

I ordered several records from Oldies.com. They have a great looking list of vinyl both new and vintage, but they don't really say what's new/sealed and what's open/used. I took a chance and ordered a mixture of newer titles that I figured were new/sealed, and older titles that I hoped were new old stock. Sadly, the old stuff was just that...old used stuff. Still, I ended up with a couple nice condition LP's that, while not sealed, are still in decent shape. I also ended up with a couple used Kansas albums that I already had multiple copies of, and most-certainly didn't need. Oh well. As for the new titles, they have an interesting selection, including a few things that I haven't been able to find anywhere else:

TRR 118

Grails - Burning Off Impurities
(2007) Temporary Residence Limited TRR 118
$19.15 (New)

Grails are a band whose albums you just don't see for sale at stores, or even online very much. They mix Post Rock with a strong Middle Eastern flavor. This record features a stunningly etched 4th side. Don't worry, there's no singing to get in the way of the cool mystical jamming on this double LP. The perfect soundtrack for your next hookah party. Included a thoughtful free MP3 download.  No lava lamp, though.

There's two things that gets my PayPal chubby: anything remotely Post Rock...and limited edition vinyl presales:

TRR 222

Explosions in the Sky - Prince Avalanche: An Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

(2013) Temporary Residence Limited - TRR 222
Temporaryresidence.com $15.00 + $2.98 shipping (New)

Back in June I took advantage of the online presale of the new Explosions in the Sky soundtrack album, Prince Avalanche.  The limited edition is pressed on red vinyl and comes with a free MP3 download. Another Post Rock band, EIST create lush, cinematic soundscapes using traditional rock instrumentation. Movie soundtracks are a natural for this excellent band. I was very pleased that despite the record label's insistence to ship their records in flimsy cardboard mailers, everything arrived minty clean and fresh.

My favorite local record store the past couple years has been UHF Records, 512 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, Michigan 48067 (248) 545-5955. The selection is excellent as is the staff. It reminds me of the sorely-missed Record Time in Roseville. It's worth the drive and you won't walk out empty-handed. Unless, of course, you're that guy from the "One" video. I was able to trade a bunch of pieces that I had doubles of. They gave me fair trade value, which allowed me to grab a couple imports that I'd been holding out on:

Kscope 825

Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways

(2012) Kscope - Kscope825

$29.95 + tax (New)

Porcupine Tree vinyl can be purchased direct from their label, but shipping from the UK really blows. Way expensive and everything seems to arrive in the mail trashed. Probably because of this, you rarely see PT vinyl around town...except at UHF. They had several titles in stock when I visited. Porcupine Tree is one of the leaders of modern progressive rock. Their albums sound fresh, but their influences are firmly rooted in the early-70's. The band seems to be on an extended hiatus while the members do other things, but their label is still churning out some great re-releases. The Sky Moves Sideways was first released in 1994, but this edition dropped in 2012. The original pressings from this band are really getting expensive, so it's cool they have responded with affordable reissues.

PRO 583

Hard Goods

(1974) Warner Bros. PRO 583

$0.94 (Used)

This is one of several Loss Leader double-LPs that Warner Bros. released in the 70's and early-80's. The compilations were sold dirt cheap (most were $2.00), and designed to expose listeners to new artists and songs that they may not be familiar with. Each album featured deep tracks and unreleased nuggets from a wide variety of bands from the Warner Bros. roster. No hit songs here.  I had a couple of these back in the day, but got rid of them years ago because they were trashed. UHF had a few of these in their bargain bin, and this one was in great shape. The artists featured include Montrose, Ted Nugent, Foghat, Deep Purple, Frank Zappa, Todd Rundgren, Bob Seger, Kiss, The Beach Boys and Robin Trower among others. How could I pass this thing up for a buck?

New Arrivals (Petula Clark)

Petula Clark - Color My World / Who Am I

Petula Clark - Color My World / Who Am I 
(1967) Warner Brothers Records WS1673
$3.50 + $4.00 shipping (New Old Stock)
Discogs.com

I recently picked up two sealed copies of this LP. The one that I cracked open tonight was a shrink wrapped cutout with a cool 5 for $1.49 sticker from S. Klein, a defunct department store chain in New York City from the 20's to the mid-70's. Five cutouts for $1.49? That's a bargain! I'm thinking this must have been sold in the late-60's/very early 70's, before the oil embargo drove up record prices. I've been listening to loads of Petula Clark the past year or so, and picking up original sealed vinyl whenever I see it cheap. The jacket is not in the greatest shape, and sadly, neither is the record, but the price was decent so I jumped on it. You'd like to think that all vintage sealed vinyl is going to be mint when you slice it open, but that's not always the case. I guess 50 years of bouncing around from rack to rack takes it's toll. There isn't much static on the record, but a bit of audible scuffing from the paper inner sleeve. Not surprisingly, this LP smelled like Grandma's basement in Hamtramck when I opened it.

Petula Clark's studio albums of the mid to late-60's usually featured a couple of her current singles, and few new songs (usually penned by her main writing partner back then, Tony Hatch) and at least a couple cover tunes. The cover songs range from just o.k. to embarrassing. This album was released in 1967 and follows the formula pretty close. Both the singles are superb, "Color My World" and "Who Am I". Of the cover songs, only "Reach Out, I'll Be There" works. "Cherish" would be cool if she hit some of the high notes from the original, but I guess she couldn't be bothered. The rest of the songs either suck, or fall in the embarrassing category. The worst offender of these is the opening track, "England Swings", and  "Las Vegas", which is really horrible. Petula Clark was never an album artist. She served up some great hits, but they were often surround by crap. That said, her hits compilations are mostly excellent. My favorite is The Ultimate Petula Clark (BMG Heritage, 2003, BH2 51038), which is sadly only available on CD. The mastering by Vic Anesini is excellent, and the song selection strong.