Category ACROSS THE DECADES
POPTOPIA!
All record collectors have their ‘grails’, those rare and desirable albums that rarely pop up or, when they do, require a second mortgage to obtain. Some people keep a list of those items they long to call ‘my precious’, others simply hope for a chance encounter in the wild at a reasonable (or not totally […]
A YEAR OF GOOD VIBES — PART 2
JULY Gary Burton — Lofty Fake Anagram (1967) Gary Burton is an absolute giant of the instrument, having taken the four-mallet technique to the next level. This LP and Duster (also 1967) are super examples of his skill as a jazz composer, improviser and arranger. Larry Coryell’s guitar plays an excellent supporting role as part […]
A YEAR OF GOOD VIBES — PART 1
I was asked to recommend some good vibes albums. I swallowed the bait, though it has taken a while to haul in the net. So here is a year’s worth of music featuring that unusual member of the percussion family, the vibraphone. For those unfamiliar with the instrument that Australian jazz legend John Sangster called […]
FILLING THE SAILS
Let’s not beat about the bush. Having a paying gig writing about music is wonderful. I respect Discrepancy Records for what they are aiming to be (a first class on-line record store) and love the way it has provided opportunities to explore different types of music writing. It’s great that even within the frantic world […]
HEADED THAT-A-WAY
As the hours spent in my profession wane, I’ve noticed it is harder to keep track of what day it is. Especially during yet another lockdown. That must be the reason, COVID-19. It’s the reason for everything, the excuse for every avoidance, the aetiology of all ailments. I’m not sleeping well; certainly a lockdown symptom. […]
SOME PROGRESSIVE TREATS (1975 EDITION)
Although variety is a hallmark of Vinyl Connection, the heart of the matter is a love of all things progressive. Inspired by a posting of the fourth Greenslade album on a fb group, I found myself diving down a 1975 rabbit hole. It was great fun, with progressive jazz-rock being a wobbly kind of through-line. […]
MASTERS OF UNREALITY
Black Sabbath’s third LP, released in July 1971, is not exactly a long-player. Clocking in at thirty-four minutes, the follow-up to 1970’s breakthrough Paranoid does not wear out its welcome. Overlooking the two brief instrumental pieces you are left with a six song record that opens with a love song to grass and closes with […]
RAINBOW VINYL — PURPLE
“There’s gold at the end of them there vinyls” * Hope you’ve enjoyed this rainbow vinyl trip. * I recall being quite excited when I heard the first Tame Impala album back in 2010. Kevin Parker seemed to have reinvented—or at least re-invigorated—psychedelic rock for the 21st century and it was good. The follow-up album […]
RAINBOW VINYL — BLUE
Coloured vinyl. Guaranteed to lift the wintertime/summertime blues. * This excellent LP from female quartet Beaches has appeared in these pages before. In fact, it was one of Vinyl Connection’s more gushing reviews. Playing it today, I was again mightily impressed with this excellent debut. * Sydney’s Sunnyboys were also on the end of a […]
RAINBOW VINYL — GREEN
These greens were grown in the USA. Dig in. * Like a swampy Booker T. and the M.G.s, The Meters played their funk with honest, no frills competence, part of the reason they backed up so many other artists (including recordings by Robert Palmer and Sir Paul McCartney). This LP, from 1972, is well-played but […]
RAINBOW VINYL — YELLOW
Like a reverse sunset, we fade from orange to yellow. * Melbourne’s Skyhooks were hugely popular and successful in the mid to late 1970s, playing a glammed-up radio-friendly rock. This debut is beloved of an entire generation who lapped up the insightful and sometimes mischievous songs set in places we knew well. You can’t beat […]
RAINBOW VINYL — ORANGE
Town successfully painted red? Well it must be orange time. The Claypool Lennon Delirium is a psychedelic dosette box created by bass player extraordinaire Les Claypool and Sean Lennon. Owing much to 1960s psychedelia in general and early Pink Floyd in particular, Monolith of Phobos is a quirky delight. Arguably the magnum opus of German […]
vinylconnection.com.au 