Category Archives: album

Elephant Stone The Glass Box EP

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When this seven-track vinyl EP by Elephant Stone arrived in the post, I knew I was in for something good. For starters, the band makes sure to point out in the press materials that it’s an analog recording. 2-inch tape to 1/4 inch before it got onto vinyl.  My kind of recording aesthetics, those are.

Then there’s the record itself. If Shindig! magazine doesn’t get wind of this to further spread it to the masses, I’ll be very disappointed. The Elephant Stone Glass Box EP is chock full of psychadelic jangly pop that does indeed call back to the swirly, radio-friendly pop psychedelia, without being at all annoying about it.

Some of these genre-influenced bands get weighted down by their own musical obsessions, but in Elephant Stone’s case, it’s more about taking an influence and making it your own rather than aping it by rote down to the waistcoats and matching hairdos.

There’s some top-notch songwriting and playing on tracks like the moody Lies, Lies, Lies and the perky Strangers. On the B-side, Yesterday’s Gurl is an excellent slice of yearning with a great hooky Smithereens-style guitar riff tying the song together. Has to be said, 360 Degree Music has done well in adding Elephant Stone to the roster; this band provides a completely enjoyable listening experience–not a single bummer song on the vinly–and that’s no easy feat.

That said, the final cut Dhun (available for free on the Elephant Stone official site)  is a total departure from the rest of the EP. It’s probably not the first track you should hear if you’re trying to decide whether to buy.

Instead, go to Pardon My Hindi and stream the Strangers and Savage Soul cuts–great stuff and totally representative of the band. Then you’ll know why you should buy this record now.
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How To Clean A Vinyl Record?

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I must confess–this looks completely crazy to me. Call me old-fashioned, but I just don’t think vinyl LPs are meant to be heated under any circumstances. The OTHER cleaning techniques shown here look perfectly sound–the record should get clean just fine using everything here BUT the steam.

This clip does show the record warping under the steam, and the presenter mentions that some do warp but that–in his words–the warping isn’t permanent. That’s not comforting, really…seems to me that a warped record would have a much more limited lifespan–how often could you get away with warping and re-warping a record after multiple cleaning? Not for me, thanks, but I welcome your opinions. Is this method crazy or not?

–Joe Wallace



WTF Album Covers: Fun Da Mental Erotic Terrorism

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For the record, I have not heard this album, I know nothing of Fun Da Mental or anything they do. I am simply responding to an album cover by Fun Da Mental that I discovered for sale on Amazon. That said…I think I am IN LOVE with this album cover. Seriously. I want a framed copy to hang in the studio above my mixing board to remind me of what might have been.

I have no idea what was going through the mind of the special someone who designed this cover, but it’s a work of frickin GENIUS. I believe this is supposed to represent South Asian people in some sort of political commentary that I am clueless about, but what it says to me is some kind of Mexican direct-to-video action movie poster repurposed for an album cover. And the NAME of this record–hot DAMN, that’s inspired. I laughed out loud, very nearly spraying Earl Grey all over my screen.

EROTIC TERRORISM? The very idea…it’s so out there I couldn’t help looking for a secret Beastie Boys imprint on the cover somewhere. It sounds like something they’d pull for laughs. But the customer reviews of this record indicate these lads are SERIOUS…they aren’t kidding around even with a title like EROTIC…..TERRORISM.

All I can say here is…wow.

—Joe Wallace

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Vinyl Blog to Watch: Get On Down with the Stepfather of Soul

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Imagine my surprise to run across this first thing in the AM on a Friday. Get On Down with the Stepfather of Soul is home to not one, but TWO podcasts featuring awesome, off-the-beaten-track soul sounds originally pressed on vinyl, glorious vinyl. Get on Down and Stepfather of Soul are both very worthy podcasts that WILL act as your gateway drug to an obsession with collecting these sounds–possibly even an addiction to 45s. You have been warned.

This blog appeals to someone like me who, while enjoying the idea of the film Cleopatra Jones, was extremely annoyed with it because the soundtrack had the feel of some decidedly non-funky composer trying to mimic (unsuccessfully) the genuine article as you’ll hear in these two podcasts. I know that’s about as nitpicky as it gets, but I was immediately put off by the psuedo-funky sounds in that movie, especially when the real thing is so damn good in similar genre movies including Truck Turner. Hell, even Blacula had a more kickass score than Cleopatra Jones.

But I only babble about that because these podcasts are so inspired…the tracks are top notch. I particularly enjoyed Stepfather of Soul #37, the Soulful Allsorts show. Check it and see what I mean…this is superior podcasting, folks.

–Joe Wallace