Bone Awl Not for our Feet LP

Klaxon reissue of a NWN Productions release. This is the third record of theirs I've reviewed so I must like them. Primitive and pounding US Black Metal. 9 songs from back in 2004.
Production on this is a little less over the top than previously reviewed records. Vocals are more clear and probably the most traditional black metal thing about the band. They are relentless and at times it definitely has a crusty Swedish feel to it. Just driving. This is the sound of getting run over or thrown down a flight of stairs set to music.
These guys have their graphics and imagery pegged. It is not straightforward, but distinctive none the less. Their style is sure to be imitated and jacked. Reminds me of Born Against but not for any musical reason.
If you missed it the first time be sure to grab it now and check their site for more cruical crushing noise

Gospel Sounds Judah Live LP Brockton Gospel!

Did some serious South Coast digging on vacation and found this one in New Bedford. Straight out of Brockton comes the Gospel Sounds who drop the Judah Live LP. 11 tracks on Judah Records manufactured by the Fleetwood Custom Recording Company in Revere MA (BMC5163). The back up vocals that end the first song hint at a potential for some R&B fireworks, but it is not to be. They mine a gospel groove somewhere between country rock and Three Dog Night. The killer back up vocals reappear on "I found Jesus" and it's like the Chi-lites or Tavares are hiding in the background, but the Jesus'd out honky front man is scaring them away
All songs are credited to Patty,Jimmy,Doug,Chico,David, and Richie.. A group effort. This won't be turning up on Soul Gospel Three anytime soon, but is still a decent soft rocking gospel effort(why that matters I don't know) Mainly of local interest. If it only had one drum break or slightly fuzzed out guitar part......

Thrift Shop bum outs

Digging through bins of records in backwater thrift shops would probably be classified as an annoyance by most, but for record geeks it is a way of life. Nothing is better than sweating your ass off on hot summer day in the back of some thrift shop usually bent over or digging under racks looking at records.
There are however a few annoying aspects about this.
1.Company. There is nothing worse than some random joker getting in your way while you are trying to speed read through a couple boxes of records. It is bad when they are ahead of you. I generally go and look at books or just bum out waiting, but nothing is worse than when they see you digging around and like a zombie moth stumble over to get in the way. What are you looking for? Even worse is the dude that wants to strike up a conversation about whatever he collects... No talking when looking for records! I don't care about WW2 German radios. Go away.
2.Competition. You pull into the parking lot and see a car with some cool bumperstickers-trouble. Or you walk in and some dork that looks like he should be roadieing for TV on the Radio is digging through the records already. You don't have company, you have competition. 2 gold miners cannot work the same river. An even bigger bumout is when you have traveled. The final insult is if/when you see what records they have or worse, if you know them, and they come over and tell you and gloat. Ouch.
3.Empty Jackets. Last week, I grabbed a Unity 2 picture sleeve 12" only to discover it was empty. Damn. Shirlee could have been my girlee if the damn record was still there. Come on, you remember the Unity 2?? Stop sleeping.
4.Bait and Switch. Wrong record in the sleeve. This happened for the 1st time to me last week as well and was extremely painful. I was totally amped to listen to Paul Mauriat's LP "the soul of" which is basically some French dude covering Stax and Motown classics. Good or bad, that was going to be a record to remember. I was crushed when the sounds of the Baptist Choir's "Odes to America" started coming out the speakers. What kind of evil fiend would do this????

Dave Lewis plays Herb Alpert LP

I can't imagine that Dave Lewis looks back fondly on this photo shoot...or doing a record of Herb Alpert covers. Recorded in 66, can you imagine this in 68 or 69? Not likely. What a difference a few years can make. Both the cover and concept were so absurd, I felt no shame slapping down my 50 cents for this. He might have been from Seattle, but there is not hint of Wheedle's Groove on this lp. At least the tracks are all short. 12 total on Jerden. Guitar player stands out more than Dave whose Hammond sound is pretty weak. "The Lonely Bull" stands out as an above average track with a little heart put into it. Both "taste of honey" and "love potion #9" run between competent and corny in an enjoyable fashion.

Betty LaVette Child of the Seventies CD

I generally steer clear of the "Rhino Handmade" scene as it seems to be populated by scalp collecting idiots who want to own artifacts rather than enjoy killer music, but even a pretentious shithead like myself will put his attitude in check when they drop a Betty LaVette record from the 69-70 era. I'll even buy it new.
I had high hopes for this and she delivers. 22 tracks of southern soul brilliance recorded in Muscle Shoals and sitting on the shelves until now(unless you got the 2000 euro only reissue...) Grab this and all her other records and the good news is you can still see her live.

the winner for now

Contador wins the TDF.... for now. Who knows when more Puerto documents leak.... Rasmussen,Vino,Sinkewitz,Mayo,Moreni. That is a lot of scalps, but still a small percentage of the peleton. Seems like all the "men in black" got dealt with.
Conspiracy of the week-Vino set up by the Russian mob who bet heavy against him and ratted him out....
The Mayo situation brings to mind a simple rule a friend of mine uses,"If you are under 30 with a receding hairline or balding problem, you are suspect". Holds up pretty well in field testing.
Vaughters transfer acquisitions seem mainly to get UCI points. Vandevelde and Zabriskie???-at least it's not Hincapie. Millar gets an ownership stake in the team? Seems like a Mini-LA move. How happy do you think Lance is in having an ownership stake in a team without a sponsor? Cofidis is gone next year. Astana must be too so that should leave a spot for a team to move up to the pro-tour(if the pro-tour still exists next year) which might push JV to grab more riders fast. He says a "recent Paris Roubaix winner" as well. Backsedt maybe? He seems bummed at Liquigas.... No way is it O'Grady,Boonen or Cancellara. I doubt the aging man from Brakel aka PVP would come back to America.
Losing a couple D1 teams should make the off season like musical chairs.
Back to vacation

Persausions We Came to Play LP

I am pretty much a sucker for buying records that have covers on them, so by the time I flipped over the Persuasions "We came to play" LP and got over the Penniman quote("You should never try and put a tuxedo on the funky blues") and the sweat suits(which were provided by Levy's of Jersey City), it was a done deal. Beatles, Curtis Mayfield,Motown, Sam Cooke. Done deal. I figured I was in for some 70s funk workouts,but I didn't expect a full blown doo-woop vocal assualt. If they were as good a basketball team as they were a vocal group that would have been a tough to beat team-even in Jeresy City or Orange(Respect to Eric Williams!)
Opening up with "Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke and closing it out 10 tracks later with "Let it Be" these 5 guys deliver the goods.
I guess they raised their profile by working with Frank Zappa, but this is some pretty traditional shit and not in some shity Sha-na-na fashion.