Vinyl Nuggets

Archie Bell & The Drells - Dance Your Troubles Away (1976)

2009-02-16T16:48:00.002-05:00

I'm still sick but, I decided to rip this one regardless. Unfortunately, the record is slightly crunchy and (A1) could be far better. The album is still wonderful though and the majority of the tracks won't be distracted it's mainly the first two tracks of each side. I don't even remember when I picked this one up! In fact, I only just realized I had it in my collection while sifting through what to rip.

I was going to do 10cc- Sheet Music but Joe over at his blog got to it first. The next album will probably be a complete oddity.

Stay tuned!

Review:

Seven good songs from the Houston, TX, natives. On, "I Won't Leave You Honey," and a song obviously written for the O'Jays, Archie proves he's a quality soul belter. "I Could Dance All Night" written by Bunny Sigler, Ron Tyson, and Alan Felder, is a pleasant mid-tempo, lilting dance ditty, the melody will have you humming along. Tyson co-wrote the two aforementioned tunes; he later joined the Temptations as the fourth replacement for Eddie Kendricks. Ricky Owens briefly replaced Damon Harris, whom Glenn Leonard replaced. A good party record, "Let's Groove," and "The Soul City Walk" stand tall. The Drells were: Lee Bell (Archies' brother, ) James Wise, and Willie Pernell.

- Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide

My Review: Silky

Sorry!

2009-02-13T11:22:00.002-05:00

I haven't had much time to rip records this week, came down with some annoying bug. I'll be getting back into my normal schedule, expect an update by monday. Few of the other blogs I frequent meanwhile had a bunch of wonderful rips.

Check 'em out:

Baby Grandpa : The Tymes - Tymes Up

A Pyrex Scholar : Lonnie Hewitt - Keepin' It Together

Nikos/Mr.Moo: The Originals - Baby I'm For Real

The Three Degrees - Standing Up For Love (1977)

2009-02-06T10:35:00.004-05:00

Being one of the most legendary groups in the philly soul category, I'm pretty sure mostly everybody knows the story behind The Three Degrees and especially how this album returned Helen Scott in place of Fayette Pinkney. You've got
two of my favorite tracks on this album, one being "Macaroni Man" and the other "People With Feeling". The intro to "In Love We Grow" is also fantastic, strong soulful strings matched with a simple slide. Good stuff.

Last I heard they're still somewhat active in the music arena, they even had a new music video covering their song Dirty Ol' Man:

Review: Sizzling

Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Of Ethiopia (1972)

2009-02-04T16:00:00.002-05:00

This somewhat psychedelic jazz album is by far one of the smoothest records from Astatke out of his entire collection. I'm not exactly a huge fan of the vibraphone but this album does it justice in all regards. Before I go on, I recommend everybody purchase the record as it was re-released on vinyl back in 2003 and copies are floating about at nearly every record store. If you own an original pressing of the album, you're easily holding a $400+ record and I'm damn jealous.

My favorite piece "Kulunmanqueleshi" has a pretty funky feel
to it. It's got that... crunch to it, I don't know.

Sample wise, there's not much going on within the tracks and I can't think of a particular producer who's flipped anything from the record. Correct me if I'm wrong though!

Review: Idiophone

Peace.

Kazumi Watanabe - Mobo II (1984)

2009-02-02T13:05:00.002-05:00

Not much to say about this fusion album... it's mainly guitar based and decent throughout. My favorite off the album is "Yatokesa". I've been up for nearly 24 hours and I feel like it's time I passed out.

Review: Mesh

Peace.

Shadow - Love Lite (1979)

2009-01-28T18:47:00.002-05:00

Simply put, I love this album. It's a funky, synthy, disco-ish adventure. Unfortunately I never could find much information on this group but let me tell you, if you can pick this record up somewhere I highly recommend it. There's one up on ebay right now.

The tracks "Love Lite", "I Enjoy Ya", and "I Need Love" are my favorites, but, they're all top notch. I mean... the part in "I Need Love" 6 minutes in should melt some ears, guaranteed.

Review: Ridiculous

Thanks for all the comments so far, if anybody wants to share links, just send me an email at Donoso667@hotmail.com.

Sounds Effects Volume 2 (196X)

2009-01-28T16:11:00.004-05:00

First up for today, when I said I'm going to be releasing all sorts of different vinyls, I wasn't really joking. If you're a producer or just into sound effects, this is for you. I saved this rip as two sides but within the rip I've included pictures of the track listing. From farm animals to jets, this one has quite a few interesting samples for those Madlib-esque tunes. I wasn't really able to figure out the exact date of this recording and the date on the back of the vinyl is absurd (1957) because volume 1 was released in 1960.

Anyways, check it out.

Review: Sauce

The next post will be up in a couple of hours, I'm sure everybody will enjoy that one.

Meco - The Wizard of Oz (1978)

2009-01-26T13:49:00.003-05:00

Wow, where to begin with this one? It's a disco version of the Wizard of Oz brought to you by Meco. While the album is somewhat cheesy it's still worth a listen. I'm not exactly sure how rare this album truly is, I've seen copies on ebay going for $15 up to $75... If anybody knows a central place to check actual LP rarity post a comment.

Anyways, "Optimistic Voices" is probably my favorite track, minus the vocals. It has that taunting feel to it thanks to those bombastic synths. "Cyclone"is another favorite for me, I'm a huge fan of ambient breaks in any form of music especially if they're well executed.

Review: Ding-Dong!

I've purchased new turntables to make the ripping process easier for me, so far all the albums here have been ripped months ago but since I'm constantly purchasing vinyls it's about time I upgraded.

(note: you'll find pictures of the album within the .rars now)

Omni - All For The One (1982)

2009-01-24T12:48:00.004-05:00

Not much to say about this rarity from the short lived Fountain Records. It's simple, it's got 2 tracks, and I'm amazed I was able to purchase it for $3 in near mint quality. The exact match for what I managed to find has some price to it.

I'll be updating this post later this weekend with pictures seeing as how I'm unable to find a decent picture of the cover.

Review: Ouch

The Intruders - Save The Children (1973)

2009-01-23T00:12:00.000-05:00

Interestingly enough I found this soulful gem in the middle of two 80's rock albums. Ever since then I carefully scan each and every row until my upper lip starts to itch from all the dust assaulting my face. Ah... Gotta love that atmosphere, anyways, not exactly a rare album from The Intruders but it's still my favorite from their collection. I'm surprised the album hasn't been sampled more often... especially the track "To Be Happy Is The Real Thing".

I've got a pretty rare recording coming up soon from Fountain Records that has one of the sickest synthy basslines I've ever heard.

Review: Familiar

(note: can't wait for tomorr- er... today's episode of BSG)

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978)

2009-01-22T22:46:00.000-05:00

For my first post, I'm just going to go with one of the first vinyls I ever ripped. I got into crate digging less than 3 years ago and this was in my first batch of pickups I acquired at my local record joint. Probably one of the most accessible electropop albums in my collection, it's definitely worth listening to if you haven't been able to find it on any of the other blogs that inspired me to create my own.

I'm not one to critique albums through analysis and ridiculous rationalizations, so, I'm going to keep a simple system when it comes to rating. I'll give a single word that best describes the record and if it sounds good to you, grab it. I'll be posting all of my rips within the comments of each post through RapidShare and seeing as how this is a public blog (and will remain so forever) there will be NO password. Comments are appreciated but never required, don't worry, the act of folks checking this blog out and listening to what I've got to share is enough appreciation for me.

I also plan on taking pictures of the LP covers, inserts, and records once I get my camera back. I doubt I'll update this posting with the extras unless if there's enough interest.

Review: Firecracker

(note: B1 has a few skips at the beginning)