Category: Reviews – Vinyl
Metal still sounds best on large, round pieces of pressed vinyl. The smell, the artwork – and it gets played through a needle.
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The Ramones – s/t (vinyl reissue)
How long does a band require in order to change the world? How fast can they affect that change? The Stooges managed to change a lot (in the styles which were called the norm in rock) in their time together; in their first seven-year run, they laid out the groundwork that much of both punk…
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NOFX – Punk In Drublic (vinyl reissue)
One look at the list of albums which came out in 1994 reveals that it was a red letter year for punk rock (Offspring’s Smash, Green Day released Dookie, Bad Religion released Stranger Than Fiction and NOFX released Punk In Drublic), but what’s even more impressive in NOFX’s case is that Punk In Drublic‘s success…
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Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman (20th Anniversary vinyl reissue)
There aren’t many occasions when the artistic population of an entire musical genre is able to point to a single album and say it pretty much inspired everything that would matter in and about the genre thereafter, but that’s actually possible when it comes to dubnobasswithmyheadman – Underworld‘s third album. Dubnobasswithmyheadman didn’t just break the…
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Xerxes – Collision Blonde
The first lesson that Xerxes‘ sophomore full-length teaches us is that, if you’re going to start something, you’d better see it through. That’s definitely the lesson this critic learned; when I first put my copy of Collision Blonde on my turntable, I thought I had a good idea of what to expect when the needle…
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Death From Above 1979 and Old Lines – last minute xmas vinyl suggestions
Two last minute vinyl picks for your holiday gift-giving list, from Bill Adams, editor-in-chief of Ground Control Magazine. Death From Above 1979 The Physical World (Last Gang/Warner Brothers) On The Physical World, it’s impossible to miss the difference between Death From Above as they existed in 2005 and this new, re-energized incarnation of the band.…
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David Bowie – Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) / ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore 10″ single
The arc that David Bowie‘s career has appeared to take over the last forty-seven years has been a truly unique one, when you think about it. It could be hypothesized that being a Bowie fan is very, very similar in nature to being a heroin addict: the first hit you took was good – so…
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The Flaming Lips – With A Little Help From My Fwends
The problem with trying to critically review anything from The Beatles’ songbook is that many potential listeners are going to flay it apart as they listen very closely for flaws – any flaw at all. A lot of that has to do with The Beatles’ standing in pop culture and musical reputation; their songbook is…
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Tinkerbelles – Fine Asses EP
It has been a very, very long time since a new record forced my mind to expand so quickly that it made my eyes blur, but that’s exactly what Tinkerbelles‘ debut 7-inch – the Fine Asses EP – did to me. The first time I put it on and stylus touched vinyl, the record just…
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Electric Würms – Musik, die Schwer zu Twerk
After a certain point in a band’s career, it must get difficult to summon the excitement of making music the same way they always have. Think about it – after a while, it must get hard to feel as though you’re pushing the creative envelope while also trying to appease your fan-base and not alienate…
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Smashing Pumpkins – Adore (vinyl reissue)
The moment I laid eyes on the copy of the vinyl reissue of Adore which arrived on my doorstep, I stopped what I was doing and took a moment to absorb and enjoy the image on the cover. It is very captivating; while the original image which introduced Adore to fans in 1998 was a…