Month: March 2022

letting up despite great faults - iv
Vinyl

Letting Up Despite Great Faults: IV (2022)

Sometimes you hear a song and you just know. That time was a little over two weeks ago, and I was – as per usual – listening to Henry Rollins spin music on KCRW (episode 676 to be exact). The first notes immediately brought college in the early 90s, discovering this whole world of jangly chords and reverb that would soon replace (for a time) all the hair metal and screaming I grew up with. The song was “She Spins” from IV, the latest album from shoegaze/indie pop band Letting Up Despite Great Faults. Their first proper album in eight years, it reaches back to a time where I was constantly thrown off balance by all the new sensory input a kid experiencing the new worldview college away from home offers, and it does it with a forward thrust that completely leans into the style without feeling like a dated retread.

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george harrison - all things must pass
CD, Vinyl

George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (1970)

I don’t know if there is a more familiar, comforting sound in music than the guitar tone of George Harrison. Instantly recognizable, there’a a warmth and measured approach to each and every one of his licks and solos that get to the heart of what I think of when I think of musical nostalgia. The sound of his guitar brings strong, vibrant memories of my childhood – every Harrison song could be the closing song to the movie Time Bandits (although in reality it’s “Dream Away” from 1982’s Gone Troppo). And since it’s a cold, snowy Wednesday morning it felt like the perfect time to put on the classic All Things Must Past and think about the past, and the way this album brings it alive for me.

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13th floor elevators - easter everywhere
Vinyl

13th Floor Elevators: Easter Everywhere (1967)

Roky Erickson is one of those characters that you can’t help but fall into if you have even a passing interest in psychedelic and garage rock. I don’t remember where my first exposure was, but it was probably on one of Henry Rollins’s radio shows. I followed up on his incredible story, checked out his solo debut The Evil One and eventually moved my way back to his groundbreaking first band, the 13th Floor Elevators. A quick instagram reel from my local record shop showed they had gotten the new reissues of the band’s first two albums. I missed on the debut but nabbed the deluxe edition of their masterful second album Easter Everyday, with new remastered mono and stereo versions.

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