SPINNING THIS WEEK.... 2/26/23 - 3/4/23

Welcome……., this week we’ve got the hardest hitting album yet in this ramshackle vinyl journey….. ya, it would be a shame to not mention that this album was one among several that kind of defined (if not somewhat outdated at the time) what my small group of friends and I listened to back then…… I’m sure your generation had a type of music just as offensive to the prior one…….

Yep, Bill, Geezer, Tony and Ozzy……………..all helping to cut some deep grooves into the smooth-pates of teenagers everywhere. :) Really, Sweet Leaf, Children Of The Grave, and Into The Void all on one album? Far out. Need I say more? Simply outstanding. This copy is the Rhino Records 180g black-vinyl pressing R1 2562, very quiet………., no doubt partially because of the low-output level on this mastering. You’ll need a stout bump in gain, but if you have it………, this album rocks.

This weeks jazz vinyl has a special story to go with……………., so this particular pressing just happens to be the only 2-LP pressing and I happen to have one. Affinity AFF(D)40, this collection of tunes recorded in Amsterdam, May of ‘69, does not disappoint. I found this particular copy for sale (previously loved) at Grooves Records, London, Ontario shortly before Christmas of 2021… on a leg-stretching exercise after driving non-stop from Wisconsin to pick up my son Ben. We had a few hours to kill before getting back in the car to drive home… this was possibly the best $12 CAD I’ve ever spent. I’d give the jacket a solid VG+, but the vinyl, oh man the vinyl……. NM+ for sure. Deep and dark background, a couple of ticks….., NO pops…. , this is what a great old copy should sound like… for $10 USD.

The third vinyl of the week is actually an E.P……………, Ed Sheeran’s Songs I Wrote With Amy, dropped in 2017 on Ed’s own label, it’s already out of print. That’s a shame because I really like this one. Pressed on standard 160g black vinyl, it still sounds excellent. It’s a professional recording with tunes not found on his full length LP’s, one that’s worth the effort to find.

Containing one of my “go-to” Demo tracks, Alone, this album is for me, a “must have”. This is the essence of Gelfling……., hmm……. maybe a little too much Side One, Song One of Master of Reality….., I digress, this is the essence of Blues Traveler. Their Freshman album, unbelievably proficient for a first effort. This band was “tight”, and oh so full of soul. I remember hearing them for the first time as I was driving…., I had to pull the car over to wait to hear the disc jockey tell me what and who I had just heard. This was a big deal back then, considering most of the drivel being played on rock radio at the end of the 90’s….. this was “fresh”. Not unlike hearing Volbeat for the first time……., but that’s for a different week….., Glory to Ukraine. Peace. Out. TSA.