Nov. 25This week we celebrate Record Store Day: Black Friday, so I’m going to go over some of the cool and interesting exclusive titles we will be carrying on that day. Come down early before everything is gone.
1. Jerry Garcia, “Reflections”We start with a reissue of “Reflections,” the third Jerry Garcia solo album. It included the entire 1976 lineup of The Dead on backing instrumentation and veered hard toward the folk-rock side that Jerry cemented as his sound on following releases. Jerry and The Grateful Dead, in a way, helped make the Southwest what it is. They have such a massive influence on not only the music of the area but the attitude as well. If you can go a day without seeing the famous “American Beauty” skull or the dancing bears while walking downtown, I will both question your eyesight and your ability to tell the truth.
2. Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Jabba Flow”This is a weird one. Remember in “The Force Awakens” when Han and co. walk into that cantina and there’s a weird bar blues jam happening in the background? This is a vinyl copy of that song. Upon seeing its release, I threw on the 30-minute version I found on YouTube and looked up some details. Some pretty cool stuff going on here. So, for one, J.J. Abrams did vocals for the song, and on top of that, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the damn thing. That’s the guy who won a Pulitzer Prize for writing “Hamilton.” Why? I do not know. But it is a catchy song, so does it really matter?
3. Napalm Death/Melt Banana, “Like Piss To A Sting”Napalm Death and Melt Banana are two of the quintessential acts of extreme music today. I actually just saw Napalm Death in Farmington with about 50 other people. We don’t get shows like that all that often. Napalm Death invented grindcore, the combination of hardcore punk rock and death metal into a genre more extreme than either of its forebears. Melt Banana is a Japanese grind band that adds in sugary female vocals and abrasive electronics to the mix to really ramp up the sound and test just how much the listener can handle.
4. South Park, “Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics”I hope we all have seen the episode this record comes from. Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo sits by the fire and introduces songs performed by the South Park Kids, Santa Claus, Jesus, Satan, Chef and even Adolf Hitler. I grew up with this record, as my parents don’t care much for traditional Christmas music. If you want your kids to grow up singing songs sung by talking feces and end up like me, then put this one on on Christmas morning.
5. Venom, “Black Metal”As Napalm Death invented grindcore, so too did Venom invent black metal with this aptly-named record. It’s loud, it’s fast, it sounds like nothing else that came out in 1982. Venom single-handedly cemented the aesthetic, style and sound of hundreds of bands and it’s an aesthetic that still hasn’t been transcended. Some try to escape, but if you find something described as “black metal,” there will be goat heads, there will be tremolo picking and the band members will have heard this record.
Cooper Stapleton
