Oatrick's Vinyl-a-Day

 Being a life-long Beach Boys fan, Jan & Dean have always had a tiny presence in my life. Mostly for the fact that their song "Surf City" sounds almost exactly like an early Beach Boys song (hell, Brian Wilson even co-wrote it apparently!) I never really looked into them aside from that song in part because they never really evolved from their surf-pop roots like The Beach Boys did (unless there's a secret Jan & Dean prog rock album that I missed, in which case I urge you to point me to it.) That was until my friend told me about a folk album they did in 1965, which I thought was hilarious. Then, around a month ago I found a copy of it by complete chance! And? It's one of the, though unintentionally, weirdest records I have ever listened to. As the title suggests, Folk 'n Roll is a collection of mostly covers of contemporary folk rock songs by Jan & Dean, with the odd original sprinkled into the tracklist. For the most part, the covers they do are serv...

If you couldn't tell by my last post, I've been on a Beach Boys kick recently. It's been a bit warmer this week, so I guess that's put me in the mood. Today's album, L.A., is one I actually haven't heard before today. I found it last month with Beach Boys '85, Love You, and The Beach Boys In Concert (the 70s one, not to be confused with the steaming piece of shit that is 1964's 'Beach Boys Concert.') Even though I hadn't listened to it before buying it, I picked it up for completionist's sake. It was only 5 bucks anyway. Though I'd argue that The Beach Boys didn't really get 'bad' until 1992's Summer In Paradise, L.A. I think represents the beginning of the end for the band. They're fully in their nostalgia yacht rock phase at this point, and side one is concrete proof of this. There's nothing bad about it, but there's nothing really of substance here. It's inoffensive as all get out and frankly kind of...

 I don't think there's any surprise that I am a big Beach Boys fan. I've been since I was little - the 2003 compilation Sounds of Summer was loaded on my childhood MP3 player & I fell in love with Pet Sounds in middle school. Nowadays, though, I'm more into Carl Wilson's Beach Boys and the 'Brian's Back' records - and today I wanted to highlight one of the first records from that era, 'Wild Honey.' I got my copy back in September at Wayne NJ's very own Second Saturday Record Show, and it appears to be an original stereo pressing from 1967. These songs were mostly written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, and it was produced by The Beach Boys in the same style as it's predecessor, Smiley Smile. Wild Honey is a collection of bite-size lo-fi tunes that incorporate elements of  rock, soul, and R&B. It utilizes a lot of (what sounds like) detuned piano, acoustic guitar, and electric organ (especially on the title track.) Production-wise t...

 Merry Christmas everyone!! It's been a while. I lost interest in blogging again, but I didn't lose interest in music! I've still been collecting records, and I even got to be a part of the production of a vinyl release! (but that's a story I'll have to tell later...) Anyway, each morning from last Wednesday to Yesterday, I sat down and listened to a chunk of my Who records - making my way through their main and solo discographies, and after every album I wrote a short review to share with my friends. Since these reviews aren't long enough for their own posts, I decided to compile them all here and rank them! (P.S. Just because an album is covered here doesn't mean I won't do a more in depth review sometime!)  (P.P.S. These is just my opinions! I'm entitled to them just as much as you are, and I wouldn't attack you for yours - so don't attack me for mine!!) (P.P.P.S. I don't have Rough Mix, the McVicar soundtrack or Parting Should be Pain...

 So.. if you couldn't tell, daily blogging isn't my strong suit. I've just been unmotivated to write, and I think it's because of the wheel. I mean, it's a good idea in theory - but sometimes you're just not in the mood for the album it gives you & so you have a worse time listening to it than you would have on any other day and yada yada I'm sure you get it. My point being I'm just gonna write about whatever album/music related topic I feel like writing about from now on, and today I sat down and listen to The Beach Boys' 1973 record, Holland! Up until extremely recently, my Beach Boys listening journey stopped past the Smile(y Smile) era, and I'm still kind of at that point. It's not that I don't want to listen to their later stuff, but it's very hard for me to just sit down and listen to a new album on like Spotify or YouTube. When I want to get into an album, I usually have to get it physically so I have no choice but to liste...

  Aside from maybe only Paul McCartney, I believe Elvis Costello is the most prolific major pop artist of the last 50 years. He has released over 40 albums between the late 70s and now, and you can say whatever you want about the quality of any one of them - but you cannot deny how brilliant his first 5 albums are. Today’s album is Costello’s second album, This Year’s Model. My copy of this album is a reissue from the early 80s from the U.S. I got it at last month’s Second Saturday Record Show in Wayne, NJ, and it’s on black wax. I’m not listening to that copy though - I’m listening to my CD copy, the Rykodisc reissue from the mid 90s. The reason I’m doing this is because for some reason they cut two of the best songs on the album ([I Don’t Want To Go To] Chelsea & Night Rally) from the original US vinyl pressings! I feel like the CD is the most complete This Year’s Model experience, and therefore will be talking about that version. There’s not much I can criticize about this a...