Vinyl Notes

I’ve been hooked on Nico Vega since I heard about them six months ago from a friend at Listen In. Instantly I fell in love with vocalist Aja’s throaty, growling voice, and the infectious, high energy rhythms. I bought their EP No Child Left Behind the very same day.

The opening track “Gravity” is an anti-depression anthem and ode to anyone who has had people use words to tear them down. The negative energy, is like gravity… “a parallel on words” that eventually hurts.

Over time you could kill me
But I’ll resurrect so
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
You ain’t never gonna thrill me
But you can kiss my ass so
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.”

You are can’t help joining Aja as she declares in a frustrated frenzy

Oh-oh-oh, you’re bringing me down!
Pick it up, pick it up pick it up, pick it…
Oh-oh-oh you’re bringing me down!

“Be Giving” is nothing short of rockin’. Three minutes and 36 seconds of a guitar and drum heavy, throw your hands in the air, bang your head rockin’ goodness. Almost cinematic in quality, the music swells and retreats with martial abandon.

I’m gonna drive off naked with the top down
Even if I don’t make it to the next town
I gonna sleep on the floor tonight ‘cause
I don’t need a damn dime to survive on

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In the mid-90s Portishead became the pioneer of the trip-hop genre with their debut LP Dummy. The album with its melodic melancholy, looped sampled baselines and the haunting sorrow in vocalist Beth Gibbons’ voice, became an underground success and has been heralded as one of the best of all time.

With their self titled sophomore album, Portishead’s style took a decidedly dissonant and abrasive turn. The melancholy was still apparent, however, the songs were less demonstrative of victimization and sorrow but contained a rather bitter biting edge.

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A few weeks back I wrote about how Nine Inch Nails’ (NIN) new album Ghosts was affecting the music industry. Truthfully, independent bands have been offering free downloads and streaming for quite some time now, but when big name acts start severing ties with record companies and making a go of it on their own, that’s when it becomes revolutionary.

I wasn’t a fan of NIN in the ‘90s. The first song I ever heard was “Closer” and I didn’t hear that until ’99 while traveling through Europe and a friend made me listen to her favorite song.  Over the years I discovered song after song and when With Teeth came out I bought it, along with Pretty Hate Machine.

At this point, I’d consider NIN one of those bands whose music I will purchase without having to hear it. So as soon as I heard the news about Ghosts, I went directly to the website and purchased the CD (yet to be mailed out) and downloaded the entire collection. My first thought was of the wow this is awesome variety. Which brings me to the point of this entry: an impromptu review of the Ghost collection.

Album artwork: Ghosts V

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Erykah Badu's has always demonstrated Afrocetrism, higher consciousness and introspection. While her first album was perhaps the most spiritual but her music has always had a conceptual nature, layered with meaning deeper than what appears on the surface to be abstract ramblings. Over the years, Erykah’s music has become increasingly more political, with New AmErykah, Part I (4th World War) being the most political by far. However, for all her artistry and theory, one has to wonder how many will be able to decipher her message.

Like other albums before it New AmErykah is about a concept complete from the title to the album cover, from the opening song to the one that closes the album. On the cover Erykah is depicted with an afro burdened with Black fists, embryos (one of which has a bar code on its head), the all seeing eye, hypodermic needles, satellites, mutated chains flowers, the tree of life…I could go on and on in an ISpy like discovery. Metephorically speaking, the world is on Erykah’s shoulders…er…in her afro rather; an image both magnificent and unsettling.

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