Heavy Rotation - Week Of Feb 25th

In our weekly series, Heavy Rotation, I will write about the five records I have been spinning regularly over the last week. There is not an expiration date. The records included can be from any time period at all. All entries are eligible to appear for multiple weeks. In fact, repetition is likely due to the fact that while I listen to a fair amount of music, it's not as much as I'd like to make time for. Also, as some of you may know, we have a vinyl only policy around our house, so as expected, all entries on the list are being listened to via turntable.

Ladies and germs, presenting installment five of Heavy Rotation . . .

John Cale | Vintage Violence
Columbia Records | 1970

After leaving the Velvet Underground, John Cale wrote, what he referred to in his biography as "some very simple songs" and assembled a group of studio musicians to record Vintage Violence. The results are a wonderfully eclectic melange of styles from 60's pop (Cleo) to Nashville infused rock (Hello There) to smooth 70's rock (Gideon's Bible). While Cale would go on to make more assured records like Paris, 1919, the charming energy on this record is utterly infectious.

The Left Banke | Too
Smash Records | 1968

This second album from baroque popsters, The Left Banke would be their last for nearly twenty years. The 30 minutes of this record simply fly by as the listener is inundated with intricate arrangements and lovely harmonies populating deftly crafted pop songs. It's a wonder that The Left Banke were never a bigger hit, despite their lone charting single, "Dont Walk Away Renee". One interesting bit of trivia is that several songs on Too feature the backing vocals of a young man named Steven Tallrico who later changed his name to Steven Tyler and went on to start a band you may have heard of called Aerosmith.

Camera Obscura | My Maudlin Career
4AD | 2009

This week's theme of compact pop records continues with the fourth offering from the Scottish quintet, Camera Obscura, whose entire oeuvre is a nod to the great song craft, production and power of early and mid-sixties Motown and girl groups. Led by songwriter and frontwoman, Tracyanne Campbell,  Camera Obscura take their unabashed affection for retro-pop and create a new millennium version on that style. There are notes of orchestral pop, bright horn accompaniments and some wryly hilarious lyrics. Simply put, this record is a ton of fun and should be listened to loudly and with the windows open whenever possible.

Aretha Franklin | Aretha Now
Atlantic Records | 1968

Starting off with the iconic "Think" and rolling through a powerhouse half hour, Aretha Now is the sort of record that grabs you by the scruff of the neck in its opening bars and lets go when the needle rests at the end of side two. Aretha's pipes treat us to the best renditions of "I Say A Little Prayer" and "You Send Me" that are available to ears anywhere. There is a rollicking great time to be had with "See Saw" and of course she reminds us as only she can that "The Night Time Is The Right Time". Maybe you've heard "Respect" too often or just recently saw that video for "Pink Cadillac". If so, please just throw this LP on the deck and be reminded why Aretha Franklin is a national treasure.

Grandaddy | The Sophtware Slump
V2 | 2000

Grandaddy mastermind Jason Lytle has some pretty  obvious influences. Jeff Lynne of ELO and Neil Young seem in a way to almost coat the songwriting and production choices on The Sophtware Slump. And yet, Lytle manages to rise above this by writing about an anachronistic universe where man and technology and nature meld together in a dissolved land of confusion and blurred boundaries. This intermingling geography and a melancholy nostalgia create a canvas on which Lytle's influences seem brand new rather than rehashed. It's a bit like listening to a record made by the love child of Mr. Blue Sky, H.D. Thoreau and Steve Jobs.