The VInyl Princess is moving!

Hey, we're moving! And when I say "WE", I hope that means you too. My new website is up and ready for houseguests. Go to www.thevinylprincess.com to check it out and follow me. You'll probably be happy to learn that I'm not taking the faux leopard pole lamp but all the vinyl is coming with me. C'mon over.

Love,

The VP.

John Doe and The Sadies- Country Club

John Doe wears a lot of hats (X, the Knitters, and his solo stuff) and, although he's no stranger to cowboy hats, I think this is the first "Countrypolitan" record he's made in a while. He says he made a drunken promise to Travis and Dallas Goode (of the Sadies, a great band in their own right) when they were playing together in Toronto but those promises are usually forgotten. This one was not and the result is a pretty incredible record that combines a lot of really great songs with some top notch musicianship. There's four originals on this one, three by the Sadies, and one by Exene Cervenka, Doe, and the amazing Kathleen Edwards who sings on a few numbers too. The rest are standards or semi-standards made famous and written by the who's who of the country music world: Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings. Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, Porter Wagoner. There isn't a dud on this whole record. I love it as an ensemble piece. I also love that this is not a Nashville style album (no strings, no horns, no choirs, no bullshit), this record is Cosmo Country right out of Bakersfield.

ELVIS COSTELLO- Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

Can I begin by saying how very inspiring it is for the Vinyl Princess to see artists releasing their albums on Vinyl again (happy sigh). While the rest of the world goes off in alarming directions, it appears that the music world is coming back around to Vinyl and what could be better than that? Elvis Costello's new album is a work of art.  The artwork on the cover looks like vintage tarot cards with my favorite bird, a crow, right there in the middle. The pen and ink of Elvis on the back is just what I want to think of when I see him in my mind. This is a double gatefold album and the lyrics are wordy so it takes a minute to get through them all but do it, they're brilliant. On to the music: Produced by T-Bone Burnett, who rarely disappoints, a mandolin figures heavily on many songs and the gracious Jim Lauderdale sings harmonies. The songs themselves are like clever short stories with a beginning, a middle, an end, a good plot and even a few sub-plots. I was on board right out of the gate with Down Among the Wines and Spirits and Complicated Shadows, of course. Sulphur to Sugarcane is my fave on the record and loads of fun and She Was No Good is a pretty song that required several listens before I figured out what he was talking about. Listening to this album is like losing yourself in a great book. Mine, by the way, is signed by the man himself. Yup, I looked him right in the eye. I may even have touched him.

Vinyl Saturday- June 20th

http://idolator.com/5238702/will-vinyl-saturday-drag-people-back-to-the-record-stores

And now a word about censorship

The new Green Day album, ironically titled " 21st Century Breakdown" will not be appearing at your friendly neighborhood Walmart store any time soon. That Walmart would suggest to a recording artist that they require them to edit the content of their art in order for it to be acceptable in their soulless mega-monster stores, which profit off the backs of slave labor in developing countries, is beyond absurd. My bigger point, however, is that we shouldn't be looking for this album at Walmart anyway. Walmart can continue on, as they always have, selling crap to the masses but I'm happy that they are leaving music in the hands of the people who know what they're doing. Buy your Green Day albums at indie record stores. Album sales for "21st Century Breakdown" surpassed 200,000 in the first few days of hitting the stores without the help of Walmart.  Yeah, we don't need your greedy paws all over our music. Thanks, Green Day. Rock on.

Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits

Honestly? I don't have a deep catalogue on Patsy. I adore her, sure, but I find myself going back to the same tunes, the ones I know the words to, over and over. Fortunately, on Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits, there is a song for damn near every occasion involving the opposite or the same sex, whichever the case may be. Patsy's focus is mostly on the tunes of the Cheatin' and Hurtin' variety, a modern day therapist would most certainly call her a victim but it just feels so good to throw Patsy on the turntable when someone's done you wrong. Crazy is  my number one on this LP, a classic of classics, ditto for Sweet Dreams, I Fall to Pieces, Strange, She's Got You, Why Can't He Be You?, Leavin' on Your Mind, and You're Stronger Than Me. The coolest thing about Patsy though, is that there's always an "I Will Survive" quality to her voice, no matter how sad the song, she inspires you to get back on the horse and ride off into the sunset in search of the next heartbreaker.

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS

On the back of this album, a guy called "Vinyl Demon" (and I'm pretty sure we'll be meeting in  a dark alley someday) says "Jalacey Hawkins is not an ordinary man and this is not an ordinary record. Play it and be damned". Screamin' Jay Hawkins was colorful, to say the least, he had a sort of a Vincent Price esthetic onstage, emerging from coffins, wearing capes and turbans and carrying a skull named Henry. He also had a flare for pyrotechnics, which got him into a lot of trouble and he dabbled in voodoo, obviously. Showmanship aside though, Hawkins was dazzling and if you haven't spent a little time with "I Put A Spell On You", I suggest you do so immediately because there's nothing on earth quite like it. It defies description.  The Rock and Roll Hall of fame lists it as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. In his later career, Hawkins became something of a cult figure, appearing in the Jim Jarmusch film "Mystery Train" and touring with Nick Cave and the clash. Hawkins died in 2000 leaving behind 75 offspring(!). The rest of the album pales in comparison to the first cut but I adore Little Demon and You Made Me Love You and Hawkin's version of I Love Paris is as good as it gets.