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Record Highlight — Al Nobriga

AL NOBRIGA | My Last Disco Song

A rare look into the discotheque era of Waikiki, Al Nobriga’s “My Last Disco Song” tells of a time when nightclubs lined Kalakaua Avenue and practically every hotel hosted live entertainment. Seven days a week, locals rubbed elbows with visitors in discos like The Point After, Cock’s Roost, Garden Bar, Infinity, Duke Kahanamoku’s, Foxy Lady Too, Valentino’s, Hawaiian Hut—the list goes on.

In the years following the release of Al Nobriga with Island Company’s LP, They’re Playing My Music, a massive shift in Waikiki’s tourism industry began. More and more nightclubs closed their doors or hired duos and disc jockeys to entertain guests. The venues that once lined Kalakaua Avenue eventually gave way to newly constructed luxury shopping centers, a trend that continues into the 21st century.

Nobriga offers a poignant escape from what would soon become decades of ongoing development in Waikiki. Not just another yacht rock tune, “Break Away” carries the listener to a place where one finds enlightenment in the tropical winds and cool ocean blue, far from the concrete jungle of Honolulu.

Record Highlight — Pippo Spera

Lilting melodies, including a shimmering cover of Eduardo Mateo’s ‘Mejor me voy,’ infused with an undercurrent of bossa nova and the drowsy, faded memory of sun-drenched islands. All of this melodic loveliness is made ever-so-groovy in an Afro-Cuban sort of way thanks to a mighty contribution from world famous percussionist Jorge Trasante, Totem drummer Roberto Galletti, and Limonada drummer José Luis Sosa. Pippo Spera had come into the orbit of Uruguayan master Eduardo Mateo back during the days of El Kinto (one of that band’s finest songs is about a visit by Mateo to Pippo’s house). From 1967 to 1970, Pippo concentrated on studying classical guitar at the Conservatorio Nacional of Uruguay, until the military dictatorship closed the school.

So, Pippo started his songwriter career, which culminated in 1975/1976 with the recording of “A Buen Puerto.” As Pippo says, “It was a beautiful experience to me. I had the help of the best musicians in town, they were like brothers. At that time in Uruguay, nobody used to get money to perform in a recording studio; for the musicians it was a pleasure, it was just love of art…” After the release of this LP, Pippo decided to leave a Uruguay oppressed by a brutal dictatorship. He sailed to Brazil in a ship much like the one hovering behind him on the “A Buen Puerto” album. Brazil was indeed “a good port” for Pippo—he became friends with many of the best Brazilian musicians of those years: Milton Nascimento, Geraldo Azevedo, Renato Rocha, and Alceu Valença, and ended up writing for and playing on Nascimento’s “Clube da Esquina 2” album.

Record Highlight — Aubrie Sellers

“I prefer to create friction,” post-Country chanteuse Aubrie Sellers offers. “Because if you’re not pushing buttons, you’re just making something pleasant, it’s probably been done before… and it’s not making anyone feel anything.”

In this world of pretty little girls who are seen and not heard and reality stars who are famous for nothing, the 24 year old songwriter ain’t buying in. Laughing, she continues, “I’d rather my music be polarizing than everyone like it, because they rarely do. I think passion is a lot deeper than that. I want to go deeper, and be honest that life isn’t just some party and going out. I mean, don’t people feel anything?”

Not that New City Blues is some kind of morbid, maudlin affair. From the cutlery in the blender indictment of surface beauty “Paper Doll” to the lone star drive of “Just To Be With You” and the tumbledown melody of “Sit Here And Cry,” this is a high energy box cutter of emotion: 14 songs marked by the bite and punch of smart girls who know there’s more to life than a cold beer and cut-Offs.

Record Highlight — Danen Kane

A tender, finger-picked acoustic guitar chimes seven notes, descending a scale like a waterfall. Six notes follow, down again but then back up to a hopeful and bright rest. Then, Danen Kane’s expressive voice declares the omnipresence of the Author of music: “He’s in the breath inside you / He’s in the falling rain / He’s in the light that shines on / every morning day.” A subtle, atmospheric electric guitar undergirds the melody with a double-time pulse, lending dimension and gradually moving the listener from reflection to response.

So begins “The Song that Set Us Free”, the standout opening track from Kane’s latest album Flesh and Soul. For the uninitiated, it’s a fine introduction to Danen Kane’s songcraft. His music leads the listener on the sort of journey that makes you look back in wonder and say,how did I get here? Two minutes into “The Song,” and without realizing that Kane has gradually increased the tempo by one beat per minute every 30 seconds, you’ve collected potential energy and you’re eager for something to happen. Then, at 2:15, Kane breaks all convention and lets the song explode. Cymbals crash, lyrical laughter bursts, and celebration ensues.

Danen Kane has never been afraid to break convention in his music, but he has a remarkable ability to maintain accessibility and consistency of voice while creating eclectic and sometimes surprising tunes. Part of that ability comes from his unconventional path to music ministry. Kane’s first love was not piano or guitar, it was basketball. In fact, he didn’t do anything musical until he was 20 years old, when he felt a strong call from God to lay down the hours invested in his sport and focus on pursuing his faith.

Record Highlight — Mary Lattimore

Pathway006-Front

Limited to 300 copies on black vinyl, from Desire Path Recordings.

Seek solace. Be still and drift. Withdraw and be there. There. Inside. A chair awaits. A beginning built from an ending, from leaving, from afar. In times such as these, The Withdrawing Room is a safe haven to leave behind all that weighs heavily and surrounds us. We remark how comfortable the chair is, how exquisite the view is outside the window, the aroma, the breaths to be taken as you become aware of the minutia all around you and the sounds emanating from Mary Lattimore’s harp, warming your feet, your hands, your heart. Breathe. Previous collaborations have seen Mary matching wits with such esteemed luminaries as Thurston Moore, Meg Baird, Kurt Vile, Ed Askew, Fursaxa, and Jarvis Cocker. But for this debut work, Mary sequestered herself in a room, much like this one, to kindle three distinct works for keeping the listener company as he or she enjoys the view. The nuanced notes of the harp strings sing and reverberate amid subtle electronics courtesy of Jeff Zeigler on the 24-minute long piece “You’ll Be Fiiinnne;” “Pluto the Planet” meanders at a slow and steady pace as the sun makes its way across the sky and the gentle plucks of the silk and steel resonate within, beyond; the closing chaos of “Poor Daniel” charts a recklessness that embraces the listener as he or she quietly makes their way out of the room to tackle the world anew.

Record Highlight — Sirs

Sirs is a four-piece punk band from upstate New York. Formed in 2009 after meeting at school, original members consisted of Justin Jurgens, Dave Benton, Kyle Seely and Hart Seely. Their fantastic self-titled LP dropped this month via Topshelf Records. Grab it!

Customer Highlight — Sirs

Thanks to Rob Warmowski for enlisting GGR to press this 4-Song EP by Sirs — Boo Hoo. A disturbed crooner and a loud electric band pile-drive tales of the late capital era into every available earhole. Escape the post-modern refuse pile by burrowing straight down. Don’t dig with your hands; use this slab of 12″ plastic as a tool.

From Rob:

Chris Kreb and I started a weird rock band called Sirs in 2008. Back then it was just the two of us, he on microphone and bullwhip, myself on guitar, bass and computer. We put out a 7″ called Billy The Kidney, then Chris moved to Germany. Around that time I started working with Tony Jones and Mike Greenlees, bringing some of the early material over. Sirs Mk II lasted until Mike was gently reminded of the existence of his three children. During the Mk II phase, we recorded an album’s worth of songs, then threw away half to leave an EP named Boo Hoo.

Grab a copy now!

Customer Highlight — Clifton Motel Records

We can’t tell you how excited and honored we were when the Clifton Motel Records folks approached us about pressing their first two releases — both by the Damnwells — One Last Century and No One Listens To The Band Anymore.

Paste Magazine premiered The Damnwells’ new video for “The Great Unknown” on their website on Feb 22, and you can still download a free mp3 of the song there. They are also hosting a prize pack giveaway, where you can win one of two packages:

First Prize:

– test pressing of both “No One Listens To The Band Anymore” and “One Last Century”, and a pair of Yurbuds Ironman Series headphones

Second Prize:

– Copies of both “No One Listens To The Band Anymore” and “One Last Century” on black vinyl, and a pair of Yurbuds Ironman Series headphones

The test pressings are extremely rare- only 5 made of each record. The contest runs until March 8th, and you can enter by visiting their website!

Both releases were pressed in their own unique [and extremely limited] vinyl color combos, so be sure to pre-order your copy fast! (both albums street on 03.15.11).

Customer Highlight — Seabrook Power Plant

Brandon Seabrook writes all the music for Seabrook Powerplant. His brother, Jared Seabrook is on drums and Tom Blancarte plays bass.
The influence of fleet-fingered Guitar Gods was part of Seabrook’s make-up from the beginning. He first picked up the instrument, as did so many other 8-year-olds, due to the inspiration of Eddie Van Halen. And also like so many before him, he soon found that his own hands couldn’t manage those same gymnastics, and he began casting around for other idols. The path led through Jimmy Page, to Jim Hall, to D. Boon of punk pioneers The Minutemen and finally around to Van Halen again.
It was a love of this sort of percussive sound that led Seabrook to the banjo in the first place, when he borrowed one from the Conservatory’s instrument library. I’m really into drums,” he explains, “and the banjo was the closest thing I could get to a drum with strings. I was into it as a dead instrument, with not much sustain, which was kind of attractive to me since it was the opposite of the guitar.”

Hot off the GGR presses, Seabrook Power Plant II will be available to the public in March (can you believe it’s already almost March?). Stay tuned to Loyal Label and Brandon Seabrook for updates!

Gotta Groove Records

Posts Tagged ‘limited run vinyl’

Record Highlight — Al Nobriga

Record Highlight — Pippo Spera

Record Highlight — Aubrie Sellers

Record Highlight — Danen Kane

Record Highlight — Mary Lattimore

Record Highlight — Sirs

Customer Highlight — Sirs

Customer Highlight — Clifton Motel Records

Customer Highlight — Seabrook Power Plant

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