- Leslie L.
- Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Re-launched in October of 2022, Richland Library’s Vinyl Collection boasts more than 150 albums—offering customers a mix of genres and decades and featuring everything from classic rock to local favorites, classic country, Pop, Rap, and beyond. Scroll through the top ten most checked-out records of 2023.
10. Louis Armstong and Duke Ellington, 'The Great Summit'
By the time Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong entered the recording studio together for two 1961 Roulette sessions, they were national icons and international ambassadors of jazz. On Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, Ellington took the place of pianist Billy Kyle in Louis Armstrong's All-Stars for a program of his own compositions. It's no wonder that Armstrong, a major influence on Ellington from the start, was at home with the material. On The Beautiful American, clarinetist Barney Bigard, a veteran of Ellington's band, chases Armstrong into his upper register, and the trumpeter delivers three ringing solo choruses. -JAZZIZ Magazine
9. The Kinks, 'Something Else'
Face to Face was a remarkable record, but its follow-up, Something Else, expands its accomplishments, offering 13 classic British pop songs. As Ray Davies' songwriting becomes more refined, he becomes more nostalgic and sentimental, retreating from the psychedelic and mod posturings that had dominated the rock world. Indeed, Something Else sounds like nothing else from 1967. The Kinks never rock very hard on the album, preferring acoustic ballads, music hall numbers, and tempered R&B to full-out guitar attacks. Part of the album's power lies in its calm music, since it provides an elegant support for Davies' character portraits and vignettes. From the martial stomp of "David Watts" to the lovely, shimmering "Waterloo Sunset," there's not a weak song on the record, and several -- such as the allegorical "Two Sisters," the Noël Coward-esque "End of the Season," the rolling "Lazy Old Sun," and the wry "Situation Vacant" -- are stunners. And just as impressive is the emergence of Dave Davies as a songwriter. His Dylanesque "Death of a Clown" and bluesy rocker "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" hold their own against Ray's masterpieces, and help make Something Else the endlessly fascinating album that it is. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
8. Miles David, 'Bitches Brew'
Thought by many to be among the most revolutionary albums in jazz history, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew solidified the genre known as jazz-rock fusion. The original double LP included only six cuts and featured up to 12 musicians at any given time, some of whom were already established while others would become high-profile players later, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Airto, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Don Alias, Bennie Maupin, Larry Young, and Lenny White among them. Originally thought to be a series of long jams locked into grooves around keyboard, bass, or guitar vamps, Bitches Brew is actually a recording that producer Teo Macero assembled from various jams and takes by razor blade, splice to splice, section to section. "Pharaoh's Dance" opens the set with its slippery trumpet lines, McLaughlin's snaky guitar figures skirting the edge of the rhythm section and Don Alias' conga slipping through the middle. Corea and Zawinul's keyboards create a haunted, riffing modal groove, echoed and accented by the basses of Harvey Brooks and Holland. The title cut was originally composed as a five-part suite, though only three were used. Here the keyboards punch through the mix and big chords ring up distorted harmonics for Davis to solo rhythmically over, outside the mode. McLaughlin's comping creates a vamp, and the bass and drums carry the rest. It's a small taste of the deep voodoo funk to appear on Davis' later records. Side three opens with McLaughlin and Davis trading fours and eights over a lockstep hypnotic vamp on "Spanish Key." Zawinul's lyric sensibility provides a near chorus for Corea to flit around in; the congas and drummers juxtapose themselves against the basslines. It nearly segues into the brief "John McLaughlin," featuring an organ playing modes below arpeggiated blues guitar runs. The end of Bitches Brew, signified by the stellar "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," reflects the influence of Jimi Hendrix with its chunky, slipped chords and Davis playing a ghostly melody through the funkiness of the rhythm section. It seemingly dances, becoming increasingly more chaotic until it nearly disintegrates before shimmering into a loose foggy nadir. The disc closes with "Sanctuary," completely redone here as a moody electric ballad that was reworked for this band while keeping enough of its integrity to be recognizable. Bitches Brew is so forward-thinking that it retains its freshness and mystery in the 21st century. - Thom Jurek
7 (tie). Solange, 'A Seat at the Table'
Solange Knowles started writing her third album in New Iberia, Louisiana, a town where her maternal grandparents lived until a Molotov cocktail was thrown into their home. That setting helps explain how A Seat at the Table turned out drastically different from Knowles' previous output. There's no revisitation of beachy retro soul-pop and new wave akin to "Sandcastle Disco" or "Losing You." Nothing has the humor of "Some Things Never Seem to Fucking Work" or the bluntness of "Fuck the Industry." There certainly aren't any love songs in the traditional sense. Instead, surrounded by a collaborative throng that includes Raphael Saadiq, Dave Longstreth, and Adam Bainbridge, Knowles composed and produced alleviating pro-black reflections of frustration and anger. They regard persistent dehumanizing burdens dealt to her and other persons of color in a country where many are hostile to the phrase "Black Lives Matter" and the equality-seeking organization of the same name. Remarkably, tender elegance is the mode for much of the album's duration, as heard in the exquisitely unguarded "Cranes in the Sky" and dimly lit left-of-center pop-R&B hybrids "Don't You Wait" and "Don't Wish Me Well." Those songs crave release and reject character assassination and stasis while hinting at inevitable fallout. Their restrained ornamentation and moderate tempos are perfectly suited for Knowles, an undervalued vocalist who never aims to bring the house down yet fills each note with purposeful emotion. When the rhythms bounce and the melodies brighten, as they do during a short second-half stretch, the material remains rooted in profound grief and mystified irritation. In "Borderline," a chugging machine beat and a lilting piano line form the backdrop of a scene where Knowles and her partner tune out the world for the sake of their sanity. Then, after Nia Andrews and Kelly Rowland's half minute of proud harmonic affirmation, along comes "Junie," a squiggling jam on which André 3000 makes like the track's namesake (Ohio Players and Parliament legend Junie Morrison), where Knowles delivers a sharp metaphorical smackdown of a cultural interloper like it's merely an improvised postscript. All of the guests, from Lil Wayne to Kelela, make necessary appearances. The same goes for Knowles' parents and Master P, who are present in the form of short interludes in which they discuss segregation, self-reliance, cultural theft, and black pride. These segues shrewdly fasten a cathartic yet poised album, one that weighs a ton and levitates. - Andy Kellman
7 (tie). Bon Iver, 'For Emma, Forever Ago'
Bon Iver is the work of Justin Vernon. He isolated himself in a remote cabin in Wisconsin for almost four months, writing, and recording the songs on For Emma, Forever Ago, his haunting debut album. A few parts (horns, drums, and backing vocals) were added in a North Carolina studio, but for the majority of the time it's just Vernon, his utterly disarming voice, and his enchanting songs. The voice is the first thing you notice. Vernon's falsetto soars like a hawk and when he adds harmonies and massed backing vocals, it can truly be breathtaking. "The Wolves (Acts I & II)" truly shows what Vernon can do as he croons, swoops, and cajoles his way through an erratic and enchanting melody like Marvin Gaye after a couple trips to the backyard still. "Skinny Love" shows more of his range as he climbs down from the heights of falsetto and shouts out the angry and heartachey words quite convincingly. Framing his voice are suitably subdued arrangements built around acoustic guitars and filled out with subtle electric guitars, the occasional light drums, and slide guitar. Vernon has a steady grasp of dynamics too; the ebb and flow of "Creature Fear" is powerfully dramatic and when the chorus hits it's hard not to be swept away by the flood of tattered emotion. Almost every song has a moment where the emotion peaks and hearts begin to weaken and bend: the beauty of that voice is what pulls you through every time. For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart. It's quite an achievement for a debut and the promise of greatness in the future is high. Oh, and because you have to mention it, Iron & Wine. Also, Little Wings. Most of all, though, Bon Iver. - Tim Sendra
7 (tie). Taylor Swift, 'Folklore'
Faced with some unexpected free time due to a lockdown inspired by a global pandemic, Taylor Swift turned inward. The result of her introspection was folklore, an album whose hushed atmosphere belies the speed of its composition and recording. Once she started the project, Swift turned to her longtime colleague Jack Antonoff for some input, but she also contacted an unexpected new collaborator: Aaron Dessner, the driving force behind the acclaimed indie rock band the National. Dessner's presence is a signal that folklore represents a shift for Taylor Swift, moving her away from the glittering pop mainstream and into gloomier territory. All of this is true, if perhaps a bit overstated. The 16 songs on folklore are recognizably her work, bearing telltale melodic phrases and a reliance on finely honed narratives that turn on exquisitely rendered lyrical details. Still, the vibe of the album is notably different. Sweetness has ripened into bittersweet beauty, regret has mellowed into a wistful sigh, the melodies don't clamor for attention but seep their way into the subconscious. None of these are precisely new tricks for Swift but her writing from the explicit vantage of other characters, as on the epic story-song "the last great american dynasty," is. Combined, the moodier, contemplative tone and the emphasis on songs that can't be parsed as autobiography make folklore feel not like a momentary diversion inspired by isolation but rather the first chapter of Swift's mature second act. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
7 (tie). Pink Floyd, 'The Dark Side of the Moon'
By condensing the sonic explorations of Meddle to actual songs and adding a lush, immaculate production to their trippiest instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently designed their commercial breakthrough with Dark Side of the Moon. The primary revelation of Dark Side of the Moon is what a little focus does for the band. Roger Waters wrote a series of songs about mundane, everyday details which aren't that impressive by themselves, but when given the sonic backdrop of Floyd's slow, atmospheric soundscapes and carefully placed sound effects, they achieve an emotional resonance. But what gives the album true power is the subtly textured music, which evolves from ponderous, neo-psychedelic art rock to jazz fusion and blues-rock before turning back to psychedelia. It's dense with detail, but leisurely paced, creating its own dark, haunting world. Pink Floyd may have better albums than Dark Side of the Moon, but no other record defines them quite as well as this one. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
6. Harry Styles, 'Fine Line'
After debuting with a solo album that showed great promise and staked a claim for him as a serious pop force outside of One Direction, Harry Styles changed things up on 2019's Fine Line. Despite working with some of the same people who helped him tap into classic pop and rock influences on his debut, this time around the range of genres Styles dips into has grown to include the kind of warm '70s-inspired funk of Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!" on the lovely "Watermelon Sugar," the expansive baroque chamber folk of Bon Iver on the title track, happily rustic Americana ("Canyon Moon"), and up-tempo Mark Ronson-style retro soul ("Treat People with Kindness"). One of the standout tracks is "Sunflower, Vol. 6," a bubbling electro-pop trifle produced by Greg Kurstin featuring some nice electric sitar and clavinet work. Throughout the record, Styles proves again that he's a first-rate singer, able to express melancholy or joy with the same charming ease and disarming power. - Tim Sendra
5. Etta James, 'At Last!'
After spending a few years in limbo after scoring her first R&B hits "Dance With Me, Henry" and "Good Rocking Daddy," Etta James returned to the spotlight in 1961 with her first Chess release, At Last. James made both the R&B and pop charts with the album's title cut, "All I Could Do Was Cry," and "Trust in Me." What makes At Last a great album is not only the solid hits it contains, but also the strong variety of material throughout. James expertly handles jazz standards like "Stormy Weather" and "A Sunday Kind of Love," as well as Willie Dixon's blues classic "I Just Want to Make Love to You." James demonstrates her keen facility on the title track in particular, as she easily moves from powerful blues shouting to more subtle, airy phrasing; her Ruth Brown-inspired, bad-girl growl only adds to the intensity. James would go on to even greater success with later hits like "Tell Mama," but on At Last one hears the singer at her peak in a swinging and varied program of blues, R&B, and jazz standards. - Stephen Cook
4. Toro y Moi, 'Mahal'
Stuck at home in California during the COVID lockdowns, Chaz Bear turned his attention to finishing up an album he had started years earlier. A more psychedelic outing with a focus on gnarly guitars and all flavors of funk, 2022's MAHAL feels like a logical follow-up to 2013's What For?, the first Toro y Moi album to lean hard into uptempo, guitar-led indie rock. Casting aside the slick pop sound of the previous two albums, this time Bear and friends turn the amps up and let rip on a collection of tracks that feel a long way from the dream-like sound Bear first cut his teeth on. Opening track "The Medium" sets the tone, with heavy-as-bricks guitar work provided by Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Ruban Nielson fighting a rock-solid funk backbeat to a draw. It's like Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone got together to whip up a perfect instrumental, and it's a quick slap to the head for anyone thinking this was going to be something slick and easy to swallow. The rest of the record continues to defy expectations, explore psychedelic byways, and deliver goosebumps, even as it hews a little closer to the chillwave template on tracks like the watery, slinky groover "Magazine," which features a half-awake vocal assist from Salami Rose Joe Louis. Even that track explodes into some amp-shredding guitar wrestling at the end, something that happens at many other stops along the way. Bear noodles majestically like he was searching for the ghost of Carlos Santana on laid-back funk jam "The Loop," sets the effects free to oscillate wildly on the billowing ballad "Clarity," blasts off into the cosmos like Prince on a good day ("Days in Love"), and lets guests Dylan Lee and Hannah Van Loon unleash some wild backwards soloing on "Deja Vu" and "Way Too Hot" respectively. All the guitar overload lends a grittier, more immediate feel to much of the record, blending with the relaxed grooves and Bear's somnolent vocals to create a sound that's both bracing and calming. Not surprising considering the opposing poles of anxiety and solitude brought on by being isolated, a theme that pops up in many of the song's lyrics. After a couple of records where it felt like the machines and radio waves were taking over a bit too much, it's refreshing to have Bear invest the songs with some added excitement and imagination. Even the tracks that shy away from heavy six-string action, like the rollicking "Postman" or the cocktail jazz in space "Last Year," show the effects of the time and care spent crafting the arrangements. It might scare off some of the fans drawn to the pop side of Toro, but for those who appreciate the subtle twists and turns of his early work -- and especially those who wish he had expanded on What For? -- this is Bear and band at their most exciting, most inventive. and most fun. - Tim Sendra
3. Prince, 'Purple Rain'
Prince designed Purple Rain as the project that would make him a superstar, and, surprisingly, that is exactly what happened. Simultaneously more focused and ambitious than any of his previous records, Purple Rain finds Prince consolidating his funk and R&B roots while moving boldly into pop, rock, and heavy metal with nine superbly crafted songs. Even its best-known songs don't tread conventional territory: the bass-less "When Doves Cry" is an eerie, spare neo-psychedelic masterpiece; "Let's Go Crazy" is a furious blend of metallic guitars, Stonesy riffs, and a hard funk backbeat; the anthemic title track is a majestic ballad filled with brilliant guitar flourishes. Although Prince's songwriting is at a peak, the presence of the Revolution pulls the music into sharper focus, giving it a tougher, more aggressive edge. And, with the guidance of Wendy and Lisa, Prince pushed heavily into psychedelia, adding swirling strings to the dreamy "Take Me With U" and the hard rock of "Baby I'm a Star." Even with all of his new, but uncompromising, forays into pop, Prince hasn't abandoned funk, and the robotic jam of "Computer Blue" and the menacing grind of "Darling Nikki" are among his finest songs. Taken together, all of the stylistic experiments add up to a stunning statement of purpose that remains one of the most exciting rock & roll albums ever recorded. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
2 (tie). Thelonious Monk Quartet, 'Monk's Dream'
Originally released in early 1963, Monk's Dream was the first Thelonious Monk album for Columbia. At the time this was recorded (fist sessions on Halloween, 1962), he had become one of the preeminent figures in contemporary jazz. His move to Columbia put him in the company of a couple of the era's other major talents and commercial successes, Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck, and his quartet was stabilized for a couple years with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse (with him since 1958), bassist John Ore, and drummer Frankie Dunlop. This album set the format for his succeeding works for the label over the next half-dozen years: a few standards mixed with originals, most of which had been recorded earlier in his career (the only new composition is "Bright Mississippi," itself a variation on the chordal structure of "Sweet Georgia Brown"). However, these performances find Monk in exuberant good cheer. His playing sparkles with invention and the relaxation and calm of a career in well-deserved ascension. Critically under-celebrated in its day, Monk's Dream is rich with the confidence of a band at its peak. - David Greenberger
2 (tie). Childish Gambino, 'Awaken, My Love'
Over the course of a backpack's worth of mixtapes and a couple of albums that won him commercial success, if not critical acclaim, Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) staked a claim as one of the brainiest, weirdest, and most inventive rappers around. His 2015 EP Kauai widened his approach a bit, with Glover doing more singing than rapping in a hazy modern R&B style, showing off a voice so smooth that it's almost unfair that one guy can have so much going for him. While working on his new TV series, Atlanta, Glover and his longtime sidekick Ludwig Göransson seem to have had some kind of musical awakening brought on by late-'60s dipped-in-psychedelia soul and early-'70s earthy funk. "Awaken, My Love!" has fuzz guitars, vintage synths of all kinds, burbling organs, grimy basslines, and masses of backing vocals adorning the songs; the influence of Sly Stone and George Clinton's various groups is strong, and Glover doesn't rap at all. He does use his voice like an acrobat, though, sometimes crooning sweetly, other times screaming like a demon. He doesn't have a classic soul singer's voice, but what he does have is personality and it comes through loud and clear, even through the murkiest moments of nasty funk. Glover and Göransson construct the album like a soundtrack to a nostalgic trip, hitting all the sweet spots of that magic moment when funk and soul got truly odd and inspiring. Tripped-out ballads like "Me and Your Mama" and "Terrified" bump up against massive jams like "Riot" and "Boogieman," and totally oddball moments like "California" match up well with heartfelt songs about fatherhood ("The Night Me and Your Mama Met," "Stand Tall"), which give the album its heart. Empowering pop-soul songs ("Have Some Love"), gloomy tales of the entertainment biz ("Zombies"), late-night detours into true love ("Redbone") -- everything Glover tries comes off just right and every note on every song is perfectly placed. Göransson and the tight crew of musicians must all be dedicated students of the era's sounds, and they play with controlled passion and fire. It's not an academic exercise by any means, though. The songs are all as memorable as Bootsy Collins' star-shaped sunglasses, and Glover's vocal gymnastics and impassioned delivery vault things past into more rarified air. It's true that the album owes a deep debt to the sounds that inspired it, but there are times when the music, voices, and words come together to make something that sounds owned by Childish Gambino alone. It's a departure, an update of the past, a statement of artistic intent from one of the true polymaths of the millennial era, but above all, "Awaken, My Love" is a stone-cold blast from beginning to end. - Tim Sendra
1. The Goo Goo Dolls, 'The Goo Goo Dolls - Greatest Hits. Volume 1, The Singles'
Hard to believe it, but at one point all the Goo Goo Dolls ever wanted to be was the Replacements -- nothing more than a ragged band playing kickass rock & roll along with the occasional heartbroken ballad. Of course, they were never as chaotic as the 'Mats; they were good guys where Paul Westerberg and company were ornery, unpredictable artists, prone to self-sabotage, legendarily throwing away their potential breakthrough gig on Saturday Night Live. That wasn't the Goo Goo Dolls. They never met an opportunity they didn't turn down, slowly morphing from baby Replacements to the cheerful corporate rockers showcased on this 2007 compilation, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: The Singles. This 14-track collection ignores the entire first act of the band's history, picking up the tale with 1995's A Boy Named Goo, which not so coincidentally is where the band abandoned its 'Mats aspiration and started being the alt-rock band that played by the rules (even then, Boy's breakthrough hit, "Name," is re-recorded here, the better to make it fit with the placid pop of their later years). Where all their peers shunned power ballads, the Goo Goo Dolls embraced them, slowly turning into a group that specialized in soaring ballads and anthems with no discernible roots: this was merely modern rock that existed in the moment, usually moments that occurred in offices, malls, waiting rooms, and Michael Bay's Transformers. Surely there was an audience for this, as the group ruled the adult Top 40 charts throughout the 2000s without ever having a single that truly made waves in the pop charts, the way "Name," "Iris," and "Slide" did in the late '90s. It wasn't for lack of trying, though: the Dolls kept refining and smoothing that blueprint out, so each progressive year turned more anonymous. But they were reliable, and they satisfied fans, many of whom would probably never have even known the name Westerberg, not even as the name of the high school in Heathers. For those fans, this Greatest Hits will satisfy, as it has all those hits that sound the same, and nothing else. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Browse the vinyl collection online or in-person at Main and check out up to four albums at a time. When finished, simply return items inside at any Richland Library location. Don’t have a record player? No problem. Check one out from our Library of Things!