VINYL VIEWS: WEEK OF 10/25/21
“Hello, Boils & Ghouls! SPOOPY VINYL VIEWS is our CREEPY blog where we feature album recommendations from our “SCREAM TEAM” – SHAYNE “THE SKINWALKER” & JAXON “STILL AT LARGE”, and also from our GUEST UNDERTAKERS. This week we welcome the newest inmate to help run this asylum, LILAH “THE GRAVE-DIGGER” GROVE!
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Lilah is the newest addition to the Val’s halla Family! An INTENSE HALLOWEEN ENTHUSIAST and current junior at Oak Park River Forest High School with a huge love of music, though she couldn’t play an instrument to save her life. She is a passionate potter, who has spent an ungodly amount of time at the pottery studio learning everything she can. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out LILAHGROVEART!) She thoroughly enjoys Wes Anderson movies, candles, lizards of all kinds, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. She enjoys how much mental health can tie into music, and how much music can evoke emotion.
Artist: Cocteau Twins
Album: The Mood And The Melodies
If you’ve listened to the Cocteau Twins before, you would know how hard it is to understand the lyrics, but I think that the way Fraser sings is what conveys the message and feeling of the song. With this particular album, I think some of the songs are almost anxiety inducing with their tone and the feeling I get from this album overall is obscurity and suspense. It’s hard to pick exact meaning from this album, and although some of the songs are easier to digest than others, I think it’s a fantastic sensation that these songs give off.
Check out the track She Will Destroy You
Artist: Black Sabbath
Album: Paranoid
Other than the fact that this album has no skippable songs on it, I think it has an obvious and overarching subject of witches and the supernatural. The haunting nature of these songs is so well done and all the tracks are coherent, something about the guitar is so hypnotic and I think this album set a precedent for hard rock. I always find myself coming back to this album and I can’t express with words how wild I go when I hear it. Maybe the overall theme is fearful or dark but halloween shouldn’t be your only excuse to listen to this masterpiece
Check out the track Electric Funeral
Artist: David Bowie
Album: Scary Monsters And Super Creeps
I was raised on Bowie, so I feel that I know his discography very well. When I really started listening to this album though I loved it because it was the same Bowie sound that I knew so well, but a little darker and more extravagant. I remember seeing the photos of him from this era and being obsessed with his circus-like creepy style for the advertisement for this album. I think the theme takes the fear out of the different and unusual, which I love. Without straying too far from the rest of his discography, I feel like these songs have some weirder instrumentals and stronger bass lines. This album isn’t scary per say, but I like the oddity of these tracks and I find these songs memorable from Bowie.
.Check out the track Scary Monsters And Super Creeps
Shayne is switching it up in 2021 and bringing us his custom playlists each week. Check out here or come into the store and listen to them in our Sounderator (tricked out 1940’s refrigerator that you sit in while enjoying a tasty selection of tunes).
Shayne’s playlist this week is titled Spoopy 3
From: Shayne:
We draw ever closer to the bitter end of Spoopy season (this is so much easier in October.) Naturally I had to go out with one more Freddy-related gem but it’s only on the Youtube link below, no Spotify.
Access the Spotify Playlist Here => 
Artist: AFI
Album: All Hallows EP
This classic 4 song ep of Halloween themed punk gets a ton of play from me leading up to Halloween. It features a cover of the classic Misfits tune, Halloween. Overall it’s one of the most classic Horror Punk releases, and is very fitting, if not a bit obvious of a pick, for the season. Check out the song Fall Children, which has great spooky vibes to start off your Halloween party.
.Check out the track Fall Children
Artist: Playboi Carti
Album: Whole Lotta Red
The sophomore effort of the Trap artist Playboi Carti saw him taking a darker more distorted sound, which he self describes as vampiric. This album is filled with banger after banger, and I am excited to see Playboi Carti’s next work, Narcissist, when it eventually comes out. I would recommend you check out the song Stop Breathing, but for my song choice, I have to pick Vamp Anthem, which fits the Halloween theme like a glove, with its sample of Bach, and overall vampiric vibes.
Check out the track Vamp Anthem
Artist: Xmal Deutschland
Album: Fetisch
I realized that I have not had a goth pick all October and I take issue with that. So here I am trying to make up for all my missed opportunities by picking this classic. Xmal Deutschland, as you could probably tell from the name, are a German band, and about 1/2 of the songs on this record are sung in the language. Xmal Deutschland are also notable for having a primarily female lineup. This entire record is awesome and is just generally one of my favorite records of the genre. I’m surprised I haven’t written about them yet, but I’m glad I haven’t, because now I get to talk about them just before the spookiest day of the year.
Check out the track In Der Nacht
How Do I Order Music (Or Other Things)?
Val’s is now open again (safely)! Bring a face mask and we will sanitize your hands on the way in. Social distancing, of course. Val’s halla has worked hard over this quarantine period to launch its Online Store which has thousands of titles for you to choose from. We will continue to add inventory everyday, but just let us know what you are looking for! We are happy to look through our off-line inventory of over 50,000 titles to see what we have for you. Also, we place orders with our distributor every Monday which means we see them in our store by Tuesday (most of the time). We sell records (as well as turntables), CDs, cassettes, 8-tracks, DVDs and more. To get started, you can Click Here to access the Online Store, or fill out the form below to let us know what you are looking for.
What About Delivery?
Val’s is offering Curbside Pickup and No-Contact Delivery Service to customers who live within a 5-mile radius of the Oak Park Arts District. Orders can also be shipped to customers outside that radius for a flat fee of $5. Order as much as you want – still $5 shipping! Stay safe and be well!