VINYL VIEWS: WEEK OF 11/8/21
Vinyl Views is our weekly blog where we feature album recommendations from our store team (Shayne and Jaxon), and reveal picks from guest contributors. This week we’re highlighting some of our favorite local artists!
Scroll down to read this week’s album picks or start shopping! Sign up now to be a part of our Vinyl Views family and be the first to hear about new releases, store events, and exclusive promotions. Looking for a prior week of Vinyl Views? If so, CLICK HERE!
We decided to pivot from our regularly scheduled programming this week to highlight some incredible local artists! Several have played here recently, some have played many times, some we look forward to gracing our stage in the future!
Artist: Vince Salerno & Gerald McClendon
Album: Blues From All Points
Gerald “The Soulkeeper” played our stage a couple of years ago and knocked our socks off! We’re truly delighted to announce he’ll be returning Black Friday to promote his brand new album with Vince Salerno on Pravda Records!
Stay tuned for more info coming soon! And Pre-Order the new album HERE!
.Check out the song Sweet Soul Music
Artist: Hushdrops
Album: The Static
Also appearing Black Friday to promote their new album, we have Hushdrops!
“These 14 songs were all committed to tape with a first take “live band energy” naturalism that also incorporates ghosts of the more decorative, deliberate, and baroque approach of their debut (2004’s Volume One). Tracks like “Monday”, “I Had a Room”, and “Psychic Space” have all of the unguarded live-wire rawness of vintage Crazy Horse (as if secretly recorded), while singles “One of the Guys” and “The Sweetest Plum” provide an altogether more textured and layered feel.”
Pre-Order the new album HERE!
Check out the track The Static
Artist: Cheryl Lynn Tomblin
Album: Mockingbird
Last weekend we were lucky enough to have Cheryl grace the Val’s stage, and boy, was it memorable. She promised to return soon, so if you missed it, you should keep an eye out.
“My full length album “Mockingbird” is a long time coming. Generally performing under my project moniker PIPES, I decided to go by my birth name because, as a solo Singer/Songwriter I was ready to take my music into a more personal space. This album, full of dark musings and contemplative desires, pulls from many of my influences such as Cassandra Wilson, Chris Cornell, John Lee Hooker, Alice in Chains, Morphine and A.K.A.C.O.D
Pick up Cheryl’s albums HERE and HERE
Check out the track Needful Thing
Artist: The Slaps
Album: The Slaps
These guys dropped off this CD a week or so ago and we can’t stop playing it.
“We are a musical trio based out of Chicago. Our music cannot be placed into a single genre, but some have described the sound as “pastoral.” We love a tightly-packed road trip, talking to strangers, and dreaming.”
Pick up their album HERE
.Check out the song Where Were You Where They Were Also
Artist: Dennis J. Leise
Album: State Of Fairs
Dennis has played here a few times and occasionally brings us eggs and gourds from his farm, which would be enough to earn our favor even if he wasn’t also an amazing songwriter and musician!
Pick up Dennis’ albums HERE and HERE
.Check out the track Hurry Up And Die
Artist: Burn The Barn
Album: Hyperdelineation
Laura dropped us off some copies a few weeks ago and it is another album that we haven’t stopped playing. We are talking dates, so stay tuned to see Burn the Barn on the Val’s stage!
“Burn the Barn is an indie folk band made up of Laura Hollingsworth, Timothy J Preston, MJ Johnson and Alex Karan. Laura and Tim met and began collaborating in 2017. Their music features dream-like lyrics that probe the intricacies of human relationships, married with a pop-inflected traditional folk sound. Their debut album was released August, 2021.”
Pick up their album HERE
Check out the track Falling Fires
Artist: Chris Connelly & Monica Queen
Album: The Birthday Poems
Chris Connelly – what can we say? He is an amazing guy who has been a supporter of the store as both a customer and a Vinyl Views contributor. While many know Chris through his Industrial projects with Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Pigface to name only a few, he is an amazing talent with so many sides. This album is an amazing example of this. Do yourself a favor and check this out!
“The Birthday Poems is a song cycle based on the relationship between the celebrated Scottish poet and author George Mackay Brown and his muse Stella Cartwright. It also addresses the platonic relationship between Stella and the Edinburgh born poet Stanley Roger Green. It spans three decades, from the mid 1950s until Stella’s tragic and untimely death in 1985.”
Pick up the album HERE
Check out the song My Father Took Me Everywhere
Artist: David Singer & The Sweet Science
Album: Vicious Kicks
Val’s was lucky enough to have David perform songs from this and other albums on the first drop of Record Store Day this year. This is an infectious album – full stop. I dare you not to groove to it.
“Vicious Kicks is a glam stomper about our inexorable search for something/anything that can break through the boredom, the desensitization, the targeted advertorials, the doomscrolling, the uncanny experience that passes for being a person right now.
Recorded over two years with Brian Deck (Ohmme, Califone, Modest Mouse) at Chicago’s Narwhal Studios, VICIOUS KICKS careens from sequin-encrusted stompers to post-Prince bedroom funk, leaving a trail of fuzzed-out guitars and buzzed-out synths in its wake.”
Pick up the album HERE
Check out the track Evil Steve
Artist: Tiny Bit Of Giant’s Blood
Album: Gigantosaur
Need a little glam rock in your life? Then you just might need a Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood. We are working to see if we can find a way to fit these giants (and the 5ft heels – see below) onto our stage sometime soon.
“The first full length album by TBGB featuring Tony Rogers (Vocals, keys), John Scholvin (guitar, vocals), Jackie Schimmel (bass, vocals), and Larry Beers (drums vocals), recorded / mixed / mastered by Bryan Clavey at Crystall Recorders”
Pick up LP HERE and the CD HERE
Check out the track Five Foot Heels
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!