In Your Ear - Warren, Rhode Island

In Your Ear Records - 462 Main Street, Warren, RI

In Your Ear Records is my favorite record store in the Providence area. Located in scenic Warren, Rhode Island (just a few miles from my house), In Your Ear houses a fantastic collection of records, 45s, CDs, DVDs, 8-Tracks, reel-to-reel tapes, as well as vintage turntables and stereo equipment. The store is bright and clean, and both the owner and his employees are friendly folks.

What I like best about In Your Ear is that they are constantly getting in new stock. Constantly. It pays to check in often (which I do). But what this constant influx of records, CDs, 8-tracks (and God knows what else) means is that it is almost impossible for the store to be kept to the same level of organization as found at Round Again. Yes, records are alphabetized by genre on the racks, but you'll find a lot of the really good stuff placed randomly in boxes on the floor. Strangely, I am okay with that. I think I actually even like it. For me it's fun to spot a new stack of records hiding in a corner of the store then checking to see what's in it. More often than not there will be something cool in there, and chances are it's in good shape and extremely reasonably priced.

For nearly 20 years In Your Ear was a hot destination on Thayer Street in Providence (the main commercial area around Brown University). But then Thayer Street rents skyrocketed right around the time college students discovered a way to get music without paying for it, and what once was a prime location for a record store no longer made sense. So the store relocated to the mean streets of Barrington, Rhode Island (with a brief name change), and later moved to it's current location on Main Street in Warren.

I've picked up a lot of great records from In Your Ear over the years; stuff like a white label promo of Richard Lloyd's Alchemy (I just spotted a non-white label copy in one of the boxes on the floor for cheap if you're looking for one), an original pressing of Big Star's #1 Record, a minty fresh original U.S. pressing of Exile On Main St. with all the postcards intact, a near perfect six-eye stereo copy of Sketches Of Spain, and many other terrific records. They also stock new CDs and LPs and will special order anything you want. If you are looking for something specific, it pays to ask because they also have locations in Cambridge and Boston and might have it there.

In Your Ear is worth a special trip to Warren. While you're there you can grab a refreshing Del's Frozen Lemonade, a coffee at The Coffee Depot, or an award winning pizza across the street from Federal Hill Pizza. (I recommend skipping their next door neighbor Warren House of Pizza unless you enjoy being yelled at over a greasy, bland slice of pizza).

In Your Ear is definitely participating in Record Store Day. In addition to having limited edition RSD exclusives, all new CDs and vinyl will be 10% off, used vinyl will be 25% percent off, and used CDs will be buy one get one free. Weather permitting they will also be having a sidewalk sale featuring items from the mysterious In Your Ear "vault."

Round Again Records - Providence, Rhode Island

Round Again Records - 278 Wickenden St. Providence, RI

 If Analog Underground is the new kid on the block on the Providence record store scene, Round Again Records is almost defiantly old-school. Round Again has no Facebook page. Round Again barely has a webpage. It's been in the exact same location since 1979.

All of which might give you the wrong idea. It may be old-school, but Round Again is not some musty-smelling hole in the wall. It's extremely clean and everything is exceptionally well-organized (alphabetized by genre). There aren't piles of records sitting on the floor, and nothing makes it to the racks that is in questionable condition. I hardly bother to inspect records before buying them at Round Again because they are always in excellent condition and very clean (a Nitty Gritty record vacuum sits prominently on the counter).

Steve, the owner (and only person I've ever seen working there), clearly knows his records. He knows what's an original pressing and what's not. He knows whether a mono copy of an Elvis Presley soundtrack is more sought after than the stereo version. He knows if there's an alternative cover that increases the value of a record. From the limited interactions I've had with him, it's clear to me that Steve works really hard at what he does, and that's why Round Again has survived in the same location for over thirty years while other shops have come and gone. And if he isn't ready for the brave new world of social media, he is one of the most trusted sellers of LPs on eBay, and deservedly so.

Selection is excellent and varied. Round Again is a great spot to hit if you are looking for 50s and 60s Jazz Records, but there is also a robust selection of Rock, Pop, Folk, R&B, Country, Classical, and Soundtrack LPs. But don't go in looking for the latest indie buzz band's limited-edition flexi disc, cause it's not there. Prices are fair. (During one of my recent trips, I scored a still sealed original pressing of NRBQ's first album for only $10.) Wall items tend to be pricey, but I have no doubt Steve could sell them on eBay for at least what he asks for them in store. Round Again also carries some nicely refurbished turntables and other vintage stereo equipment, and like the records he sells, all of the equipment is clean and appears to be in excellent condition.

If you live anywhere near Providence and love records Round Again is well worth the trip. And when you're done shopping for records you can go get amped up on caffeine across the street at the Coffee Exchange. I seriously doubt Round Again is doing anything to celebrate Record Store Day, Steve strikes me as more like a Festivus kind of guy.

Analog Underground - Providence, Rhode Island

Analog Underground - 504 Broadway, Providence, RI

I missed this when it came out, but there was a nice story in the Providence Phoenix about Analog Underground, a relatively new record store on Broadway in Providence, RI.

I've met owner Dave Lifrieri a few times over the years, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. And it's great to see that that a younger person with some vision can still establish a new business that is built primarily around selling vinyl records in the year 2011. Dave has been particularly savvy in utilizing Facebook to communicate with his customers, and using the world of digital media to create a feeling of community. 

Dave is also smart, in my opinion, to focus not only on selling the records themselves, but also helping his customers to set up relatively high quality vinyl playback systems. Too many record stores miss out on the opportunity to educate their customers about the pleasures of high-quality vinyl playback. Instead of just having a few cheap ION USB turntables collecting dust in a corner of the store, Dave has set up a serious "listening den" in the back of the his store, and is both knowledgeable and outgoing enough to educate those who want to know what all the fuss over vinyl records is about.

Too often you have "music guys" on the one hand, and "gear heads" on the other. Often the music guys are only too happy to play their music on crummy equipment, and don't seem to care a bit about sound quality (more power to 'em). On the other hand the gear heads who tend to run hi-fi shops often seem happy to play immaculately recorded, but musically sterile, "demo" recordings over and over to demonstrate their equipment's remarkable imaging abilities. (I apologize for these gross generalizations, but I think you know what I mean here.) Dave seems like a good balance between the two. There is no doubt he is a serious music lover for whom music will always come first, but he also has a good understanding of how the right equipment can enhance the listening experience.


Analog Underground is a small shop, but the selection is well-chosen. You'll find lots of 70s and 80s Punk and New Wave vinyl for reasonable prices (last time I was there I picked up a copy of the Buzzcocks' Parts 1-3 EP, and was really tempted by several original 10" copies of The Clash's Black Market Clash), as well as a great selection of reasonably priced jazz records, and smattering of new releases and reissues. There is also a small selection of used CDs, although as the name of the shop implies, the focus is very much on vinyl.


I'm very grateful to live in an area that has a healthy selection of record stores, and it is nice to see a new store establish itself. I don't think Analog Underground is officially participating in Record Store Day, but Iif you are a music lover who lives in the greater Providence area (or are just visiting) this new shop is certainly a destination worth checking out.

Update: Analog Underground is participating in Record Store Day. They will have some of the RSD exclusives, plus their $3 LPs (already a bargain) will be marked down to $1. They will also have live in store performances from Village of Spaces, Mona Nash and others starting at 3:00 PM.

New Feelies Album, Here Before, Release Today

In case you missed one of my multiple earlier posts on this subject, the pride of Haledon NJ, The Feelies, release their first album in nearly 20 years, Here Before, today.

Review to come soon. The UPS man has my LP copy, and it should arrive tomorrow. I admit that I have heard an MP3 version of the album already, and I am very favorably impressed, but I want to put needle to groove before putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard for that matter).

I figure if the Feelies can wait 19+ years to release a new album, it won't matter much if I wait a few days to review it.

Whatever Happened To Dr. Rhythm? (Velvet Monkeys News)

Long out-of-print, and originally a cassette-only release, Everything is Right will once again rock the world, this time as a digital release. To the best of my knowledge, the debut release by Washington D.C. rock legends the Velvet Monkeys has never been reissued in full on any format until now.

According to a recent press release:

The digital reissue of Everything is Right is the first release on Don Fleming’s Instant Mayhem label since partnering with digital distributor IODA.  The audio was restored from the original analog tapes and remastered by Fleming. Instant Mayhem will release reissues of Fleming’s older catalog (w/Velvet Monkeys and Gumball) as well as new projects.  The next two releases for the label are a new solo EP titled Don Fleming 4, and a new album by To Live and Shave in L.A. called The Cortège.

Skip Groff, producer of many notable Washington, D.C.  bands, first recorded the Velvet Monkeys in 1981 at Don Zientara’s Inner Ear Studio. "Drive In" and "Shadow Box," were featured on Groff’s Connected LP, a sampler of D.C. bands released in 1981 on Limp Records. The band followed with the 10 song cassette-only Everything is Right, released on their own Monkey Business label in July 1982. Three additional live songs from a show at the Chancery in D.C. on New Year’s  Eve 1981 have been added to the original release for this reissue.

During this era the Monkeys lineup featured Fleming (later of Gumball, and producer of Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, Screaming Trees, Hole, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Andrew W.K., and others) on vocals and guitar, Elaine Barnes on vocals and keyboards, Stephen Soles on bass, and Jay "The Rummager" Spiegel on drums.

The story of these four Velvet Monkeys, their rise to the top and subsequent celebrity exploits are well documented, and I see little point in rehashing the details here. (For more on this, I highly recommend Kitty Kelley's controversial, but impeccably sourced, biography of the band, Monkey Business: Life in the Rock and Roll Zoo with Don Fleming and the Velvet Monkeys.) But the band member that I have personally always been the most curious about is the original drummer, Dr. Rhythm. Sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Monkey," or "the Missing Link," not much is known about the reclusive and mysterious Dr. Rhythm. 

So just what happened to Dr. Rhythm anyway? Dr. Rhythm's metronomic drumming was an incredibly important ingredient in the early Velvet Monkeys' sound, but the reasons for his sacking, as well as his current whereabouts, have remained shrouded in mystery for decades. Some claim the good Dr. was fired after he was caught moonlighting on a Depeche Mode session. Others say that extensive electroshock therapy sessions had made him increasingly unreliable. Still others claim Fleming fired him in a jealous rage when he caught Elaine Barnes fooling around with him. I have even heard it said that Dr. Rhythm was Don DeLillo's inspiration for the character of Bill Gray in his 1991 novel Mao II.

But, as with anything related to the Velvet Monkeys, the truth is rarely what it appears to be. Rest assured, dear reader, that I am doing everything in my power to get to the bottom of this mystery. In the meantime, enjoy the first chance to hear Everything Is Right in any format for the first time in a long time.

[BTW, I believe the take of "Everything Is Right" that I am streaming on SoundCloud is slightly different from the one that appeared on the original cassette release. I'll replace it with the correct version when I get it.]

Update: The correct audio is up now. This is the newly remastered version of the song that originally appeared on the Everything Is Right Cassette, and that will be available for download on June 7th.

Other Record Store Day 2011 Releases

Generally, I try to keep things positive here, so in that spirit I wanted to point out a few of the Record Store Day 2011 releases that do look cool to me, and that I will pick up if I can.

The one I really want is the Television Live At The Old Waldorf 2 LP set. This was originally released as a 5,000 copy limited edition CD by Rhino Handmade several years ago. It promptly sold out, and I really regret missing the boat on it the first time. It is available as a download from iTunes (and probably other places), so the music is available. But for me, music on a hard drive never totally cuts it, and damn it, I want this on LP. Am I a hypocrite for wanting this on vinyl (even though I have the music in some form already) while criticizing the Beach Boys 78 RPM set? Possibly. But, want it I do. (In the words of the great philosopher David St. Hubbins: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.") Live At The Old Waldorf is limited to 3,000 copies, so hopefully my local record store gets a copy or two.

Another interesting looking release is Big Star's Third (Test Pressing Edition). For those who don't know the history of this album, it originally appeared as a very limited edition test pressing that was never released commercially. Several years later the album was issued by PVC on LP with a different track listing and song order, but many prefer the way the album was originally intended to be sequenced. If I can find this, I'll buy a copy, but it's limited to a pressing of 1,000. I expect this one to be difficult to obtain and quickly fetch big collector dollars on eBay. Such is life.

Another promising release is a new single by The Fleet Foxes, "Helplessness Blues" b/w "Grown Ocean," I have no idea if either of these songs will show up on their upcoming album release, but I am very much looking forward to hearing new music from this band.

Finally, there is Rhino's "audiophile" reissue of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, pressed as both a 2 LP 45 RPM set and a standard 33.3 RPM set. I think this is only getting grouped in with Record Store Day releases by circumstance because it was supposed to have been released years ago, but got held up for one reason or another. The LP was cut by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray (who cut the best sounding version of Joni Mitchell's Blue I have ever heard, along with many other fantastic sounding LPs).

Much as I respect Hoffman and Gray's work, I'm a little nervous about hearing this album remastered, because I love how the original LP sounds so much already. When I drop the needle in the groove of the original album a million memories and sensations from 1977 wash over me. It's like my own personal 33.3 RPM time machine. The sound of this one really defined its era, for better or for worse (I love it). Still, I'm looking forward to hearing this album presented in a different way (I imagine with no compression and limited EQ). I don't doubt the 45 RPM version will sound spectacular, but I really don't care for 45 RPM sets (the sides are too short), and have an order in for the 33.3 version instead. The 33.3 version is not a limited pressing, so it should be no problem to get a copy. The 45 RPM set is limited, so if you want it, act fast.

There are some other releases that look interesting, but that I will probably pass on.

It's good to see The Flaming Lips first 5 Warner LPs get reissued on premium vinyl (especially given what some of the original LPs go for on eBay), but I'm not made of money, and will happily settle for the CDs I already own.

Shuggie Otis's Inspiration Information: World Psychedelic Classics 2 is getting a limited 2 LP repressing by Luaka Bop. I already own a copy of that, and can't recommend it highly enough. The 2 LP set I own sounds much better than the CD to my ears (less compressed, less harsh EQ, etc.). And, of course, the music on this release is absolutely essential; funky, soulful, weird, inventive, passionate, it is absolutely one of my all time favorites, and the Luaka Bop set also adds the best tracks from the nearly as good Freedom Flight. Grab one if you can!

It also looks like the dB's have a new single coming out called "Picture Sleeve" as well, hopefully that means there will be more new music from this legendary combo around the bend.

Record Store Day 2011

Like many things that started out as good ideas, Record Store Day has (in my humble opinion) gotten extremely lame less cool as it has become increasingly institutionalized. Case in point; one of the big, exciting, must-have Record Store Day releases this year is a 78 RPM version of The Beach Boy's "Good Vibrations"/"Heroes And Villains."

What started out as a well-intentioned celebration of an important but struggling institution has devolved into little more than an orgy of collector fetishism. I mean seriously, what is the point of a 78 RPM version of "Good Vibrations" other than to have a 78 RPM version of "Good Vibrations" that you can show to your friends and say "Look! I have a 78 RPM version of 'Good Vibrations'! It plays at 78 RPM!" And if your friends are really nice people they will pretend you have a really cool, unique and important cultural artifact, but trust me they don't really care because all you have is a pointless commodity fetish.

I still support Record Store Day in concept because real record stores are a dying breed, and I love record stores. But the concept and the reality seem more and more at odds with each passing year. When I recently stopped into my local, genuinely independent, record store (In Your Ear in Warren Rhode Island), the owner was unsure how many releases he would actually be able to get because the regional, medium-sized chain, Newbury Comics (which isn't even really a record store, but a lifestyle and accessories shop that happens to sell some records) gets priority from the people who run Record Store Day.

I'm eager to know if any of my readers actually really want the 78 RPM "Good Vibrations" (and not just because you think you might be able to sell it at a profit on eBay--see poll at right). Is a 78 RPM version of "Good Vibrations" the thing that will finally fill the hole in your life that you were always vaguely aware of, but never could fully articulate until you learned that Capitol records would be producing a special, limited-edition, 78 RPM edition of "Good Vibrations" exclusively for Record Store Day 2011, or will it just be another piece of junk that sits in your closet?

Oh yeah...the fourth annual Record Store Day will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Support your local independent record store!

Neil Diamond Bang Alternatives

If, like me, you recently picked up Neil Diamond's The Bang Years: 1966-1968 on CD and found yourself disappointed with the sound quality (personally I find it way too bright and compressed sounding), what are your alternatives?

Unfortunately, none of them are perfect. The very best I have heard this material sound, strangely enough, is on an LP compilation distributed exclusively by the Columbia House Record Club on the Frog King label in 1978. Back then a mere penny (or whatever the deal was in 1978) could get you excellent sounding versions of 12 of Neil's biggest hits for Bang Records. However, the versions on this compilation are not exactly the original hit versions of the songs. They are stereo remixes with some added overdubs. Still this LP, mastered by the great Bernie Grundman, sounds excellent and is very enjoyable to listen to even if it lacks a certain faithfulness to the punchy sounding 60s hits. There's more "space" between the sounds here than on the mono mixes, and the instruments and vocals sound highly resolved and articulated, whereas on the mono mixes you get a bit more of that squashed "wall of sound" effect.

A very similar LP called Classics: The Early Years was issued by Columbia in 1983, and later reissued on CD. The CD is still available. I can't vouch for the mastering of this title, but my understanding is that it mostly features the same mixes as the Frog King LP, with the exception of "Kentucky Woman" which is presented in a true stereo remix on the Frog King LP and in a fake stereo remix on Classics. But be warned, while the cover (somewhat misleadingly) says "Original Hit Recordings," these are definitely stereo remixes, not what you would have heard on the radio circa 1966-1973 when these songs originally charted. And more importantly, it only gets you 12 songs.

Another option that gets you more songs (21 in all) is the 1973 Bang Records 2 LP set Double Gold that I mentioned in my previous post. Unfortunately, I have trouble recommending this set on sonic grounds as well. Many (not all) of the tracks are featured in annoying "fake stereo" mixes that really don't sound very good.

Another good choice is the 3 CD In My Lifetime box set that was released by Sony in 1996. While it only features 11 of Diamond's Bang recordings, they are presented in their original mono single mixes and were mastered without the artificial brightening and excessive compression that mars the new set. Used copies of the box can be found cheaply, and of course you get many of the later hits like "Sweet Caroline," "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Forever In Blue Jeans" as well. I'm not crazy about all of the later material, but I still consider this an essential purchase. If the current CD only sounded as good as the Bang era cuts do on the box set, I would have been very happy.

Still that leaves you missing a lot of great songs from the Bang era. You could try picking up original mono pressings of Neil's first two albums The Feel Of Neil Diamond and Just For You. But finding original mono copies of these LPs in anything resembling good condition is a very difficult (not to mention pricey) proposition. Additionally, a few of the songs on the mono LPs feature different mixes from the hit single versions. Stereo copies are somewhat easier to find, but the original stereo mixes are drastically inferior to the later remixed versions. "Solitary Man" in particular features a horrible "ping-pong" stereo mix that really distracts from the song.

Which leaves us with.....

...collecting the original 45 RPM 7" singles. Many of them can still be found in excellent condition for reasonable prices. I've picked up a few already, and while no one will confuse these with fussy "audiophile" recordings, they sound great nonetheless. These songs were mastered loud (although not nearly as loud as the new CD) and have a "punchy" AM radio quality to them. While there is some distortion inherent to the mixes, it's a friendly, euphonic, analog, tube-driven kind of distortion, not the hard, brittle, digital sounding distortion I hear on the new CD (or perhaps it is a matter of the compression and bright EQ taking that euphonic tube distortion and making it sound hard and brittle... I'm afraid I can only speculate.) So while the original 45s have some distortion in them, they sound very exciting and alive, as did the best pop music of that era.

Of course there are frustrations with collecting 45s. Off center pressings are more the rule than the exception in my experience. Sometimes they look fine when examined visually, only to reveal serious damage when placed on the turntable. And, of course, listening to them will never be as easy as putting on a CD, or even an LP for that matter. Still, if you want the authentic sound of these hits, I think this is the only way to go.

Capitol Records to Release Beach Boys Version of SMiLE

Capitol records has announced that they will release The Beach Boys' lost SMiLE album sometime in 2011. According to Billboard, "the project will be released in three versions: a two-CD set, an iTunes LP digital album and a limited-edition boxed set containing four CDs, two vinyl LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page hardbound book written by Beach Boys historian Domenic Priore." (No bonus points for guessing which one I plan to buy.)

Of course the SMiLE album was never actually completed, and to what extent it was close to being finished has been subject to much debate among Beach Boys fans over the years. For what it is worth producer Mark Linett, who also produced Brian Wilson's re-recorded solo SMiLE album, says in an interview with Billboard that "all of the tracks were recorded," but "a lot of the vocals seem to not have been completed."

My own feeling is that it was no coincidence that Brian finally completed SMiLE as a solo album at the same time that ProTools became ubiquitous in the recording and mixing of popular music. Much has been made of Brian's mental state as the SMiLE project fell apart, but on some level I believe that it took recording and mixing technology 35 years to catch up to the music Brian was hearing in his head circa 1966-67. So while we'll never know exactly what SMiLE would have sounded like if it had been completed in 1967, that may well be because it was impossible to complete as Brian envisioned it with the technology available at the time. But this new release will undoubtedly get us much closer to what was in Brian's head back then. Exciting news!

Neil Diamond - The Bang Years 1966-1968

Neil Diamond's recordings for Bert Berns' Bang Records label have a tortured release history, so it is good to see the release of the 23 track The Bang Years: 1966-1968 CD on Sony Legacy, a long-promised, but much-delayed, collection. The set presents nearly all of Diamond's Bang recordings in their original, rockin' mono mixes (but omits two Bang era tracks, "Shot Down" and "Crooked Street," for reasons I am not entirely clear on).

I primarily know these songs through a 2 LP set released by Bang in 1973 called Double Gold. Double Gold, while containing some great music, is a fairly thorough butchering of Diamond's early hit records. It features a couple mono recordings, some of the inferior stereo mixes, some horrible sounding fake stereo remixes with annoying panning effects, and some mono recordings that have had (unnecessary) stereo overdubs added to them.

Confused? That's okay, someone named K.F. Louie has done an admirable job of sorting out the whole mess with a handy chart and track-by-track analysis. Many of the tracks were also re-released on Early Classics on the Frog King label and Classics: The Early Years on Columbia. These LPs featured remixed stereo recordings (also with added overdubs), and while they sound good in their own right, they're identifiably different from the classic "hit" versions of the songs. The In My Lifetime box set corrected some of these errors by presenting 11 Bang era tracks, plus an alternate take of "Cherry, Cherry" in their original mono mixes with no overdubs, and sounding very good indeed.

Despite its sonic flaws, Double Gold presents a very compelling portrait of the artist as a young man. "Cherry, Cherry," "Solitary Man," "The Boat That I Row," "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon," "I'm A Believer,"  "Red, Red Wine," "Kentucky Woman," and others are classic tracks, strongly rooted in the Brill Building tradition, but also seriously rock and roll as well. Even if you think (as I do) that Diamond went off-track later in his career, the greatness of this material is hard to deny, and Diamond more than earned his reputation as "The Jewish Elvis" with these recordings.

As much as I would like to say this new Sony/Legacy release finally rights all the historical wrongs done to Diamond's Bang recordings, I can't quite bring myself to say so. The music has been mastered too loud and too bright, as if the producer decided the material needed to sound more "contemporary." Despite these flaws, it still sounds much better than most of the material on Double Gold, but unfortunately not as good as the same material on In My Lifetime.

It looks like I'm going to need to track down mono versions of the Bang LPs, The Feel of Neil Diamond and Just For You, if I want to hear this material sounding its best. I guess there are worse things I could have to do.

Update: The more I listen to this, the less enamored I am with the sound quality. There is a very hard, edgy quality to it that I do not find appealing at all. It sounds to me like the upper midrange has been boosted a lot, creating a sound that is excessively bright. I picked up a few 45s and they sound much nicer. The CD is more dynamically compressed than the 45s, but not by a huge amount (typically around 2 to 3 dB louder on average).  I guess it was too much to expect them to get this 100% right after such a long wait, especially given the checkered release history of this material.

Neil's liner notes are very thoughtful and frank. He talks at length about the critical role Ellie Greenwich (RIP) and Jeff Barry twice played in getting his career started, showing faith in his abilities when no one else did. He also gives them the credit they deserve for the critical role they played in the studio to help shape these songs into hit singles.