Fall's here!

Ferrante & Teicher - "Autumn Leaves" (1966) - ABC-Paramount

Hello friends,

On the turntable tonight we're celebrating the Autumnal Equinox with the dueling piano stylings of Mr. Arthur Ferrante and Mr. Louis Teicher!

This 1966 release is actually a re-release of an earlier LP, Postcards from Paris (1962).  Its solid and schmaltzy, with a definite French flair, but not a lot in the way of exotic arrangements or weird experimentation like on their earlier records.

Their version of the title track, "Autumn Leaves" makes me wish they covered the sad walking away music from the 1980's "Incredible Hulk" television show! 

RATING: 4 Bruce Banners out of 5

Walk Don't Run

The Ventures - "Walk Don't Run" (1960) - Dolton 

Hello Friends,

Tonight we're rocking out to the debut album by The Ventures.  Hailing from Tacoma, Washington, The Ventures' big guitar sounding surf rock instrumentals influenced an entire generation of budding musicians who practiced these songs with their neighborhood buddies in countless suburban garages!  



From the chart-topping title track to their versions of "Raunchy", "Morgen", Duke Ellington's "Caravan" and Santo & Johnny's "Sleepwalk", this album is 27 minutes of twangy bliss-- thanks, in no small part, to lead guitarist's Bob Bogle's whammy bar virtuosity!  

Listening to "My Own True Love (Tara's Theme)" sounds like a slow dance at an early 1960's high school dance when the Civics teacher, Mrs. McGillicuddy, breaks you and your partner up for dancing too close!

And even though those guys in the background aren't really the Ventures (the band was unavailable for the photo shoot), its a great album cover! Check out the heels on that brunette!  Yowsa!

RATING: 5 Cities of Destiny out of 5

The Rum Diaries: EL DORADO 5 Year Demerara Rum

Hello friends,

Going back and forth from the tiki bar to the turntable all night long really makes you work up a mean, mean thirst!  

Tonight we're taking a break from record reviews and instead we're focusing our attention on one of the world's most delicious (and misunderstood) libations-- RUM.

Described by Marco Polo in the 14th Century as "very good wine made of sugar", the history of rum is as interesting and complex as the drink itself.  The story of Rum is the story of slavery, of pirates, of Navies, of the New World, of exploration, colonization, capitalism, rebellion and of course, hot, drunk college girls on Spring Break!  

YO HO HO, indeed!

EL DORADO 5 YEAR DEMERARA RUM

Distiller: Demerara Distillers, Ltd.
Country: GUYANA

Cost: $20.00
Proof: 80
Size: 750 ml

Description: Aged for 5+ years in Oak Casks

Ned Tugent says: "Initial sweetness quickly subsides into a caramel/vanilla coke taste.  Very drinkable.  Fine by itself, but would also make a great mixer! B+"

Tiki T says: "A fine rum. No nonsense on the front of the palette followed by sweet notes of vanilla bourbon. A-!"

We had to Wikipedia to find out exactly where Guyana is and it turns out its on the Northeastern coast of South America, next to Venezuela.  In addition to rum, Guyana produces and exports rice, gold, bauxite and Demerara sugar. Formerly a Dutch and a British Colony, culturally its part of the Caribbean and its the only country in South American where English is the official language.

Tiki T. would also like to point out that Guyana was the host to the famous, Jonestown Massacre where on November 18, 1978, cult-leader Jim Jones led over 900 of his followers in the largest mass suicide in modern history!  Forget the Kool Aid, should've stuck with the rum!     

Anyways, here's the El Dorado website.  Enjoy!

Bob Mould - The Descent

from the album, Silver Age (2012)

Love in "Vaina"

Well, that does it.

The patio furniture is getting frosty in the mornings, the cover has been slipped over the pool, and Tiki T. is retiring lemony summer drinks in favor of headier holiday fare.

Usually I give you recipes that can be consumed all night. Not so with the following one. In fact, I suggest making this in a small glass custard cup or petite champagne glass to enjoy as a sweet nip, lest you move your mambo-fest into the bathroom.

The "Vaina" is a Chilean cocktail, regarded as a rich indulgence in the "nog" family. The marriage of yolk, cocoa and brandy goes straight to your hips, but so do these Latin rhythms, so go nuts! 

Shake vigorously 1 egg yolk with your choice of brandy or port wine, 1 egg white, splash of heavy cream, and a generous pinch of high grade cocoa powder. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and more cocoa. 

I don't know if I would recommend this for a "date night", given possible gastric catastrophe, but if you're home alone in sweatpants, drink up muchacho! 

XO, 

Tiki T. 

Finger Pickin' Good

Les Baxter's "Wild Guitars" (1959) - Capitol Records

Ole Friends,

Tonight we're listening to another fun entry in the Les Baxter Capitol Records library.

Tiki tunes with a Latin and Flamenco flair featuring a trio of classical guitarists-- Nestor Amaral, Joe Carioca and Pepe Gamboa.  Andres Segovia this ain't!

From the opening frenzy of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", these tracks contains Baxter's exotic percussion and choral accompaniments accented by the sounds of rhythmic six strings.  The standard, "My Buddy" is disguised as a feverish samba. The songs "Mandolino", "Cubana Mulatta" and "Cabayo" are Baxter originals and sound like something you might hear upon entering some South American cantina in the late 1950's.

The album closes with some excellent finger-picking on the speedy "Tico Tico"-- a song composed by Brazilian composer, Zequinha de Abreu in 1917 and made famous not only for its numerous versions but for the fact the Grateful Dead would often play in during their tuning jams between songs.  I'll take the Les Baxter version any day!

RATING: 4 Brazilian Slave Songs out of 5 

Football's here!

Football season's here!

So gather up all your rowdy friends!  Grab your wheelbarrow-t.v., some smokes and some snappy autumn outfits!  

Tell your wives and girlfriends that you're raking the backyard and proceed to get shitfaced!

Hike! 

You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic

Ian Hunter - "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" (1979) - Chrysalis

Hello friends,

Tonight on "Vinyl in the Valley" we're listening to what is arguably Ian Hunter's best record since his days with Mott the Hoople!  

Featuring members of the E Street Band as back-up musicians and Bowie's ex-guitarist, Mick Ronson, producing, "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" is a great example of what happened to "glam rock" by the late 70's.  Its good, with some really solid rocking songs, but its polished-sounding and not sleazy or sexy enough.  Its glam without the gay... and who wants that?

(Even Barry Manilow had a top 10 hit with a saccharine cover of the song, "Ships", from this album!)

The best song on this LP, by far, is the epic, "Cleveland Rocks".  This song is great for two reasons, (a) it was the theme song to "The Drew Carey Show" and (b) Cleveland does rock!    

The songs are all pretty good, but every time I hear Hunter's voice, I sort of wish I was listening to "All the Young Dudes"...

RATING: 3.5 Alan Freeds out of 5

Prog Rock Saturday: Close the Edge

Yes - "Close to the Edge" (1972) - Atlantic Records

Hello friends,

As another summer draws to its bittersweet close, we've got one more "Prog Rock Saturday" in us before we bid adieu to bbq's, baseball and fireflies and say hello to sweaters, long walks and hard ciders!

Tonight on the turntable, we've got Yes's 1972 prog masterpiece, Close to The Edge, recorded by a band of virtuoso musicians at the height of their creativity and cohesiveness.

The album consists of just three songs with the title track taking up all of Side One.  Now this may sound extremely over-indulgent (and it could be argued that it indeed is) however the end result is highly listenable; the music is complex without being alienating.  The songs and themes on the album seem to be influenced by some sort of New Age-y spirituality but-- unlike, say the double album, Tales from Topographic Oceans-- the mysticism does not distract from the music at hand.  Rather than sounding too "mathy" or overwrought, the album comes off as five musicians pushing themselves to new limits while creating some pretty solid early 70's FM rock.  (This is the classic Yes lineup that reads like a who's who of prog-rock: Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, Chris Squire & Rick Wakeman.)

Side One is dedicated to the epic song "Close to the Edge" which consists of four separate movements.  Full of tempo changes and cryptic/cosmic lyrics sung in Anderson's near castrato voice ("Close to the Edge, down by the river, not right away, not right away"), "Close to the Edge" comes very close to going over the edge, but somehow remains listenable throughout.  In fact, the middle section "I Get Up I Get Down" with its delicate two-part harmonies and massive cathedral-style organ is downright pretty!

Side Two begins with the tuning of a twelve 12-string guitar which leads into a very straightforward chord progression.  "And You and I"-- also consisting of four smaller movements-- is the band at their absolute peak.  There's more melodic shifts, tempo changes and harmonies that you can shake a stick at, but somehow it all holds up in this ten minute epic.

The album ends with the riff-based and funky "Siberian Khatru".  Not sure exactly what the title means but at this point who cares?  Clocking in at just under 9 minutes, this is the album's shortest song and features some pretty amazing Steve Howe guitar work!

Season's change. The nights grow cooler as the days grow shorter; the leaves on the trees are starting to change color; icy cold vodka martinis are being replaced by whiskey sours and stiff manhattans.  Ah, the circle of life!   
  
RATING: 5 Sad Preachers nailed upon the coloured doors of time out of 5