Let me start off by saying that every time we’ve played this number in the store, someone immediately wants to purchase it. You just can’t beat that kind of market research. Now for my bit:

This  compilation of  “Pure Ghetto Disco, Funk and African Boogie” from Brooklyn is the third offering in Kon & Amir’s series of city themed adventures in rare 45′s. Once described by Lord Finesse as “two of the most extraordinary but underrated beat diggers in the game,” the duo split up over two discs to share choice cuts from their expansive collecti0n. Kon takes the first disc, laying out a continuous mix of tracks, layering a bit here and there to stitch together funk and soul. Highlights include the soaring bass groove of slamming opening track “From the Heart” (Kon’s Multi Remix) by Donny McCollough, the temperature raising “Burnin’ Up” (Kon’s Edit) by S.F.B., and self titled track “E.O.D.” by prison band Edge of Darkness. In fact, the Edge of Darkness sums up the unfortunate situation that made most of the artists on this compilation underexposed. Bands with raw and unique talent from the ghetto were underfunded and under-appreciated, while bands with a more marketable sound soared on labels like Motown.

Amir’s disc guides the focus to Fela influenced African boogie and disco. This side represents the global ghetto underground melting pot of the album’s dedicated burrough. As a youngster with a fantastical vision of the sparkling 70′s, these jams make me envision a period of  nightclubs blasting off into outer space to party in the funkosphere to the likes of  “Galaxy” by Galaxy. “Saturday Night Raps” by Dizzy K is a dance floor stomper that would work just as well as a block party thumper. Picture yourself in the prime of your youth, doing the bump with a hot dog in one hand and a 40oz . in the other, that’s what this sounds like. My only complaint about this release is the severely shortened content of the LP version, but a full vinyl release would probably be out of the average browser’s price range anyway. Make it your summer soundtrack.

LCD Soundsystem – Bye Bye Bayou (12″ Single)

Like a strong, expertly crafted cocktail downed right before what is sure to be one hell of a dinner (new album, hint hint!), LCD Soundsystem’s single “Bye Bye Bayou” (an Alan Vega cover recorded for November’s Record Store Day spinoff Vinyl Saturday) is a slippery buzz-opener that sneaks up on you in the weirdest of ways. While LCD would seem to be unconcerned with racking up any more cool-kid tokens (they have enough by now to cash in for a lifetime supply of plastic spider rings and vampire teeth), “Bayou” simply lifts Vega’s already very cool original out of the swamps, swapping the Cajun paranoia for dead-eyed heavy funk. (Read Full Track Review)

Jerry Garcia – Let It Rock

For Jerry Garcia, 1975 was a seminal year that found him splitting time between recording Blues for Allah with the Dead, directing The Grateful Dead Movie, and forming the Jerry Garcia Band–his long-running side project.

The Jerry Garcia Band — Garcia, his constant collaborator bassist John Kahn and drummer Ron Tutt — played its first show with Nicky Hopkins on piano in August 1975. The ultimate session player, Hopkins’ credits include work with The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Jefferson Airplane to name a very few. While Hopkins residency was brief with the Jerry Garcia Band, it played an important role in the group’s shift away from big jams toward song-oriented material. (Read the Full Review)

Starline Rhythm Boys – Masquerade for Heartache

Dust off those shitkickers, Burlington. Your blue-collar heroes ride again. Rooted in rockabilly, the Starline Rhythm Boys have been shaking honky-tonks for a decade, evoking an era of checkerboard floors and poodle skirts. Their latest, Masquerade For Heartache, finds the trio plugged into Charlie O’s — that Capital City citadel of sin — where guitarists Al Lemery and Danny Coane lead a jukebox jubilee. All that’s missing is the chicken wire, as the Boys resurrect salty anthems (“Red’s Place”) and 10-gallon covers (“Trucker from Tennessee”) to rowdy effect.

Anchored by Billy Bratcher’s strolling bass, Heartache is a vintage buffet. Western boogie? Check. Hillbilly blues? Yep, it’s all here. And if Coane’s lyrical twang sounds just a bit south of his native Montpelier, blame it on the Narragansett — beer sweetens the masquerade. (Read the Full Review)

Doom – Unexpected Guests

The early news of DOOM compilation Unexpected Guests positioned it as a field report from the indie MC’s late-decade wilderness period, spanning a half-committed star turn (2005′s Danger Doom collaboration with Danger Mouse) to this year’s bullish return to form on Born Like This. And it is… except when it isn’t– “Rock Co.Kane Flow”, taken from De La Soul’s The Grind Date, actually finds DOOM doing something of a victory lap in 2004 after his essential triad of Take Me to Your Leader (released under the name King Geedorah), Vaudeville Villain (Viktor Vaughn), and Madvillainy (Madvillain). “Rock Co.Kane Flow” is a fantastic symbiosis of DOOM’s many playful styles, but the beat itself feels weightier than what we’re used to from De La and the stakes higher (ahem) than what we’re used to from DOOM when he guests on a track. The other high(er)-profile collaborations on Unexpected don’t always fare as well– while “Da Supafriendz” spotlights a nerdy side of Vast Aire that often goes overlooked amidst Cannibal Ox’s doomsayer image, “Fly That Knot” is the second hopelessly corny track DOOM’s done with Talib Kweli (see also: “Old School” from The Mouse and the Mask) and most of the blame lies with Kweli’s increasing ineptitude at hook-writing, it’s clear these two share more camaraderie than chemistry. (Read The Full Review)

Fang Island like to describe their sound as “everyone high-fiving everyone.” After a long week of damp and dismal days here in Burlington, we could all use a double high-five to the ear drums.

This group’s second release, Sky Gardens EP, delivers an epic pump-up soundtrack like none other. The effortlessly complex string arrangements and organized group vocals give the EP an adventurous and uplifting sound.  Sky Gardens isn’t just a high-five, it’s a high five from the king of a magical land after saving his daughter from certain peril at the hands of an evil sorcerer. Not only that, but you were probably transported to this world after doing a kindly favor for some bum on the street that turned out to be a wizard in disguise. He gives you some crumby VHS tape and tells you watching it will change your life. When you get home from school, you pop the tape in out of curiosity and suddenly you’ve got a badass sword in your hand and you aren’t in Kansas anymore. I am certain the adventure will continue with the release of their self-titled album this August.

I had the opportunity to see these guys play last winter at 242 Main. I was pleasantly surprised when the band stayed rather motionless, and projected scenes of cartoon wizards shooting fireballs at each other on a sheet in the background. Although the turn out was small due to snow, Fang Island gave an intensely energetic and tight set. I just can’t help but get stoked on this band.

Plus, they make Kindergartener’s go CRAZY.

Hello there folks of the some-what free world, my name is Amelia. I am the newly employed member of the Pure Pop weekend crew. I am quite pleased to be included in this strange and happy family, and to get us better aquainted, I’ll give you a little intro to let you know what I’m about.

Unfortunately, I missed the last topic of discussion on the Pure Pop blog, the subject being, “music to off yourself to.” I’ll admit that I’m partial to music of the melancholic, so I’ve got a couple picks to share. At the onslaught of my angstiest moments, I always turn to the song “Love Letter Typewriter” by the 90′s midwestern favorite Mineral. The whiny anguish of  these emotional rockers is the perfect fuel to give me the courage to bleed out. Up the street, not cross the road folks!

Another tune for my last goodbye would be just that, “Last Goodbye” by the late Jeff Buckley. Perfect for playing from tape on a beat-up boombox in the back of my pick-em up truck as I fill my pockets with rocks and walk into a river. Yes, as you sad sap 90′s kids know, Buckley did indeed drown.

So, come say hi to me on Saturdays and Sundays, there’s plently more amusing morbidity where those picks came from.