It’s not common these days for local independent artists to release a full-on front-to-back album, but that’s exactly what Oakland-based M Jones and the Melee have done with Keep a Weather Eye.

The debut release carries the listener through over 40 minutes of rich songwriting from Margaret Jones, delivered both ferociously and tenderly through the no-frills rock band that she’s assembled.  The band’s sound is largely driven by distorted guitar, bass guitar, and tom-heavy drums, though acoustic guitar, synthesizer, violin, and cello all play important roles.

Keep a Weather Eye is a gritty unapologetic rock record with notable range and gravity.  There's a bold sense of urgency, anxious suspense, and sincere assuredness throughout the 10-song journey.  Expect elements of Misfits, David Bowie, Fugazi, and Queen.

Keep a Weather Eye is now available on all major streaming platforms and online music retailers. 

Concord-based artist New Sense recently dropped a self-titled EP featuring guest appearances by Hear in Color, Uncle Eli, TJ McCarty, Valente McNamer, Faith Donithan, and Austin.

Appropriately released in late June, New Sense is rich with “summer jam” vibes.  All five tracks will have you bobbing your head to the luscious funky beats, catchy hooks, and slick lyrical flow. 

Several of these tracks would work well on the dance floor of a nightclub, but there’s something very shiny and bright about the overall sound that makes for a great soundtrack to a care-free time with friends on one of those memorable summer days you never forget. Or maybe it’s some of the elements from the opening track’s beat and guest vocals that conjure up the nostalgic feel of Banarama’s “Cruel Summer.”  Who knows?  To quote the song “Lavender” (track 3)  “I don’t know how you do it, but you do it so gracefully.” 

New Sense is now available on all major streaming platforms and online music retailers. 

The new single from Spirit Drive is a re-imagination of his own 2020 rock song from the album X, featuring Deuce Eclipse (of Bang Data).

Xavier Guerrero's new version of "Carried Me Away" is built upon a reggae beat.  The more open landscape of this framework allows for some fun production, which Guerrero takes advantage of with some disciplined textural layering to help emulate some of the emotion and tension found in its original rock format.

Moreover, this beat-driven version sets the table perfectly for singer/emcee Deuce Eclipse to spit an exquisite guest verse.  Deuce's faster-paced rapping momentarily snaps the listener out of the hypnotic trance set by Spirit Drive to further build on the theme of friendship abandonment.

The combination of Spirit Drive and Deuce Eclipse feels like a very natural complimentary fit, as if each artist knows the other inside and out, which makes sense considering these two Concord artists are literally brothers.

"Carried Me Away" will be  is now available on all major streaming platforms and online music retailers on August 9th.

The new single from the fairly recently formed East Bay rock group Accidents at Sundown opens with a somewhat misleading sense of optimism and hope.  The intro’s synthetic soundscape and electronic beat seem to be setting up a motivational power ballad.  That all gets up-ended in just half a minute, slowing to a halt, not unlike pulling the plug on a turntable at a life-coaching seminar to announce that the building is on fire.

A melancholy piano and naked electric guitar emerge to give the listener some guidance.  The epic nature of this “secondary intro” feels somewhat like the opening act of a rock opera that takes place in a haunted house.  We, the audience, are figuratively led down the hall and eventually handed off to our host, singer Tyler McClellan, who urgently informs “What we need is to break out!”

From here on, “Resilience with a Touch of Resentment” takes consistent shape.  A chugging distorted rhythm and driving drums support McClellan’s shouted declarations, which sound kinda like a really upset Joe Strummer in a good way.  The haunty piano overlay adds a nice element of continuity to the earlier introduction.  The new single fits well with Accidents at Sundown’s growing catalog.

There’s no debate about it: vinyl records are back.  While the “record boom” has been underway for a decade or longer - depending on who you talk to -  it was just last year that the Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) reported that vinyl outsold all other physical formats for the first time since the 1980s.

So what’s driving the vinyl boom?  Is it happening everywhere, or just in hip areas near major metropolis areas?  Why are some records so pricey and why is pressing a record so much more expensive for the artist than cutting a CD?  Is record collecting a “rich man’s game”?  Having recently taken to record collecting myself, I’ve pondered some of these questions and thought it’d be interesting to explore this with some local record authorities.

Nic Taylor opened Up the Creek Records in Walnut Creek four years ago.  While he acknowledges there are a multitude of reasons vinyl has lived on as it has, Nic believes the boom is largely attributed to the consequence of the somewhat impersonal nature of the digital music age.  “Yes, we now have access to every song ever, but when was the last time you asked a friend to scroll through their playlists on their phone? But if I walk into someone’s house and they have records on the shelf, I head straight over and flip through and all of a sudden we are connecting around music: ‘Cool, you have a Beastie Boys record! Oh man, I saw them live during the Licensed to Ill tour…’ It’s a beautiful way to connect both to the music and the people in your life.”

Local musician Stewart Patrick points to another compromise of the digital music age: “With streaming services today, the experience of listening to an entire album front-to-back with the song order being as the artist intended is somewhat lost.”  His band Radiokeys ponied up the costs of releasing their debut record on vinyl during the pandemic, an ambitious endeavor for a DIY band during “normal times.”

When asked if the vinyl investment was worthwhile from a business standpoint, Stewart expressed optimism, “The few shows we have been able to play since the release of our vinyl we've sold quite a few!  I think a full schedule of touring would tip the scales in our favor.”  In the meantime, fans can purchase the album online or at a number of local record shops, usually for about $30.

Considering that thirty dollars is more than twice the cost of purchasing a new CD, what is it about records - both new and used - that leads to such a high price for the consumer?

Nic explains “...the average price in the shop for a new record is around $24. You have to pay the artist, the label, the folks who made the sleeves, the people running the presses, the recording studio, the person who mastered it, and the shop has to pay rent too, so it all adds up.”  Nic added that record collecting is not a hobby exclusive to the wealthy, and encourages people to dig through a store’s used bins for some great records.

Concord resident Rob Ferrier agrees that the hobby can absolutely be an affordable one. Rob has amassed a mostly used record collection in the thousands.  He believes anyone willing to spend the time can build a great collection without spending an unreasonable amount of money, especially here in the Bay Area.

“The available pool of records in local stores is dependent on what people were buying twenty or thirty years ago. Smart, curious people buy great records.  There are a ton of colleges here and an ever-churning base of young people who will eventually move and will drop their heavier stuff off at Goodwill or Amoeba. The area has tremendous ethnic diversity as well. That leads to a lot of different genres selling well,” Rob explained.

Used records make up nearly the entire inventory at Tone Army Records, which opened in Concord at the end of 2019.  Owner Michael Sessions (“Sesh”) explains that “So many groups and artists came from the Bay and those records are still circulating or waiting to be discovered in a box in grandma’s closet. Used vinyl records are a historical record of the culture here and I enjoy helping keep that spirit alive.”

“Overall, vinyl collecting is not exclusive to yacht-owning elitists; it’s meant for everyone. There are loads of inexpensive records and stereo gear to do the game justice,” Sesh stressed.  He added that while you don’t need to buy the most expensive gear available to enjoy records, he recommends starting out with something decent that “makes you want to listen to your music on vinyl. Audio Technica LP 120 and U-turn Orbit are the two new [affordable] tables I recommend to people just starting out,” adding, “It’s no fun buying a new record that costs $30 and when you play it on your system it sounds like a turd.”

I can attest to Sesh’s advice.  I purchased the Audio Technica LP 120 just before the pandemic, and have since amassed a modest collection of mostly used records, largely purchased locally at reasonable prices.  Yes, I still listen to streaming services here and there, but having a record spinning on the turntable just adds one more enjoyable layer of comfort when relaxing at home.  Sitting with an album “front-to-back” is indeed a richer listening experience than whatever it is we’ve become used to doing these last couple of decades.  If you miss connecting with music in this more intimate way, sitting down and listening to an album front to back, or just thumbing through some crates looking for a good find, perhaps it’s time to start building your collection.