PORTLAND, Maine — Tastes and trends change, but the flow of new albums never dries up.
This week, Chris Brown and Mick Werkhoven from Bull Moose joined us on 207 to talk about some March releases. Here’s the list and the comments they provided.
U2 – Songs of Surrender – 1CD, 2LP, 4 CD, or 4 LP
U2 re-recorded 40 of their songs from throughout their career. The 40 songs almost match the 40 songs Bono used as chapters in his recent memoir. They changed things enough to make this very interesting for fans, especially people who love The Edge’s playing.
Just don’t expect to feel like you did when you heard the original versions. U2 aren’t the same people and neither are we.
Cake – Prolonging the Magic (reissue)
You remember Cake, right? Masters of the "sing-talk" style of the 1990s/00s and recently seller-outers of Thompson’s Point.
Their albums on vinyl have been notoriously difficult to track down since most of them were only ever available in a 2014 Record Store Day box set – but never say die!
Following up on last year’s reissue of Fashion Nugget comes Prolonging the Magic with singles like "Sheep go the Heaven," "Never There," and more. It’s no Comfort Eagle (which is hopefully coming next) but it’s a darn good album to have in your alternative rock collection
Herbie Hancock – Empyrean Isles – LP; Sam Rivers – Fuchsia Swing Song – LP
These are the latest entries in Blue Note’s celebrated Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series. Both feature Ron Carter, Tony Williams, and Kevin Gray.
Jazz fans revere Carter and Williams, but Kevin Gray’s name may be less familiar. People who are serious about collecting classic vinyl love Kevin Gray’s approach. Also, the process he uses in this series is all analog, which some fans see as a huge plus.
100 Gecs – 10,000 Gecs
Last week one of my coworkers asked “What is a Gec?” and gosh that’s a difficult question to answer.
10,000 Gecs is the second album from the group and a follow-up to 2019s 1000 Gecs. With 10,000 Gecs, Laura Les and Dylan Brady continue to refine their sound as absolutely insane maniacs who love making noise – and I cannot stress how much I mean that as a compliment.
You can tell from the so-far released singles that the pair of them have a ton of fun making their silly little songs and pushing the boundaries of what can acceptably be called "music."
Honestly, though? Love that for them.