Feature: Vinyl Tap

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Gordon Hauptfleisch

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• Vinyl Tap: Be-Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish

  A showcase for guitarist Bill Nelson's soaring and sublime skills that can transport you with an enthralling force. He plays some mean tubular bells, too.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Jul 13, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Dwight Twilley Band - Sincerely

  A power pop classic, inspired equally by Sun Sounds and A Hard Day's Night, is released in 1976.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Jul 03, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Brian Wilson

  It was 1988, the dreaded year of the Kokomo. We were musical miles from cruisin’ to the hamburger stand now, or the columnated ruins domino...

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Jun 18, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

  The mercurial Costello is on full display on one of the best debut albums in the history of, um, debut albums.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on May 14, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Lowell George - Thanks I'll Eat It Here

  "...all things I left undone/ It comes from moment to moment, day to day/ Time seems to slip away."

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Apr 25, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Rickie Lee Jones - Girl At Her Volcano

  Chuck E's no longer "in love with the little girl who's singing this song." Rickie Lee Jones erupts and recollects...

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Apr 05, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Elvis Costello - Taking Liberties

  Twenty Songs - All Different! And all in an early treasure trove of obscurities, alternate versions, B-sides, and European LP tracks.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Mar 20, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Buzzcocks - A New Kind Of Tension

  "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" as an AARP jingle? Suddenly I feel very, very old...

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Mar 03, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Tom Waits - One From The Heart Soundtrack Album

  "I gotta a bottle full of trumpet, a hatbox full of drum..."

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Feb 21, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: X - Under The Big Black Sun

  For an insistent and intense masterwork, X marks the spot.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Feb 04, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: The Dave Clark Five - Greatest Hits

  These British Invasion troops will make you feel "Glad All Over."

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Jan 29, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Best Reissues of 2006

  From the Pretenders to Bob Wills, Al Green to Spoon, 2006 saw a wide variety of artists being reissued new CD lives.

  Opinion by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Jan 01, 2007

• Vinyl Tap: Mott The Hoople - Brain Capers

  Including such holiday favorites as "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" and “Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception.”

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Dec 15, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram

  McCartney's seemingly effortless pop-rock command is exhibited in abundance - even in the nooks and crannies of his songs’ hooks and canny ear-candy appeal.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Dec 09, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: Sam Phillips - The Indescribable Wow; Cruel Inventions; Martinis and Bikinis

  The Sam Sessions: Unabashed Pop, cosmic discombobulation, Beatle-sonic nip-and-tuck. Something to wow everyone.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Nov 13, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: The Dukes Of Stratosphere - 25 O'Clock

  Avatars of all things psychedelic, the Dukes of Stratosphere are ecstasy for the ears. The ones that are melting down your head right now.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Nov 03, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: Vanilla Fudge

  The group's slowed-down psychedelic-sludge cover songs will keep you hanging on, and on, and on, and...

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Oct 11, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: Sparks - Kimono My House

  Sparks put a little Gilbert and Sullivan and British Music Hall into pop-rock, with a potent combination of witty wordplay and big dumb fun.

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Oct 05, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: Graham Parker And The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks

  "'Cause this is nothing else if not unreal / When I pretend to touch you, you pretend to feel..."

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Sep 28, 2006

• Vinyl Tap: The Beach Boys Today!

  Brian Wilson gives us a tantalizing foretaste of Pet Sounds. And no, it's not “Bull Session With The ‘Big Daddy.’”

  Review by Gordon Hauptfleisch — on Sep 16, 2006