Trip #2: How Do We Sell You the World?
Trip #2: How Do We Sell You the World?
Long awaited AFI repress, best new albums, 2021 Hall of Fame playlist, U.F.O. exhibit, and recommendations to bring joy to your life.
Welcome to the The Wax Museum, a free gallery filled wall to wall with vinyl, music, and culture discovery and celebration. The mission statement of this museum and the Vinyl on Sale deal Twitter is to not just up the quantity, but the quality of your vinyl collection, and that’s best achieved through music discovery.
There’s endless rabbit holes to dive into, and at least two playlists each week. New trip every Wednesday. Let’s go!
This Week’s Museum Guide
The FUTURE Exhibit (Upcoming Vinyl Releases)
The PRESENT Exhibit (Best New Albums)
The PAST Exhibit (2021 Hall of Fame)
Rotating Exhibit: U.F.O.
The RABBIT HOLE Exhibit
Exit Through the Gift Shop
🎧 Listen to this Trip on Spotify and Apple.
The FUTURE Exhibit
Discover what’s coming up in the world of vinyl.
Exciting news this week as we got an announcement on a repress 20 years in the making. AFI’s Sing the Sorrow, the post-hardcore classic, will be available on colored vinyl for the very first time. The one and only OG pressing, which had 20,000 copies, was going for $500+ before this news dropped.
You can buy the red with black smoke double vinyl (pictured) from AFI’s official store now, and the indie exclusive black and red pinwheel from your local record store. The store version is expected to ship in May, while the pinwheel should be available in July.
Upcoming Vinyl Releases
Full list of vinyl releases, reissues, compilations
This Friday March 17
100 gecs - 10,000 gecs
Black Vinyl | Indie White Vinyl
All That Jazz - Ghibli Jazz Live
Black Honey - A Fistful of Peaches
Diplo - Diplo
Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse (10th Anniversary)
Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park (Zoetrope reissue)
M83 - Fantasy
Black Vinyl | Blue Marble Vinyl | Pink Marble Vinyl
Michael Abels - Get Out | Us | Nope Original Soundtracks (Colored Vinyl)
Noisia - Closer (4 LP Box Set)
Parcels - Parcels (reissue)
Pierce the Veil - A Flair For The Dramatic (reissue)
Smino - Luv 4 Rent (Translucent Green Vinyl)
U2: Songs of Surrender (Orange Vinyl)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: V (Golden Nugget Vinyl)
Various Artists - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop
Sunny Splatter Vinyl | Blue Vinyl | Pink Vinyl
Yung Bleu - Moon Boy (Moon Surface Vinyl)
The PRESENT Exhibit
Highlighting the latest and greatest in music; each week we’ll pick three new albums that are in heavy rotation; two tracks from each album are added to the Best New Albums Playlist: Spotify / Apple. This week features White Reaper, Josephine Odhil, and Skrillex.
White Reaper - Asking for a Ride | I love the marketing copy written by the boys of Louisville band White Reaper:
THIS IS FIVE DUDES CHURNING OUT BANGERS LIKE THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON IT.
Yes indeed. Clocking in at under 30 minutes, Asking for a Ride shoots out of a cannon and doesn’t stop until the end of lead single and closer “Pages”. You can expect plenty of garage rock hooks, with my favorite being “Fog Machine”. Play this album at high volume.
Joesphine Odhil - Volatile | I stumbled upon this album surfing Bandcamp one night and I had to get the word out. Amsterdam’s Joesphine Odhil has debuted a wonderful slice of psychedelic dreampop with Volatile; Good luck getting “Be Your Better Self” out of your head.
Buy Vinyl: Unexpected Records label shop
Skrillex - Quest for Fire | Skrillex goes almost ten years without releasing a proper album and then he drops Quest for Fire and Don’t Get Too Close in the same weekend. Both albums are heavy with guest features; Quest for Fire is made for the dancefloor, while Don’t Get Too Close is a more experimental blend of emo rap. The highlight across both albums is “RATATA”, a spin on the classic “Work It” featuring a new verse from Missy Elliott.
Vinyl out July 7: Amazon (Translucent Ruby vinyl)
The PAST Exhibit
Ten songs from a previous year get inducted into The Wax Museum Hall of Fame. The following albums are all vinyl collection essentials.
2022 | This week is 2021
♫ Full Hall of Fame Playlist: Spotify / Apple ♫
Wolf Alice - “How Can I Make It Ok? | Blue Weekend - We start with Wolf Alice’s “How Can I Make It Ok?”, a pop banger that hits like a ton of bricks. Great message about how you shouldn't be afraid to be yourself.
Another standout on the album is “Lipstick on the Glass”, which is featured in this incredible one shot video performance in Union Chapel. Stunning vocals from Ellie Rowsell.
The War on Drugs feat. Lucius - “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” | I Don’t Live Here Anymore - This is what the Hall of Fame is all about; you could poll five different people on what era this song is from and get five different answers. Timeless tune, elevated by Lucius’ vocals which were added late in the production process.
Japanese Breakfast - “Be Sweet” | Jubilee - The ‘80s vibe continues with “Be Sweet”, a head bopper that could just as easily be at home in Madonna’s or Whitney Houston’s catalog. Opener “Paprika” is also a standout.
Deafheaven - “Great Mass of Color” | Infinite Granite - I’m not big into metal, so I’ve been lukewarm on Deafheaven’s previous entries, however Infinite Granite is right up my alley, likely because of producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Paramore, Jimmy Eat World).
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio - “Careless Whisper” | I Told You So - Groovy instrumental George Michael cover on a Hammond B3 organ. Great album front to back by DLO3.
Turnstile - “MYSTERY” | GLOW ON - “Careless Whisper” crossfading into a Turnstile track, likely never been done before (and for good reason?). I was late to Turnstile, as GLOW ON was my first taste, but I have made up for lost time. Sick band, and their live shows are becoming legendary.
Magdalena Bay - “Chaeri” | Mercurial World - Mercurial World is the debut studio album by Miami electro synth duo Magdalena Bay. “Chaeri” is an album highlight, slowly ramping up the intensity that keeps building into an ever-increasing euphoria. Reminds me of Purity Ring and Phantogram at their best.
Scroll down to The Wax Museum Gift Shop to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Mercurial World.
CHVRCHES feat Robert Smith - “How Not To Drown” | Screen Violence - Back to back synth pop here. CHVRCHES fourth album Screen Violence is a horror movie concept album with a consistent aesthetic throughout. “How Not To Drown” features The Cure’s Robert fucking Smith trading lines with Lauren Mayberry. Beast of a song.
Manchester Orchestra - “Bed Head” | The Million Masks of God - “Bed Head”, the lead single of The Million Masks of God can still give me chills after 100+ listens. It sounds like a song I had somehow known all along. I also have to shout out Lucius again, as they covered/remixed a track off here “Inaudible” that is just as masterful.
Lana Del Rey - “Chemtrails Over The Country Club” | Chemtrails Over The Country Club - The title track of Lana Del Rey’s seventh album cements Lana as one of our greatest active American storytellers. She loves signing about Americana, disillusionment, suburbia, contemplating God, and that’s all here baby, backed by a gorgeous arrangement.
The U.F.O. Exhibit
Rotating exhibit highlighting moments of musical greatness.
Last week, the head of the Pentagon’s unidentified aerial phenomena research office said there’s a chance extraterrestrial motherships and smaller probes are visiting planets in our solar system. This adds to the latest U.F.O. panic which is reaching a fever pitch, culminating in the US government blowing up a $12 balloon from a hobby group with a $400,000 Sidewinder missile.
If UFOs are real, and aliens are reading this right now, please bring back Jim Sullivan.
Psych-folk musician Jim Sullivan left his wife and kid in Los Angeles on March 4, 1975, to drive to Nashville in his VW Beetle to relaunch his career after his first two albums, U.F.O. and Jim Sullivan, received little fanfare. He stopped at a New Mexico hotel and called his wife to let her know where he was. He was never seen again, disappearing at the age of 34. His car was found 26 miles away deep in the desert; the car contained Sullivan's money, papers, guitar, clothes, and a box of unsold records of his two albums.
To add to the weirdness, six years earlier, Sullivan’s debut album U.F.O. featured songs about aliens, beings in the sky, and vanishing in deserts. It’s very much worth a listen, especially what we now know (or don’t know).
The album gives off a melancholy and mystical vibe, even without knowing what happened to Jim. The bluesy tracks are spacious and slightly off-kilter, providing a high level of replay value. What an underrated gem of an album.
The vinyl of U.F.O. was going for hundreds of dollars on the rare occasion one would pop up for resale. Thankfully Light in the Attic got the album repressed in 2010 after getting approval from Jim’s family, bringing thousands of new ears to the forgotten classic. Vinyl Me, Please partnered with the label in 2019 and repressed the album on colored vinyl. You can find this at Discogs on the cheap.
The RABBIT HOLE Exhibit
Get sucked down the pop culture rabbit hole with new recommendations each week.
📺 Videos from all trips can be found here. Shuffle for optimal enjoyment. 🔀
MOVIE: The Oscars were this Sunday, which had me thinking back to one of the most epic Best Picture battles of all time. You may remember 2007 as No Country for Old Men vs There Will Be Blood, which was a shame for Michael Clayton, which may have won the Oscar any other year. This movie holds up 15 years later with a stunning opening monologue that drops you right into the moral quandary. I give it 5 bags of popcorn. Stream it on HBO Max, rent it on Prime, or grab the Blu-Ray.
BOOK: Finishing up Miles: The Autobiography, the rambling epic by Miles Davis. Published in 1989, it must set the record for the most times “motherfucker” is said in a book. I’ve never read anything like it, it’s brutally brave and honest, and no one comes out looking good (everyone is on heroin), especially Miles. But honesty makes the best autobiographies, and learning the history of jazz has never been wilder. The afterword says it best:
"Miles is not the kind of person who concerns himself with sanitizing his image. He prefers to say what he has to say, to tell his true feelings, even when what he has to say hurts him and others."
RECORD STORE: Every Wednesday and Friday around 5 PM EST, Park Ave CDs in Orlando puts up rare used vinyl on their Instagram. Whoever “waves” first gets to buy it. I was able to snag Jimmy Eat World’s Futures (which has become a rarity) this way a few months ago. If anyone knows of other record stores doing something like this, comment below!
CAFFEINE GUM: An Instagram ad got me on this one. NeuroGum is gum injected with 40 mg of green tea caffeine, 60 mg of L-theanine, and B6 and B12 vitamins. I take it before a run and it’s a nice pick-me-up and tastes minty fresh.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Vinyl giveaway from my personal collection to a paid subscriber.
Thank you for visiting The Wax Museum. Before you go, if you thought this trip was worth $1.25 a week, become a donator! As an added bonus, you’ll be put in the running for a new vinyl giveaway each month. A private Discord, DJ room, and WhatNot auctions are also coming soon to paid subscribers.
The winner will be picked in the first week of April, and will chose one of four vinyl from my collection. These vinyl are all autographed, sealed, and have long sold out.
Alvvays - Blue Rev | This Newbury Comics exclusive was limited to /300 and signed by the whole band.
Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World | Deluxe edition pressed on silver with black swirl "mercury" colored vinyl, limited to /500 and autographed by the duo.
Alex G - God Save The Animals | The album that landed on plenty of Best Of 2022 lists, signed by Alex G.
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever | Limited edition pink splatter vinyl with a signed postcard by Sophie Allison.
There’s only a few paid subscribers so far; your odds will never be better! Thanks for visiting, fill out a comment card on the way out, and we’ll see ya next Wax Wednesday!
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