Trip #30: I Wanna Be Bob Dylan
Trip #30: I Wanna Be Bob Dylan
Maple Glider, The Menzingers, Explosions in the Sky enter the AOTY leaderboard, the Best Records of 1993, The Thing, Jennifer's Body, so much more get in here!
Hello and welcome back to The Wax Museum, the vinyl and vibes curation newsletter, where we dig up grooves from the past, present, and future.
🎧 Listen along to this week’s trip! Spotify | Apple
Before we begin, if you would like to support The Wax Museum, become a paid subscriber for just $3.33 a month and be entered into our monthly vinyl giveaway.
This month, we are giving away the Smashing Pumpkins double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a highly sought-after vinyl CLASSIC. You have until October 30th to enter; the winner will be notified on Halloween. We have less than 25 paid subs, so your chance to win will never be higher!
Now, on to this week’s exhibits..
The FUTURE Exhibit: New Vinyl Releases
Highlighting records out this Friday, October 20th that I’m excited about.
New Albums
Blink-182 - One More Time… (White Vinyl) | The trio of Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker are back with songs created while on their reunion tour.
Bombay Bicycle Club - My Big Day | The British guitar band’s sixth album boasts features from Jay Som, Nilüfer Yanya, Holly Humberstone, and Damon Albarn.
Emma Anderson - Pearlies | The debut solo album from the Lush co-founder.
Forest Swords - Bolted (Translucent Green Vinyl) | Electronic producer Forest Swords makes his anticipated return with third dub album Bolted.
Glen Hansard - All That was East is West of Me Now | Glen Hansard of Oscar-winning indie film Once fame drops his first solo album in five years.
Knuckle Puck - Losing What We Love | Chicago punks Knuckle Puck promise a darker tone on their fourth album.
Pip Blom - Bobbie | Amsterdam’s Pip Blom will go in a synth-heavy direction for third album Bobbie.
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter - SAVED! | Kristin Hayter (who previously released four albums under the alias Lingua Ignota) has announced her debut under the name Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter.
Sampha - Lahai | My most anticipated album of the week is Sampha’s Lahai, the follow-up to 2017’s Process.
Sun June - Bad Dream Jaguar (Purple Vinyl) | Austin rockers Sun June are primed to blow up with their third album, available on purple wax.
The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds (Green Vinyl) | Hackney Diamonds marks The Stones’ first album of original material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. They teamed up with MLB for 30 different vinyl covers featuring custom art for each baseball team.
New Vinyl
Beach House Urban Outfitters Exclusive Colored Vinyl | The dreamy Baltimore duo are reissuing their classics on colored wax: Teen Dream on purple, Depression Cherry on transparent red, Thank Your Lucky Stars on green with metallic silver, and 7 on metallic red.
Bob Dylan - Mixing Up the Medicine | This new career-spanning compilation contains 12 of Bob Dylan’s greatest songs, including “Knocking On Heaven’s Door,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” and “Hurricane.”
CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe (10th Anniversary) | This newly remastered version of CHVRCHES’ debut features four previously unreleased songs and five live versions recorded at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.
Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams (Recycled Vinyl) | Another Atlantic Records 75th Anniversary entry, Coldplay’s seventh album is pressed on 140 gram colored recycled vinyl.
Joni Mitchell - Blue (MoFi SuperVinyl) | The third Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone reaches new audiophile heights with Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180gram 45RPM double vinyl box set.
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (30th Anniversary Purple Vinyl) | Matador Records is reissuing Liz Phair’s acclaimed debut album on limited edition purple vinyl. More on this album in The Past Exhibit later in the newsletter.
Devo - 50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023 | This brand new compilation celebrates a half-century of Devo songs, featuring 25 tracks from all different Devo eras.
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (20th Anniversary) | Zach Braff’s favorite album celebrates two decades on Spotify Exclusive orange, Sub Pop Loser red, and standard black vinyl.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Mojo (Translucent Ruby Red Vinyl) | The live, no-frills Mojo arrives on ruby red double vinyl to coincide with Tom’s birthday.
Tyler, the Creator - Wolf (Pink Vinyl) | Long out of print on vinyl, Tyler’s second studio album Wolf finally receives an official repress on pink wax.
The White Stripes - Elephant (UHQR Clarity Audiophile Vinyl) | The White Stripes classic gets the purest possible pressing thanks to the 200 Gram 45RPM UHQR treatment, mastered from the original analog master tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound.
The PRESENT Exhibit: AOTY Leaderboard
Behold the 2023 Album of the Year Leaderboard. Standings change frequently; three new albums are added each Wednesday.
🎧 Full AOTY 2023 Playlist: Spotify | Apple (95+ Albums and Counting…)
Maple Glider - I Get Into Trouble
Debuts at #27 on Leaderboard
Get Vinyl: Hot Pink
Melbourne’s Tori Zietsch, recording as Maple Glider, returns with her sophomore album, I Get Into Trouble, a riveting exploration into the depths of her past and the corridors of her psyche.
Drawing from her tumultuous history marked by religious confines and personal battles, Zietsch crafts a liberation narrative, painting stark vignettes of religious trauma juxtaposed with sexuality, like in the catchiest song on the album “Dinah.”
Zietsch’s unique ability to transform pain into clarity with novelistic detail lifts this album above similar indie folk. Dive in and emerge emancipated alongside Maple Glider.
The Menzingers - Some Of It Was True
Debuts at #36 on Leaderboard
Get Vinyl: Strawberry Shortcake | Clear with Black Marble | Black (January release date)
Philadelphia's punk royalty, The Menzingers, return with their seventh album Some Of It Was True. It's an electric example of their road-warrior energy, a beacon that has shone throughout their multi-decade journey.
The band recorded this album live for the first time, resulting in a sound that captures their onstage vigor. Guided by Grammy-nominated producer Brad Cook (The War on Drugs, Bon Iver), the album resonates with a live, in-the-room feel, capturing the essence of their Americana-infused punk rock.
With each Menzingers album, I come away loving two or three songs that I keep on repeat for months; from Some Of It Was True, it appears that’ll be the catchy opener "Hope is a Dangerous Little Thing" and the sweeping anthem "Ultraviolet." Both songs exemplify how The Menzingers continue to hold listeners rapt in the present, proving why their catalog remains unparalleled in the punk arena.
Explosions in the Sky - End
Debuts at #39 on Leaderboard
Get Vinyl: Yellow | Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
After a seven-year hiatus, post-rock gods Explosions in the Sky triumphantly return with their seventh album End.
Each of the seven tracks is an emotive journey; one where goosebumps rise, eyes mist over, memories flood back, and breaths are momentarily forgotten.
In typical Explosions fashion, End transforms the mundane; simply playing it during everyday tasks like doing the dishes elevates the experience to something grandiose.
Despite the ominous title, fans can rest easy knowing End references relationships and finality, rather than signaling the band's curtain call.
On a related note, vinyl enthusiasts will be delighted to learn of the just announced colored reissues: The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place in red and Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever in purple.
The PAST Exhibit: 1993’s Must-Have Vinyl
Each week we look at a year gone by to find 10 timeless albums that are must-haves in your record collection. All vinyl are easy to find unless otherwise stated.
Archive: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994
🎧 The Essential Vinyl Playlist: Spotify | Apple (300 Records and Counting…)
Counting Crows - August and Everything After
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Counting Crows’ debut August and Everything After encapsulated the delicate balance of vulnerability and verve that characterized the early 90’s alt-rock scene. Frontman Adam Duritz's compelling vocals are interwoven with rich instrumentals, creating earworms like the opener “Round Here” and the mega-hit “Mr. Jones.”
“Mr. Jones” stands out not only for its infectious rhythm but also for its uncanny foreshadowing of Duritz's life. The song's narrative, with its dreams of bright lights and rock stardom, became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The beautiful women he pines for in the song manifest as well; Duritz was the 90’s Pete Davidson, dating a Murderer’s Row of starlets like Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Winona Ryder, Mary-Louise Parker, and Emmy Rossum to name a few.
In the wake of the album's success, he grappled with the very themes of celebrity, identity, and the search for genuine connection he'd penned in "Mr. Jones:"
I never lived any of the stuff that the song is about. But I got it right. It’s about having dreams about wanting to be a rock star, but it’s also about how it’s not going to be what you think it is. It’s not going to make everything better. It’s not going to fix every problem in your life. The guy keeps saying, When everybody loves me, I’ll never be lonely, and you’re supposed to know he’s wrong. He’s a fool. […] I’m kind of amazed sometimes about that song because it’s completely true and I hadn’t experienced any of it when I wrote it.
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Mazzy Star's So Tonight That I Might See is ethereal rock that sounds both timeless and contemporary. Hope Sandoval's sultry, whispered vocals meld seamlessly with David Roback's shimmering guitar riffs, most effectively on their mega-smash "Fade Into You.” Beyond this hit, the entire album exudes a sense of hazy nostalgia and raw emotion, capturing the essence of a fleeting moment or a distant memory.
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle
Get Vinyl: Black Smoke | Cloudy Blue | Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, produced by Dr. Dre, burst onto the hip-hop scene as a cultural phenomenon with its funk-infused beats married with Snoop's distinctively smooth and laid-back flow.
Doggystyle was instrumental in ushering in the era of G-Funk, a sub-genre characterized by its melodic synths, heavy basslines, and relaxed vibes. The album bridged the gap between hardcore and mainstream rap, achieving commercial success without compromising its gritty, street-smart sensibility.
This Black Friday, November 24th, Doggystyle gets a vinyl reissue on multiple colored variants: Amazon has an exclusive black smoke vinyl, while Walmart is going with a cloudy blue colored vinyl.
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream remains one of the defining albums of the 90s, and two tracks in particular stand out: “Disarm” and “Today.” Both tracks were written on the same day as frontman Billy Corgan grappled with suicidal thoughts.
"Disarm" was Corgan's method of confronting his childhood trauma from his parents. Corgan’s choice to forgo aggressive vocals in "Disarm" is deliberate.
“I didn’t have the guts to kill my parents, so I thought I’d get back at them through song. Rather than have an angry, angry, angry violent song I’d thought I’d write something beautiful and make them realize what tender feelings I have in my heart, and make them feel really bad for treating me like shit.”
The cinematic instrumentation of "Disarm," combining the melancholy strums of an acoustic guitar with uplifting orchestral crescendos, captures this dichotomy perfectly.
And if that’s not enough, you might as well pen another timeless classic in the same day. "Today," which many regard as the Smashing Pumpkins' stepping stone to stardom, features a seemingly upbeat veneer, but the content is bitingly sarcastic and grapples with suicidal ideation.
Though Corgan was deeply enmeshed in thoughts of ending his life at the time, he now sees “Today” as an affirmation of survival, born from one of the darkest periods of his life. He reflects on the turmoil of that time, saying, “Either kill yourself or get used to it, work, live, and be happy.” In writing these songs, Corgan opted for the latter, choosing the power of music as his salvation.
The Verve - A Storm in Heaven
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Instead of adhering to the jangly guitars and catchy choruses of their fellow 90’s Britpoppers, The Verve ventured into ethereal and expansive atmospheres. Richard Ashcroft's haunting vocals and Nick McCabe's swirling guitar effects created a dreamy, psychedelic haze. Tracks like "Slide Away" and "Blue" epitomized this otherworldly aura, transporting listeners to celestial dimensions.
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
Get Vinyl: Purple | Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Liz Phair's audacious debut Exile in Guyville was a loose song-by-song retort to The Rolling Stones' classic Exile on Main Street where she crafted a brazenly honest narrative of female empowerment, pushing back against societal norms with unapologetic fervor.
The album struck an instant chord, transforming the unemployed 25-year-old stoner into the next big thing, adorn on Rolling Stone with the headline: "A Rock & Roll Star is Born."
While Guyville heralded Phair's meteoric rise, its overwhelming success became a weighty benchmark which all future work was measured. Critics and fans alike lamented her deviation from the raw sound that had made her famous, and her following five albums never stuck in the public consciousness.
However, long-time fans and newcomers alike can celebrate this legendary debut with the aforementioned 30th-anniversary of Exile in Guyville, arriving on purple vinyl this Friday.
Slowdive - Souvlaki
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Slowdive's Souvlaki is shoegaze staple, a mesmerizing blend of dreamy vocals, layers of swirling guitars, and atmospheric synths, creating an otherworldly auditory experience.
Upon release, Souvlaki faced mixed reviews and was overshadowed by the Britpop frenzy of the era. However, the album's brilliance became evident thanks to shoegaze's revival among Generation Z in the 2010s. This reappraisal was solidified with their reformation in 2014, drawing larger crowds than their initial tenure.
This influence extends to contemporary artists, with bands like Deerhunter, Tame Impala, and Grizzly Bear drawing inspiration from Slowdive's signature sound. Notably, Beach House has cited Souvlaki as a seminal influence in shaping their dream pop identity.
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Get Vinyl: Clear | Peach | Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Pearl Jam's Vs. is a declaration of a band wrestling with sudden fame while refusing to compromise on integrity. Following the massive success of their debut album Ten, there was immense pressure on the group, both from within and externally, to deliver a worthy successor. Vs. shattered these expectations with a full spectrum of emotional jams, from the ferocity of "Go" and "Animal" to the classic rock tearjerker “Daughter,” and that’s just the first three songs!
Beyond the music, Vs. also made a bold statement against the commercial machinery of the industry. By choosing not to release any singles or music videos in the U.S. and fighting against the emerging trend of high ticket prices, Pearl Jam affirmed their commitment to their fans, backing up their talk on remaining authentic in the whirlwind of rock stardom.
Just today, Pearl Jam released a peach double vinyl of Vs. cut at 45rpm, while Target dropped an exclusive clear variant.
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-tang (36 Chambers)
Get Vinyl: VMP Yellow | Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
At a time when hip-hop was dominated by the West Coast's polished, funk-infused sound, Wu-Tang emerged from New York's gritty underbelly with raw power. The Clan's innovative fusion of lo-fi beats, samples from kung-fu movies, and a unique blend of Eastern philosophy was unlike anything the genre had witnessed. Each member brought a distinctive flow and personality, from Method Man's smooth delivery to Ol' Dirty Bastard's wild unpredictability. Instead of boasting about opulence, they shed light on the grim realities of inner-city life. The Clan's mantra "Wu-Tang is forever" proved prophetic as 36 Chambers remains an enduring masterpiece.
For more on Wu-Tang and the classic solo albums it spawned, check out The Best Records of 1995 from two weeks ago.
Nirvana - In Utero
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (multiple colored variants)
Nirvana’s third and final album In Utero could have easily been a polished, radio-friendly endeavor capitalizing on Nevermind’s acclaim. Instead, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl chose a path of unfiltered expression, collaborating with producer Steve Albini to create a grittier and more visceral sound.
Tracks like "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" echo with Cobain's signature blend of melodic genius and raw introspection, but they sit alongside harsh and aggressive tracks that showcase the band's punk roots. The album's rejection of mainstream polish in favor of brutal honesty was a risk that paid off.
The Rabbit Hole Exhibit
Welcome to the non-music wing of the Wax Museum. Take a trip down the Internet rabbit hole to see what I found interesting this week.
It’s October, so that means the Wax Museum Spooky Movie Club watched two more horror flicks this week: The Thing (1982) and Jennifer's Body (2009).
The Thing | John Carpenter's The Thing, set against the stark backdrop of Antarctica, delves deep into the chilling tale of a group of American researchers confronted by an alien capable of assimilating and mimicking any life form. More than just a story of extra-terrestrial horror, the film becomes a harrowing exploration of human paranoia and distrust — themes that unfortunately remain just as relevant in the zeitgeist.
"Nobody trusts anybody now, and we're all very tired."
Released two weeks after the much more optimistic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, reviews were harsh and Carpenter lost future work over the backlash. The cold reception was also accentuated by the bleak societal atmosphere, with the U.S. in recession. Yet, with time, perspectives shifted. The exquisite cinematography (this movie does not look 40+ years old), marked by the contrast of flamethrowers' fiery bursts against the icy terrain, and the groundbreaking special effects, became emblematic of Carpenter's genius. Today, The Thing has risen from the cold ashes of criticism to be heralded as one of the genre's greatest.
Jennifer’s Body | We go from a movie that’s 100% men to Jennifer's Body, penned by Diablo Cody of Juno fame, directed by Karyn Kusama of The Invitation, and brought to life by Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried.
Jennifer’s Body is an electrifying teen horror film filled with sardonic wit and some genuinely disturbing scenes. Megan Fox delivers a standout performance as Jennifer, who oscillates between the role of a high school seductress and a demonic predator.
Beyond the blood and terror, the movie deeply probes the complexities of female bonds, societal expectations placed on young women, and the perilous territory of male predation.
What caught me off guard was the film's humor quotient. One scene early in the film unfolds with Jennifer, blood-smeared and ravenous, tearing into a rotisserie chicken, only for Seyfried's character to whisper, “My mom got that from Boston Market.” It's these unexpected gems that elevate the experience.
Drawing parallels with The Thing, Jennifer’s Body bombed at the box office and got shredded by critics, only to later secure its rightful place as a celebrated cult classic that have garnered the appreciation it deserves.
Comment your thoughts below. Want to follow along? Here’s the rest of the Spooky Movie Schedule, this week we get a William Peter Blatty double feature.
Oct 25 - The Ninth Configuration (1980) and The Exorcist III (1990)
Nov 1 - Don’t Look Now (1973) and Trick 'r Treat (2007)
The Sampha is good! And it’s been a long wait since his last one...