LWA Blog

Welcome back to Record of the Week. The rhythm is back after a much-needed holiday. This week, the Randomizer gives us a slice of country/americana goodness in the form of Ashley Ray's 2020 debut album, Pauline. This is the record that's on my turntable this morning.  This album was a lockdown find, it came out at the end of the summer in 2020. The album starts off with a voice message from her mother who is talking about Ashley's grandma, Paulina, and the song goes on to detail how Ashley inherited a lot of her grandmother's characteristics. Pretty cool way to...

Welcome to the imaginatively-titled Record of the Week, we're back from holiday and ready to get back to it. While we were gone, the Randomizer picked out Lykke Li's 2011 album, Wounded Rhymes. This 10th anniversary release is spinning on my turntable today.  My first encounter with Lykke Li was in 2008, on the Swedish Pop Girls tour, when she toured with El Perro del Mar and Anna Ternheim. At the time, I didn't know of her (or Anna Ternheim). I loved El Perro del Mar (that first album is still magnificent) and I wanted to see her. Someone told...

This week's Record of the Week, courtesy of the Randomizer, is Rush's 1981 release, Moving Pictures. This excellent 2019 reissue is what's on my turntable this morning.  What to say, what to say, what to say. These guys have helped soundtrack my journey for a very long time. I still remember the day me and Jim S. were hanging out, riding bikes. We were about 12 or 13, in junior high school. We ended up at his house and he says let's listen to some of my brother's records. He disappears for a moment and returns with an armful. The first...

Welcome to the long (Memorial Day) weekend edition of Record of the Week. This week's album (brought to you by the Randomizer, of course) is iamamiwhoami's 2012 release, Kin. This version is the one on my turntable this morning.  If you're unfamiliar with iamamiwhoami, this album is a trip. It's electronic and it walks a line between experimental and accessible pop, while dipping into ambient at times. I found out about it just before it released, via the series of videos that were dropped every couple weeks leading up to the album. It was totally cryptic, nobody knew the identity of the...

Welcome to this week's edition of Record of the Week. Somehow, we're out here still rollin' along. This week, the Randomizer serves up a 1981 classic, The Police's Ghost in the Machine. This is the copy that's on my turntable as I'm typing this out. I picked this up for $7 during lockdown when I decided to make it my mission to get all the Police records for less than $10/each. I only remember because the sticker is still on it. So, yeah, shout out to Econo Jam Records in Oakland who played a big role in completing my mission. They...