Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Vol. 1
An eclectic mix from Lucinda Williams, Sean Imboden, The Roches, and Prewn.
This post feels like it could evolve into a regular feature, hence the “Volume 1” in the headline. Of course, it’s a cliché. As a writer, I try to avoid those, but they can be a useful starting point or framework.
I have a large record collection–around 1,400 LPs. It paid to be the only record collector in the family over the last 15 years, nearly half my records were inherited for free. The rest of my collection consists mostly of contemporary records I’ve purchased since 2010.
When I started collecting, vinyl was a relatively affordable habit. A new record was 16 or 17 bucks, not much more than the going rate of a CD. These days, due to high demand and manufacturing shortages , a new, hi-fi pressing will run you 25 bucks or more. Other than Jack White and Third Man Pressing, who would’ve guessed the wise financial move 15 or 20 years ago was sinking tens of millions of dollars into German pressing equipment?
My Macbook doesn’t have a disc drive anymore. So, I’d need to buy an external CD reader, just to rip a CD from my mp3 archive–which has dwindled since I fried my previous laptop in mid-2020. I lost a lot of rare, Indiana music and several years worth of interviews from my time as a freelance writer. Though I published articles based on most of those interviews, each included a lot of unpublished material I still planned to do something with. It would’ve been a fun treasure trove to pick for this newsletter.
This digression on formats does more than appease my grandiose writing style. It introduces Lucinda Williams.
Something Old: Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Late last year, I purchased Lucinda Williams’s 1998 record Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, which I didn’t realize until I picked it up, was its first vinyl pressing. This is unsurprising, given the timing of the initial release. Car Wheels arrived just in time for the last gasp of the pre-digital music industry. No Napster, no streaming, and very little vinyl–at that point as relevant as a dinosaur. The big box stores were selling CDs with reckless abandon in 1998. Cher’s Believe has since sold more than 20 million copies. So did The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Brandy’s Never Say Never sold north of 15 million copies. Madonna sold more than 14 million copies of her electronic-infused reinvention record, Ray of Light. To say it was a good year for women on the pop charts is an understatement.
This was not an inexpensive record to birth. A lot of heavy hitters had their fingerprints on Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. According to Jenn Pelly’s admirable 2018 Sunday Review for Pitchfork, it was recorded twice between 1995 and 1997. First, with Williams’s longtime guitarist Gurf Morlix at the helm, then produced by Steve Earle, before it was finished in Los Angeles by E Street Band keyboardist, Roy Bittan.
If you’re going to record a masterpiece, you might as well take the time to get it right.
Though vinyl may never have been the intended medium for this record, Williams’s dry, Louisiana drawal feels like it was waiting for this format. The warmth the pressing provides feels like the pillow that was meant to serve as the final resting place for these songs. If your parents weren’t hip enough to grab a CD in 1998 and they still own a turntable, buy them a copy of the reissue and thank me later. At 45, Williams was operating at the height of her poetic prowess–nary a wasted syllable. Watch her performance of the record’s title track from Austin City Limits in December of ‘98 for evidence.
Something New: Sean Imboden - A Dreamer’s Journey
There are lots of overlooked aspects of Indianapolis, but the consistency of our storied jazz scene may be our most under-appreciated. Thanks to the work of WFYI’s Kyle Long on Echoes of Indiana Avenue, those stories are finally receiving the coverage they deserve. Though we’re better known as the home of Wes Montgomery, J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard, Leroy Carr, and Scrapper Blackwell, our current jazz musicians remain a vital part of Indianapolis.
For years, Sean Imboden has been an integral piece of that scene. Best known as saxophonist of The Tucker Brothers–named for bassist Nick and guitarist Joel. Imboden also teaches at Butler University, he has played on national Broadway tours, and worked as a sideman for up-and-coming musicians like Aretha Franklin and Johnny Mathis. The man has serious chops. He’s one of the few Indy jazz players who regularly presents big band music outside of an academic setting as the longtime leader of the Sean Imboden Large Ensemble, a 17-piece band that will release its debut record next April.
Though I don’t make it to the Chatterbox for The Tucker Brothers’ Wednesday set as often as I’d like, I’ve always wondered what a smaller Imboden-led project may sound like. With A Dreamer’s Journey, we get to find out. The Tucker brothers appear here, along with a who’s who of local players: Cassius Goens on drums, Steve Allee on keys, and John Raymond on trumpet and flugelhorn. Recorded in early 2023 in Bloomington at Primary Sound Studios, there’s nothing dated or stuffy here, especially for a record laid down at a 100 year-old church.
Imboden and his comrades find plenty of room to stretch out and assert themselves across just six tracks, none of which clock under seven minutes. I recommend starting with the frenetic pace of “Free Spirit,” and then stick around for everything else this record has to offer.
Further Reading: Sean Imboden Large Ensemble moves toward milestone of spreading the word by Jay Harvey
Something Borrowed: The Roches - Self-titled
Even though my record collection is a central part of my life, I try not to be too precious about it. If we’re close, I’m happy to share the wealth. Usually, this comes in the form of a swap with people whose taste I trust and appreciate. One of the few people I trade records with is my next door neighbor, Jeremy. A while back, he brought over a self-titled record by a group of sisters called The Roches.
There are plenty of great records. The Roches is a perfect record–especially the first side. The lyrics will leave you laughing out loud. The harmonies are sonically perfect. The record was produced in 1979 by Robert Fripp, better known as the founder and longest-running member of prog-rock masters, King Crimson. It’s a master class. This came shortly after The Roches were discovered by Paul Simon at an NYC songwriting class he led.
This record has been a favorite of my three year-old son’s since I introduced it to him. He only needs to hear the first few bars of album opener, “We,” before he quickly proclaims, “This is The Roches!” His recognition fills me with immense joy. After reluctantly returning my neighbor’s copy of The Roches, I knew I needed my own. I picked up a cheap copy on Discogs. However, Real Gone Music Gave The Roches a 45th anniversary treatment, limited to 1,000 copies, on Record Store Day in April.
Further Reading: And Then There Were Two: Remembering Maggie Roche by Jim Sullivan
Something Blue: Prewn - Through The Window
Some of the best vocals I heard last year belonged to Izzy Hagerup, the lead singer of Northampton, Massachusetts band, Prewn. For a debut, Through The Window entered the world fully formed, self-assured, and impossible to ignore. That likely stems from the fact that Hagerup had been toying with these songs for close to a decade by the time they were released. The Pandemic finally presented the opportunity she had been waiting for, ample lockdown time to record at New York’s Marcata Recording, an analog studio led by Kevin McMahon (Pile, Swans, The Walkmen).
After one listen, I immediately purchased a copy of Through The Window on cassette, the only physical format that was available at the time of its release last August. Later this month, Prewn Exploding In Sound will reissue the record on blue vinyl. I’ll always cherish the original tape, but I can’t wait to hear this LP on my turntable when it drops just after my birthday on August 25. Just try to listen to “But I Want More” without every hair on the back of your neck standing firmly at attention.
Further Reading: Artist Spotlight: Prewn via Our Culture Magazine