Used-Bin Bargains: Innervisions, I Love You

I saw Califone on friday night at the Hideout, probably my favorite Chicago venue (Empty Bottle is very close behind, but the Hideout only holds 200 people and just has a cool ambiance to it), and they were amazing. You're jealous.

Go Bears!




Stevie Wonder - Too High (Motown 1973)

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions / Motown

Following Stevie Wonder’s (all grown up, not-little Stevie) mammoth year of ’72 with hit-makers Music of My Mind and Talking Book, his view turned overtly social, putting unsettling observations, or maybe aural-vations, to wax for ‘73’s genius Innervisions. Applying his ever-perfecting soul-funk charts to his completely unparalleled songwriting abilities, Stevie tackled drugs, spirituality, political ethics and the uphill battle of Black urbanites with grace and humility in which, if not already by this point, deemed him a truly brilliant storyteller. His growing penchant for a barrage of synthesizers and jazzy drums back the confident, octave-leaping, character-impersonating, often multi-layered voice quite possibly at the peak of his long career. Every one of the 9 songs is an instant classic, though only two really had some success as singles with Stevie opting for making a statement rather than making crowd-pleasing chart-toppers. For a blind man, Stevie seemed to have the clearest vision of any artist of the time, realizing the failed 60’s dream and the resulting chaotic early 70s and being able to manifest his thoughts into truly moving 45-minutes of music. Genius, genius, genius, genius. Easily my favorite album ever.






The Zombies - Is This the Dream (Varèse Sarabande 2004, originally Parrot 1966)

The Zombies – I Love You / Varèse Sarabande

The Zombies crashed on the scene in 1964 with the single ‘She’s Not There’ rivaling only The Beatles and The Beach Boys in genius pop melodies and complex musicianship. While their contemporaries went on to easily dominate the charts until the early 70s, Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent and company were consistently overlooked by the mass populous. The all-knowing minds of Decca refused to issue a second album by the band because lack of high-charting singles, yet in 1966 they released a compilation of singles in Europe and Japan only. Of course, The Zombies opted to go with CBS in 1967 and the amazing Odessey and Oracle was created. This rare compilation of Decca/Parrot singles released between 1964-67 was made available in the US for the first time in 2004. These pre-“whose your daddy” Zombies songs are no less astonishing than O&O with their combination of pop, rock, psychedelia and jazz. Highlights include the minimal bliss of ‘The Way I Feel Inside’ (which you probably know from Wes Anderson’s Life Aquatic), the true single mix of Oldies radio staple 'Goin’ Out of My Head' (I heart Oldies radio so much) and the lively ‘Is This the Dream,’ which I can guarantee you had a significant impact on the Tropicalia kids of 1969. Challenging pop-rock, ridiculous harmonies and those killer Argent organ solos, what else could you want?