Wax of the Week #57...Arthur Lyman: Paradise (1964)

Another solid entry of ultra-mellow exotica; you can smell the salty air and feel the tradewinds on your skin.

Wax of the Week #56...Aeoliah: Angel Love LP (1985)

Don’t brun your ass in pubix, bro, put on some new age and mellow out. Or pretend you’re getting a massage. Two side long (synth?) pieces that, at times, catch a whiff of later Krautrock like Tangerine Dream or Popul Vuh (Aeoliah/Jonathan Fairchild was born in Germany, after all). Sticky note by Will Louviere. Wanna buy some sage?

Wax of the Week #55...Arthur Lyman: The Colorful Percussions of Arthur Lyman (1962)

Not one of his better ones (pretty dull throughout), but it has a couple of OK songs still. And check out the interlocking type on the cover.

Wax of the Week #54...Aerosmith: s/t (1973)

Real basic blues rock for the most part, with a couple of good songs (including an infectious cover of Rufus Thomas’ “Walkin’ the Dog”) plus “Dream On,” which I really don’t ever need to hear again. Portuguese Joe Perry lookin’ like an Indian chief on the cover, Tyler looking closer to his Yonkers Italian roots. All look like longhair degenerates up to no good. Interesting to hear where they started, and how simple the songwriting was.

Wax of the Week #53...Alberto Baldan Bembo: Io e Mara (1969)

I usually avoid vinyl reissues, but seeing as an OG goes for several hundred dollars I figured I’d better grab this 1998 pressing from the reliable Easy Tempo label. Apparently a soundtrack to an Italian TV program, it’s a nice little product of the time, a dreamy, melancholy bit of easy listening jazz with those wonderful Euro wordless vocals. Bembo also composed the soundtracks for NUDE FOR SATAN (1974), EMANUELLE IN EGYPT (1976), THE GESTAPO’S LAST ORGY (1977), and (as Blue Marvin) the 1974 soundtrack to Codice d’Amore Orientale which I’m still trying to get a copy of.

Wax of the Week #52...Accept: Metal Heart (1985)

Their sixth full-length. This one reminds me of Devil’s Kitchen parties the summer after it was released. Danny W. and Scott M. were big into this record (and the first Queensrÿche LP). Crystal clear Dieter Dierks production. Never understood why fans of the earlier records talked shit about this one, I always liked it. I guess it’s a bit more “commercial” in places, but it didn’t seem crowbarred in, rather more natural and organic. They still had some heavy riffs. Love the Tchaikovsky appropriation in the title song.