John Farnham - Break the Ice

No Doing Justice blog would be complete without this over-the-top 80's tune, taken from the movie RAD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP3xY3iYY1E

The End of Justice

I'm sad to announce Justice Records has closed on september 25th 2011. We will no longer be making posts of reviewed vinyl records that were available there. Instead I'll be posting reviews of other things that pop up. RIP Justice Records.

King Crimson - Lizard

Nobody on earth knows what the fuck Peter Sinfield is writing about. Or what Robert Fripp has in his head. And apparently Gordon Haskell didn't know either. The third full length album from King Crimson doesn't sound as jazzy as Wikipedia says although the moments are there. The first track sounds at first like a child's nightmare is about to begin, with it flowing into a beautiful piece. Haskell's vocals seem not so much out of place but just simply different to the music, owing to the fact this is the only album he's on. His distorted vocals on the next two tracks were very interesting to which I did enjoy. The last piece on side A is quiet and tranquil. Not one for the car. Side B holds the true to form prog rock epic (and title) track with Jon Anderson of Yes making an appearance. Rupert awakes to find the never ending mellotron note. Morning coffee was washed down with a bolero trying to sound like jazz, or jazz trying to sound like bolero. Either way, Carl Palmer wasn't behind the kit.

Rocky IV at 45

A customer here has been rediscovering albums by playing records back at 45 speed. The best one that turned out was the Rocky IV soundtrack.

This is funny as hell when played back at this speed. The voices are not too much "chipmunky" but its still up there. The speed however takes the ballads of the album and makes them a ton better. "Eye of the tiger" has a bit more urgency than its normal 33rpm version. James Brown sounds even more ridiculous at higher speeds.

The highlight is the two instrumentals, the War track and the Training montage. For some reason the higher speed makes them kick ass even more. I would imagine lack of vocals helps with this, but if anything, you'll get to the victory music in half the time.

Kitty Kalen - Little Things Mean A Lot

I was flipping through some stacks and this cover made me jump it was so creepy. Like she's either wearing a plastic mask or a real life version of Lady Elaine from the neighborhood of make-believe. So we'll give this a shot.

This is on Vocalion records and I can't find a year on it anywhere. It looks very mid sixties, with an orchestra directed by Jack Pleis.

The sound? Typical wistful pop music of the era. It actually reminds me of the crooner songs on "the wizard of oz". A girl singing about longing for love in every song backed with a slow orchestra strings and horns. Your grandmother would love this stuff.

Crows Foot

A Florida band that played here before. Decent two person hardcore band with a female singer.

Universe - Yesterday's New Quintet.

Charlie pulled this one out. Jazzy stuff, sounds like it was made on a sampler. Reminds us of the stuff that used to play when we went into our old record store New Moon. They would always have some jazzy stuff playing on the stereo (if it didn't come from WCMU.)

Rainy Day

Its raining out today, and the second track of Robert Plants "Pictures at Eleven" suit the mood quite well, however most of the vinyl was shot. Charlie also wanted to hear Cameo, Shaun Phillips, & Loverboy. Poor Charlie.

Also across the street on the east side of mission a silver Mitsubishi SUV has been parked and a guy has been working on the engine. I wonder if he'll make it out today?

The Fixx - Phantoms

Same record as the cover below. This band is famous for the 80's hit "One Thing Leads to Another".

This appears and sounds to be a typical 80's new wave record, complete with jangly guitars and uninspired synth sounds. What sounds like a boring record might fit perfectly to anyone's new wave collection.

Most Requested Organ Favorites

From RCA Camden records, 1963.

I put this on expecting good powerful Bach-type organ music. Its not. Made the store sound like a carnival ride with the wobbly organ sound. No monkey begging for change though.

Covers 1

Also I am going to throw on here kick-ass album covers that I've come across.




This is the cover to Peter Gabriel's second solo album, commonly called "scratch". I love Hipnosis covers and this is no exception.




Digging through the crates this cover from The Fixx stood out.

Roy Buchanan - Loading Zone

For the first review, Roy Buchanan's "Loading Zone" goes on the table. I found this sifting through a crate under one of the main tables and had to listen just to hear the telecaster on the front play. As it turned out, it was a very decent record.

Recorded in march of 77 at Electric Lady studios, it is a bit hard to define just what style he's putting across, but that does not rob from the music. Seven of the nine tracks are instrumentals, with Steve Cropper appearing on a few tracks for both lead and rhythm guitar giving the record more of a Booker T feel.

The opening track is a nice mid-paced upbeat instrumental, giving a taste of the variety of the record. "Ramon's Blues" is a good Chicago-blues style, nice and slow.
"Adventures of Brer Rabbit & Tar Baby" would be recognized in the ...Hotel 6 commercials? The one where they will leave the light on for you.

Very good record imo.

Under The Spell of Vinyl

Welcome to Doing Them Justice, an album review blog I started to write about the records that come into the store. The genre's will be vast and many vintage records will be reviewed on here, so enjoy and hopefully you'll find this helpful.

Justice Records 614 n Mission rd, Mt Pleasant MI 48858