In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, we took a spin through releases from Bohren, a Baron, I Heart Lung, and PPM Records. This week, 65 inches of vinyl are explored. Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Sunn O)))
Title: Monoliths & Dimensions
Label: Southern Lord (Thai Town)
Format: 2LP on 180-gram vinyl, vellum dust jacket, heavy card stock gatefold, metallic gold tip-on inner panel, printed jacket sleeves, plus lyric book/poster, 6000 pressed

In a word: Hefty. You've seen the details of the physical release, now know what lies inside. On Sunn O)))'s latest LP, Monoliths & Dimensions, the ambient (etc.) metal legends build their magnum opus -- what's essentially a classically arranged piece of doom music where, as the liner notes strongly suggest, "maximum volume yields maximum results." With Hungarian death viking Attila Csihar on vocal duty throughout, these four songs -- one per side -- wrangle immense loads of talent to do their dark bidding.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, we checked out releases from Best Coast, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Lustmord and Bipolar Bear. This week? A total of 48 inches are explored. Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: High Places / Soft Circle
Title: Split 12 Inch
Label: Post Present Medium (Hollywood)
Format: split 12-inch (+ download), 1000 pressed

With due respect to Dean Spunt's excellent label, we've grown weary of waiting for a new release from PPM. The time that's passed following the arrival of the White Shit 10-inch has sent us back to our crates, an act which thankfully turned up this sorely overlooked split from two groove-steeped projects. Recently relocated to L.A., Brooklyn duo High Places delivers an 11-minute track that opens with choral reverb then sprinkles electronic flourishes into the mix as the steady, jangle-happy beat blows forth. On the flip, NYC's Soft Circle, a.k.a. Hisham Bharoocha, does a bang-up job living up to the label's description of two long-players that fall "between ESG on acid and Ravi Shankar if he produced club tracks." The first, "Light Bright," is easy and organic, while "Don't Just Stand There" is an aggressive, hypnotic rhythm feast of the !!! variety. Like Ibiza with a soul.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, we took a spin through favorites by Avi Buffalo, Koushik, Psychic Powers and Nerve City. This time: 38 inches of gritty rockwise glory. Email INCHES here.

Heather Bleemers

​Artist: Best Coast
Title: "When I'm With You" b/w "This Is Real"
Label: Black Iris (Echo Park)
Format: 7-inch, 596 pressed

There was a moment when Bethany Cosentino turned her back on what we all know as the best coast. After splitting from Eagle Rock-based drone crew Pocahaunted, she split town entirely for a new life in New York City. Lucky for us, she found he way back, because in April, she with the following news via MySpace:

so i am back in california, and i thought what could be more fitting than to record a bunch of songs about summer and the sun and the ocean and being a lazy creep? so this is what i'm doing. [...] my bff bobb bruno has been crazy at work adding drums, beach boys bass lines, and other amazing things. [...] i'm really fucking excited about this and i hope that every11111 likes it and can make out to it on a beach blanket this summer.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, we reviewed the monstrous Secondhand Sureshots project, among others. This week, we cover 36 inches all told. Submissions? Suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Avi Buffalo
Title: "What's In It For?" / "Jessica"
Label: Sub Pop (Seattle)
Format: 7-inch (+ download), transluscent red marble, 1700 pressed

Avi Buffalo has had a good year to say the least. After rising to the top of the pack in its native Long Beach, the quartet led by Avi Zahner-Isenberg completed a highly touted residency at The Echo, went on tour with Beach House, and inked a deal with Seattle mega-indie Sub Pop -- all before Zahner-Isenberg hit the ripe old age of 19. This 7-inch is the band's first official release -- ever -- and features the inescapable "What's In It For?," a pretty wonderful slice of free-wheeling folk-pop. Zahner-Isenberg's clever love-obsessed lyrics and gorgeous guitarplay are well-complimented by howling harmonies, acoustic jangle and rolling bass -- proof that Avi songs sound just as fresh coming out of the studio as they do the frontman's bedroom. But even if you've heard this one enough to take its eccentricities for granted, the organ-borne "Jessica" is a reminder of the imperfect bliss found in the catchy, scratchy demos that first put Avi Buffalo on our radar.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, we took a spin through Woodstock, Krautrock, and hip-hop. This week, well, read on. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: various
Title: Secondhand Sureshots Deluxe Super Set
Label: Dublab / Stones Throw (Mt. Washington)
Format: 12-inch EP (+ documentary DVD, 2 unique slipmats, golden ticket) on picture disc, hand-screened vintage gatefold record sleeve, 500 pressed

At the risk of fanning out, it's hard to imagine a cooler release (both in concept and physical product) than this project executed by Dublab with assistance from Stones Throw. Four L.A.-based beat-makers, each with his own inimitible style, were sent into local thrift shops in search of five used records (apiece) that they'd subsequently use to craft four brand new songs. Cameras documented the entire process, and the results, both visual and audio, are presented here in grand fashion. In order to give the content a fitting release, Dublab's minions went back to the bargain bins to find 500 old gatefold jackets -- "rescued," redesigned by screen-print posse Hit + Run, and repurposed to house a beautiful, heavy-vinyl picture-disc. The A-side graphic is a kaleidoscopic image digitally collaged using the covers of the records sampled in the first place, while the B-side features a photo of 100 or so worn jacket spines. Vinyl geekery abounds.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, we took a spin through some hypnogogic ladies and grooved with a guitar legend. This week... well, read on. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf
Title: "Raquel"
Label: Swamper / Radish (Mt. Washington)
Format: 7-inch, 500 pressed

So we're well aware that INCHES has been featuring the hell out of Stones Throw's one-off micro-label 7-inch series (last week's column included the Nite Jewel 45 on "1984 Records"), but it's not for lack of other options -- we really just can't get enough. Here's the party line on this one: "This 3-song 7-inch joint venture between Swamper Records and Radish Records was done without [...] permission. [...] As part of the out-of-court settlement, Stones Throw received all 60 remaining copies of this. Or maybe it was 600. Who remembers or cares?" Well, we all should, as the A-side contains the first two demos label founder Peanut Butter Wolf ever cut with his late, great partner in rhyme, Charizma. As these funky breaks and effortlessly smooth raps reveal, the pair was on its way to becoming another 1993 Bay Area underground success story when Charizma was tragically murdered. The B-side freestyle jam, "Peanut Butter Wolf Scratch" offers an open-ended up-note to fade out on.

Download: Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - "Raquel" (MP3)
Bonus: Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - KZSU Interview, 1992 (MP3)

Purchase at your local independent record vendor (INCHES recommends Origami or Vacation), or right now via the Stones Throw web store.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last week, we took a trip northward to cover releases by Lazer Sword, Themselves and more. This week, we return to L.A. to cover some impressive hometown hero ish. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Slang Chickens
Title: Slang Chickens
Label: Psychedelic Judaism (Echo Park)
Format: LP (+ download), translucent blue vinyl, burlap jacket, 550 pressed

Local quartet Slang Chickens may have just celebrated its first anniversary as a band, but its debut album showcases a group that's honed a disparate set of influences into a cohesive, extremely promising whole. The Chickens' eponymous LP opens with "Tropics" (download it below), where southern-tinged harmonies and downright purty acoustic strumming merge seamlessly with garage rock grind and punk pacing. "Blues (Dripping Down My Leg)" combines lapsteel guitar, grungy vocals and a country amble (plus a trumpet solo), while "Parasited Out" sounds like The Strokes sped up -- until, that is, it morphs into a halftime crawl through jangle and feedback. New band, new ideas, new label. Slang Chickens play at Unknown Theater this Saturday. Show your support by dressing in burlap.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Check out past installments here. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Lazer Sword
Title: "Gucci Sweatshirt"
Label: Innovative Leisure (Mt. Washington)
Format: 12-inch single, 500 pressed

The evil geniuses that comprise Lazer Sword -- San Francisco's Low Limit and New York's Lando Kal -- should be given some kind of award. Okay, so they have (last month they took home the best dance/electronic prize in SF Weekly's annual Music Awards), but "Gucci Sweatshirt" is something else -- never has something so presumably warm and fluffy been rendered in such cold, dark and spiky terms. The single -- originally recorded in 2007 but unavailable on vinyl until now -- weaves its nasty, dubby electronics through a soundscape that resembles a Nine Inch Nails instrumental mapped to a fritzy circuit board. It's then significantly reimagined by Lazer Sword itself (in a chopped-up four-on-the-floor electro remix) and Neon Black, who turns the track into an acid house playground. A new bass-damaged banger "Jet Black," wraps up the B-side, making this an essential platter for the duo's quickly growing fan base. Too bad there were only 500 made. Stream "Jet Black" after watching the Lunice pay his unique form of tribute to "Gucci Sweatshirt" (while wearing one!).

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Read past installments here. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: The Anasazis
Title: Introducing The Anasazis
Label: I Hate Rock N' Roll (Eagle Rock)
Format: 7-inch, 400 pressed (150 in white jacket)

On its MySpace profile, NYC by way of San Diego trio The Anasazis sites its influences as "nuggets, pebbles, and stuff like that," which is about right. The band's short songs (four fit onto this release) range from vintage-sounding psychedelic punk to vintage-sounding punky psychedelia, and that's not a problem. With no bass in the mix, singers/guitarists Chris Rosi and Chris Eck, accompanied by drummer Lucas Blankartz, carve out a tinny, slack-filled space where simple vocal harmonies and easy guitar solos reign supreme. A solid fourth release from young upstart label I Hate Rock N' Roll recommended if you like, well, Nuggets, Pebbles, and stuff like that.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Questions, submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Silversun Pickups
Title: Swoon Deluxe Package
Label: Dangerbird (Silver Lake)
Format: 180 gram 2LP (+ download), gatefold jacket, 12 x 12 lyric/photo booklet, T-shirt, lithograph of cover art, buttons, stickers, 3000 made

It's no surprise that Silversun Pickups has earned both the gravitas and fan base necessary to release something like this. Since its earliest days, the band was regarded as a leading light of the Silver Lake scene. Even on 2005's Pikul EP, SSPU's grungy pop music hinted at the existence of something grandly epic and, perhaps more importantly, it was actually sexy, a quality oft-overlooked in indie rock. "Understated yet filled with tension," to borrow the words of another, has become the band's MO over the years, and SSPU pushes that dynamic far as it can go on the excellent Swoon. Big arrangements flesh out these songs, but Brian Aubert's hissed vocals keep things low to the ground and, overall, consistently tasteful. Similarly, this deluxe package has all the bells and whistles, but was designed with an eye toward the archival rather than a quick cash-in.