VMP Magazine

Daniele Luppi's MILANO is one of the strangest records you'll hear this year. It's also one of the best. Here in the U.S., Luppi is mostly known as the Italian composer behind Rome, the spaghetti-western homage he recorded in 2011 with Danger Mouse, Jack White and Norah Jones. MILANO takes that album's off-the-wall grandeur and makes it look positively tame.

The 50 Best Record Stores In America is an essay series where we attempt to find the best record store in every state. These aren’t necessarily the record stores with the best prices or the deepest selection; you can use Yelp for that. Each record store featured has a story that goes beyond what’s on its shelves; these stores have history, foster a sense of community and mean something to the people who frequent them.

It starts with a shimmy of percussion, somewhere between a shuffle and a country swing. Then the other instruments—organ, harpsichord, guitar—join the eerie dance. “Hello,” a voice beckons. A question: “Would you cry / If I lied, told a tale?” A tease: “Oh, but your wish is my command…”

“Wedding Bell” is an irresistible invitation to Beach House’s second album. “It’s playful,” is how Victoria Legrand, the Baltimore duo’s singer, lyricist and keyboardist, puts it. “There’s a twinge of lovers playing a game. Or one person playing a game in their own mind, and the other person has no idea.”