VMP Magazine

For decades, Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music lay in wait.

From his earliest folk excursions to the experiments in digital synthesis on which he’d eventually make his name, he worked for most of his life in obscurity, chasing what excited him, transcribing songs that he felt drifted to him on what he’s dubbed the “Universal Broadcasting System.” This is the name he uses to describe the mysterious germination of ideas, which come, sometimes, as if from thin air. His music has taken many forms, and it has always bled outside the lines of genre, to which he’s held a lifelong ambivalence. What’s the use of putting music in a box if it’s too alive, too motile to stay there? Glenn-Copeland cross-pollinated disparate genres long before cross-pollination became standard practice for blockbuster pop and niche experiments alike.

DARKSIDE started with a bang, not a whimper. More literally, the joint musical project between Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington began with a small electrical fire in a hotel room. Jaar had just released Space Is Only Noise, his intricate, minimalist debut following a series of crackling, widely lauded singles, and was spending the summer of 2011 in Europe touring the record. On a day off in Berlin, Jaar and Harrington — a member of his live band at the time — decided to channel their excess creative energy into early sketches of a DARKSIDE song. Harrington plugged his guitar directly into a computer interface connected to some small external speakers. After a few hours of jamming, they had almost completed what would become DARKSIDE’s first song, “A1,” when their speakers exploded. Released two years after that initial spark, DARKSIDE’s debut album, Psychic, is a fitting manifestation of that smoke-filled room, a record that simmers with the hazy, slow-building textures of blues, psychedelic rock and dub-heavy electronica.

VMP is featuring Grizzly Bear’s third studio album, Veckatimest, as our October 2021 Essentials Record of the Month. The album launched the band into the mainstream, going so far as to eventually shape the way other genres evolved, too, an impact that’s further explained in the album’s Listening Notes .

This primer explores the band’s meaningful catalog, taking note of their sounds before and after the release of Veckatimest. Beginning with vocalist Ed Droste’s mostly solo album under the Grizzly Bear moniker, Horn of Plenty, and moving through their most recent 2017 album, Painted Ruins, walking through the band’s discography is a journey that puts their talents and unique music into perspective.

Photo by Tom Hines

Off the coast of Cape Cod lies a small uninhabited island called Veckatimest. The little island is covered with lush vegetation: soft wispy trees and tall grass, sand and pebbles. It is home to birds and bugs, to little fish that swim softly and serenely beneath the cool waters of the Monsod Bay. The island is a physical space, but for the band Grizzly Bear, it is also a state of mind. Veckatimest is the name of the band’s third full-length record, originally released in 2009 on Warp Records. It is a stunning piece of music, one that catapulted what was once frontman Ed Droste’s bedroom project into something far grander and more publicly lauded than the band could’ve ever imagined.

With the new year on the horizon, we’re giving you an advanced sneak peek at what’s coming in our VMP Essentials subscription for the next three months, not just what’s up next month. If you’re a member of VMP Essentials, or sign up now, here are the three records you’ll receive with a subscription in January, February, and March.

New Orleans’ resilience is thanks to its music. The rich culture of the city would not exist without its deep musical traditions, and its musical traditions are just as dependent on the makeup of the place. Its songs are a reflection of its heritage (African, Caribbean, Creole, French, Native American) as well as the sounds of its streets (second lines, Mardi Gras parades, regional dialects, buskers). It’s the birthplace of jazz, but the origins of R&B, rock ’n’ roll and funk can be found in the rhythms, swagger and heart of its people. Though New Orleans has just under 400,000 people, the musicians here have always punched above their weight. These artists are consistently at the cutting edge and consistently steeped in history. If you look, you can see a throughline from Louis Armstrong to Professor Longhair and Fats Domino, from Allen Toussaint and Dr. John to Trombone Shorty and Jon Batiste.

It all begins with a sigh.

On Usher’s fourth and unquestionably best studio album, the R&B singer sets the tone of the record before a word is ever spoken on his “Intro,” inviting the listener into an hour-long journey of vulnerability, joy, heartbreak and, somehow, redemption. For it is on this record that Usher uses a confession of infidelity — and subsequent pregnancy — to traverse the moral and emotional landscape of contemporary romance. It is uncomfortable subject matter for a listener more inclined to revel in the syrupy R&B of the past. But that is also what makes Confessions such a compelling record.

Our next three Essentials Records of the month — which you’ll receive if you sign up for VMP Essentials in October, November and December 2021 — see throwbacks in indie, R&B and funk. Read below to find out more:

“Shaolin shadowboxing and the Wu-Tang sword style.”

The iconic line is ubiquitous with 1983 revenge kung-fu film Shaolin and Wu-Tang and the opener of Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 genre-shifting rap album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). While late-’80s East Coast rap was brimming with Afrocentrism through the Native Tongues collective and the quintessential B-boy flair of Run-DMC, Wu-Tang Clan rose from the ether as a minatory, philosophical force hailing from Staten Island. Although 36 Chambers was just a decade apart from Shaolin and Wu-Tang, the cross-cultural impact of Wu-Tang Clan resounded through martial arts film samplings and homage to the Five Percenter teachings that ran rampant on New York hip-hop and mainstream airwaves alike.

VMP is honored to feature the first definitive vinyl release of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s masterpiece self-titled second album as our Essentials Record of the Month in August 2021.

VMP and Oda have worked, in their own ways, to share timeless music and elevate artists. In celebration of our August Essentials ROTM, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, we’re bringing our experiences and Oda’s technology together and giving VMP members access to a live performance by Glenn-Copeland. Read on to learn more about Oda, the partnership and the performance.

It started at the beach. A chance encounter so ingrained into boomer lore that it feels like a fable. Run the faded Kodachrome reel through your mind. The sun, a hothouse July rant bathing the Venice worshippers of Ra. Surf’s up. It’s 1965. The last and only time everything felt like paradise, at least if you were fortunate enough for that to even be a consideration.

The photo above is of Bruce Botnick with the band from Poppi Studios, February 10, 1971, during mix sessions for ‘L.A. Woman.’

For over a half-century, dropping the needle on The Doors’ monolithic self-titled debut has almost universally been followed by John Densmore’s bossa nova beat and Ray Manzarek’s piano bass bursting from the left channel, Robby Krieger’s skidding blues riff falling in from the right and Jim Morrison’s cocksure growl coming in front-and-center as the band invited curious minds to “Break On Through.” Though The Doors was originally released in both mono and stereo in the dawning of 1967, the album’s stereo mix came to be the definitive version as the songs settled into their vaunted place in the American musical canon. Despite the beloved album’s numerous reissues and reiterations through the years, vinyl releases of the mono mix have remained largely elusive, giving it a kind of shadowy, quasi-mythic status among fans and collectors.

As we ring in our 100th Essentials Records of the Month, you know we can’t help but get excited about our next 100. These are the albums you’ll receive if you sign up for VMP Essentials in April, May and June 2021. Read below to get the scoop:

In the 1950s, American sociologist Ruth Hill Useem coined the term “third culture kid.” Back then, it was intended as a descriptor for the children of Americans who had moved abroad. In the years since, however, the phrase has become more broadly used as an umbrella for the kids of migrants, caught in a tussle between the cultures of “home” and “host.”

Studies showed that those who fall within this group might struggle with forming their own cultural identity, which could lead to disorientation and low self-esteem. Indeed, former British Prime Minister Theresa May famously said in a speech at the Conservative Party Conference in 2016: “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere.”

But this isn’t exactly true: Third culture kids are often found to be especially adept at building relationships with other cultures. With a wide worldview, magpie-like, we pick out things that please us. We thread throughlines between our similarities, rather than exaggerating our differences, creating nests out of joyous hybrids and fusions.

Atlanta rappers Antwan “Big Boi” Patton and André “André 3000” Benjamin, best known as the Southern hip-hop duo OutKast, did not appear as disruptors of reality, or deities of pop culture on the cover of their fourth studio album, Stankonia. Big Boi, who stands with a lean, wears a plain white T-shirt, a diamond-encrusted ‘DF’ necklace, and the mug of a man who reveals nothing, not even his teeth. André, who stands upright, has no shirt, posing with his mouth slightly ajar, arms stretched forward, and fingers spread wide as if a pianist or puppeteer.

Behind them, in a monochrome shade of black and white, is an inverted American flag. Unlike the cover art for their 1998 third studio album, Aquemini, which reimagined the two rap stars as radiant mystics, Stankonia strips away vibrancy and comic book illustration for subtle imagery. The stillness of their stances fails to encapsulate how the 24-song, 74-minute magnum opus doesn’t stop moving. Every second detonates with explosive verses, earworm hooks, and barrier-breaking production. Undoubtedly, OutKast at their most extreme.

Britpop might be perceived as peaking during the years 1994-1995, but 1997 stands out as particularly auspicious for British bands releasing their legacy-making third albums. (No offense to Blur, who released their masterful and messy self-titled fifth album that same year.) The Verve released the sublime Urban Hymns while Oasis dropped the fun if overblown Be Here Now. But no date stands out like June 16, 1997. On that day, Radiohead released OK Computer into the world, while Spiritualized released Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. They both sounded like classics upon arrival, and the intervening decades have only borne that sonic truth out, though they took different routes to get there.

In September, VMP Essentials members will get the first-ever artist-approved vinyl reissue of Spiritualized’s 1997 album, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. Coming on exclusive 2-LP 180g Deep Space Blue vinyl, the lacquers were cut from original masters by Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering. The third album from former Spacemen 3 member Jason Pierce, Ladies and Gentlemen, is one of the best rock albums of the ’90s, a widescreen masterpiece that beat out albums like Radiohead’s OK Computer and the Verve’s Urban Hymns in the NME Awards as Best British Album of the Year.

In July, VMP Essentials members will receive an the exclusive first U.S. vinyl reissue of Buena Vista Social Club, the Grammy award-winning self-titled debut from the group Buena Vista Social Club. Featuring new lacquers cut by original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, and pressed on 180g brick red vinyl, the album belongs in every record collection. You can listen to a podcast interview with Ry Cooder about the album's creation, and everything else around it, here. Below, you can read why we picked this as our Essentials Record of the Month.

In May, Vinyl Me, Please Essentials members will receive a brand new reissue of Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna, coming on 180g blue and black galaxy vinyl, and remastered AAA from the original master tapes by Ryan Smith from Sterling Sound. The album was Stevie Nicks’ solo debut after years in Fleetwood Mac and Buckingham/Nicks, and features the still-sensational singles “Edge of Seventeen” and “Stop Dragging My Heart Around.” Read below for more details on why we picked this release.

In June/July, members of Vinyl Me, Please Essentials will receive an exclusive 20th anniversary edition of De Stijl, the sophomore album from The White Stripes. The album comes on splatter vinyl, and was pressed at Third Man Pressing in Detroit. It is delayed, due to COVID-19, but we can’t wait to share this pressing with you and Third Man. Here, you can read why we picked this album as our Essentials record.

In March, members of Vinyl Me, Please Essentials will receive Caroline Rose's Superstar, the brand new fourth LP from Caroline Rose. Coming on hot-pink vinyl and in a tip-on jacket, this is Caroline's strongest album to date, and the latest great album from one of the most beloved artists in Vinyl Me, Please headquarters. We'll have an extensive interview with Caroline running on the album's release date, but read here for more on why we picked this album.

In November, members of Vinyl Me, Please Essentials will receive an exclusive deluxe edition of Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf, a Record of the Month people have been asking about since we started as a company. Made in close collaboration with the Queens of the Stone Age, this new edition comes on colord vinyl, and is pressed at Pallas from new lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Read below for the details of our release. You can sign up to receive it here.

2001 was expected to be At The Drive-In’s breakout year. Following the release of Relationship of Command in 2000, the popularity of “One Armed Scissor” even led some to refer to the group as “the next Nirvana.” Although the group had announced an “indefinite hiatus” in February, it was clear that by the end of the year, Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala weren’t interested in getting the band back together for the foreseeable future. Instead, the pair wanted to further explore the experimental and progressive ideas they advocated for as part of At The Drive-In. And by the end of 2001, their new band, The Mars Volta, had already played a string of live performances, most notably a sold-out show at Los Angeles nightclub the Troubadour in November. Winona Ryder and Courtney Love were reportedly in attendance, as were fans earnestly — or tauntingly — hoping to hear the band’s founders, Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala, play “One Armed Scissor.”

Our next three Essentials Records of the month — which you’ll receive if you sign up for VMP Essentials in July, August and September 2021 — take you from prog rock to jazz-folk to hip-hop, and from the comatorium to 36 chambers. Read below to find out more:

A U.S. passport is among the strongest in the world, granting its citizens access to 185 countries without a visa. Yet the U.S. is also one of the most restrictive places for outsiders, holding a shameful history of exclusion and deportation, in addition to prohibitive immigration processes and outright travel bans. Customs are just another arm of government censorship, a reality the London-raised, Sri Lankan refugee Maya Arulpragasam had long lived and depicted in her music as M.I.A. prior to being prevented from entering the U.S. in 2006.

M.I.A. had called the U.S. home while touring the world in support of her critically acclaimed debut Arular. The record was named after her father, whose ties to political Tamil groups during the Sri Lankan Civil War would help define his daughter’s riotous artistic perspective, and then go on to prevent her from gaining a long-term work visa and subsequent reentry to the country when she tried to return. As a result, M.I.A. was boxed out of both her creative hub and residence in Brooklyn, missing out on the lavish opportunities that come from scoring big with a major label. If a few government officials had acted differently, M.I.A. might have been able to follow through on her intention to record much of her planned sophomore album with Timbaland. Then, she might have charted a path like both Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake as the producer’s muse and maestro, taking a more traditional road to fame in the process.

Instead, M.I.A. made Kala. Rather than wait for clearance to return to work in the U.S., she chose to embark on a globe-trotting free-range recording vacation across several regions and a dozen cities, incorporating the influences of a diverse pool of cultures. Many of these locales were not ones cited in tourist guides or by trip advisors, but rather what some unfortunately referred to as “third world” countries, the kinds ravaged by domestic conflict, economic depression or often both. She brought the residents she encountered directly into pop-up recording studios, keeping their unique musical styles and expressions largely unfiltered even as she weaved them together into her audio travelogue. The result is a vision of a borderless society, one defined by the margins of the world, from Aborginal Australian pre-teens to fishermen on the South Indian coast.