The Vinyl District
February 4, 2021
Part one of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases presently in stores for February 2021.
NEW RELEASE PICKS: Douglas Lee,
Themes for Falling Down Stairs (Self-released) This album, available on 180gm vinyl, CD, cassette and digital, was released back in October, but it just recently entered my consciousness, and since the entrance was an impressive one, here we are and here it is. This looks to be Lee’s first record, but it’s obvious he’s accumulated experience along the way, as the compositions are his, and he plays a variety of (often unusual) instruments together with leading a large band that’s immersed in a neo-lounge jazz/ soundtrack mode (of a sort) that’s a bit like a puree of Henry Mancini, Nino Rota, Combustible Edison, and Angelo Badalamenti, with Mike Patton and John Zorn giving slow nods of approval from the sidelines. This batch of references will hopefully establish that Lee’s approach is off-kilter, but it never becomes overly wacked or too retro (the lack of vocals doth help in this regard). This is to say, Lee and co-producer Michael Rozon (of Ministry) are consistently restrained here, the better to focus on the strength of the songwriting and breadth of the instrumentation.