I return to you folk with more tales of my foolish expenditures. Why continue to spin the hamster wheel each week if not to earn enough scratch to waste on the most inconvenient way to consume music? I'm gonna share a few of my recent cops from online record purchasing (as I live in the heart of a southern swamp that is literally 195 miles from the nearest record emporium).
With all that out of the way, I present these to you, the curious reader. Don't forget to shower me in social medias and upvotes and hearts. Additionally, please respond in the comments if you know of some hot new music I should be wasting money on. Daddy is sick and needs his medicine.
Bill Withers: Live at Carnegie Hall
2014 issue on 2XLP at 45RPM via Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs
I can't get enough of Bill Withers. One of the greatest pop songwriters of all time, Withers is responsible for an endless amount of good vibes. On this particular LP we get a recording of a show back in 1972 that had not been widely available since the 1970s (though it saw a CD issue in the mid-1990s). Dutch label Music on Vinyl took a stab at this one in 2013 with reportedly fantastic results, but being a big Bill fan, I had to have this on Mobile Fidelity when I heard about it. While it didn't go out of print following its 2014 release, it has been hard to find and too expensive on the secondhand market. A recent repressing has put some stock back on shelves and I made sure not to miss it this time.
The Cranberries – Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
2017 issue on Analog Spark
This is a record I didn't care much for when it came out during my younger days, but came to appreciate in later years. After reading about this all-analog reissue from Analog Spark, I wanted to pick this one up, but wasn't willing to pay big bucks. Thanks to those jabrones at Target and their BOGO deal from last week, I was able to grab this wonderful pressing for under $20. Too bad they didn't let that sale linger.
Iggy Pop - The idiot
2017 issue on Virgin/UME Back to Black Series
I'm a monster fan of David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy. Naturally, I'm also super-fond of the records he made with Iggy Pop around this time, particularly Lust for Life and I'm an Idiot. This reissue of Idiot comes from Europe and is reportedly the only solid reissue available (some labels are selling crappy CD-sourced pressings). It was less than $15 and it has Nightclubbing on it, of course I was gonna grab this.
Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw & The Cooked
2021 issue on white wax via London Records (30th anniversary)
This Fine Young Cannibals LP is loaded with bangers. Their mix of 80's beats with classic R&B song stylings won me over instantly as a youngin'. I have a wonderful first-pressing of this already, but was glad to see it get the reissue treatment, even though I'm 85% sure this white vinyl pressing may not be very quiet (I've not had good luck with solid white LPs). Still, the jacket on this issue is a big upgrade over my original. True story, this is the record I put on when ThomW comes over and we hold hands.
Prince and The Revolution - Purple Rain
2017 issue on Warner Bros./NRG
"Crabs, you basic bitch. Everyone has this," you're thinking. You'd be right. I have a pair of original copies, but they are beat up and noisy. I assume being Prince records that the previous owners have sprayed them with man ranch and girl gravy, so I figured I'd give the recent reissue a spin. It is mastered by the wonderful Kevin Gray and it was under $15 thanks to the previously mentioned Target sale. Now I have a clean-ass copy I can batch to. RIP Sweet Prince Prince
Velvert Tuner Group - Velvert Turner Group
2019 issue on pink wax via ORG (Record Store Day edition)
I get mega-wet for classic hard psych-blues. This semi-obscure gem fits into that description wonderfully. The legend goes that Jimi Hendrix met young Velvert Turner in the late 60's, took him under his wing, and taught him the secrets of guitar. After jimi passed, Turner released this LP (his only album) in mid-1972. It sounds a lot like Hendrix impersonation right down to the vocal stylings, though a very good one. It remained out of print for 40 years until ORG offered up a new version for Record Store Day 2019 on pink wax. The original pressing came in two variants, "Soul Mix" and "Rock Mix". The "Rock Mix" was the other version with additional distorted guitar licks overdubbed. This new version is the "Soul Mix", though I hope we get a new issue of the heavier version so I don't have to pay $200+ for it. Why do I do this to myself?
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2019 issue on 2XLP red marble wax via Interscope/Vinyl Me Please
Probably my all-time favorite album, I really needed to have this. I've been unable to convince myself to pay $350+ for an original pressing over the years, so when I heard it was finally being reissued, I was elated. When I learned that the job was being handled by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman mastering and the packaging was being given the deluxe treatment at VMP? I busted, I won't lie. The CD original for this album is notoriously brickwalled and the vinyl version is so much more dynamic and punchy (which is wild considering the music on this album hits you like a sledgehammer to the face anyway). I ended up paying a scalper for this because dealing with VMP directly is a nightmare and they don't offer exchanges for stuff busted in shipping (which happens constantly with their crap packaging) or warped LPs. Now I want to buy it again so I don't have to open this copy. Again, why do I do this to myself?
Anyway, thanks for stopping by for my livejournal and I hope to see you next time when I share more dumb shit that I shouldn't have bought!
