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Michael Jackson, Thriller, 1982 on Epic
I remember listening to this right when it came out. I was young enough to not yet know I was supposed to reject Michael as too popular or unclear and instead just loved the grooves and the videos. My copy isn’t one I’ve had since then – I don’t think I even had a turntable…
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The Isley Brothers, 3+3 featuring: That Lady, 1973 on T-Neck
The Isley Brothers is one of those bands i didn’t know well but have started to appreciate more as I collect vinyl – whenever i find a record of theirs in decent shape I just pick it up. Picked up this copy via a vinyl fair at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. In addition to…
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Nancy Sinatra, Boots, 1966 on Reprise.
Sinatra’s debut full-length on Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label, produced by Lee Hazlewood and arranged & conducted by Billy Strange. My copy is one of the Light in the Attic reissues – volume 2 in the Nancy Sinatra Archival Series – via Amazon, which adds an Amazon Music wrapper to the release. Very fond of the…
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Angel Olsen, Big Time, 2022 on Jagjaguwar.
I’ve long been a fan of Angel Olsen, going back to Burn Your Fire For No Witness in 2014. This release was a Secretly Society selection in June of 2022. Jonathan Wilson (who has also produced albums by Dawes, Mia Doi Todd , Bonnie Prince Billy, Billy Strings, and Father John Misty) produced, alongside Olsen.
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Billy Strings, Home, 2019 on Rounder Records
This was the 4th LP from Billy Strings (the first two with Don Julin) and his first on Rounder – it won Best Bluegrass Album for 2021. I heard about Billy Strings through youtube videos suggested based on other Americana acts – some really strong word-of-mouth based on touring, though I haven’t had a chance…
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Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend, 2008 on XL Recordings.
Debut album from Vampire Weekend, including Oxford Comma and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. How could I not love a band with grooves like this and references to punctuation? For the English major (and PhD) to have an indie rock band come out of Columbia with a pedigree involving Dirty Projectors and touring with The Shins…
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Various Artists, Ruby Trax: The NME’s Roaring Forty, 1992 on New Musical Express.
This was a 3xLP box set issued to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the New Musical Express – which ran in print from 1952 to 2018 when it went digital-only (though it is said to be coming back). The compilation was full of contemporary artists covering songs that had been covered in the NME during…
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Null and Void, Happiness and Contempt, 1980 on M.A.O. Records.
Null and Void were a self-described “early 80s SoCal synth wave band.” This was their debut EP, recorded at Devon Sound – it’s been reissued by Medical Records along with Montage Morte, their second LP from 1982. This may have been MAO Records’ first releases – catalog number MAO 1001 and 1980 release suggests so.…
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Muddy Waters, McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters, 1971 on Chess Records.
2xLP collection of songs from 1948 to 1964 – hugely influential post-war era Chicago blues. Liner notes by Pete Welding. There are a ton of Muddy Waters compilations including a dozen plus just on Chess records, but I was really happy to find this one in good condition. My copy via a vinyl fair at…
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Johnnie Taylor, Wanted: One Soul Singer, 1967 on Stax
Taylor replaced Sam Cooke in The Soul Stirrers before becoming a solo artist, and went on to have a big it in the mid-seventies with “Disco Lady” (1976). This album is recorded with the Stax house band, including Booker T & The MGs, and features five songs written by Isaac Hayes & David Porter as…
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Various Artists, Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine vol. 2, 2021 on Oh Boy Records (OBR-063).
Second volume of tributes to John Prince via Oh Boy. Great collection of songs and versions, but standouts for me include Brandi Carlile’s “I Remember Everything,” Valerie June’s “Summer’s End,” and Jason Isbell’s “Souvenirs.” Volume 1 I have digitally, but also is on my wantlist for a vinyl version if I can locate one. Volume…
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Lilli Lewis Project, We Belong, 2019 on Louisiana Red Hot Records (LRHR1196)
Picked this up directly from Lewis at a show in Harvard MA at Fruitlands. Band here includes Jimbo Walsh, Wade Hymel, Smokey Brown, Ruan Murry, Ole Oddlokken and Eric Thomas, with some guests. It was recorded by Mark Bingham in Henderson LA and produced by Bingham and Lewis. Great showcase for Lewis’ songwriting and voice.
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Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca, 2009 on Domino (DNO217LP).
My copy is the 2020 reissue by Vinyl Me, Please (WIGLP229X-VMP), which is a 2xLP version with five live songs recorded by Dig for Fire for the series Live at Other Music in New York city and a cover of Bob Dylan’s As I Went Out One Morning (These tracks were also on other 2010…
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Thelonious Monk, Paris 1969, 2023 on Blue Note.
This was first released as In Paris on Laserdisc in 1991 (Japan) / 1992 (US), then as Paris 1969 on Blue Note in 2013 (with a CD/DVD as well as vinyl release). My copy is the Vinyl Me, Please reissue from 2023, which sounds pretty decent – it’s a somewhat lofi recording to begin with…
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Lucinda Williams, Happy Woman Blues, 1980 on Folkways (FTS 31067)
My copy is a 2019 reissue on what is now called Smithsonian Folkways (the Smithsonian acquired Folkways in 1987 from the estate of Moses Asch). This was Williams’ sophomore album, after Ramblin’ On My Mind. I didn’t come to know Wiliams until much later – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road in the late nineties…
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Les McCann, Talk to the People, 1972 on Atlantic
This comes a few years after Swiss Movement (with Eddie Harris) and the success of “Compared to What” and opens with a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Lots of early seventies jazz/funk/soul Fender Rhodes and clavinet here. My copy via Vinyl Destination in Lowell MA
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Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, and Steve Stills; Super Session, 1968 on Columbia
Really one of the opening salvos in the “supergroup” trend of the late sixties and early seventies, after Al Kooper left Blood, Sweat & Tears and Stills was in transition out of Buffalo Springfield. It features Kooper throughout, with Bloomfield on side one and Stills on side two. Not sure why the cover credits “Steve”…
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Tears for Fears, The Tipping Point, 2022 on Concord
I was such a huge fan of The Hurting, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith’s 1983 debut album – I think it was the first CD I ever had (and it was recorded at such low volume I had to crank the CD player to hear it). After Seeds of Love, Orzabal and Smith split, and…