This Week's Acquisitions (2-2-09)

Dropped off about 40 unwanted LPs at Goodwill. 

New additions to the collection from the previous 2 weeks:

Rivers Cuomo, Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (Geffen, new for $11). Damn you, Terri Gross, for making me buy another album! (File under: Phi Beta Kappa Rock Stars)

Linton Kwesi Johnson, Bass Culture (Mango, original pressing for $8). Kind of like beat poetry read to jazz music, except it's a reggae band and LKJ instead of Kerouac ranting about the Man. (File under: Reggae, slightly pretentious)

Miles Davis, Someday My Prince Will Come (Columbia mono two-eye, 2nd pressing, $10). I already have an original pressing in stereo, but the mono pressings of that era often sound better than the stereo version, as most recording engineers hadn't quite figured out how to record in stereo. (File under: Jazz, almost classic)

Ravi Shankar, 3 Ragas (World Pacific, original pressing, $5). The other day I was thinking I don't listen to enough sitar music and I need to do something about it. Really. (File under: Sitar Music Played by Real Indians)

Neil Young, Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise, $2). An empty feeling overwhelmed me when looking through my Neil Young collection I realized this album was missing. Problem solved. (File under: Albums that belong in every rock collection)

Bob Dylan, Self Portrait (Columbia, $4). This used to be considered Dylan's worst album, until the Grateful Dead dragged him to a new low. (File under: Meh Dylan)

Alice Cooper, Greatest Hits (WB palm tree label, $2). I'm not sure what it means, but I've got an urge to play "I'm Eighteen" repeatedly. (File under: Musical and Personal Regressions)

Cheap Trick, In Color (Epic reissue, $2). What the hell, you're picking up an Alice Cooper album, might as well get this, too, you loser. (File under: Music Snob Repellant) 

Henry Mancini, The Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini (RCA black label with white dog, stereo original pressing, $2). Hmmm, the "Mission Impossible Theme" played by a big latin band.... I'd say that's a solid 10 out of 10 on the Irresistibility Scale. Your mission, Jim, is to cha cha cha! (File under: Ironic or Not?)

Debussy, Images/Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Boston SO (Deutsche Grammaphon, $0.50). Another thing I haven't been able to resist lately are cheap Debussy records. (File under: Music for daydreaming about living peacefully in a forest with no worries of bear attacks)

Art Pepper, Art Pepper+11 (Analogue Productions, 45 rpm pressing on 2 LPs, new for $50). #969 of 1,000 limited edition copies. Yeah, I already have this album, but this is supposed to be the best-sounding version ever. (File under: rocky's favorite music)

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, George Solti, London SO (Speakers Corner, 2-LP reissue, new for $54). I can't believe how much better this German pressing sounds compared to my early English pressing of this fine album. Expensive and totally worth it. (File under: rocky's favorite music)