Recent Acquisitions: 11-15-09

Cecil Taylor, Unit Structures (Blue note, Division of Libery Records label, mono, 2nd pressing, $7). There was a time in my life when I sought new, challenging music. I'm sure at times I convinced myself I liked avant-garde stuff even though I really didn't because I felt I should. Pretentious, I know. Lately I've felt myself recede in the opposite direction, into a comfort zone of the familiar. Picked this up as a new challenge.

Mountains, Choral (Thrill Jockey, 2-LP includes two vinyl-only bonus tracks, mp3 download of album, new, $15). I hate new bands from Brooklyn. Call it anti-hipsterism. But I make an exception for this duo and possibly The Antlers, whose album I haven't found yet on vinyl. Mountains plays ambient music with a warmth that's atypical for the genre. The absence of lyrics, melody and other musical conventions is oddly relaxing and a relief in a way.

Mountains, Etching (Thrill Jockey, includes mp3 download of album, new, $15). More sound sculptures from Mountains. This is the vinyl release of a tour-only CD, limited to a 1,000 copies. I'd be surprised if they all sold.

Yo La Tengo, Electr-O-Pura (Matador, reissue on 180-gm vinyl, mp3 download of album, new, $17).

King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King (Atlantic, original pressing, $5). I hated this album without really listening to it because of the grotesque cover and, worse, a guy I couldn't stand in high school loved this album. It didn't seem conceivable that we could love the same things. And it still doesn't.

J.R. Monterose, J.R. Monterose (Blue Note, Division of United Artists Records, early 70s pressing, $5).

Duke Ellington, Piano in the Background (Columbia, 6-eye label, mono, original pressing, $3).

Keith Jarrett, Birth (Atlantic, original pressing, $2). The store clerk gave the album a long look while ringing it up. He said he's also getting into 70s jazz. I think he mistook me as someone who cared.

Alice Cooper, Billion Dollar Babies (Warner Brothers, green label, original pressing, $8).

David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (RCA, orange label, original pressing, $15). Finally found an original pressing in good shape. This is a rare perfect album.

Ramones, It's Alive! (Sire, UK pressing, 2-LP, $10). This is a live recording from a concert in London in 1977. I believe the album was only released in the UK. It's got all the early "hits" played loud and fast. Total trash (in a good way).

Judee Sill, Judee Sill (Asylum, original pressing, $15). A milestone of the hippie, Christian folk-rock genre.

Loudon Wainwright III, Album III (Columbia, original pressing, $2). This contains LW's only hit song "Dead Skunk". As one reviewer put it, LW spent the next decade trying to prove to the record companies it was a fluke.

Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, The Tony Bennett-Bill Evans Album (Fantasy, brown label, $2). An original pressing for those times I'm too lazy to listen to my 4-sided, 45-rpm pressing of the same album.

Beeethoven, The Late String Quartets, The LaSalle Quartet (Deutsche Gramophon, 4-LP box, $10).