As I described in the introduction to this column in Part 1 (HERE) I started this project of listening to all my records at least one more time and cataloging them, I realized that this was the second time I have actually done this. The first time in the late 1970s, I only had a couple hundred records at most and was changing from sorting them from my original order (by purchase date) to sorting them alphabetically. So I simply pulled records out of the milk crates I stored them in and then moved them to their proper place on my new "cinder block and 1x12" shelves. I knew I was done when the milk crates were empty.
Over the last forty years I've noticed that no matter how many records I have (or had) there have been times when I would look at the shelves and have just felt stuck. I either couldn't decide which one to pick, or I just decided I didn't want to hear any of them. At those times I either felt a need to go record shopping, or more recently felt a sense of melancholy or loss thinking if I had any of the records that were stolen I'd surely want to listen to one of those. For the last few years at least, I've taken that as a sign I needed to log into Qobuz and start looking for new music. I'll not get into any arguments of analog vs digital or LP vs CD vs streaming. All have their place and I enjoy my music any way I can get it. I do have about eleven hundred full albums stored on a hard drive attached to my music server PC. About seven-hundred of those are my CD collection ripped to FLAC or Apple Lossless files, the rest being 24-bit or DSD downloads.
But back to this project. I originally started thinking I would just play them in the order they were on the shelf, listening alphabetically. But the realization set in that posting one or two records per week would take a year or more just to get through Bach. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it was too ordered for me. Then I tried to find a way to randomly select records, but that didn't work too well either. Finally, I decided to simply pull whatever I felt like listening to at the time. But I needed to make that easy and stress free. I needed to separate the records that I had cataloged and posted from the records still waiting their turn.
The easy solution came when I just rearranged the records on their shelves. I moved the records starting at the bottom left of the shelving unit, so the empty space was at the top right of the unit. After playing a record and cataloging it, it would then be placed properly alphabetized, starting on the upper right of the shelves. The empty space between the "listened to" and "not yet listened to" records would simply shift left and then down as more records moved up.
Then, it was just a case of picking whatever I felt like listening to, washing it, photographing it, cataloging it in Discogs, and then enjoying listening to it. After that I'd just put it in the "listened to" part of the shelf.
Of course I don't only listen to records this way. Any record I feel like listening to at any point in time gets played, of course. We all have our favorite music, and I'll not deny myself listening to whatever I feel like. I also listen a fair amount to Qobuz and the files on my server, so getting through the collection is taking a lot longer than I originally expected. On my first post for this on Facebook in 2014, I said "I figure it will take a few years." but here it is, twelve years later, and I barely to two-thirds, done. But I've been enjoying almost every minute of it. I'll explain the "almost" in a future installment.
Slava Tsukerman & Brenda I. Hutchinson & Clive Smith, Liquid Sky (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Label: Varèse Sarabande – STV 81181
Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Experimental, Minimal, Score
Liquid Sky was one weird ass movie, though visually stunning and with an awesome soundtrack. Except for one track (sung by actress Paula Sheppard and backed up by an early "rhythm box") the whole thing was composed and played on a Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument. Might seem normal now, but this was, if I remember some articles I read about it way back then correctly, the first soundtrack ever done that way. I assure you, you've never heard Orff's Trionfo di Aphrodite sound like this before! Excellent LP, as is usual for Varèse Sarabande soundtracks albums.
Tracklist:
A1 - Alien's Theme I 1:40
A2 - Alien's Theme II 2:20
A3 - Margaret's Childhood Theme 1:41
A4 - Noon 1:49
A5 - Afternoon 2:40
A6 - Margaret's Apartment I 2:17
A7 - Fashion Show 2:25
A8 - The Way The Alien Kills 1:07
B1 - Margaret's Apartment II 2:18
B2 - Jimmy's Theme 1:17
B3 - Seduction Of Vincent 0:56
B4 - Sunset 1:00
B5 - Me And My Rhythm Box 2:46
B6 - Night Club I 0:40
B7 - Night Club II 1:24
B8 - Night Club III 1:02
B9 - Katherine In The Club 1:01
B10 - Wordplay 2:45
(Note - this version on Qobuz has the tracks in a different order than the original LP)
https://open.qobuz.com/album/gqzmkaq1yuk6b
Steve Reich, Music For 18 Musicians
Label: ECM Records – ECM-1-1129
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Classical
Style: Minimalism, Post-Modern, Contemporary
This is the original 1978 ECM release. I know the later Nonesuch digital release won a Grammy, but this is the one to have. Mesmerizing in its subtle complexity if you are willing to really pay attention. Otherwise, it is terrible background music. Hard to express just how much I love this album.
Tracklist
A - Pulse - Sections I - IV 26:55
B - Sections V - XI - Pulse 32:00
(Note - in digital form it is one continuous piece, not two tracks)
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0004228214172
Philip Glass, Koyaanisqatsi (Life Out Of Balance) (Original Soundtrack Album From The Motion Picture)
Label: Antilles – ASTA 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Classical, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Modern Classical, Minimal
By the time this movie came out I considered myself a big fan of Glass' music and couldn't pass up seeing the film on the biggest screen in the best theater in Los Angeles (Century City, actually) on opening day. I couldn't find anyone that wanted to go but realized I was probably better off seeing it on my own. Got there hours early and got a great seat, even though the theater was completely sold out. I had no idea there were so many Philip Glass fans! I was pretty sure (still am) that most people went due to Glass' soundtrack, though the film itself was a masterpiece of visual artistry. This soundtrack is some of Glass' best and most powerful music. There are other soundtrack releases, but this is the original I bought as soon as it was available.
Tracklist
A1 - Koyaanisqatsi 3:30
A2 - Vessels 8:03
A3 - Cloudscape 4:41
A4 - Pruit Igoe 7:02
B1 - The Grid 1 4:50
B2 - Prophecies 8:10
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0004228140422
Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Label: Atco Records – SD 2-401, Classic Records – SD 2-401
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 200g QUIEX SV-P
Country: US
Released: 2001
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
The last of the Gabriel era Genesis albums, and for me the last great album they ever made. I love Phil Collins, but they just weren't Genesis after Gabriel left. Yet, on first hearing it, I wasn't sure what to make of it, so different it was from their previous albums. I do have an original 1974 US album, but I think this 2001 Classic Records reissue is the one to have. I got this at CES as a review sample when it was first released and wrote it up for Listener Magazine.
Tracklist
A1 - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 4:55
A2 - Fly On A Windshield 2:47
A3 - Broadway Melody Of 1974 1:58
A4 - Cuckoo Cocoon 2:14
A5 - In The Cage 8:15
A6 - The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging 2:45
B1 - Back In N.Y.C. 5:49
B2 - Hairless Heart 2:25
B3 - Counting Out Time 3:45
B4 - The Carpet Crawlers 5:16
B5 - The Chamber Of 32 Doors 5:40
C1 - Lilywhite Lilith 2:40
C2 - The Waiting Room 5:28
C3 - Anyway 3:18
C4 - Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist 2:50
C5 - The Lamia 6:57
C6 - Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats 3:06
D1 - The Colony Of Slippermen (8:14)
D1a - The Arrival
D1b - A Visit To The Doktor
D1c - The Raven
D2 - Ravine 2:05
D3 - The Light Dies Down On Broadway 3:32
D4 - Riding The Scree 3:56
D5 - In The Rapids 2:24
D6 - IT 4:58
(Note - Qobuz only has the 2007 Stereo remix)
https://open.qobuz.com/album/wtluq2j3mcopa
Poco, Legend
Label: MCA Records – AA-1099
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Club Edition, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1979
Genre: Rock
Style: Country Rock
Easy going mellow rock with a slight country/folk bent. This was a $2.99 find in one of the bins of used records outside at Port of Sound record store. Another case of when my friend Russ Stratton hands me a record at a shop, to just buy it with questions asked. Plays practically like new. Hadn't really thought about Poco much in the last twenty-five or thirty years but listening to this brings back memories of my last couple of years of college.
Tracklist
A1 - Boomerang 3:48
A2 - Spellbound 5:13
A3 - Barbados 3:31
A4 - Little Darlin' 3:47
A5 - Love Comes Love Goes 3:55
B1 - Heart Of The Night 4:49
B2 - Crazy Love 2:55
B3 - The Last Goodbye 5:40
B4 - Legend 4:16
https://open.qobuz.com/album/ctf2yorz7nddc
Moondog, Moondog
Label: Columbia Masterworks – MS 7335
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: (n/a for this release)
Genre: Jazz, Classical
Style: Big Band, Contemporary
Though listed as "avant-garde" in AllMusic.com Moondog's music is really lyrical small scale modern classical with a healthy dose of jazz mixed in. Beautiful tonal coloration, and Ron Carter on bass! And yet, on first listen many years ago, several of the tracks sounded so familiar. Pretty sure Lament I, "Bird's Lament" was used for the opening theme of a weekly report on New York Rangers Hockey in late 60s or early 70s on WOR (Ch 9) and it appeared in an episode of the show Hacks.
Amazing that this guy lived on the streets of New York for a few decades apparently by choice. I've had this record, purchased new, since my early college years, in the mid-1970s.
Tracklist
A1 - Theme 2:35
A2 - Stamping Ground 2:36
A3 - Symphonique #3 (Ode To Venus) 5:51
A4 - Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie) 2:45
B - Mini-Sym #1 (5:45)
B1a - I - Allegro
B1b - II - Andante Adagio
B1c - III - Vivace
B2 - Lament I, "Bird's Lament" 1:42
B3 - Witch Of Endor (6:29)
B3a - I - Dance
B3b - II - Trio:
A. Adagio (The Prophesy).
B. Andante (The Battle).
C. Agitato (Saul's Death)
B3c - III - Dance (Reprise)
B4 - Symphonique #1 (Portrait Of A Monarch) 2:36
https://open.qobuz.com/album/k22b087rs1f0b
Cappella Nova, O Magnum Mysterium / Quatre Motets Pour Le Temps De Noel
Label: ALOI Records – AKH 004
Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Classical
Style: Choral, Renaissance, Modern
As someone who's owned a Linn LP12 for about thirty years, I figured I had to have at least one LP on Linn's Aloi Records label. This one came out in 1984, when I bought my Linn, Beautiful music and sound so maybe I should listen to it more than once every twenty years!
Tracklist
A - Motet 'O Magnum Mysterium' Composed By – Victoria
A1 - Kyrie
A2 - Gloria
A3 - Credo
A4 - Sanctus
A5 - Benedictus
A6 - Agnus Dei
B1 - Quem Vidistis Pastores Composed By – Dering
B2 - Videntes Stellam Composed By – Palestrina
B3 - Hodie Christus Natus Est Composed By – Sweelinck
B4 - Quatre Motets Pour Le Temps De Noel Composed By – Poulenc
B4a - O Magnum Mysreium
B4b - Quem Vidistis
B4c - Viddentes Stellam
B4d - Hodie Christus Natus Est
(Not available on Qobuz)
Sublime, Sublime
Label: Geffen Records – B0011696-01, Gasoline Alley – B0011696-01, Skunk Records – B0011696-01, UMe – B0011696-01
Series: Back To Black
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, United Record Pressing, 180g, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 2008
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk, Ska
SoCal (well, Long Beach to be specific) reggae/punk. Great talent and great sound. Don't confuse this excellent "Back to Black" reissue with the "Back on Black" reissue label, that generally sound terrible. Too bad band leader Brad Nowell died from a heroin OD before this album was released. That was in 1996. The band has reformed with Nowell's son as the new singer and leader, carrying on the family tradition.
I love that I can usually trust my son on musical recommendations. We worked hard when he was young to help him develop his own broad based taste in music. About half the new things I've gotten in the last fifteen to twenty years have been from his (or his friends') recommendations, including this one. I've brought this LP to several audio shows, and despite much hesitation from exhibitors who were unfamiliar with it, by the end of the first track or two they usually ended up loving it, along with the majority of the people in the room at the time.
A1 - Garden Grove 4:21
A2 - What I Got 2:51
A3 - Wrong Way 2:16
A4 - Same In The End 2:37
A5 - April 29th, 1992 (Miami) 3:53
B1 - Santeria 3:03
B2 - Seed 2:10
B3 - Jailhouse 4:53
B4 - Pawn Shop 6:06
C1 - Paddle Out 1:15
C2 - The Ballad Of Johnny Butt 2:12
C3 - Burritos 3:55
C4 - Under My Voodoo 3:26
C5 - Get Ready 4:51
D1 - Caress Me Down 3:32
D2 - What I Got (Reprise) 3:01
D3 - Doin' Time 4:12
https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060254781739
Rebelution, Count Me In
Label: 87 Music – ES-1041V, Easy Star Records – ES-1041V
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, 180g
Country: US
Released: Jun 13, 2014
Genre: Reggae
Style: Roots Reggae, Reggae
Although I've heard the "if you like Sublime you'll like Rebelution" comment many times, in reality, Rebelution is very different, being mellower, more lyrical and having a very laid back vibe. That's what happens when your reggae moves up the coast to Santa Barbara. I've loved every album I've heard from them, and as they aged, they sing less about smoking pot and getting high and more about life in general. At CES many years ago, my son brought some tracks from Rebelution's previous album with him on a USB stick and a burned CD-R, and every room he played them in people had to find out who they were. The music is that good and the sound is even better. On many of their albums, they offer alternate "acoustic" versions that may be even better than the original versions, both musically and from a sound standpoint.
A1 - Count Me In
A2 - De-Stress
A3 - More Love
A4 - Lost In Dreams
A5 - Fade Away
A6 - Hate To Be The One Featuring – Collie Buddz
B7 - Notice Me
B8 - Roots Reggae Music Featuring – Don Carlos
B9 - Counterfeit Love
B10 - Against The Grain
B11 - Invasion
https://open.qobuz.com/album/rw5wry4cgclhp
King Crimson, Discipline
Label: Warner Bros. Records – BSK 3629, EG – BSK 3629
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Allied Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1981
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
After a seven year wait since their previous release, my first thought on hearing the newly reformed King Crimson album Discipline in 1981 was that it didn't sound like a KC album. Then I remembered Lizard didn't like its predecessors (In the Court and In the Wake), Islands sounded nothing like Lizard and Larks Tongues in Aspic sounded nothing like any previous KC album either. So, all was good in the world of King Crimson. Newcomers Adrian Belew and Tony Levin energized the sound and helped bring them into a new decade as strong and innovative as they were always meant to be.
Tracklist
A1 - Elephant Talk 4:40
A2 - Frame By Frame 5:05
A3 - Matte Kudasai 3:46
A4 - Indiscipline 4:30
B1 - Thela Hun Ginjeet 6:23
B2 - The Sheltering Sky 8:19
B3 - Discipline 5:00
