All posts by Greg Bueno

Looking ahead, Sept.-Oct. 2020

[Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball]

Mikami Chisako, Emergence, Oct. 7

Mikami reset her post-fra-foa solo career in 2018 with a second debut album, confidently titled I AM Ready! This album looks like a continuation of its predecessor’s brighter sound.

Kronos Quartet, Long Time Passing, Oct. 9

Subtitled “Kronos Quartet and Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger”, this album looks like a follow-up to 2017’s Folk Songs, with fewer Nonesuch label mates collaborating.

Tears for Fears, The Seeds of Love (Deluxe Edition), Oct. 9

This album didn’t take off in the same manner as Songs from the Big Chair, but I liked it nonetheless. The 4-disc super deluxe edition is tempting, but I’m fine with the 2-disc version. I don’t need the vinyl reissue because I bought it the first time around.

Sam Amidon, Sam Amidon, Oct. 23

Amidon returns to mostly traditional material on this self-titled album, described as “the fullest realization to date of his artistic vision.”

Mr. Bungle, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo, Oct. 30

Mr. Bungle goes back in time to re-record their first demo tape.

U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Deluxe Edition), Oct, 30

I really liked this album when it came out, mostly because Pop was insufferable. I revisited it with the vinyl reissue and found it doesn’t age well. I will probably still get some version of this deluxe edition.

Duran Duran featuring Andy Wicket, Dreaming of Your Cars: 1979 Demos Pt. 2, Oct. 30

The first set of demos with Andy Wickett on vocals featured embryonic versions of what would become Duran Duran canon. On this follow-up, “Tel Aviv” is the only recognizable title, which doesn’t mean it sounds remotely familiar. Colored vinyl is already available for order, but a CD release is slated for October.

Vinyl

Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball, Oct. 16

The deluxe edition of Wrecking Ball was released during Record Store Day. This reissue serves up just the album and is available as part of Rhino’s Rocktober series.

Peter Gabriel, Secret World Live, Nov. 6

I couldn’t make the leap of following Paula Cole’s solo career, but her backing vocals on this live album is the real highlight

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Purchase log, 2020-09-08

[Roberta Flack - First Take]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

New releases

CD
  • Johnny Hates Jazz, Wide Awake
Files
  • Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, Live at the Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA – 9/21/17

Catalog

CD
  • Fairport Convention, Liege & Lief
  • Flake Music, When You Land Here, It’s Time to Leave
  • Johann Sebastian Bach, The Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites (Yo-Yo Ma)

Reissues

Box set
  • Roberta Flack, First Take (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

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Purchase log, 2020-09-01

[Robyn - Robyn]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

New releases

CD
  • Mandy Barnett, A Nashville Songbook
Vinyl
  • John Wesley Harding, The Man with No Shadow

Catalog

CD
  • Julius Eastman, Unjust Malaise
  • Steely Dan, Aja
Vinyl
  • Charlie Puth, Voicenotes
  • John Coltrane, Coltrane
  • L7, Bricks Are Heavy

Reissues

Vinyl
  • Ben Watt with Robert Wyatt, Summer Into Winter
  • Guided By Voices, Hold on Hope EP
  • Krzysztof Penderecki / Don Cherry, Actions
  • Robyn, Robyn
  • Throwing Muses, Purgatory / Paradise
  • Tyler, the Creator, Cherry Bomb
  • U2, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
  • Various Artists, Studio One Rockers

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Purchase log picks, August 2020

[Charlie Puth - Voicenotes]

Charlie Puth, Voicenotes

A Subway TV ad introduced me to Charlie Puth. And I haven’t been able to stop playing this album since.

Mandy Barnett, A Nashville Songbook

Barnett released “It’s Now or Never” as a single, and I can’t say I was a fan. I even made an uncharitable prediction about whether this album would work. Then I heard it in full, and the song selection is impeccable — “The End of the World”, “Love Hurts”, “I Love a Rainy Night”. Perhaps the apex of this songbook is “The Crying Game”.

The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive

Mike Skinner’s first two albums loom large, but this return after a nearly decade absence stands up to that legacy.

The Chicks, Gaslighter

A friend of mine had an extra copy, so I took it. It’s my first ever (Dixie) Chicks album. If I get curious enough, I can pick up Fly or Wide Open Spaces from the thrift shop.

Julius Eastman, Unjust Malaise

Julius Eastman was post-minimalist at a time when his minimalist colleagues were still minimalizing.

Robyn, Robyn

Robyn > Kylie > Madonna.

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Favorite Edition 2020 Year Half

[Sam Sparro - Boombox Eternal]

I started running out of things to say just as the SARS-CoV2 spread in the US, and when the lockdown happened, I threw myself into recording a pair of cover albums. I wasn’t buying much music, nor listening to anyone other than myself. By the time I finished making the albums, stores were opening up, and my music buying eventually resumed.

But I still don’t have much to say.

That doesn’t mean I’ve run out of opinions. So here are my favorites of the year so far.

New releases

  • Sam Sparro, Boombox Eternal
  • Timo Andres / Brad Mehldau / Jeremy Denk / Randy Newman, I Still Play
  • Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
  • Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, Reunions
  • The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive
  • Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  • … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories
  • The Chicks, Gaslighter

Catalog

  • Charlie Puth, Voicenotes
  • Robyn, Body Talk
  • Nakamori Akina, AKINA BOX 1982-1989
  • Various Artists, Studio One Rockers
  • The Damned, Machine Gun Etiquette
  • Les Rythmes Digitales, Darkdancer

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Purchase log, 2020-08-25

[Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

Catalog

CD
  • Benjamin Gibbard, Former Lives
  • Cocteau Twins, Garlands
  • Communards, Red
  • INXS, The Swing
  • Madness, Madness
  • Passengers, Original Soundtracks 1
  • Robyn, Robyn
  • Robyn, Body Talk, Vol. 2
  • Sinéad O’Connor, The Lion and the Cobra
  • Throwing Muses, Throwing Muses

Reissues

Vinyl
  • Guided By Voices, Alien Lanes
  • PJ Harvey, Rid of Me

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Purchase log, 2020-08-18

[Heart - Greatest Hits / Live]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

New releases

CD
  • Dixie Chicks, Gaslighter
  • The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive

Catalog

CD
  • Astor Piazzolla, Tango: Zero Hour
  • Cause and Effect, Innermost Stations
  • Cause and Effect, The Sunrise EP
  • Living Colour, Pride
  • Marshall Crenshaw, Marshall Crenshaw
  • The Crystal Method, Vegas
  • The Sundays, Static and Silence
Vinyl
  • Heart, Greatest Hits / Live
  • Soundtrack, Avenue Q

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Purchase log, 2020-08-11

[Charlie Puth - Voicenotes]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

New releases

CD
  • Inventions, Continuous Portraits
Vinyl
  • Duran Duran, Diamond of the Mind Live 2011

Catalog

CD
  • Arcade Fire, Reflektor
  • Charlie Puth, Voicenotes
  • Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
  • Don Dixon, Most Girls Love to Dance But Only Some of the Boys Like to
  • Fishbone, Set Up the Booty Right: Bonin’ in the Boneyard
  • John Zorn, Taboo and Exile
  • Ride, Carnival of Light
  • Ride, Tarantula
  • T. Rex, Electric Warrior (Special Edition)
  • The Roots, undun

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Purchase log, 2020-08-04

[Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

New releases

CD
  • Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Catalog

CD
  • Guided By Voices, Human Amusements at Hourly Rates
  • Peter Gabriel, Passion (Remastered)
  • The Replacements, Hootenanny! (Remastered)
  • The Roots, How I Got Over

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Looking ahead, August-October 2020

[Johnny Hates Jazz - Wide Awake]

SARS-CoV2. Silicon Valley companies would give their left tits to emulate the kind of disruption you’ve wrought.

The spring release schedule was slowly coming together when the virus shredded the calendar. Dates have always been subject to change, albeit never with this level of uncertainty.

Mandy Barnett, A Nashville Songbook , Aug. 21

Barnett has a wonderful voice that often has served unspectacular music, so the things that would sink this album are uninspired arrangements. A single of “It’s Now or Never” bodes none too well.

Johnny Hates Jazz, Wide Awake, Aug. 21

Magnetized was a favorite in 2013, so I’m looking forward to this long-awaited follow-up.

Prince, Sign O the Times (Deluxe Edition), Sept. 25

I’m actually going to settle for the remastered regular edition. I’m still waiting for any news on the Love Symbol album.

Jónsi, Shiver, Oct. 2

Does Sigur Rós even record albums any more? I know they’ve released collaborative projects, but what about a boring, traditional album with at least 10 tracks and a total running time around 40 minutes? No? I guess a Jónsi solo album it is.

The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me (Deluxe Edition), Oct. 25

I might check this one out, but I’m totally dropping cash on deluxe editions for Tim and Let It Be.

Kylie Minogue, DISCO, Nov. 6

Intriguing though the idea of Kylie in Nashville may have been, I couldn’t actually bring myself to get Golden. In fact, I’ve passed over the last two albums. I’m hoping DISCO is not the third.

Vinyl

Guided by Voices, Alien Lanes (25th Anniversary), Aug. 21

I had this album on CD, but I didn’t keep it. Then I downloaded it from eMusic. Why am I interested in this vinyl edition?

PJ Harvey, Rid of Me, Aug. 21

I nearly bought a bootleg version of this album on vinyl.

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