Purchase log picks, October 2020

[Ned Doheny - Hard Candy]

Ned Doheny, Hard Candy

Tokyo Jihen introduced me to Ned Doheny with a blistering cover of “Give It Up for Love”. Doheny’s original is far mellower but epitomizes his blue-eyed soul. This album wasn’t a success at the time, but the collector’s market all but demanded a reissue.

Soundtrack, Schoolhouse Rock: Grammar Rock

When I was a kid, I dug the Schoolhouse Rock shorts between cartoons because they were catchy. As an adult, I find the Schoolhouse Rock songs rather sophisticated. Strip the didacticism from the songs, and you get pop music every bit as durable as anything in the American songbook.

PJ Harvey, 4-Track Demos

I have a TASCAM four-track recorder from 1991 that still works, but I’ve never really perceived it as a very robust tool. Then I heard this album, and I wonder if I can push it’s capabilities. I’m nowhere near the performer of Polly Jean, though.

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

My interest in Mr. Bungle pretty much started and ended with the self-titled debut, although I did own California for a brief time. But I couldn’t pass up hearing the band’s earliest work re-recorded with Slayer’s Dave Lombardo and Anthrax’s Scott Ian.

Propellerheads, Decksandrumsandrockandroll

Propellerheads was one and done, but Decksandrumsandrockandroll was good enough to garner a Mercury Prize nomination. My introduction to the band happened in a gay bar in Chicago.

Fischerspooner, #1

I don’t really care for the album cover, but it doesn’t take away from the music.

Camouflage, Methods of Silence

For some reason, I had it in my head that this album was boring compared to Voices and Images, but I was mistaken.

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