All posts by Greg Bueno

Four questions: Madonna, Bedtime Stories

[Madonna - Bedtime Storeis]

Artist

Madonna

Title

Bedtime Stories

Original Release Date

Oct. 24, 1994

Purchase Date

March 1996 on cassette

What is the memory you most associate with this title?

Spring break 1996. A number of college friends and I traveled to Moloka`i for the weekend. Having lived most of my life up till that point in highly urbanized Honolulu, I never imagined a place where every destination could be described in the singular — not a grocery store but the grocery store.

We rented a pair of cars, and I couldn’t abide by the radio. So we went to the record store, where I picked cassette tapes of Sade’s Diamond Life and Madonna’s Bedtime Stories. I liked Bedtime Stories enough to get it on CD when we got back to Honolulu.

What was happening in your life when it was released?

A year had passed since I returned from a college exchange program in New York City, and I could feel my focus slowly changing from music to journalism.

I was contributing more to the college newspaper, and I felt the music program was changing in a way I didn’t like. A beloved composition teacher had retired, and one of his replacements hadn’t yet developed the skill of letting students find their own voice, even if they were floundering. It was such an encounter that steered me away from composition a number of years after I graduated from college.

What was happening in your life when you bought it?

I was features editor of the college newspaper, which made me realize I was too dictatorial for management. I’ve avoided taking on leadership positions in my career since then.

On this trip, I smoked marijuana for the first time. I also had my first same-sex kiss — with a straight guy. With his girlfriend supervising. It was a good trip.

What do you think of it now?

Bedtime Stories is definitely one of the albums you should own if you’re a very casual Madonna listener.

She faltered a bit with Erotica, between a disastrous appearance on David Letterman and a controversial photo book that seems to have been forgotten. One of the photos from Sex popped up as an Internet meme, misattributing a naked Madonna as Marilyn Monroe.

Madonna recalibrated with Bedtime Stories, focusing more on a smoother R&B sound and even enlisting Björk to contribute the title track.

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Purchase log, 2021-01-05

[J Dilla - Donuts]

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
  • Caron Wheeler, UK BLAK
  • Cowboy Junkies, The Trinity Sessions
  • Pop Will Eat Itself, Cure for Sanity
  • Sting, … Nada como el sol
Vinyl
  • Debbie Gibson, Out of the Blue
  • J Dilla, Donuts
  • The Alan Parsons Project, Turn of a Friendly Card
  • Tiffany, Tiffany

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Looking ahead, January-February 2021

[Cocco - Kuchinashi]

Anton Reicha, Reicha Rediscovered, Vol. 3 (Ivan Ilić), Jan. 8

I usually pose questions on the blog rhetorically, so I wasn’t expecting Ivan Ilić himself to answer a query about what’s up with the remainder of his Reicha Rediscovered series. The third volume was expected in 2020, but SARS-CoV2 had other plans.

Rhye, Home, Jan. 22

Liked Blood. Was lukewarm about Woman. So I’m approaching Home with caution.

Utada Hikaru, One Last Kiss EP, Jan. 27

Utada Hikaru’s new single — it’s called an EP, but it’s really a maxi single — serves as the theme song for a new Evangelion movie. Hikki fans will probably have the other tracks on this release, which compiles her previous theme songs for the film series.

Cocco, Kuchinashi, Feb. 17

Is it already time for a new Cocco album? [Checks calendar.] Actually, this album arrives 18 months after 2019’s Star Shank, which is 1.5 years quicker than Cocco’s usual turnaround time.

Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2, Apr. 2

Volume 1 of Cuttin’ Grass didn’t include tracks from A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, but Volume 2 does. It does not, however, include anything from Sound & Fury.

Vinyl

Soundtrack, Batman: Original Motion Picture Score (colored vinyl), Jan. 15

When Tim Burton’s Batman hit theaters in 1989, Warner Bros. tried to foist Prince’s album of songs for the movie as the official soundtrack. Fans wanting to hear Danny Elfman’s theme song were pretty miffed that they got a Prince album instead. So the label released Elfman’s score separately. I picked up an original vinyl pressing of the soundtrack a long while back, and I see it pop up in used bins from time to time. This reissue is part of Rhino’s annual Start Your Ear Off Right series.

bloodthirsty butchers, Mikansei, Jan. 20

I’m not aware of very many vinyl reissues of bloodthirsty butchers album. I wouldn’t mind seeing ones for yamane and Kouya ni Okeru bloodthirsty butchers.

Girl Talk, Feed the Animals, April 2021

Girl Talk is accepting orders for this second pressing of Feed the Animals. A recent e-mail announced orders are expected to ship at the end of April 2021 and includes packaging improvements.

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Purchase log picks, December 2020

[Animotion - Animotion]

Animotion, Animotion

I owned this album on vinyl, but I never played Side B all that much because the two hit singles were the two first tracks of the album (“Obsession”, “Let Him Go”). This album also had to compete with Duran Duran, Tears for Fears and ABC for my attention, and it didn’t fare well. Eventually, I would sell the record for cash.

I picked it up again at the thrift store and actually gave Side B a few spins. As a whole, the album holds together incredibly well. I went so far as to find the expanded edition reissued by Cherry Red on CD.

Big Black, Songs About Fucking

The arm of Big Black stretches long.

Richard Goode, Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas

Nonesuch offered a priced-down reissue of this boxed set for $25 to celebrate Beethoven’s birthday. That same week, I spotted a used copy of the original boxed set selling for that exact amount.

Sam Hunt, SOUTHSIDE

On Twitter, I said, “I find Sam Hunt simultaneously fascinating and disappointing.” The disappointing part are the bro country lyrics. The fascinating part is the use of hip-hop beats in country, which I hear is actually a thing.

Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You

Spike Lee has been described as someone who doesn’t know how to end his films. I sometimes feel the same about Bruce Springsteen. This album does drag after a while, but the stronger moments rank up there with his most renowned works.

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By the numbers: 2020

[Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You]

In the past, I would try to write about every album I encountered. These days, I listen to a lot of stuff, but I’ll only post an entry if something sparks a memory.

As these statistics demonstrate, I’m leaving a lot out of this blog.

First and last purchases of the year

The first and last purchases of the year are determined by the date of order. Pre-ordered items not yet shipped have already been taken into account.

  • First purchase: Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle on vinyl.
  • First purchase of a 2020 release: … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories on CD.
  • Last purchase of a 2020 release: Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You on CD
  • Last purchase: XTC, Go 2 on CD.

Purchases by format

FormatNew releaseReissueCatalogTotal
7-inch0000
10-inch0101
12-inch1102
CD Single0000
CD355245285
CD-R1001
Downloads130518
Vinyl133156100
Total items bought6238304407

Definitions

New release
Initial release within the calendar year.
Reissue
Originally released prior to the calendar year but reissued within the calendar year.
Catalog
Initial release prior to the calendar year.

Top catalog release years

YearNumber of items purchasedYear-over-year change
199916New!
200315New!
200214+9
199813New!
198513New!
200812New!
198312New!
200111New!
200011New!
199511+1
198911-6
198411New!

Top artists

Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.

ArtistNumber of items purchased
Soundtracks17
Jason Isbell6
Various Artists6
Robyn5
downy5
PJ Harvey5
Philip Glass4
envy4
… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead4
Guided By Voices4
U24

Notes

  • For the second year in a row, soundtracks make up a lot of my purchases from the past year, and like last year, they’re less about the score and more about the show.
  • Jason Isbell owns his own record label, so when SARS-CoV2 hit, he pivoted from live performance to releasing live recordings on Bandcamp.
  • The PJ Harvey vinyl reissue campaign has also drawn my attention to her works.
  • It looks like I’ve expanded beyond the late ’80s in my catalog purchases. It could also just be a symptom of limited purchasing opportunities due to SARS-CoV2.
  • Collectorz Music, the software I use to track my collection, added a count column to its interface, which has made compiling this entry so much faster.

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Purchase log, 2020-12-22

[Big Black - Songs About Fucking]

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
  • Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions

Catalog

CD
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Boulevard (Premiere American Recording)
  • Animotion, Animotion
  • Aretha Franklin, Aretha Sings the Blues
  • Big Black, Songs About Fucking
  • Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues
  • Ludwig Van Beethoven, The Complete Sonatas (Richard Goode)
  • Sonic Youth, Bad Moon Rising
  • Sonic Youth, Sonic Death
  • Suzanne Ciani, Seven Waves
  • The Sisters of Mercy, First and Last and Always
  • The Sisters of Mercy, Floodland
  • Various Artists, Tom’s Album
Vinyl
  • A Taste of Honey, Twice as Sweet
  • Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
  • The Knack, Get the Knack
  • Yes, 90125

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Favorite Edition 2020 Year Final

[Sam Sparro - Boombox Eternal]

Twenty years ago, I was on the receiving end of an economic slump. I’ve gone through two more slumps since then, and I’ve so far dodge the bullet in both cases.

It doesn’t mean I don’t feel skittish.

All that to say that my disposable income had not diminished this past year, despite the economic devastation SARS-CoV2 has wrought, and I’m thankful I can even compile a list.

  1. Sam Sparro, Boombox Eternal: I’m not sure why I feel nostalgic for a style of music I actually disliked when I was younger, but Sparro nailed it.
  2. My Very Own Familiar, Dear Listener: Lawnchairs for the Apocalypse: I may have a bit of a bias since a friend of mine is in this band.
  3. Timo Andres / Jeremy Denk / Brad Mehldau / Randy Newman, I Still Play: A fitting tribute to Nonesuch emeritus executive Bob Hurwitz, for whom the pieces on this album were commissioned.
  4. … And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories: No signs of mellowing out even after 25 years.
  5. Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately: I thought it was going to be hard to top No Shape.
  6. Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, Reunions: Isbell has been on such a sustained winning streak that it seemed at some point he needed to stumble. He hasn’t.
  7. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters: I’m not even a Fiona Apple fan, and I like this album.
  8. Kylie Minogue, DISCO: My first Kylie purchase since Aphrodite. I wasn’t on board for the last two albums.
  9. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, The Beethoven Connection: I like this idea of exploring Beethoven-adjacent composers to puzzle out how they influenced Beethoven himself.
  10. Mr. Bungle, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo: Straight up hardcore.

Other favorites of the year:

  • Brooklyn Rider, Healing Modes
  • The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive
  • Mandy Barnett, A Nashville Songbook
  • Jónsi, Shiver

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