![[Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FionaAppleFetchtheBoltC235408N0TH_f-300x300.jpg)
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.
Tags: fiona apple, guided by voices, peter gabriel, purchase log, the replacements, the roots
![[Johnny Hates Jazz - Wide Awake]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JohnnyHatesJazzWideAwake-300x300.jpg)
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.
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.
Magnetized was a favorite in 2013, so I’m looking forward to this long-awaited follow-up.
I’m actually going to settle for the remastered regular edition. I’m still waiting for any news on the Love Symbol album.
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.
I might check this one out, but I’m totally dropping cash on deluxe editions for Tim and Let It Be.
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.
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?
I nearly bought a bootleg version of this album on vinyl.
Tags: guided by voices, johnny hates jazz, jonsi, kylie minogue, looking ahead, mandy barnett, pj harvey, prince, the replacements
![[Hans Abrahamsen - Schnee]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/HansAbrahamsenSchnee-300x262.jpg)
In June 2019, I took the plunge back into music retail by volunteering at the Lifelong Thrift Store. This immediate access to the store’s CD stock has reshaped my listening habits. I bring back so many discs from my visits to the store, it’s rare that I’ll listen to something more than once. It makes finding new favorites a challenge.
This year was pretty slim on reissues. To be honest, I haven’t gotten through Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and Sigur Rós’ Ágætis byrjun.
Tags: ali wong, boston, easterhouse, favorite edition, hans abrahamsen, infomatik, janet jackson, kalapana, my bloody valentine, re-flex, rick springfield, robert palmer, roberta flack, the replacements
![[Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/SturgillSimpsonSoundandF22161304K7_f-300x300.jpg)
Like Patti Smith’s Horses, Sound & Fury confounded me. I put the album on repeat, and each listen only heightened my confusion and fascination. Was this My Bloody Valentine reborn as a southern rock band? Was it ZZ Top making the electroclash album it should never, ever record? In the end, it’s just Sturgill Simpson applying his work ethic to fucking with our minds.
I don’t think I’ve heard Cocco scream with the kind of abandon she does on this album. It’s almost uncharacteristic now that she’s let a lot more sunshine into her music.
I didn’t realize how much I missed BBMAK till they announced their reunion, and this album does not disappoint.
Don’t Tell a Soul was the first Replacements album I ever bought, so I find the over-produced, slick sound comforting. That said, I really dig this original mix by Matt Wallace. Thing is, it would have totally tanked in 1989. Maybe in 1993, it would have made more sense. But not in 1989.
Do we really need to pay attention to any other former member of Sonic Youth?
I signed up for Netflix to watch the Sound & Fury anime. I might keep my subscription to watch Baby Cobra.
Kraftwerk strikes me as a band I ought to like, but so far, this album is the only one to connect.
I didn’t think I would like anything Prince recorded before 1999. I think I rather like this more than 1999.
Tags: ali wong, bbmak, cocco, kim gordon, kraftwerk, picks, prince, purchase log, sturgill simpson, the replacements
![[The Replacements - Dead Man's Pop]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/TheReplacementsDeadMans221605I7RD_f-300x300.jpg)
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.
Tags: aretha franklin, dolly parton, dr dre, dusty springfield, elvis costello, goldfrapp, gossip, pinback, prince, purchase log, scissor sisters, sharon jones and the dap-kings, sturgill simpson, the b-52's, the replacements, tracey ullman
![[NUMBER GIRL - DESTRUCTION BABY]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/NumberGirlDestructionBaby-300x300.jpg)
One new song out of a 52-track career retrospective? I think I’m fine.
Don’t Tell a Soul was the first album I bought from the Replacements, so I’m interested to hear this period of the band’s history expanded on this boxed set.
Three years is pretty much the average gap between Cocco albums these days, now that she’s diversified into fashion, films, stage acting and literature. So she’s right on schedule.
Explosions in the Sky wrote and recorded The Rescue in two weeks, and it’s a surprisingly tight album given its self-imposed constraints. Previously available only at the band’s shows, it gets a vinyl reissue for the band’s 20th anniversary.
During my days as a record store employee, I got the impression Pinback was a fairly mellow band. So when I found this album at the thrift store, I was taken aback by how boisterous it was.
Just as Universal was starting to neglect NUMBER GIRL’s albums, the band reunites and gives the label a reason to dig into the archives. Oh, thank goodness.
I’m unclear about whether this album was actually released on Record Store Day 2019. It showed up on the list, only to disappear as the April date approached. But it’s up on Discogs, so … where was it available? And is this reissue vaporware?
Tags: cocco, explosions in the sky, looking ahead, midnight oil, number girl, perfume, pinback, the replacements
![[Thompson Twins - Into the Gap]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ThompsonTwinsIntotheGap170433_f-300x289.jpg)
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
And now we enter some new territory. I didn’t start collecting music in earnest till 1985, and I wouldn’t start exploring catalog music till 2005. Raiding thrift shops has allowed me to fill in a lot of history, which is why were expanding the range of this retrospective to as far back as 1978. Today, we start with 1984.
Other favorites from the year:
I was much more into arcade video games — the classic era of Pac-Man and Galaga — than music in 1984. The only album I owned from that time is 99 Luftballons. Everything else I would discover later.
My 12-year-old self would not have known what to make of the Replacements or Arvo Pärt. He would have scoffed and wretched over the idea that Madonna or Prince could rank on such a list. They were his brother’s albums, after all.
He certainly did not have the sophistication or patience for two LPs of Mozart, although he might have really liked watching Amadeus.
And he would have definitely protested the inclusion of Bruce Springsteen on the list, all the while gazing lustily after the cover of Born in the USA.
He would have totally understood the Thompson Twins, though.
Tags: arvo part, benny andersson, bjorn ulvaeus, bruce springsteen, eurythmics, favorite edition, guadalcanal diary, madonna, nena, prince, rewind, sade, soundtrack, stephen sondheim, the art of noise, the replacements, thompson twins, tim rice
![[The Outfield - Play Deep]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TheOutfieldPlayDeep1985142461_f-300x294.jpeg)
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
This list is the last of the original years covered in my previous survey. The Favorite 10 hasn’t changed, but the extended list has gotten longer.
Other favorites from the year::
Younger Me would approve of most of this list.
He would have gasped at the inclusion of Prince, considering the Sibling Rivalry Collection Race was at its height, and this kind of intrusion would be accompanied by a drubbing.
And he would groaned at the inclusion of The Outfield. Older Me would then advise him to wait 20 years before a real appreciation could begin.
I capped this survey at 1985 because my collection before that year wasn’t extensive enough for much punditry. Weekly visits to thrift shops in the last three years have allowed me to fill in enough gaps to keep going till 1978.
Tags: 10000 maniacs, abc, andrew lloyd webber, arcadia, camper van beethoven, clannad, eurythmics, favorite edition, hiroshima, husker du, inxs, kate bush, lisa lisa and cult jam, midnight oil, prince, sade, simple minds, soundtrack, sting, the family, the outfield, the pogues, the power station, the replacements
![[De La Soul - 3 Feet And and Rising]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DeLaSoul3FeetHighandR68692_f-300x298.jpg)
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
It shouldn’t be a surprise the largest expansion in my collection focuses on the late 1980s, i.e. my high school years. The Favorite 10 list from these years won’t see much change, as 1989 demonstrates, but the expanded lists risk becoming ridiculously long.
Other favorites from the year:
Fugazi displaces The Replacements, who made a shot for the charts by cleaning up their sound.
I saw this ad in Pulse magazine and scoffed at it:
![[I came in for U2. I came out with De La Soul]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/de-la-soul-ad.jpg)
Today, I nod my head and say, “Yeah, that’s about right.” But it took 30 years before I had enough life experience to understand how breathtaking 3 Feet High and Rising is.
Nevermind introduced me to Nirvana like the rest of the world, but I prefer Bleach.
The events in Nakamori Akina’s life at the time CRUISE was released overshadowed the maturity of the album. It’s not ground-breaking the way Fushigi is, but it’s an album that could have only been recorded after it.
I saw Depeche Mode in concert in 2017, and 101 ruined my experience of it. I had been listening to 101 in the weeks leading up to the concert, and understandably, the band stacked the set list more toward recent work than “the hits”.
Tags: all about eve, bulgarian state radio and television female vocal choir, camper van beethoven, de la soul, depeche mode, emmylou harris, faith no more, favorite edition, fugazi, hoodoo gurus, janet jackson, john zorn, julee cruise, madonna, nakamori akina, nirvana, pixies, rewind, steve reich, tears for fears, the b-52's, the president, the replacements, wayne horvitz, xtc
![[The Replacements - The Twin/Tone Years]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/the-replacements-twin-tone-years-300x300.jpg)
During the summer, everyone is touring, or gearing up for the fall release schedule. So there’s not much to seek out over the next few months. I do find it surprising that news about fall releases has been pretty scant.
Is another album on the way? This single would be the third Ringo-chan has released since her last studio album, Hi Izuru Tokoro.
The Rhino-era albums have already undergone the vinyl reissue treatment, and the exorbitant prices for the Twin/Tone albums on the collector’s market certainly demonstrate a demand. So this set has been a long time coming.
Two members of Sigur Rós, plus the band’s touring guitarist team up with composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson for a soundtrack to a BBC documentary.
The Salvo label in the UK finishes a reissue campaign of Everything But the Girl’s studio albums with Walking Wounded and Temperamental. I’m sticking with just Walking Wounded because Temperamental doesn’t age very well.
All You Need Is Now restored my faith in the band after a long time meandering in the wild during the W. Bush era. The lead-off single from Paper Gods has enough Nile Rodgers to cue some Notorious nostalgia. The artwork, though, is the laziest I’ve seen on a Duran Duran album. Even Red Carpet Massacre showed more effort.
I didn’t realize how much I missed Janet till she announced her return. I have no idea what seven years has done for her music, and I kind of don’t care.
Górecki passed away before he could complete his fourth symphony, but a piano score with detailed annotations allowed his son Mikolaj to orchestrate it. Nonesuch is going ballers with this release by also reissuing the Symphony No. 3 on vinyl and compiling a box set of Górecki’s works recorded by the label. Let’s just call Oct. 16 Górecki Day.
Tags: duran duran, everything but the girl, henryk gorecki, janet jackson, looking ahead, shiina ringo, sigur ros, the replacements