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: easy life, Maybe in Another Life on CD.
First purchase of a 2023 release: Sam Smith, Gloria on CD.
Last purchase of a 2023 release: Matt Rogers, Have You Heard of Christmas? on vinyl
Last purchase: Danish String Quartet, Prism III on CD.
Purchases by format
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
0
2
0
2
12-inch
0
5
2
7
CD Single
0
0
0
0
CD
42
12
233
287
CD-R
0
0
0
0
Downloads
7
0
8
15
Vinyl
27
50
72
149
Total items bought
76
69
315
460
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
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
2003
19
New!
1991
15
0
1997
14
New!
2002
13
0
1992
13
New!
2022
12
New!
2006
12
New!
1989
11
-1
1999
11
New!
Top artists
Artist
Number of items purchased
Shiina Ringo
8
Duran Duran
7
Jason Isbell
6
Various Artists
5
SYML
5
The Donnas
5
Neutral Milk Hotel
5
Sinéad O’Connor
5
Grace Jones
4
Prince
4
Notes
Shiina Ringo reissued her albums on vinyl. The 2009 vinyl reissues go for exorbitant prices on Discogs, so I’m assuming these reissues will follow suite.
Duran Duran also embarked on a vinyl reissue campaign, taking ownership of albums released since 1997.
Given how much I’ve played Brian Fennell this year, I’m surprised SYML wasn’t higher on the list.
Sinéad O’Connor’s death hit me hard.
2003 dominates because of milestone reissues, particularly in Japan where ART-SCHOOL, bloodthirsty butchers and Onitsuka Chihiro released catalog titles on vinyl.
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: Bill Calahan, Apocalypse on CD.
First purchase of a 2022 release: Utada Hikaru, Bad MODE on CD.
Last purchase of a 2022 release: Steve Reich, Runner / Music for Ensemble and Orchestra on vinyl
Last purchase: M.I.A., Maya on vinyl.
Purchases by format
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
0
1
0
1
10-inch
0
1
0
1
12-inch
0
6
0
6
CD Single
0
0
1
1
CD
38
10
416
464
CD-R
0
0
0
0
Downloads
4
0
5
9
Vinyl
26
58
110
195
Total items bought
68
77
532
677
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
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
1991
30
New!
1993
27
New!
1998
22
+4
1996
22
New!
2002
21
New!
1990
21
New!
1989
20
New!
2001
19
+3
2000
19
-6
1997
19
-6
Top artists
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Artist
Number of items purchased
Glenn Gould
16
John Coltrane
10
Various Artists
9
Utada Hikaru
9
Makaino Kouji
8
Kraftwerk
8
Prince
8
Duran Duran
7
Tim McGraw
5
Wire
5
Cracker
5
Beyoncé
5
Notes
Glenn Gould tops the artist list because of a single purchase at the thrift shop.
Utada Hikaru and anime soundtrack composer Makaino Kouji both got major vinyl reissues in 2022.
I only get Tim McGraw albums to see if he’s wearing no shirt in the cover art.
This year is the first time the late 1980s don’t account for most of the top catalog years.
I wrote an entry similar to this one back in 2017 (almost to the day!) Five years later, vinyl sales account for 7 percent of total music revenue, according to Variety. The last stat I heard was 2 percent, and that was around the time I wrote that previous entry.
At this point, I’m surprised when I don’t find a title on vinyl, but that doesn’t mean titles haven’t fallen through the reissue cracks. So here’s a sequel — albums I would love to see reissued on vinyl.
Café Tacvba, Cuatros Caminos Café Tacvba, Ré
Vinyl pressings of Café Tacvba albums exist, but they’re usually limited and quick to run out of print. To my knowledge, neither Ré nor Cuatros Caminos have ever been issued on vinyl, but I wouldn’t mind repressings of albums that had been issued on vinyl.
Tracy Chapman, New Beginning
New Beginning had “Give Me One Reason”, Chapman’s biggest hit since “Fast Car”, so it’s curious to see the album never getting a vinyl reissue. I’ve seen RSD titles reissued for far less.
Orgy, Candyass
Orgy’s cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday” rivals the original, but the entire Candyass album was actually really good.
Kanye West, Yeezus
A lot of unofficial pressings exist, so an official release would be nice. Kanye annoys me, but this album is pretty unhinged.
Nick Lachey, What’s Left of Me
I have a soft spot for Nick Lachey and this album. I was definitely not the target market for his reality TV show, but the angst resulting from the end of his marriage led to some pretty honest art. I don’t expect What’s Left of Me to get the vinyl treatment. I would probably be the only person interested in getting it.
Pansy Division, Absurd Pop Song Romance
It’s not hard to sense a hunger for commercial success on this album, and I think it deserves to be revisited.
Stephen Sondheim, Assassins (Original Cast Recording)
By the time Stephen Sondheim opened Assassins off-Broadway, cast recordings migrated entirely to CD, so the original cast recording of this show never saw a vinyl release.
Sam Sparro, Sam Sparro
Sparro got a Grammy nomination for “Black and Gold”. Surely, that’s enough to warrant a vinyl pressing? Don’t call you Shirley?
STRAIGHTENER, LOST WORLD’S ANTHOLOGY ART-SCHOOL, LOVE/HATE
Among fans of SUPERCAR, NUMBER GIRL, Quruli and Shiina Ringo, these albums by ART-SCHOOL and STRAIGHTENER could be considered classics of early 2000s Japanese indie rock. But that’s a pretty narrow audience to justify a vinyl pressing.
SUPER JUNKY MONKEY, A.I.E.T.O.H
This EP was actually issued on vinyl, so let’s have a repressing!
Harry Connick, Jr., She
I am mostly ambivalent to the work of Harry Connick, Jr., but his two albums of New Orleans rock — She and Star Turtle — are the only two albums of his I own. Given how uncharacteristic these albums are with the rest of his discography, I don’t imagine they have much goodwill among his fans. So a vinyl reissue? Unlikely. But She was released on vinyl in the Netherlands …
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: Cocco, Kuchinashi on CD.
First purchase of a 2021 release: Anton Reicha, Reicha Rediscovered (Ivan Ilić) on CD.
Last purchase of a 2021 release: Tokyo Jihen, Sougou on CD
Last purchase: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, F# A# ∞ on LP.
Purchases by format
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
0
1
1
2
12-inch
2
5
1
8
CD Single
0
0
0
0
CD
31
8
420
459
CD-R
0
0
0
0
Downloads
7
0
37
44
Vinyl
14
26
87
127
Total items bought
54
40
546
640
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
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
1988
25
New!
2000
25
+7
1997
21
New!
1999
20
-3
1985
18
0
1987
18
New!
1998
18
-3
1980
17
New!
1994
17
New!
2001
17
-2
Top artists
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Artist
Number of items purchased
Adam Neely
13
Various Artists
8
Tokyo Jihen
8
John Coltrane
7
Gustav Mahler
6
The Rolling Stones
6
Emmylou Harris
6
Robbie Williams
5
Dmitri Shostakovich
5
Notes
Adam Neely posts singles and EPs, so his recorded output is not as prolific as it may seem.
My policy with regard to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones is to avoid paying more than $3 for their CDs, which means I’m usually finding them at thrift stores. It’s actually surprisingly common to see mid-90s Beatles remasters show up for $1.
You would think an Emmylou Harris stan such as myself would have already bought every recording in sight. I’ve held out on the Profile compilations because I have other compilations that contain that music. I keep hoping to find Light in the Stable on CD at the thrift store.
Over the years, I’ve posited that 1987 and 2002 were significant years in music releases. I’m beginning to sense 1980 is also such a year, not just because I was old enough to bug my mom to buy stuff for me.
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
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
0
0
0
0
10-inch
0
1
0
1
12-inch
1
1
0
2
CD Single
0
0
0
0
CD
35
5
245
285
CD-R
1
0
0
1
Downloads
13
0
5
18
Vinyl
13
31
56
100
Total items bought
62
38
304
407
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
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
1999
16
New!
2003
15
New!
2002
14
+9
1998
13
New!
1985
13
New!
2008
12
New!
1983
12
New!
2001
11
New!
2000
11
New!
1995
11
+1
1989
11
-6
1984
11
New!
Top artists
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Artist
Number of items purchased
Soundtracks
17
Jason Isbell
6
Various Artists
6
Robyn
5
downy
5
PJ Harvey
5
Philip Glass
4
envy
4
… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
4
Guided By Voices
4
U2
4
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.
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: Nakamori Akina, NEW AKINA Etranger on CD.
First purchase of a 2019 release: Soundtrack, The West Wing on CD.
Last purchase of a 2019 release: Kim Gordon, No Home Record on vinyl.
Last purchase: J. Cole, Born Sinner on CD.
Purchases by format
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
2
0
0
2
12-inch
2
2
2
6
CD Single
1
0
2
3
CD
38
10
599
647
CD-R
1
2
0
3
Downloads
0
0
0
0
Vinyl
19
32
192
243
Total items bought
64
46
795
905
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
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
1986
32
+6
1993
31
-1
1990
30
+6
1987
29
+4
1989
28
-4
1988
25
-3
1997
25
New!
1983
24
New!
2009
22
New!
1991
21
+7
1995
21
New!
2002
21
-8
1994
20
+4
Top artists
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Artist
Number of items purchased
Soundtracks
36
Robert Palmer
14
Olivier Messiaen
11
Everything But the Girl
8
Various Artists
8
Beck
6
Fleetwood Mac
6
Janet Jackson
6
John Coltrane
6
Johnny Cash
6
NUMBER GIRL
6
Ornette Coleman
6
Sly and the Family Stone
6
The Beatles
6
Notes
I’m surprised by the number of soundtracks I picked up this year, and I’ll admit many of those purchases were spurred by admiration for the film and not on the merits of the film score.
Robert Palmer is a seriously underrated singer. The market price for his albums puts him in the bargain bin, which allowed me to grab them without burning a hole in my pocket. He should be commanding more than he does.
Raiding the thrift shops these past three years has greatly expanded my collection, but now my listening is a lot shallower. If I play an album more than once, I like it a lot, or I can’t figure out if I ought to hate it.
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: Trio Bulgarka, The Forest Is Crying on vinyl.
First purchase of a 2018 release: Igor Stravinsky, Chant Funèbre / La Sacre Du Printemps on CD.
Last purchase of a 2018 release: James Ehnes, Howard, Kernis: Violin Concertos / Tovey: Stream of Limelight on CD
Last purchase: Yaz, You and Me Bothon vinyl.
Purchases by format
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
0
0
0
0
10-inch
1
0
1
2
12-inch
2
1
0
3
CD Single
0
0
0
0
CD
36
13
485
534
CD-R
0
0
0
0
Downloads
5
0
5
10
Vinyl
16
28
131
175
Total items bought
60
42
622
724
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
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
1993
24
New!
1989
24
+5
1988
24
+1
1992
23
+1
2002
22
New!
1986
22
+3
1984
21
0
1987
20
-7
1990
19
+3
1985
19
New!
1982
19
New!
1998
18
+2
1991
18
New!
2001
17
New!
2004
17
New!
1994
16
New!
1996
16
-14
2003
15
New!
Top artists
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Artist
Number of items purchased
Soundtracks
17
David Bowie
11
John Coltrane
10
Joni Mitchell
10
Soundtracks
9
Fugazi
7
Miles Davis
6
Fishbone
6
Brian Eno
6
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
6
The Pogues
6
Wilco
6
Kate Bush
6
Bruce Springsteen
6
Notes
We’re reaching a point where the collector CD market is going to get more ridiculous as brick-and-mortar stores rid their CD inventory in favor of vinyl.
Twice weekly visits to thrift stores account for the increase in my physical collection. It’s tough to beat a price point if $1 if you’re not too picky about condition, which I no longer am.
I picked up a lot of Joni Mitchell this year, but I can’t say I’ve grown attached to most of those acquisitions.
I’m starting to explore classic rock, more out of academic curiosity than actual appeal. I treat the Beatles like I treat Berlioz — as something I should know but not necessarily need to like.
I don’t know if or when I’ll listen to the Miles Davis albums I picked up this year. Something about Miles eludes me.
This site owes its existence to Russ Solomon, the founder of Tower Records who died on March 11 while watching the Oscars and drinking whiskey, according to reports.
I’ve already mentioned how Pulse magazine shaped my listening habits. The magazine also inspired me to become a music reviewer.
Jackson Griffith wrote columns for the magazine using a series of aliases. His writing style could be inscrutable and long-winded, but it was also humorous and, for avowed non-reader as myself back in high school, endlessly fascinating.
When I started writing reviews for the school paper, I tried — with little success — to emulate Griffith’s style. By the time I reached college, the greater lesson sank in: write like yourself, not that I had a clue who I was. The advent of the Internet allowed me to become my own publisher, and I’ve been subjecting you poor readers to these opinions for some 18 years now.
In college, I would receive promotional albums to review, but I could never get behind them. I could only write about items I bought with my own money, and back then, most of those items were bought at Tower Records. It was a lovely racket — Pulse spurred me to write about music, and Tower provided the product to do so.
I would read stories about how Walmart was the only place in town to buy music, which horrified me. Department store music sections were temples of mediocrity compared to the cornucopia found at Tower. I counted my lucky stars I could take the bus to a store that would stock albums by John Zorn, Joan Tower and In Tua Nua.
And while the Honolulu stores did their darnedest to have breadth and depth, Pulse hinted more was available that would never reach the islands. Early music e-commerce sites CD Now and Music Boulevard would chip away at Tower’s hold on my spending.
After I moved to Austin, my allegiance shifted to Waterloo Records and Amazon. I would later discover Tower didn’t have a monopoly on the idea of far ranging stock. Waterloo, Amoeba, Music Millennium, Silver Platters — the experience of Tower lives on.
So thank you, Russ Solomon, for connecting a precocious teen-ager to a lifetime of music fandom, financial ruin and obscure punditry.
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: Sleater-Kinney, One Beat (2014 reissue) on vinyl.
First purchase of a 2017 release: Renée Fleming, Distant Light on CD.
Last purchase of a 2017 release: Anne Dudley, Anne Dudley Plays the Art of Noise on CD
Last purchase: Wilco, Summerteeth on vinyl.
Purchases by format
Format
New release
Reissue
Catalog
Total
7-inch
0
0
0
0
12-inch
0
1
0
1
CD Single
0
0
2
2
CD
31
14
289
334
CD-R
0
0
1
1
Downloads
3
0
1
4
Vinyl
9
43
110
162
Total items bought
43
58
403
504
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
Year
Number of items purchased
Year-over-year change
1987
22
+9
1988
21
0
1999
20
New!
1996
19
+6
1992
19
+1
2016
18
New!
1989
17
+2
1984
17
New!
1986
16
New!
1998
15
New!
1990
15
-7
Top artists
Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.
Artist
Number of items purchased
Clannad
8
Depeche Mode
8
David Bowie
6
Chris Isaak
6
Kronos Quartet
6
Midnight Oil
6
Perfume
6
Stevie Wonder
6
The Clash
5
John Coltrane
5
Dead Can Dance
5
Enya
5
Steve Reich
5
Bruce Springsteen
5
SUPERCAR
5
Aphex Twin
4
Miles Davis
4
Bill Evans
4
Charles Mingus
4
Outkast
4
The Streets
4
A Tribe Called Quest
4
Steve Winwood
4
Notes
The death on Pádraig Duggan in 2016 spurred me to bring a lot of Clannad titles back into my collection.
Cheap CDs from thrift shops account for some of the entries list, namely Chris Isaak and Steve Winwood.
If I grouped this list by title, David Bowie wouldn’t rank as highly. Pretty much, I bought different versions of Ziggy Stardust.
Midnight Oil and Depeche Mode concerts made me want to dig further into back catalog I hadn’t yet explored.
When you can find a second-hand vinyl copy of Suzanne Vega’s Solitutde Standing for $1, does the world really need a reissue that costs $30? Same goes for the soundtrack to Top Gun — was it really such a cultural watershed?
Vinyl reissues make up just a sliver of recorded music sales, but it’s the only sector experiencing rapid growth. So if Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em by MC Hammer can get a reissue, then nothing should stop the following titles from showing up on wax. From what I can tell, none of these titles have ever been issued on vinyl.
Fastball, All the Pain Money Can Buy
The stars aligned for Fastball on this album, but tensions in the band prevented them from capitalizing on that momentum. It still holds up well after nearly 20 years. Reissued on Nov. 9, 2018.
Patty Griffin, Flaming Red
You need look no further than Silver Bell to hear how well Flaming Red would sound on vinyl. Griffin doesn’t usually indulge her rock side, but like the title of this album, she burns when she does.
Freedy Johnston, This Perfect World
This album was in constant rotation on my player back in 1994, and I didn’t care if it storm up the charts. It didn’t, so the likelihood for a reissue are slim. Reissued Feb. 2019.
Hajime Chitose, Hainumikaze
I’ve so far not been impressed by vinyl pressings of domestic Japanese albums. The market is still driven mostly by CDs, so Japanese labels don’t put much care into the sound of vinyl releases. In my fantasy world where they did, I would so want to hear Hajime Chitose’s voice on vinyl.
Onitsuka Chihiro, INSOMNIA
All the ballads on this album should make remastering it for vinyl not insurmountable. Right?
Hem, Rabbit Songs
I’m surprised the only album in Hem’s discography available on vinyl is Departures and Farewells. I would have thought Rabbit Songs had been reissued a long time ago.
Utada Hikaru, Ultra Blue
The last Utada album to be issued on vinyl was DEEP RIVER. Reissued April 27, 2022
Duran Duran, Medazzaland
The masters for Duran Duran’s most underrated album is owned by the band, so the fate of a vinyl reissue is entirely up to them. Nick Rhodes has mentioned he would love to see it happen. Reissued Oct. 14, 2022.
![[Matt Rogers - Have You Heard of Christmas?]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/MattRogersHaveYouHeardo323035_f.jpg)
![[Steve Reich - Runner / Music for Ensemble and Orchestra]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SteveReichRunner.jpg)
![[Nick Lachey - What's Left of Me]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NickLacheyWhatsleftofme31169_f.jpg)
![[Tokyo Jihen - Sougou]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TokyoJihenSougou.jpg)
![[Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BruceSpringsteenLetterto2588442VL4_f.jpg)
![[Kim Gordon - No Home Record]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/KimGordonNoHomeRecord-300x300.jpg)
![[Igor Stravinsky - Funeral Song]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IgorStravinskyChantFunebre-300x300.jpg)
![[Tower Records: No Music, No Life]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/tower-records-logo.jpg){kind=logo}
![[Renée Fleming - Distant Light]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/renee-fleming-distant-light-300x300.jpg)
![[Fastball - All the Pain Money Can Buy]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FastballAllthePainMoney145007_f-300x300.jpg)