After six months of my record obsession, I’ve amassed about 50 albums. Record store visits are fun again, shuffling through the endless crates in hopes of finding a favorite gem.
Both new and old, I found them.
Alison Krauss and Robert Plant sound that much better on vinyl, coating those dark, tender songs with another layer of warmth. If I play the mandolin part from Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us, I could imagine them harmonizing at the end of my bed.
But I’ve raved about that album long enough. I figured I was due to write about my favorite finds.
Fairport Convention – What We Did On Our Holiday, Unhalfbricking,
I almost reenacted a recent Saturday Night Live digital short when I saw this trio at Grimey’s. Unhalfbricking has been a favorite for nearly a decade, and a compilation rounded out what I knew of them. But the best English folk-rock band shines on heavy-grade vinyl
Fleet Foxes fans should devour these albums. Of course, this criminally underlooked band has a small devoted following in the states, despite a lineup featuring a young Richard Thompson on guitar and vocal powerhouse Sandy Denny.
When they break from traditional tunes and their material, the Fairport Convention gives the Byrds a run for the title of Best Bob Dylan Interpreter.
Almost flawless, these albums sounds at home today as many songs would have during the Elizabethan Age.
Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool
The clerk at Great Escape expressed relief when I brought this to the counter on Christmas Eve. “I’m glad someone finally bought this,” he said in pure adoration of Nick Lowe’s magnum opus. The first side gave me a little cheer for the bothersome holiday trip to
Two months later, I have gone to sleep with this exercise in songwriting on the turntable more than any other record. Lowe leaps through styles effortlessly, never imitating or sacrificing his own artistic voice. I think I heard So It Goes about 15 years too late. Better yet, it comes with a second LP of rarities, including the original version of Lowe essential Cruel To Be Kind, a cover of Born a Woman and the snarky I Love My Label.
I just reviewed it for these gentlemen from NYC.
An Evening With Groucho
A staggering amount of material never migrated from vinyl to digital. This tribute to Groucho Marx, during which the 80-something comedian tells stories and performs songs dating back to the Marx Brothers films, is one of those cheap finds that validates a record store search.
I spotted the CD through an Amazon.com seller for nearly $60. For this two LP-set, I plunked down four bucks.
Cost affects quality in record-buying. The $1 copies of Fiddler on the Roof, Sports and Point of Know Return (You’re my boy, Blue!) are automatically sound better for having spent so little to acquire them.
Flying Burrito Brothers ~ Gilded
Another record I’ve owned on CD forever, these tunes practically jump off the grooves. From Christine’s Tune to Dark End of the Street, Parsons and Company cut a perfect Side One. Side Two doesn’t miss by much.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Rust Never Sleeps
Neil hates the sound quality of MP3s. By the time you reach Hey Hey My My (Into the Black), you will too. The remnants of the scrapped album Chrome Dreams and other top-notch songs prove that Godfather of Grunge label with riff after riff. Splitting the sides between acoustic and electric pays due to Young's divergent styles. Record (mostly live) live, this is Young delivering one last blast of rock before he drifted off-course in the 80s.
As with all of these, Rust Never Sleeps just sounds better when the needle grips the groove.
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