Record Store Day Haul
I trust that everyone had a nice Record Store Day yesterday? Good. I enjoyed mine as well, thank you for asking.
Some previous commitments kept me out of the stores until very late in the day. Because of this, I wasn’t able to complete a full trip around “The Circuit” like I had hoped, but I was still able to drop into two or three of my favorite shops and perform a customary flip through the bins. It was Red Onion Records & Books that had me reaching for my wallet on this particular day. I somewhat randomly settled on the selections below, though I easily could have doubled my pile and then some. It’s maybe a good thing that I no longer live within walking distance of this fine establishment.
Nilsson, Aerial Ballet
Harry Nilsson’s second album, released in 1968. This is an original issue and is fantastic shape. I’ve had a cd copy of Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, which is an odd studio amalgam of Nilsson’s first two albums Pandemonium Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet (confused yet?), but have always been curious to hear the original albums themselves. Fact: there isn’t anybody on this earth who doesn’t enjoy Harry’s wonderful rendition of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”.
Video: Harry Nilsson, “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1969)
XTC, White Music and Drums and Wires
I’m not entirely sure why I finally opted to buy two of XTC’s first three records on this day. These records are hardly rare; in fact they are practically fixtures in the used bins. And why did I opt for the bookends White Music and Drums and Wires, but passed on the released in-between Go2? It could be because Ivan played “Statue of Liberty” at the last Heavywax and it sounded downright revelatory. At any rate, I’ve always considered myself more of a Skylarking/Oranges & Lemons/Dukes of Stratosphear XTC-fan, but that was more out of ignorance than an actual educated preference. I look forward to finally exploring their earlier, new-wave roots.
Video: XTC, “Statue of Liberty “(Live, Old Grey Whistle Test, 1978)
April 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Yeah, why is it that XTC is so easy to find in vinyl bins? Funny thing…my early tests with my turntable yesterday were with English Settlement.
Little bit of drum geekery: did you see how huge the drummer’s rack toms are?! Oh, 70’s.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Drums & Wires is XTC’s best album if you ask me.