Grant Green, Green is Beautiful, 1970 on Blue Note

Green joined here by Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Claude Bartee (tenor sax), Emmanuel Riggens (organ), Jimmy Lewis (bass), and Idris Muhammad (drums) plus Richard Lendrum (bongos) and Candido Camero (congas). Recorded in 1970 by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. My copy—via Salem Flea Marketplace—is the 2023 Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series reissue, mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed at Optimal, which sounds (and looks) great.

https://goatless.org/2026/05/16/grant-green-green-is-beautiful-1970-on-blue-note

Nicolet, Hochelaga, 2017 on Chivi Chivi

Nicolet is the project of Etienne Hamel, a Quebecois multi-instrumentalist - Hochelaga is the debut full length under that moniker. The name refers to a neighborhood in Montreal, on the St. Lawrence river near Mount Royal. Great francophone indie rock. Unfortunately it's also the name of a stoner metal album by Dopethrone. I ended up with this copy as part of a grab-bag from Bull Moose Records in Plaistow NH. $2 for a bag with 10 LPs, but no returns/exchanges and you have no idea what […]

https://goatless.org/2026/05/15/nicolet-hochelaga-2017-on-chivi-chivi

Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Armed Forces, 1979 on Columbia

Costello's third LP and second with The Attractions (but the first to credit them on the cover). My favorites here are "Oliver's Army" and of course "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" (forgiving the lack of an Oxford comma). Produced by Nick Lowe, who famously wrote the latter. My copy—via Vinyl Vault in Littleton MA—is a Pitman pressing from 1979 with (as expected) the US cover. In the UK, the initial release (on Radar Records) has the painting of the elephants on […]

https://goatless.org/2026/05/14/elvis-costello-and-the-attractions-armed-forces-1979-on-columbia

The Cars, Panorama, 1980 on Elektra

This was the third studio LP from Boston band The Cars, situated between Candy-O and Shake It Up. Includes "Touch and Go." An underappreciated album in The Cars' discography: seen by critics as a let down and not as commercial successful as the one before or after. I like it though - more experimental, more ambitious - trying on different sounds. Sort of an alternate universe in which they went more alternative. Not the first Cars LP you should buy, but worth being in your collection if […]

https://goatless.org/2026/05/13/the-cars-panorama-1980-on-elektra

Margo Price, That’s How Rumors Get Started, 2020 on Loma Vista

Price's third studio album, produced by Sturgill Simpson (with Price and David Ferguson) and released in July of 2010 during the pandemic. I've been a fan since her debut - smart songwriting in a traditional storytelling country way but with a modern take. Now going back and learning the back-catalog via Buffalo Clover. My copy—via Salem Flea Marketplace—is the Barnes & Noble Exclusive pressing, including the "Margozine" booklet with twelve pages of photos from the sessions and some […]

https://goatless.org/2026/05/12/margo-price-thats-how-rumors-get-started-2020-on-loma-vista

Leo Kottke, 6-and 12-String Guitar, 1969 on Takoma

Kottke's second album, following 12-String Blues, and what would become reportedly the best-selling LP on John Fahey's Takoma Records. Writing his own liner notes, Kottke writes "All that is left to be said is that Kottke's voice does not appear on this album. His guitar does." My copy—via Salem Flea Marketplace—has the gold and tan "two dragons" Takoma labels, and is likely a repress circa 1972.

https://goatless.org/2026/05/11/leo-kottke-6-and-12-string-guitar-1969-on-takoma

U2, The Joshua Tree Singles: Remastered & Live, 2017 on Island Records

Another fan club release, for subscribers to U2.com, this was pressed in 2017, and features four of the singles from The Joshua Tree, each with one remastered studio trac and one live track recorded on tour in 2017: With or Without You (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA, June 25th) I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Fedex Field, Washington DC, June 20th) Where The Streets Have No Name (Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Louisville KY, June 16th) In God's Country (The Hard Rock Stadium, […]

https://goatless.org/2026/05/10/u2-the-joshua-tree-singles-remastered-live-2017-on-island-records

Art Pepper, Gettin’ Together, 1960 on Contemporary Records

Pepper joined here by Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Wynton Kelly (piano) and Conte Candoli (trumpet, on three tracks). That makes this another LP with Miles Davis' rhythm section, as the earlier Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section was. Rounding out for now my recent Art Pepper pickups (say Art Pepper Pickups five times fast), my copy—direct from Craft Recordings—is the 2024 Acoustic Sounds Series reissue mastered by Bernie Grundman and pressed at QRP.

https://goatless.org/2026/05/09/art-pepper-gettin-together-1960-on-contemporary-records

Jens Lekman, When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog, 2004 on Secretly Canadian

I'm a big fan of Jens Lekman - this was his debut album, though some of the tracks had been released independently. Can you imagine in 2003 seeing Jens Lekman and José González together at Goteborg Concert Hall? Banner year for Swedish indie music. My copy—via Bull Moose Records in Plaistow NH—is the Secretly Canadian 25th Anniversary exclusive reissue on green vinyl. (That's 25 years of Secretly Canadian, not 25 years of the album).

https://goatless.org/2026/05/08/jens-lekman-when-i-said-i-wanted-to-be-your-dog-2004-on-secretly-canadian

Art Pepper, Intensity, 1963 on Contemporary Records

Recorded in 1960 but released in 1963, this has Pepper joined by Dolo Coker (piano), Jimmy Bond (bass), and Frank Butler (drums). A critical part of any west coast jazz library. That cover photo makes me think of the moment in Lost in Translation where the translator turns a series of long directions in Japanese from the director to Bill Murray as an actor into just this: "more intensity." Part of a series of recent pickups from Pepper on reissues, my copy—direct from Craft […]

https://goatless.org/2026/05/07/art-pepper-intensity-1963-on-contemporary-records