Crosby-Nash (ABC AA-1102, 1978).
A just alright compilation of the “best” of these two from their various solo and duo albums. Most of it sounds like rich guys doing blow on a sailboat, taking themselves very seriously. I probably picked this up after being blown away by If I Could Only Remember My Name. It’s not like that.
The Cure: The Walk (Sire 1-23928, 1983).
Six-song U.S. release combining the “Let’s Go to Bed” and “The Walk” singles. America never had a singles market so this was marketed as a $5.99 “mini-LP” and the price is even printed on the sleeve and on the spine. Great songs, of course.
The Cure: Concert (Fiction fixh10, 1984).
My wife bought this in high school. I like these live versions better than the studio versions. The sleeve boasts “no overdubs” and the runout grooves say PLAY ME LOUD on side one and EAT ME TOO on side two. Robert Smith is funny!
The Cure: In Between Days (Elektra 0-066882, 1985).
Another one of my wife’s from high school. Before we were dating I’d sometimes see her at the local record store. Her blowing her Baskin-Robbins paycheck on Cure tapes and singles, and me buying up the Smiths discography one 12” per week until I had them all. “In Between Days,” of course is a perfect song.
Daystar: The Complete Recordings (2019).
This was my homie DP’s band in Portland. I know people have a bad attitude about “friend rock” but this is actually a good album. Influenced by 70s melodic rockers like Badfinger, but not pastiche. Plus one song contains a subtle inside joke about a dipshit we knew in high school.
Del tha Funkee Homosapien: Mistadobalina (Elektra 0-66490, 1991).
I love Del. His debut album is, for me, the peak of the P-Funk sampling era of hip hop. But when I heard the Monkees sample on this song I almost lost my mind. Worlds collide. This 12” contains a few remixes that later ended up a best-of comp.
Del tha Funkee Homosapien: Made in America (Elektra 0-66303, 1993).
Found this non-album single at Flipside Records (R.I.P.) in Kalamazoo back in the day. It’s apparently from the soundtrack of a Whoopi Goldberg movie I’ve never seen. It came out between Brother George and No Need for Alarm and was a sign of what was to come.
Jackie DeShannon: Laurel Canyon (Imperial LP-12415, 1969).
She’s cool but this is pretty lightweight and sometimes goofy. Like, her cover of “Sunshine of Your Love” is super corny. Still, she’s got a soulful voice and a hot band (including Dr. John on piano) and her originals are good if a little touristy. Does anybody really need to promote Los Angeles?
Paul & Linda McCartney: Ram (Apple SMAS-3375, 1971).
Jumping out of alph order because I’m watching that new Paul doc and wanted to hear this. I should probably find a cleaner copy. This one’s scratched up pretty bad. The quality cuts through the noise and still sounds great. Top three solo Beatle album for sure.
Detroit with Mitch Ryder (MCA-25970, 1987).
Reissue of a 1971 album with one bonus track (“Gimme Shelter”) and updated liner notes by Dave Marsh. I somehow ended up with two copies. Produced by Bob Ezrin. Ryder can belt and his band includes Steve Hunter who would go on to work with Ezrin on albums by Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. Detroit hard boogie.
Doctor & the Medics: Laughing at the Pieces (IRS-5797, 1986).
A few years ago I realized the version of this on streaming is the original UK release and not the superior US release that I had on tape as a 15yo. This is the third copy of this dumb album I’ve purchased: once on tape, twice on #vinyl; it did not survive the great purge of 2005-2008…which was probably fair.
Donovan: Sixty Four (Donovan Discs VI0001, 2017).
My wife got me this (signed!) for my birthday in 2020. I kept the padded envelope it came in because Donovan filled out the customs slip himself. Pretty cool. Demos of five covers and four originals. (And I’m still mad at Dylan for being so mean in Dont Look Back.)
Father John Misty: Fear Fun (Sub Pop SP970, 2012).
It’s getting harder to remember how fun and liberated this sounded in 2012, before Tillman became a grumpy old blowhard (again). This was the sound of a young man throwing off the uptight shackles of propriety and busting loose. Plus he can sing like a motherfucker. Vinyl sounds like shit though, sibilant and noisy like a lot of new #vinyl.
Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear (Sub Pop SP1115, 2015).
The annoying thing about 2x45rpm #vinyl is you have to get up and flip em every 11 minutes. But this sounds good and it’s the last overall great FJM album. He brings his “demonic clown thing” persona into the setting of a happy marriage and hilarity/madness ensues. “The Ideal Husband” is self-flagellation at its best and “Holy Shit” predicted that terrible world that social media was shaping.
Father John Misty: Pure Comedy (Sub Pop SP1200, 2017).
FJM takes the easy targets of Honeybear’s “Bored in the USA” and makes a whole album sanctimoniously skewering them/us. Not to say those targets aren’t easy for a reason, but to make fun of middle-aged losers for “bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the Oculus Rift” was never going to age well. His voice, however, has never sounded better.
First Aid Kit: The Lion’s Roar (Wichita WEBB320LP, 2012).
I’ve maybe played this once. That’s dumb. It would be a good first-thing-in-the-morning record. Lots of pedal steel via Mike Mogis and of course those sweet sibling harmonies from the Söderberg sisters. “Emmylou” is a perfect song.
First Aid Kit: Stay Gold (Columbia 88843 06661 1, 2014).
Why don’t I listen to the Söderberg sisters more often? This is great. Was Mike Mogis the real talent in Bright Eyes after all? Because the production and arrangements on this are really good. Happy I’m doing this. What else will I rediscover?
The Five Royales: 17 Hits (King 5014X, 1978).
The “5” are my favorite 50s rock and roll group. A perfect combination of jump blues and doo wop, they are the coolest, oozing with charisma and badass guitar and sax solos. Listen to “Women About to Make Me Go Crazy” if you need convincing. This comp is perfect but you can’t go wrong with any of the stuff they recorded for King.
Curtis Mayfield: Sweet Exorcist (Curtom CRS8601, 1974).
Breaking out of alph order to listen to some new purchases. I’d never heard this before but it has a gnarly cover with gods and skulls and shit so even though it’s beat up pretty bad, I figured why not. And it’s good! Lots of surface noise as expected but not unlistenable. You can’t go wrong with Curtis Mayfield!
Paul McCartney: McCartney (Apple STAO3363, 1970).
My favorite Paul is unfussy Paul and I love that he released such a half-baked effort as his debut solo album. Silly instrumental trifles, throwaway ad-libbed nonsense, Beatle leftovers and a few timeless classics. It’s obvious why rockcrit snobs hated it. But they’re wrong.
Beastie Boys: Check Your Head (Capitol C1-94225, 2009).
Bought this on cd in the spring of 1992, saw them in East Lansing a month later, and this was the soundtrack of that whole summer. And I’m sorry to be nostalgic but damn what a great time to be in college. In the cd there was an address to write to for the lyrics, which I did, and that’s how I got in their mailing list and eventually subscribed to Grand Royal magazine. What a time. What an album.
Fortune & Maltese: Live at Harvey’s (Don’t Mind If I Do AR-10152, 1996).
Discogs says this came out in 1997, but I found my receipt from Flipside Records where I bought it (used!) on 10/12/96. It’s a semi-official bootleg recorded on a Walkman. Captures F&M and the Phabulous Pallbearers at their rawest. A perfect document. The bar this was recorded in was demolished earlier this month.
The Frost: Frost Music (Vanguard VSD6520, 1969).
The Frost was Dick Wagner’s band and they were big in Detroit. I bet they were great live but this album is pretty lame. Lots of rippin’ lead guitar but the production strips away any raw power. A few years ago Vanguard apparently released “Live at the Grande Ballroom” and I bet that’s way better.
Funkadelic: Funkadelic (ORG Music ORGM2326, 2025).
This remaster of the greatest American rock band’s 1970 debut is so fucking good. Forensically restored by Dave Gardner and Catherine Vericolli, this psychedelic masterpiece has never sounded better. It will blow your funky mind.
Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove (Warner Bros BSK-3209, 1978).
My rule when digging through used bins is if you see some P-Funk you buy it. This is in rough shape and it’s missing the bonus EP, but whatever. I used to have a lot more before the Purge but none of it was clean so I’m now patiently waiting for ORG Music to work through the Westbound catalog at least.
Go-Go’s: Beauty and the Beat (IRS SP-70021, 1981).
Nobody was cooler than the Go-Go’s in 1981. I recently spent an entire lunch break watching old television clips and they’re all amazing. If you haven’t seen the 2020 Showtime documentary, do it. The story about returning the towels to Macy’s after the album shoot is just one hilarious detail.
Edith Frost: In Space (Drag City DC940, 2025).
Her first album in 20 years was a return to everything we’d been missing plus a new emphasis on strange keyboards and atmospheric textures (which I guess had always been there come to think of it). Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 20 years for the next one!
Grateful Dead: American Beauty (Warner Bros WS-1893, 1970).
I prefer their studio recordings. Don’t love the live stuff. I don’t really value improvisation. I prefer my folk songs to be well crafted, arrangements planned out and performances rehearsed. I also love Crazy Horse so maybe I’m full of shit. But I love this album. And even though my sleeve has a big chunk out of it, the vinyl sounds perfect.
Merle Haggard: If We Make It Through December (Capitol ST-11276, 1974).
Man, there’s *nothing* wrong with this album. The title track alone is worth the price of admission, which for me was $2 at the same neighbor’s estate sale where I picked up those two Beatles albums up thread. As if Hag’s songs aren’t sad enough, every time I listen to him I think of Kaleb Horton, which makes me even sadder.
Hallelujah the Hills: A Band Is Something To Figure Out (Re-Vinyl, 2016).
Earnest chugging anthems from the nicest guy in indie rock. This one doesn’t feel as personal or emotionally heavy as I’m You or DECK but it’s still got lots of great moments. Happy they eventually invested in better vocal mics.
Hallelujah the Hills: Against Electricity (Jealous Butcher JB172, 2018)
In my obstinate old age I have started referring to all instrumental music as “jazz.” This is a jazz album originally created as the soundtrack to front man Ryan H. Walsh’s book Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968. It’s moody and cool.
Hallelujah the Hills: I’m You (Discrete Pageantry, 2022)
Belated #vinyl release of the best album of 2019. I got intensely into this while going through some weird shit in the months before covid. It’s so great. And heavy. And funny: “I was first in line for the Solipsistic Sad Guy Seminar / But inside it just turned out to be another bar.” Life-changing album for me for real.
Hallelujah the Hills: Diamonds (Best Brothers BBR005, 2025)
The first (and hopefully not last) of the four suits of the DECK to be released on #vinyl. Such a bonkers idea to write and record 52 new songs (plus two jokers!) and release them all at once. Worth the wait. Diamonds contains 13 of their best songs, everything great about this band.
The Handsome Family: Wilderness (Carrot Top SAKI055, 2013)
Signed by Rennie and Brett. Sounds a lot different if you forget to switch from 45 to 33, ha ha. All their albums are great but their later stuff has a quiet confidence that feels like a long, comforting hug…from a vampire before she sinks her teeth into your neck.
The Handsome Family: Unseen (Milk & Scissors M&S001, 2016)
I normally prefer my records like I like my coffee: black, but I’ve got to admit this green translucent vinyl looks pretty cool. This is a more soulful Handsome Family album with lots of piano. They’re so good.
George Harrison: All Thing Must Pass (Apple STCH639, 1970)
I found this album buried in the back of a cubby hole in my mom’s house when we were clearing it out after she died. The house she moved into when she married my dad, the house where I grew up. All things must pass. It’s the only message I’ve received from the afterlife.
Human League: Dare (A&M SP-4892, 1982)
I heard “Don’t You Want Me” at J. Crew at the mall a few years ago and decided those synths would sound great on #vinyl. I was not wrong but this album could use a few more good songs than it has.
Pixies: Surfer Rosa (4AD CAD803, 1988)
Bought whatever the in-print version is, made in the Czech Republic, but it sounds alright to me. One of my favorite albums of all time, but I only had the twofer cd with Come On Pilgrim. I am one happy prick.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: The Nashville Sound (Southeastern SER99881, 2017)
“If We Were Vampires” makes my wife cry. She doesn’t even have to hear it, she just has to think about it and her eyes well up. It’s got to be weird for Isbell to have written one of the deepest love songs of all time, a collaboration with his spouse, and then get divorced and still have to sing it. And he does. He’s been closing shows with it. God damn, right?
Michael Jackson: Thriller picture disc (Epic 8E8-38867, 1983)
I’ve had this since it was new. I was a big MJ fan when I was 11 and 12…and beyond. I was a total denier about the abuse for longer than reasonable and even now I don’t *want* to believe…because his music was (is?) so important to me. And for me it all started here with this perfect album.
The Jacksons: Triumph (Epic FE36424, 1980)
Despite having loved MJ and even digging into the early J5, I never got into his Jacksons era. Not sure why I bought this album…because it’s not great. Must’ve been cheap. Probably won’t ever listen to it again.
Waylon Jennings: Ol’ Waylon (RCA APP1-2317, 1977)
The only two things in life that make it worth livin’ is guitars that tune good and firm feelin’ women. This was my dad’s record. He died when I was 10. “Luckenback, Texas” was his favorite. Mine too but the whole album is good. Has a lot of that weird late-70s country flange guitar tone and some goofy covers. But the good stuff is really good.
John Prine: BBC Sessions (Rhino R1 728494, 2026)
A Record Store Day release with just Prine and an acoustic guitar, recorded for the BBC in 1973. No liner notes, no details. Nine songs, all sound great. Pretty unnecessary if you have the first two albums but I don’t have any Prine on #vinyl so this is fun.
Joni Mitchell: For the Roses (Asylum RCV5 5057, 2026)
RSD release featuring Mitchell’s rejected album art with a talking horse showing its ass. This version apparently reuses the Bernie Grundman cut from 2022, which was confirmed to be from the analog master tape. So it sounds good. You can probably find a used original pressing for way cheaper but this is fun.
Weezer: 1192 (Ernest Jenning EJRC236, 2026)
One more unnecessary but fun #RSD release, this is a collection of pre-Blue album Weezer demos. Sounds about as good as you’d expect demos to sound, proving that “all analog” doesn’t necessarily mean “high fidelity.” Exuberant performances though.
Neil Young: American Stars 'N Bars (Reprise MSK 2261, 1977)
Picked this up used on Record Store Day. Has one of my all-time favorite songs. All your dreams and your lovers won’t protect you… Maybe the Star of Bethlehem wasn’t a star at all?
Elvis Presley: That’s the Way It Is (RCA LSP-4445, 1970)
Four live songs from Las Vegas and eight Nashville studio cuts from the time when Elvis was in great shape and his voice at its peak. Everything he did from 1969 to 1971 is worth checking out, especially the live stuff, before his live show became a caricature of itself.
David Johansen: Here Comes the Night (Blue Sky FZ 36589, 1981)
Back to alpha order after the brief diversion for RSD. Found this in the dollar bin and it’s a little weird that this is his only solo album I have on #vinyl, but I couldn’t pass it up. Features Blondie Chaplin on guitar/vocals and the Modern Lovers’ Ernie Brooks on bass. Not quite as 1981 as you might expect.
Rickie Lee Jones (Warner Bros. BSK 3296, 1979)
I didn’t give this album a chance until well after I’d gotten deeply into Tom Waits and his lore. It’s crazy how big of a hit “Chuck E.’s in Love” was with this sassy “little girl” laying down hipster jive with the best of them. “Easy Money” would’ve fit on Nighthawks at the Diner. “Danny’s All-Star Joint” is fun as hell. Here comes Rickie with the girdle on tight!
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (Daptone DAP-019, 2010)
She was so great. Glad I got to see her in concert once. Her voice could make even dopey white girls shake their hips with serious soul. And Daptone did such a great job of creating an accurate vibe for this, elevating it from beyond pastiche to true pop art like Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes.
King Tammy: Welcome to the County Fair…Motherfucker (Scratch and Sniff SNES002, 1998)
There was a moment when King Tammy was the best band in Kalamazoo. And the scariest. They’re all sweet guys but they were true freaks. Amazing musicians, they played a sort of acid-drenched alt-metal and always seemed like they were on the brink of homelessness or institutionalization. They recorded this album with Kramer. Which makes sense.
Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express (Capitol SW-11603, 1977)
My kid got me into Kraftwerk when he was 3. He was into trains and we would watch train videos on YouTube together. Some dude compiled 120+ photos of the VT601 and set it to side 3 of The Mix. We watched that video dozens of times. Maybe hundreds. Trains! Robots! Express!
Kris Kristofferson: Jesus Was a Capricorn (Monument KZ 31909, 1972)
The fourth album by the guy who gave country music the “illusion of literacy” according to Tom T. Hall. And yeah, Kristofferson is as smart, good-looking and talented as anybody who ever did it, the lucky son of a bitch. The title track is “owed to John Prine” and you can hear why.
Kris Kristofferson: Songs of Kristofferson (Columbia PZ 34687, 1977)
This is a greatest hits album and it’s perfect. Twelve songs and they’re all great. Kristofferson is the ultimate example of nontoxic masculinity. Tough but sensitive. Rugged but gentle. Damaged but he’s working on it. And there's nothin' short of dyin' half as lonesome as the sound on the sleepin' city sidewalks, Sunday mornin' comin' down.
Funkadelic: Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow (ORG Music ORGM-2328, 2026)
Look what showed up in the mail today! Restored by Dave Gardner and Catherine Vericolli, all analog, mastered direct from tape to lathe, and oh man it sounds so good. Best American rock group, hands down.
Oh no I broke my thread! Oops.
Attached: 1 image The Modern Lovers (BMG 964216351, 2026) Couldn’t resist. Found this #RSD release on ebay for what I would’ve paid in the store so I snatched it up. One of my favorite albums of all time (although I consider the 1989 Rhino CD release my definitive track listing). This sounds really good though. So fun. @[email protected] #vinyl #ModernLovers #JonathanRichman
Led Zeppelin (Atlantic SD8216, 1969)
I spent plenty of years making fun of dick-swinging classic rock but this really is a remarkable achievement, executing such a wholly formed vision on a debut album and essentially kicking off a new decade. It just sounds huge.
John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band (Apple SW3372, 1970)
A friend picked this up for me at Amoeba Records. It’s my favorite solo Beatle album for sure. John at his most vulnerable and least cynical. Plus a Cookie Monster impression! I still remember the first time I heard “God” and how the “I don’t believe in Beatles” line landed like a punch in the gut.
John & Yoko: Some Time in New York City (Apple PCS 7161, 1972)
I somehow ended up with a UK pressing of this. I like my solo Beatles unfussy and this one certainly is that. Lots of wailing sax and I must admit they have a rockin' band. There’s even some pretty stuff (“Luck of the Irish”) but overall its vibe is confrontational and aggressive. Which is cool. The lead single is hard to listen to these days.
The Libertines: Up the Bracket (Rough Trade LP065, 2002)
Such a great album from a band that showed so much potential. Two sweatily charismatic singer-songwriters anchored by a booming rhythm section. Doherty would blow it all on crack and Kate Moss but we didn’t know that yet. For now they were just cool and fun and exciting.
@gloriousnoise Had that on in the car today. There’s so much going on. So loose (glaring errors in You Shook Me, guide vocals leaking all over the drum mics) yet so tight. The individuals are all amazing players, but they were uniquely suited to one another.
I have a lot of influences as a bassist I’d prefer to shake off, but JPJ is in my bloodstream still because of the first 2 albums. His extemporaneousness is foundational.
@gloriousnoise And Mr. Young must like it too: so far, Star of Bethlehem appears on (that I know of)
American Stars 'n Bars
Archives Vol 3
Archives Vol. 2
Chrome Dreams
Decade
Homegrown
@Defiance @gloriousnoise Searching out artists who scratch the same itch but don't have the baggage sometimes work.
Something I always recommend to fellow Moz-avoiders: https://thebedroomsxoxo.bandcamp.com/album/passive-viewing
9 track album
Jake
donutage (Bill Cole)
Jessamyn
Chris “Emergent-C” Vreeland
C Puffer
kreg
swanksalot
Defiance!
Nate