Fresh Grabs

Time to share my February grabs before we get too deep into March. This February was always going to look anomalous because I have finally been united with records I had delivered abroad (some as far back as 2018!). Cudos to my superhero mom for fitting them in her luggage!

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These are all Brazilian pressings so the sound quality is not the main draw. That said, I’m happy to have a mono cut of With The Beatles to go with my German stereo version. And I now have all their studio albums (not including Yellow Submarine, because I have those songs in the Mono Masters set), which was a long time coming.

As for the Bowie, this is a bit of an oddity because it features the bonus tracks from the Rhino CD reissues from the late 80s/early 90s. That jumbles the track list a bit (side A goes all the way to and includes “Andy Warhol” so the bonus tracks can fit at the end of side B).

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My Rush LP count keeps creeping up. Now I just need a Counterparts repress…

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Now we’re heating up. I never thought I’d have Show on vinyl but I recently snagged it for a very reasonable price. Sadly the first track of Side 3 (“The Walk”) skips a couple of times in the beginning. Normally I don’t hold on to records in that condition but since Show is so rare on vinyl, I have the Show and Sideshow CDs, and it’s easy enough to just start from track 2… this one stays. And I did get another live Cure album featuring “The Walk”, which alleviates the pain a bit (this copy of Concert is in stellar condition). The Top is a better album than I remembered, while the Siouxsie album (featuring Robert Smith as a band member!) is unfortunately a bit noisy, G+ at best.

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The Brazilian pressing of Zooropa doesn’t sound all that great but at least this copy is in excellent shape; I’m glad to have it. The Smiths debut sadly is in rough shape (plays without skips but is noisy enough for me to already want a better copy) and doesn’t include “This Charming Man” despite listing it on the back. The Erasure LP is on the other hand is quite clean and bouncy.

Most importantly… HOW HAVE I LIVED SO LONG WITHOUT THIS JOY DIVISION ALBUM?!? I owned Closer on CD as a teenager but it didn’t resonate with me because of the lack of obvious guitar riffs, which was all I cared for at the time. Hearing it again some 24 years later (effectively for the first time) was a revelation, and one of the most enjoyable music experiences I’ve had in a long while. I can’t get enough of it, which may or may not speak volumes about my current mental state.

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I saved the best and worst for last. The best: I can’t believe how great Kicking Television sounds! This is now the absolute crown of my Wilco collection.

As for Bone Machine… this is something that I ordered back in 2018 and kind of forgot about. I was shocked when I saw that the record was still sealed. Then I noticed that text on the back was not particular crisp and clear. Unsurprisingly, the runouts are blank. It’s a boot. Ah well. I’m not nearly as big a Tom Waits fan as most people here so I can live with that. I just have to make sure I don’t play this and the Wilco record back to back, because the difference in sound quality is as stark as it gets.

The Wayne Shorter I bought primarily for the cover, because I already have the LP only from the VMP BN box set. Frankenstein, baby! That said, the Brazilian LP is actually quite nice (though obviously not as full sounding as the recent reissue). And the Tribalistas record is one of my favorite Brazilian albums, so I’m glad that it’s finally been pressed on vinyl.

You thought I was done. Not yet! Here are some local grabs and mail deliveries:

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Both MMJs were originally purchased used for $5 each. Unfortunately disc 2 of Evil Urges was unplayable due to a pinch warp so I bit the bullet and paid full price for a copy (so I ended up paying $10 for a VG+ It Still Moves, still a great deal). I think @Viking Dan may have a point about this being their best album; it certainly has the most character.

I bought this Rush - Archives on a whim because my copies of Fly By Night and Caress of Steel are unplayable beaters. I can now keep their covers but will listen to the Archives copies, which sound superb (I wouldn’t have know this at the time of purchase, but there are Discogs comments raving about this being the best-sounding version of Caress).

Oh and I also bought these, like so many others:

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Couldn’t wait til the end of the month Fresh Grabs…
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My local acquired a real nice collection that included a half dozen Jonathan Richman OG albums in pristine condition. They posted it on Instagram and someone beat me to it and grabbed Rockin’ & Romance and Jonathan Sings! But I was able to pick up It’s Time For… and the 1986 Rhino pressing of The Modern Lovers self titled debut still in the original shrink. They weren’t cheap but I had a 20% off stamp card that made them more affordable. They also had an OG pressing of Modern Lovers ‘88 (probably still do if anyone is interested hit up Hi-Voltage Records in Tacoma) but I passed since they wanted $40 and it’s scheduled to be repressed for RSD and retail for half that price.
 
Couldn’t wait til the end of the month Fresh Grabs…
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My local acquired a real nice collection that included a half dozen Jonathan Richman OG albums in pristine condition. They posted it on Instagram and someone beat me to it and grabbed Rockin’ & Romance and Jonathan Sings! But I was able to pick up It’s Time For… and the 1986 Rhino pressing of The Modern Lovers self titled debut still in the original shrink. They weren’t cheap but I had a 20% off stamp card that made them more affordable. They also had an OG pressing of Modern Lovers ‘88 (probably still do if anyone is interested hit up Hi-Voltage Records in Tacoma) but I passed since they wanted $40 and it’s scheduled to be repressed for RSD and retail for half that price.
Beat me to those! Grabbed a couple Billy Bragg's though!
 
Did anyone else who pre-ordered the new Big Thief recycled LP direct from 4AD get a signed print in the mail? 😱

I don’t recall it mentioning “first x people get a print” or choosing to include anything like that. It just showed up in a regular mailer by itself today.

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Beat me to those! Grabbed a couple Billy Bragg's though!
Yeah, It was quite a drop. I went the second I got off work yesterday to grab them and was still scooped. I would probably have grabbed some of the Bragg and/or Clash albums too if I had more money but I spent more than I wanted to one the two that I purchased. If the Bragg LPs are as well taken care of as the Richman albums you are in for a treat because these sound brand new.
 
Yeah, It was quite a drop. I went the second I got off work yesterday to grab them and was still scooped. I would probably have grabbed some of the Bragg and/or Clash albums too if I had more money but I spent more than I wanted to one the two that I purchased. If the Bragg LPs are as well taken care of as the Richman albums you are in for a treat because these sound brand new.
A little dust on them, but they look perfect! Grabbed the Bash & Pop record too.

At Dirty Oscars now, thanks for the rec!
 
Yeah, It was quite a drop. I went the second I got off work yesterday to grab them and was still scooped. I would probably have grabbed some of the Bragg and/or Clash albums too if I had more money but I spent more than I wanted to one the two that I purchased. If the Bragg LPs are as well taken care of as the Richman albums you are in for a treat because these sound brand new.
A little dust on them, but they look perfect! Grabbed the Bash & Pop record too.

At Dirty Oscars now, thanks for the rec!
Sounds like a nice afternoon. Good luck with the basketball volleyball tourney.
 
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Jackie McLean - Let Freedom Ring (Blue Note, 1963 First Mono Pressing)
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio - Cold As Weiss (Colemine, 2022 Vinyl Me Please Exclusive Pressing)
Graham Collier Music - Darius (Mosaic Records, 1974 First Pressing)
Ian Carr - Old Heartland (MMC, 1988 First Pressing)


Some jazz goodies arrived over the past week. Jackie McLean's "Let Freedom Ring" was a gamble purchase which turned out to just need some proper cleaning. Sounds fantastic so im over the moon. I've noticed a few people have bought the Devlon Lamarr Organ Trio album recently and I cant wait to hear it on vinyl. I also bough a couple of Britsh jazz classics for a really great price, much cheaper than their actual 'value' so I certainly got lucky there.

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