Stuff I Listened To Last Week – 10 May 2010

Every time I listen to a record, I leave it next to the stereo. On Monday, before I go back to work, I re-file them all. Below are the contents of this week's pile.

Acetone

David Bowie, Images 1966-1967, Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold the World
Been reading Marc Spitz's new Bowie biography (Boi Bio?), so I've been going through and listening to all of the old albums in order. A few interesting surprises here and there, but this is still the early stuff. The real glory years are just about to begin. The plan is to write about each album on this site the same way I did a couple years ago with Neil Young.

Elvis Costello – Goodbye Cruel World, King of America
Just picked these up at the Marvelous in West Philly last week. I'm pretty sure I now have all of Elvis's Warner Bros. albums. The latter is every bit the confident, mature album it's reputed to be, the former every bit the overproduced 80s studio rubbish it's reputed to be.

Eluvium – Life Through Bombardment

Willie Nelson [box set] – a box containing repressings of no fewer than nine vintage Willie albums, one of them a double, so ten records in all. Picked it up years ago at Reckless in Chicago for a mere $50. Best $50 I ever spent. Or up there, anyway. Pulled it out this time to listen to Willie & the Family Live, the best double live album of the 70s in any genre, and Tougher Than Leather.

The latter includes the song "A Little Old-Fashioned Justice", which features one of my favorite Willie lyrics: "Little bit a' sowin', little bit a' reapin'/Little bit a' laughin', little bit a' weepin'/Just a little old-fashioned justice comin' 'round". Brilliant.

Random thought: Willie Nelson has a lot of concept albums. Seriously. This one, Red-Headed Stranger, Phases and Stages, Yesterday's Wine... And that's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more.

Neil Young – Decade
Picked this one up the other day for $7 solely for the purpose of filling out the collection. This one, on CD, was what got me into Young's 70s work back in high school. A completely unnecessary purchase, but I now have every Young album through Weld, with the exception of the Eldorado EP. Pathetic, I know. But I think I ditched the CD during the Great Purge a few years back, and hopefully my kids will want to listen to this.

Cold Waves + Minimal Electronics – Fantastic compilation of forgotten synthesiser acts from continental Europe in the early 80s. Never heard of any of these bands. The compilers couldn't even find some of them; the credits for some of the tracks ask that the copyright holders please contact the label.

Came out recently on Angular Records in the U.K. Not sure if it's out in the States, although it seems to have been compiled by the people who run Wierd [sic] Records, which is New York-based. Yes, I ordered the import. Paid a pretty penny, too, with shipping. Worth it.