Salutations™!!

I’m not going to lie to you, Dear Reader, it was hard to not post-post the entries this week. But, it feels better now, two days later. I’m also going to be honest and tell you that I spent a lot on records yesterday. More than I wanted to, to be honest, but we got some good (and potentially good) stuff. Jonathan was in an exceptionally good mood since his Atlanta Braves won the World Series. All that, here’s the haul:

Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns – Partly Pandemonium Partly Love — This one wasn’t from Underdog Records. This was from friends of my Kousin Gary from Asylum – Tales from the Devereaux Diaries. We went to see them play at The Ramkat on Friday. Stuart, the guitar player is one of Gary’s best friends and all of us were from West Virginia. I heard a lot of stories on those songs about my home state. Stuart’s mother was my fourth-grade teacher and one of my faves. Someone said they were like outlaw country but I didn’t get that, really. It’s more country-rock but with a lot of harmonies and hard rock riffs. I dug it. They signed the record, too. New.

Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears — Probably my third or fourth favorite Ozzy record. The Ultimate Sin comes in first, Blizzard of Ozz second, and this one and No Rest for the Wicked and Diary of a Madman jockey for position after that. Not a huge Ozzy fan overall, but I do like him and enjoy the music. This was just rereleased a few weeks back and when Jonathan got the shipment, he was only able to get one copy and it was spoken for. So, I was happy to find this one. I guess the shipment came through. It’s 2×LP, Reissue, Remastered.

U2 – October — The second album from U2. Probably one of my least faves of theirs, but it was canon and I wanted to have it in the collection. Reissue, Remastered, 180gram. Single sleeve. 180g vinyl. No shrinkwrap (hype) sticker. Plus 16-page book in 12″ format and photo inner sleeve in heavy paper (that’s what Discogs said, I haven’t opened it to see if it really has all this). New.

Hiss Golden Messenger – O Come All Ye Faithful — This is some The BCPF stuff here. The first clue is that it’s on Merge Records. That’s always a dead giveaway. We have an album from them already but this is their Christmas album. I hope we wait until after Thanksgiving to listen to it. 2×LP, Limited Edition, Bone/Green/Red tri-color. New.

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill — I was surprised we didn’t have this already, but we didn’t. I think it was released a little while ago in some special edition that was like $80 or something. Nah, I’ll pass on that. But, The BCPF found this copy and we rejoiced. #69 on the Rolling Stone list that doesn’t matter (as much). Reissue, Remastered, 180g. New.

Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies — I asked The BCPF, “what is this?” She replied, “It’s on Merge.” What more do you need to know? I didn’t need any more info. 2×LP, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold. New.

The Halo Benders – Don’t Tell Me Now — We have one other album from The Halo Benders. Surprisingly, Merge doesn’t have the market cornered on this kind of music. This is on KLP. It’s a repress, as far as I can tell. More The BCPF stuff, of course. New.

Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn — Rhiannon was born in Greensboro and part of the folk/old-time group the Carolina Chocolate Drops. This was her debut solo effort. It was produced by T-Bone Burnett. 140-gram audiophile vinyl. The version we got came with a CD but this was used and whoever got it, kept the CD. Booooo! This was still NM and Jonathan said it was “like new.” I wonder if they kept the CD did they even listen to the record? Who knows. NM.

Imperial Teen – Now We Are Timeless — This is a Merge Records artist, but you know what? I picked it out. Really, I showed it to The BCPF and she just shrugged. I said it was on Merge and she said, “really!?” But, then said nothing more. So, I decided to keep it. I don’t know and she doesn’t know anything about it. So… we’ll see. Limited Edition, Blue Ice. NM.

Rank And File – Long Gone Dead — This was some different kind of stuff. It’s basically what is called “cowpunk.” Country punk. I don’t really hear much punk, but it’s not exactly country, either. According to Wikipedia on “cowpunk”: It combines punk rock or new wave with country, folk, and blues in its sound, lyrical subject matter, attitude, and style. That makes sense here. This is from 1984. VG+.

View From The Hill – In Time — I know even less about this band, but I believe they’re British. They look to be an all-Black British band (that’s the term they use). Soul/Funk/R&B. That’s really all I know. VG+.

That’s our haul this week. A lot of new stuff means a lot of $$ spent. Whew! Jonathan got a nice Sony turntable that is really just like my AT60 from Audio Technica but with a Sony label. New needle and belt and have a switchable preamp if you have another preamp configuration you want to doodle around with. Watch the Underdog Records social media for whatever else Jonathan has gotten in and is ready for you to consume. You can shop new vinyl day/night/24/7/365 by visiting the website. I use Discogs to track my collection. You should, too!

Until next time, keep spinnin’…
Scorp out!

—
“Another day passes as the night closes in. The red light goes on to say it’s time to begin. I see the man around the corner waiting, can he see me? I close my eyes and wait to hear the sound of someone screaming here. No more tears.” – “No More Tears” (Osbourne/Wylde/Inez/Castillo/Purdell)