2021 Purchases

A nice, slow month of scant music coming in. There was a new Peter Godwin performance that came to my attention, and another in Duran Duran’s seemingly endless series of Bad David Bowie Covers®. I finally got the DL of the 2010 mix of “R.E.R.B.,” before it was too late! And finally, I got the CD of a local artist I liked that was sold exclusively in a…local supermarket chain??

February 2021

1. Rupert Hine: Waving, Not Drowning DLX RM – Voiceprint ‎– MPVP004CD – UK – CD – Gift
2. Rupert Hine: The Wildest Wish To Fly DLX RM –  Voiceprint ‎– MPVP007CD – UK – CD – Gift
3. Quantum Jump: Quantum Jump DLX RM – Voiceprint ‎– MPVP012CD – UK – CD – Gift
4. Quantum Jump: Barracuda DLX RM – Voiceprint ‎– MPVP013CD – UK – CD – Gift
5. Various: Songs For Tibet: The Art Of Peace [Wisdom. Action. Freedom.] – The Art Of Peace Foundation ‎– AOP10009 – US – 2xCD – Gift
6. Khruangbin: Mordechai –  Dead Oceans ‎– DOC193 – US – CD – Harvest Records/$12.98
7. Strange Cruise: Strange Cruise DLX RM – Cherry Pop ‎– CRPOP 144 – UK – CD – Gift
8. Sparks: Gratuitous Sax + Senseless Violins DLX RM – BMG ‎– BMGCAT410TCD – EURO – 3xCD – Discogs/$14.99
9. LaBelle: Lady Marmalade – Sony Music Entertainment – US – DL – iTunes/$1.29
10. John Otway + Wild Willy Barrett: DK50/80 – U-Vibe Records – US – DL- iTunes/$0.99
11. Anum Preto: Outros Planos –  Miado Rouco Records ‎– MRS001 – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
12. Anum Preto: Escala Do Tempo –  Miado Rouco Records ‎– MRS002 – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
13. Anum Preto: Perdendo Os Meus Nervos –  Miado Rouco Records ‎– MRS003 – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
14. Anum Preto: 2027 –  Miado Rouco Records ‎– MRS004 – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
15. Anum Preto: Retrado –  Miado Rouco Records ‎– MRS005 – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
16. Anum Preto: Anum Preto –  Miado Rouco Records ‎- BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
17. Anum Preto: Consequências –  Miado Rouco Records  – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
18. Anum Preto: Ponto de Mutação –  Miado Rouco Records – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
19. Anum Preto: Além Do Bem E Do Mal –  Miado Rouco Records – BRAZIL – DL – Bandcamp/$0.73
20. Tot Taylor: I’ll Go My Own Way – The Campus ‎– Campus 7 – UK – 7″ – gift
21. Tot Taylor: This New ABBA Record – The Campus – Campus12 – UK – 7″ – gift

Subtotal: $36.75

A lot of gifts this month for the influx. Large chunks of the Rupert Hine catalog heretofore out of my reach are now in it, thanks to a generous reader. And one of the commenters here, Michael Schwenko, noting that I still had not heard the “Strange Cruise” album yet in a recent discussion [I did own both singles] discovered that he had unknowingly bought two copies, and then sent his extra to me!  Astounding. And then another reader, had frieds who had been served promos of recent Tot Taylor 45s. Not their cup of tea. Would I like them? Of course!

I did pay out for a few things. My spouse dropped the heavy hint that she wanted to hear some Khruangbin and I responded. I woke up with Labelle in my head and discovered that the mind-stunning John Otway/Wild Willy Barrett song DK50/80, which had haunted me for 41 years and was scarce in The States was in fact in the iTunes store… for the discount rate! So booyah! Sometimes we buy songs in iTunes when there’s no easy forward and we have the itch. Of course, I still have the 45 on my want list!

Finally, I responded to the emails from Anum Preto that I’d been getting for over a year after buying/reviewing their debut album and was confronted with the ability to buy their entire discography on Bandcamp for one low price, so I didn’t even think about it. I just hit “buy” since I really enjoyed their exploration of the Post-Punk mood and sound courtesy of one-man-band Aerson Moeira.

I can’t help but notice already that 14/25 titles this year have been, gulp, DLs! Could this have anything to do with the fact that we have finally gotten a [old/used/cheap] flat screen HDTV set in our formerly analog CRT home??! Is This Monk finally embracing the early noughts??!! Stay tuned for more paradigm shifts as they occur.

March 2021

1. Rusty Egan Presents: Blitzed OST EP – Future Music – US – DL – iTunes/$4.99
2. Divinyls: What A Life! DLX RM – Rubellan Remasters – RUBY19CD – US – CD – Rubellan Remasters/$14.99
3. The Metamorph: The Man On The 99th Floor – UK – DL – Bandcamp/£4.00 [$5.55]
4. Fashiøn: Fabrique De -Luxe SDLX RM – Gonzo Multimedia – MMXX – UK – 4xCD box – MusicGlue/$112.00
5. Lee Fields: Faithful Man – Truth & Soul ‎– TS018-CD – US – CD – Daptone webstore/$15.00
6. Lee Fields: Let’s Talk It Over DLX RM – Truth & Soul ‎– TS012-CD  – US – CD – Daptone Webstore/gift
7. Lee Fields: Emma Jean – Truth & Soul ‎- Truth & Soul ‎– TS026-CD – US – CD – Daptone webstore/$15.00
8. Lee Fields: Special Night – Big Crown Records ‎– BC021-CD – CD – US – CD – Daptone webstore/$15.00
9. Lee Fields: Big Crown Vaults Vol. 1 – Big Crown Records ‎– BC104-CD – US – CD – Daptone webstore/$15.00
10. Visage: Your Skin Is My Sin [Antidote Extended Version] – Steve Strange Collective – SSC003 – US – DL – iTunes/$0.99
11. Jan Linton + Matthew Seligman: King Hong EP – HK – DL – Bandcamp/$10.00

Subtotal: $198.52

Wow. That’s a lot of dinero but that was down to buying the Fashiøn “Fabrique De-Luxe” ultrabox. Also, my wife wanted to scratch an itch that the soul/funk singer Lee Fields was presenting her with. And I’m very down with that too. I got the latest Rubellan Remasters CD of the ultra-version of the great 2nd Divinyls album. With all of the US/OZ tracks and then some! Finally, there was some New-Ro action with a Rusty Egan EP from the “Blitzed” documentary and a Visage remix that was only on the LP edition of “Wild Life” extended remixes having now made the leap to DL. Finally, I bought the new Jan Linton + Matthew Seligman EP. The title track is stunning vocal work of a caliber with later period JAPAN.

April 2021

1. Todd Rundgren + Sparks: Your Fandango – Cleopatra Records – US – DL – iTunes/$0.99
2. The Wayfarers: World’s Fare – Lolita – 5050 – FR – LP – gift
3. The Wayfarers: Esperanto – Lolita – 10009 – FR – blue vinyl 7″ – gift

A slow month with an unexpected Todd Rundgren/Sparks teamup of great joy. And I was fortunate enough to have gotten copies of both Wayfarers records after Cary Berger, who I’d met in 2018 at the Ron Kane Tribute concert in Los Angeles, emailed me and helpfully offered copies for my edification. The LP was on my want list ever since the L.A. trip three years ago, but the 7″ single goes for crazy money [probably thanks to it being compiled on the piratical “Hyped to Death” power pop series…] and was out of my budget. Now all I need is the Disques Du Crépuscule “Quick Neat Job” compilation with a final Wayfarers track on it to make the ultimate Wayfarers CD as a REVO disc!

Subtotal: $0.99

May 2021

1. Nik Bärtsch – Entendre – ECM Records – ECM 2703 – EURO – CD – Harvest records/$17.99
2. Gary Daly: Luna Landings – UK – CD – Discogs/£19.95/$28.22
3. Kraftwerk: Heimcomputer 2021 – US – DL – iTunes/$1.99

Another slow month of just three titles… but I spent almost 50x times the previous month’s budget! We were thrilled beyond compare by Nik Bärtsch and his band Ronin at the last Big Ears festival, so his solo album of piano adaptations of Ronin works was a must have. We special ordered it from our local emporium and they let us know when the CD was in for us. I noticed that – ulp! – The new Gary Daly CD of China Crisis instrumental demos from the 80s was now already sold out on his Music Glue website, so I ran to Discogs and bought the first copy I saw! It was every bit as wonderful as I would have expected as the China Crisis B-sides featured many such instrumentals. And finally, Kraftwerk remixed “Homecomputer” for its 40th anniversary for a 7″ bundled with a German music mag, but the DL was easily available, so I went for that.

Subtotal: $48.20

June 2021

1. The Waitresses: King Biscuit Flower Hour Live – King Biscuit Flower Hour Records ‎– 70710-88024-2 – US – CD – gift
2. The Go-Betweens: 1978-1990 – Vertigo ‎– 842 644-2 – CAN – CD – gift
3. The Blow Monkeys: Feels Like A New Morning/Acoustic Blow Monkeys – Cherry Red ‎– CDBRED557  – UK – 2xCD – gift
4. Rational Youth: Cold War Nightlife DLX RM –  Musicvaultz.com ‎– 5388280 – CAN – CD – gift
5. Head Noise: Consequential Quasars – Dirty Carrot Records – UK – DL – Bandcamp/£5/$7.22

A quiet month, which was nice. Mostly the incoming music was gifted by KeithC, a reader who thought Ii needed a copy of “Cold War Nightlife.” He was right! He had some other extra CDs cluttering up his house that were also very welcome. One of the two Blow Monkeys albums I still needed and a live Waitresses CD. The latter being a band I was deeply smitten with in 1982 only to ignore for almost 40 years afterward. And a Go-Betweens “best of” compilation proved to be far more interesting than I had assumed with plenty of non-LP tracks to compete with the LP cuts on a 50/50 basis! And finally, the new EP from Welsh synth punks was what I actually dropped coin on this month.

Subtotal: $7.22

Half Year Subtotals: 47 releases | $305.24 | average cost – $6.49/title

Wow! My half year subtotals are eerily similar to those from last year! to wit:

2020 – Half Year Subtotals: 43 releases | $303.89 | average cost – $7.11/title

I like not buying too much, so this shows that my restraint is very similar this year.

July 2021

1. Harold Budd: I Know This Much Is True OST – All Saints – WAST062LP – UK – 2xLP clear – Harvest Records/$28.99
2. Robert Palmer: Early In The Morning #2 – EMI-Manhattan Records – V-56113 – US – 12″ – Discogs/$1.00
3. Billie Ray Martin: Systems Of Silence – Sonnenstahl Records – SREC002 – GER – Promo 12″ – Discogs/$1.00
4. Grace Jones: Inside Story – Manhattan Records – CDP 7 46340 2 – US – CD – Discogs/$4.00
5. Grace Jones: Bulletproof Heart – Capitol Records – CDP 7 91737 2 – US – CD – Discogs/$5.00
6. Ultravox: Vienna [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix/Instrumental] – Chrysalis Catalogue – CHRC1296 – UK – 2xCD – Discogs/$15.00
7. Gary Kemp + Steven Wilson + Mike Garson: Waiting For The Band [Steven Wilson Remix] – Columbia – US – DL – iTunes/$1.29

…more to come