Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Laughter

Dury's 3rd album (after New Boots and Panties! and Do It Yourself)...and without Chaz Jankel, who wrote most (if not all) of the music. Do It Yourself was pretty inspired, and this is a bit of step down into a more pub-rock approach.

But Dury's lyrics and delivery are witty and pointed as usual.

Recent re-press from BMG on colored vinyl. Nice pressing - alas, couldn't find my original copy to compare to.

#nowPlaying #vinyl

nostr:npub12fj74u0xcjarft8rmf82weu0ays4utlytjjvtyrc55gg6a6vlp7semgka7 It'd be nice...but at the same time...80s pressings weren't great. And these re-releases are awfully nice in most cases. I know there's a little "goose that killed the golden egg" thing going on with these companies, but at the same time, I do want them to make enough money to find it worth remastering, re-cutting and booking good pressing companies... and we can continue to crate dig for the older ones to economize.

Ornette Coleman - Something Else!!!!

Coleman's debut album, from 1958, this is the recent Craft/AS re-release. He's joined by Don Cherry, Walter Norris, Don Payne and Billy Higgins.

I can't imagine what this sounded like to people in '58. It tilts more conventional...which means *I* have an easier time following the improvisations & structure of the songs.

The Stereo mix has Coleman/Cherry on the left, and everyone else on the right. Given that constraint: nice!

#nowplaying #vinyl #jazz

nostr:npub1594pu3kd2jmmv84sjfnzp2mm45kn8f64v7cgerzdlsww2pwd8t7stlcah9 Well, you can also check Discogs - this is the pressing I have:

https://www.discogs.com/release/2388411-Yes-Fragile

Looks like there are copies starting at $14 or so.

nostr:npub1594pu3kd2jmmv84sjfnzp2mm45kn8f64v7cgerzdlsww2pwd8t7stlcah9 Gotta keep an eye on the used bins! :-)

nostr:npub1alhd0rux3z43ukzlazy6s5rqnqqh64zf23t8u5n8caxtpf74qh8qka3sw3 I think the album cover kind of suggests the same thing - a potentially broken world. (Although I don't think that's the theme of the album...)

A bit more info (since I ran out of space) - Squire's overdriven bass is super clear and defined on this. Anderson is clear enough that you can really hear the space he was singing in. Bruford's drums are really impactful, including a bunch of secondary percussion that's not always obvious. Wakeman's keyboards sound like there's a bit of tape saturation every so often (especially on Cans and Brahms). And of course, Howe's overdubbed guitars are pretty prominent...

Yes - Fragile

Another appearance. This is a Japanese pressing from 1976. Apart from it being a perfect pressing (I'm sure there are some bad Japanese pressings, but...), it has a much larger soundstage than some contemporary remasters...maybe due to high frequency losses, even if minor, over the years.

Hard to believe they recorded this and The Yes Album in 1971 (Fragile was recorded in six weeks during a break in touring), and then Close to the Edge the very next year.

#nowPlaying #vinyl

nostr:npub1qw54rqswdc57yswxwst3n7dcsv2ssg3rjr5zevx62p9aqxn8k8mqjm037m Will check it out! Thanks!

Replay of this Slowdive album - but a repress of the black version. Doesn't feel like an RTI press, unfortunately, but much quieter than the silver one ...

Album itself remains great, of course.

#nowplaying #vinyl #slowdive #shoegaze

nostr:npub1hzlwh2kpl6j9azg8554k66jhwpejsfm09uqqwxw7rjlzpvael6qqfmk8l6 Honestly, I'm hard-pressed to find a Steely Dan album that I *don't* like. It's just a whole lot of A-/A/A+ albums...

Interesting, though - I'd actually put Royal Scam closer to Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied than Aja...or maybe as a "rock" intermission between the jazzier Katy Lied and Aja.

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic

Here's where the turn came: Steely Dan morphed into a studio project, hiring the best folks in the business to put across increasingly jazzy tunes.

While it's not my favorite, it's definitely one of their best. This new AP edition has received some negative reviews, but it's immaculate, and the sound reflects similar issues to my old LP, with maybe a tad of muted top-end and a little muted drum sound. Still good.

#nowplaying #vinyl #steelydan

Peter Gabriel's 3rd self-titled album - aka Melt.

And here's an intersection of Fripp, XTC, Kate Bush, Peter Weller, Phil Collins... and the very best thing Gabriel ever did (IMO, of course).

An incredible collection of cymbal-free (!), paranoid, weird, addictive tracks, beautifully produced by Lillywhite.

(Still love the fact that people think Kate Bush is singing "She's so popular"...)

#vinyl #nowplaying #petergabriel #xtc #TheJam #KateBush #Polaroid