Prince - The Black Album: 7 (B+)

#limitededition

Various Artists - Giants of Danceband Highlife

😑

Destroyer - Kaputt: 3.5 stars

I'm shelving this B+ because it ranked so highly on Pazz & Jop and I don't have any of his records otherwise. At this point in collecting, I might not have purchased it, but in 2011 I did, and so I guess I'll keep it.

Jason Derulo - Talk Dirty: 4 stars

Garland Jeffreys - King of In Between: 8 (A-)

Bettye Lavette - Things Have Changed [honorable mention]

😐

Hole - Live Through This: 10 (A+)

I also have Celebrity Skin and Nobody's Daughter, which I hope I get around to formally grading some day.

Ann Peebles - Part Time Love: 7 (B+)

# [soul]

Various - Punk 45: Chaos in the City of Angels and Devils (Hollywood From X to Zero & Hardcore on the Beaches: Punk in Los Angeles 1977-81) [Soul Jazz, 2016]: 8.5 (high A-)

I've got this on my wantlist but am sure I will never see one for a decent price. I should have jumped on this, and the Cleveland and Akron ones, when they came out. Oh well. Maybe they will get smart and re-release it one day. I did find reasonably-priced copies of the Akron and Cleveland compilations eventually, so maybe there's some hope I can complete the trilogy one day.

Johnny Marr - Call the Comet [honorable mention]

:-)

Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange: 4 stars

Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey: 4 stars

Garland Jeffreys - Ghost Writer: 7 (B+)

I'm 95% sure I bought a vinyl copy decades ago, but I can't find it and vaguely remember selling it off. I think I am going to stay with that decision, assuming I made it. It has never been reissued domestically by what is now the Universal Music Group, which presumably still owns the master. I waver between this grade and 8 (A-), but if I grade it 7.5 (high B+) it's #singersongwriter/folk/blues so that would justify not rebuying it. Probably nine or more plays.

Yo La Tengo - Extra Painful (bonus download) [honorable mention]

Decent live versions etc. as follows:

1. "Double Dare (Sominextraction)" (live, CBGB, 1/31/92)

2. "What She Wants" (live, House Of Music, West Orange)

3. "Ashes on the Ground" (live, SIR, 9/29/93)

4. "Nutricia" (recorded at Snack Time by Fred Brockman)

5. "For Shame ff Doing Wrong (Slide Version)" (live, House of Music, West Orange)

6. "Superstar Watcher" (recorded at Snack Time by Fred Brockman)

7. "Big Day Coming" (live, Reckless Records, 4/26/92)

8. "I Was the Fool Beside You for Too Long" (live , SIR, 9/29/93)

9. "Shaker" (live, The Batschkapp, Frankfurt, 1/3/94)

10. "Artificial Heart" (live, Shank Hall, 5/11/93)

11. "Whole of the Law Loops" (Painful Sessions, Water Music & James Apartment 1992)

12. "Nowhere Near" (live, Lounge Ax, Chicago 11/13/93)

13. "Sleeping Pill" (excerpt from "Ian Mackaye," Room Temperature, Brooklyn 2/20/93)

14. "Big Day Coming" (live, SIR, 9/29/93)

15. "Sudden Organ" (live, SIR, 9/29/93)

Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of

😑

Leonard Cohen - Cohen Live: 3.5 stars

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow: 7 (B+)

Upped a notch for general regard. #bluesrock

Robert Ashley - Private Parts: 7.5 (high B+)

I got a copy of the 1990 CD version with the cover on the right shortly after it was released, but I guess I sold it back. According to Wikipedia, this is an early version of the first and last acts from Perfect Lives, that is, Act 1: The Park (Privacy Rules) and Act 7: The Backyard (T'Be Continued). Of course Act 4: The Bar is its own record. Update (April 2026). Surely after I posted this, Lovely Music reissued this on CD with the original LP cover on the left, and I eventually realized that I missed this and sprang for it.

Bill Withers - Just as I Am: 7.5 (high B+)

Only available as an overpriced import. Possibly an 8 (A-). # [r&b]

Canned Heat - Future Blues: 7.5 (high B+)

#blues/bluesrock

Midori Takada - Through The Looking Glass

😑

Various- The Tanzania Sound: 7.5 (high B+)

#multiartistcomp

Docteur Nico & l'African Fiesta Sukisa - Caroline Caroline - A Mokolo Wana - Mamu Wua Mpoy, Volume 3: 7 (B+)

These are essentially the same album, with the one on the left having an extra track ("A Mokolo Wana"). I think the album is good, but not great, and would not pay nearly what is being asked for it in physical. The one on the left is actually digital-only anyway, as far as I can see. Another Muzikifan African Top 50 release that I'm not that crazy about. Title of the one on the right is Docteur Nico & Orchestre African Fiesta - L'Afrique Danse No. 8 - Vita.

Bruce Springsteen - The Rising: 8 (A-)

His last really good album, if you ask me.

Confidence Man - Confident Music for Confident People: 3.5 stars

I don't collect this kind of dance music.