Shopping 22 February 2014

In which a middle aged man indulges himself.

Wish we were here!

Yesterday Brian and I made our annual pilgrimage to Berwick Street and took in the usual haunts of Sister Ray, Reckless Records and the Music And Video Exchange. We also found a couple of new shops too: Sounds Of The Universe on Broadwick Street (very pricey and not so good for rock and pop, which is my main interest) and Phonica on Poland Street (again, no mainstream stuff, although there were some rather nicely packaged albums that I might have taken a punt on if they weren't fifteen whole pounds).

So, the albums came from the usual three shops and encompass some of the usual suspects - nothing outré here, just cheap albums I hadn't got round to buying before or hadn't heard of until recently. They were:

Kings Of The Wild Frontier by Adam And The Ants (1980)

Prince Charming by Adam And The Ants (1981)

I've been meaning to buy these albums almost since they came out. Hey, I'm only 33 years late to the party.

Fields Of Fire (The Ultimate Collection) by Big Country (2011)

I've broken my own rule here and bought a compilation rather than the original albums. I just wanted "Wonderland" really. I probably should have been more patient.

Carried To Dust by Calexico (2008)

Parent album of "Red Blooms", one of my favourite songs from the 00s.

Tago Mago by Can (1971)

I don't know anything by Can, and there it is in the 1001 Albums list, so here it is.

Pearl by Janis Joplin (1971)

"Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz".

Angel With A Lariat by k.d. lang And The Reclines (1987)

Shadowland by k.d. lang (1988)

k.d. lang's first two albums were not present in my collection, for some reason. Odd given how much I like her third, fourth, fifth etc.

Houses Of The Holy by Led Zeppelin (1973)

I know this album well, thanks to my student days, but still didn't own it until now. Plugging another gap in my collection.

The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers (1994)

I'm a sucker. This is a limited, 10th Anniversay edition of an album I didn't think I owned, but already did. Probably the first time I've ever bought something twice by mistake.

Deserter's Songs by Mercury Rev (1998)

I own the two significant singles from this, bought at the time ("Opus 40" and "Goddess On A Hiway"), so not sure what the album will add. Let's see.

Days Of Future Passed by The Moody Blues (1967)

"Precursor to prog-rock", it says here. Also 25% of the trivia question: name the odd one out, from Days Of Future Passed, Ulysses, 2001: A Space Odyssey and 24.

Words And Music by Saint Etienne (2012)

Bought entirely for overwhelmingly geeky awesomeness of the cover (see above).

Phaedra by Tangerine Dream (1974)

"Like The Orb without beats," say Brian, and who am I to doubt him?

Scott 4 by Scott Walker (1969)

Another classic.

White Blood Cells by The White Stripes (2001)

Actually what I wanted was The Raconteurs.

You And Me Both by Yazoo (1983)

Can't go wrong with a bit of Vince Clarke.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young with Crazy Horse (1969)

CSN&Y notwithstanding, I'm still not sure about Neil Young. Giving it a go.

Echoes by Will Young

Bought for £2, purely for the single "Come On", which I really like.

Eliminator by ZZ Top (1983)

Billy Gibbons is a Guitar God.

Accompanied by good beer, good chat, some surprisingly nice fish and chips (The Duke Of Argyll comes up trumps again) and more beer and chat, it was another good day. Shame South West Trains spoiled it slightly.