Cratedigger

I enjoy a vinyl album from time to time. Nothing beats flipping through endless, dusty records, cycling through the clunkers to find that hidden gem. I had a lot of those moments this year, some of them coming at the most unexpected times. Here are my favorites from 2009:

"Physical Graffiti" by Led Zeppelin (antique store near Davenport, IA) | I found this classic Zep album visiting a friend in the famous Quad Cities. We were down by the shore of the Mississippi, the site of a large tug-of-war contest, Iowa against Illinois. My friend loves antiquing so I trusted her when she suggested we stop in. I'm glad we did. The first thing I looked for upon entering the smallish store was their vinyl collection, which was located, as I expected, on a nondescript milk crate on a nondescript shelf amongst other knickknacks. There were just three small cartons sitting in a tidy little row. I was fully resigned to the fact that all of the albums would be in bad shape and well, of the kinds of music you would expect to find at a hole-in the wall antique store in the middle of America. Lots of Righteous Brothers, Engelbert Humperdinck,  Andy Williams and the like. But all I found was classic vinyl from the 70's and 80's. I walked out smiling with the Zeppelin album, Derek and the Dominos (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs), Prince (1999), and David Bowie (Let's Dance). Let's just say that it was the highest density of quality vinyl I've yet found and it was in Davenport, Iowa. Never underestimate Middle America.

"Purple Rain" by Prince and the Revolution (Half Price Books) | I had to get this since I'm now officially back home in Minnesota. Half Price books, I'm finding, has a lot of mainstream vinyl on its shelves. I don't think it gets picked over like the selection at Cheapo does, so there is usually a better ratio of clunkers to good albums there. I have yet to conclusively test my hypothesis; the only way to do so is to keep going to both! But this album is really the epitome of Prince and his strange combination of rock, funk, and R&B that defined his "sound."

"Looking Back" Stevie Wonder (Cheapo - St. Paul) | This is a 3-fold LP released in 1977 by Motown. It's a retrospective spanning 40 songs he released during the 60's and 70's. At his request (possibly due to the potentially offensive title??) Motown deleted it from its catalog and it was never reissued. I was pretty stoked to find it just as Cheapo closed for the night.

"Get Happy!" by Elvis Costello (record store, downtown Davenport, IA) | Thanks to Emily for taking me to find the second great discovery in Iowa. This one was a full fledged record store, spanning three rooms in an old building in downtown Davenport. We found a lot of good records, but none better than Elvis Costello's homage to soul. "Get Happy" was made after Costello made some drunken comments about Ray Charles to get a rise out of his drinking buddies. It somehow got to the press and a bit of a row ensued. Well, turns out he really likes soul music and he's really good at performing it. It is the fourth of his first five amazing albums (My Aim is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, and Trust) and it's a spastic twenty songs that establish Costello as one of the most flexible pop performers of the past 30 years. [Note: producer Nick Lowe assures LP owners that the sound quality will not be degraded due to "groove cramming" resulting from putting 10 tracks per side. Remember when sound quality/album sequencing mattered?]

"Rhythm of Resistance: Music of Black South Africa" (Cheapo Uptown) | I found this in the new arrivals bin one day and, I don't know, maybe I was feeling adventurous, but I bought it (hey, records are only $3). Ladysmith Black Mambazo have a few tracks on the B-side which are graceful and powerful as they were on the B-side of "Graceland." The first side has these funky guitar songs that kind of drone on in a groove...it's hard to explain, but that's the best part about finding new music -- sometimes it's just fun to listen to!