Don't Tell A Soul

Replacements - Don't Tell A Soul
Although there was another record released after this one, this is essentially the final Replacements album and the first one I heard way back in the day. "I'll Be You" is still one of their greatest songs and I always loved the "If I was from Canada" line. For years, I thought he sang "We'll get some picks" in "Talent Show" only to find out it was "We'll get thumb picks". Who uses thumb picks? ha ha Great album and a great introduction to the Replacements if you don't want to start with the crazy, drunk punk of the first few records.

Gorillaz in Paris.

I picked this up in Paris a few years ago. I've been a fan of the Gorillaz since the first album, but hadn't heard about this before I spotted it. All the info was in French too, so that didn't help. Turns out it was a limited edition pressing on vinyl, so I lucked out there. Even better, the record is fantastic! It's an album of travelling songs that was recorded on their previous tour. I listened to right when I got home and it's still the best travel record I've heard.

Gospel King.

Picked up this little treasure in Seattle over the weekend. It's the only B.B. King album/music I've ever heard that he doesn't play guitar on. It's all church organ, drums, bass and vocals, nary a guitar to be heard. I've always been more a fan of his voice anyway, makes it an even better score.

Aznavour, that's who.

Discovery is one of my favourite things. To discover something I've never heard or heard of before is always one of my great joys. Since I started listening to opening my ears to music from all over the world, I've been doing a lot of discovering. 
Take Charles Aznavour, he's basically a french Sinatra who I'd never heard of. I discovered this record when in Brussels a couple of years ago. I call it "record cover shopping" when I'm in a foreign country, because that's what I'm doing. I don't know any of the music, so I'm just looking for cool covers. This one had it, some sort of collection, comes from the 60's, pics of Aznavour with Dean Martin and Liza Minelli. How could I go wrong? I didn't, it's a fantastic record, sixties swing done "francais". A great discovery!

If it were the 60's in Amsterdam.

Bought this in Amsterdam on a recommendation from the girl at the record store. Got a cool 60's vibe, the Monkees cover echos the sound of the album. Plus it came with the bonus CD, a great random pick. Always listen to the girl at the record store!

Ghost In The Machine

Truth be told, this is probably my least favourite Police album. It's got a sound that none of the other Police albums have. Hard to explain, but it sound more electronic, it's the "in-between" album which departed from the earlier records, but pointed towards what was to come (Sychronicity). Regardless, it's still a pretty darn good album. "Every Little Thing" is fantastic and "Invisible Sun" sounds like a prequel to "King Of Pain". It just sounds like they're going somewhere, but hadn't arrived yet.

From the vinyl dark ages...

Awhile back I got the notion that I would like to own a record printed in every year since 1950. Mainly because the oldest record I own is from 1950. For a lot of those years, it's quite easy to find vinyl. However, with the advent of CD's in the late 80's, finding records from the early 90's can be a little tough. Even I didn't buy any records from (roughly) 1989 to 2002 as they were just not around. Of those early 90's, the year 1990 proved to be the hardest. But then I found this, a copy of ZZ Top's "Recycler"! Featuring their contribution to the Back To The Future soundtrack, "Doubleback" plus one of their best songs, "My Head's In Mississippi" it is a stellar representation of 1990. Now, the only year I'm missing is 1952, the search continues.