These were shipped to me within just 1 day of me placing my order, I think... The FedEx delivery was a pain though.
This
time I bought 12 LPs and like last time I'm finding myself buying a lot
of albums that are kind of "babby's firsts" and albums I listened to
when I was 16 and 17 and have a more long-term connection with as a
result. A lot of my favorite music is the stuff I was finding in those
days, after all.
Shelleyan Orphan - Helleborine
Shelleyan Orphan - Century Flower
Helleborine is one of my favs. It's one of the most beautiful albums ever made and the artwork certainly reflects this. Century Flower was also pretty cheap so I nabbed it.
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the most lauded Jazz albums and yes, I think it is one of the best of all time. This album, along with Let My Children Hear Music, showcases Mingus as a masterclass composer. In Let My Children in particular, he blends classical and jazz for some of the most magnificent Third Stream music out there. These are the two best Mingus albums.
Henry Cow - Unrest
Henry Cow / Slapp Happy - Desperate Straights
I'm the most familiar with two other Henry Cow albums: In Praise of Learning and Western Culture. However, I've enjoyed all of them greatly so I am happy to own any of them. The line-up is truly classic. I'd like to have a lot of the Rock in Opposition albums in my collection prioritized before I start adding Avant-Prog music influenced by that scene. If I can add Art Bears/Etron Fou Leloublan/Samla Mammas Manna/Univers Zero albums next haul I'll be happy, even if it's just one of those bands.
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
My favorite Talk Talk album. They had some good tunes in the New Wave era, and in the non-commercial era (which is the music of theirs I enjoy more) I always preferred this one over Laughing Stock. Songs like Eden and I Believe in You are truly in a masterclass of meditative music. This album is one where the label of post-rock or any label is rather meaningless. RIP Mark Hollis.
Brian Eno - Another Green World
My preferred Eno album used to be Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). Its songwriting was, probably, simply more immediately enjoyable. However, after revisiting this album over and over and over in the past few years, I think it outclasses Taking Tiger Mountain and I would even say by now that this is one of my all-time favorites. Becalmed and St. Elmo's Fire are perfect songs I simply can never get enough of, and the entire album flows seamlessly from beginning to end.
Santana - Caravanserai
Certainly, this is the psych & prog fans Santana choice. Easily my favorite Santana album and a wonderful addition. I recall this being highly ranked on the ProgArchives charts back when I was 16 and using primarily that website to find things to listen to, prior to this I knew Santana for hits like Black Magic Woman. I remember having and selling a Best of collection of Santana when I was younger, and I didn't like most of the songs on it... I've looked it up now and it didn't have a single song from Caravanserai!
Can - Tago Mago
Like Another Green World, this is an album that I used to find a tad overrated; good but just a tad overrated... In those days I had a minor thing against Krautrock for stupid petty reasons like it being more for "hipsters" than other kinds of progrock. however I've really come around to Can. It's actually a bit baffling Tago Mago is as popular as it is because it's a very strange album that is sure to put most people off. However I can also see how this is such a common entry point into avant-garde rock music. Personally I really enjoy these guys when their music as at its most ridiculous but I pretty much enjoy all the songs on this album, I just think that Halleluwah is the true overachiever here.
Pelt - Pearls from the River
Something more obscure. The whole scene of the free folk music in the 2000s was and remains obscure, but I am a huge fan of it and Pelt is one of the best bands practicing this type of music. Long free-form folk drones permeates this album. Certainly, I would like to add more of this type of music to my collection.
Turquoise Days - Further Strategies
I think this is a collection of all or most of their music; it was released this year and I got into these guys from an earlier compilation called Alternative Strategies, which had 9 songs while this one has the same 9 but also 7 more. These guys have 2 songs that I'm permanently obsessed with: Grey Skies and Scattering Seeds. However, I tend to enjoy all their music. The style of music is Minimal Wave.
Blogpost for Touhou at the end of the year probably.
