Silver discs which have brought me happiness

Regular visitors to this blog have probably figured out that its purpose is for me to tell you about my record collection. Well why not? My taste in music is superior to almost everyone else and I'm quite willing to act as cultural gatekeeper. Just so you know.

Recent purchases that have pleased me no end are as follows:

Kinky Friedman's Last of the Jewish Cowboys - The Best of Kinky Friedman [Shout Factory] has been spinning almost constantly at home and the workplace. He's funny as hell in a very un-P.C. way, so much so that I wish I was a Texan so I could have voted for him as Governor. The CD contains a few of his most famous tunes, "The Ballad of Charles Whitman", "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven & Your Buns in the Bed" as well as live versions of "Asshole from El Paso" and "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore". My favourite song is probably the set's most sentimental: "People Who Read People Magazine" which is a sincere appreciation of 'regular folk'. I would also like to point out that his novels are entertaining and he is kind to animals in case you need further reasons to buy the cd for yourself.

I read a review of Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay [Numero Group] and set out to locate a copy for myself. One of my main interests is to hear music I haven't heard before, and this collection of funk and soul records from the Bahamas seemed to fit the bill. It's a nice compilation of tunes from the GBI studio and label recorded from the early to mid-seventies. Not that every track is a classic unknown gem, but there are more hits than misses. It starts off strong with Cyril Ferguson's "Gonna Build a Nation", Ozzie Hall's unusual arrangement of "Take Five" and the twelve-minute plus version of "Mustang Sally" by Jay Mitchell. Extra points for the well-designed packaging and liner notes.

It's been a while since I bought any krautrock so the new edition of Cluster's Sowiesoso [Water Records] was a welcome addition. Over the years I have accumulated several Kluster/Cluster albums as well as Moebius andRoedelius side projects and Sowiesoso continues the style I expect by quite happily humming, whistling and bubbling away in the player. I should point out that it is not passive new age noodling as some may tell you, but rather a kind of Philip K Dick-esque exoticism.

Last up, Rahsaan Roland Kirk's Blacknuss [Collectables] which is filled with funky goodness from the opening track, "Ain't No Sunshine" through the Marvin Gaye medley, "What's Going On/Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" ending with the Kirk-penned title track. There is so much to admire about Kirk's career, not the least of which is that towards the end when he was partially paralyzed by a stroke, he would still get on stage to perform. That's dedication.