Shopping For Records (Father's Day Edition): Sun Ra, Rickie Lee Jones, Pentagram, Charles Mingus, Sunn O)))/Ulver

I was given the gift of record shopping for Father's Day this year.  Better yet: I was given the gift of shopping at the Princeton Record Exchange, which I hadn't visited since Record Store Day in 2013.  Left with a stipend and about an hour or so to peruse, I was happy to spend more time navigating the inventory than last time, though I was not the only Dad given the day to record shop.  The store was packed with Dads toting impatient, bored children and wives that seemed stuck in this permanent scowl that said very plainly, "When will he grow the fuck up?"  Those Dads could very easily have replied, "When will you stop taking me dress shopping?"

There were more deals than I had cash, unfortunately.  I found a copy of Madlib's Shades of Blue, which I probably should've picked up.  I also found a stack of used Japanese Public Image Ltd. CDs that were going for $10 apiece and a sealed copy of OFF!'s First Four EPs 7" set.  To do this trip right, you need about $200-$300 and absolutely no sense of buyer's remorse. 

Here's what I picked up:

Princeton Record Exchange
Princeton, New Jersey

Sun Ra
Lanquidity
Philly Jazz Inc.
Originally released: 1978
Reissued: ??

If there was one item I was determined to find at the Exchange, it was Sun Ra's Lanquidity, an album that I'm sure I've talked about too often.  And, yes, I'm aware that my last few record outings have involved Sun Ra in some way, so I apologize if my accounts of these hauls have grown monotonous and predictable, but I'm in the midst of a phase, I guess.  And Lanquidity has been on my list for quite some time.  I've had it on CD for a number of years and figured it would rate a perfect needle drop.  This edition is 180 gram, silver cover and reissued recently, though I don't have a date.  I bought it new for about $13.

 

Rickie Lee Jones
s/t
Warner Bros.
Released: 2.28.79

I have no Rickie Lee Jones in my collection so, for $1.99, I decided to change that.



Pentagram 
Relentless
Peaceville
Originally released: 1985
Reissued: 2010


I felt compelled to throw this copy of Pentagram's Relentless under my arm once I'd lifted it from the METAL bin, mostly because it looked pretty: pitch black sleeve and the typographic and geometric brawn of the Pentagram logo sort of promising a heavy listen.  It's not that I'd never heard a Pentagram album before, but I'd never owned one.  Seemed a travesty, so I figured it was time I fixed that.  It's a nice gatefold edition with a poster.  I'm hoping to drop the needle on this soon.  It was about $23. 

Charles Mingus
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Impulse!
Originally released: 1963
Reissued: 1995

I found a used copy of The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus on CD and threw it in the pile.  It's an album I'd wanted to own for quite some time, an unfortunate straggler on my famed back burner.  I'd first found out of its existence via Lester Bangs, his appreciation of the album pretty spectacular in contrast to his relative disdain of most others.  I've listened to it maybe two or three times and it's one of the more beautifully unsettling jazz albums I've heard from a big band ensemble, aside from maybe John Coltrane's Ascension.  It's unapologetic in its force. 

Sunn O))) & Ulver
Terrestrials
Southern Lord
Released: 2.3.14

The Sunn O)))/Ulver collaboration, Terrestrials, is one of my favorite releases of 2014 so far.  That being said, I felt I should own this.  If you want to know what I thought of it, you can find my review at Stereokiller. 



Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead