New and Used Vinyl on the Record Shelf

It's been a slow summer for record-buying, though I've found the odd thing that picked up my spirits. About a month ago, I received my pre-ordered Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection career retrospective by the Aussie songbird Kylie Minogue. It's a brand new release and since I'm an uber Kylie fan, I bought the CD and vinyl record bundle. The double-LP record set has loads of great songs on there, though one conspicuous omission was Come Into My World, the first Grammy-winner by Minogue. And that is why I also got the CD set... it includes that and many more important tunes from Kylie's vast musical catalogue.

The record gets a lot more play time since I am much more enthusiastic about the vinyl medium, and though it's a condensed version of the CD edition, I am very happy with the pristine sound. It's now one of my favourite records in my collection, though I must admit I'm disappointed in the packaging. For a career retrospective of such a prominent artist, it's incredibly lean on extra info and photos... none at all, really. It's a single outer sleeve (outer jacket), which could have been a gatefold, with little more than the track listing on the back, and two inner sleeves - both blank besides song titles - tucked inside. A major missed opportunity there... they really could have beefed up this career-spanning collection with photos, graphics, and extra info and tidbits. Oh well, it's the music that counts.

And today, after much flipping through the bins at a local used record store, I came away with a very nice copy of the 1976 Best of the Doobies. I've always liked this set of prime rock/soul/pop tracks from the Doobie Brothers. I played - a lot - this same album on cassette tape back in the 80's. In fact, from that tape I learned the rockin' China Grove pretty well on guitar, which served me nicely in an impromptu jam session way back before I ever thought I was any good on the instrument. The record looks (and sounds) like new, as does the outer jacket. Very happy with that inexpensive (seven bucks) find.

S'all for now... it's a short post this week, but I'll make up for that soon. In the meantime, go buy Kylie records!

Cheers, mates!