Idolator

Today I ordered up this new subscription series via Digitalis, but it's admittedly not hyperexpensive, just seems pricey for being bought in advance. Truly expensive, standalone and bought in one go...cripes, I'd honestly have to say it was my old iPod!

PLEASE let me know how that set is!!

(the calypso set)

i recently spent $15 on a doug sahm record (the one with "give back the key to my heart" that uncle tupelo does on anodyne). considering that i don't buy cds and the average cost of the vinyl i buy is probably 2.50, this was huge for me. although i suppose re-upping my sirius sub. was the most money i've thrown down on music in a while.

[www.revenantrecords.com]

just put it on. halfway through disc one; a little pokey--the swing I like in the later stuff isn't quite there yet.

i generally don't spend a lot on one particular item. i've been fortunate to find a lot of my holy grails for under $25. (that includes the original pressing of the k-rob & rammelzee "beat bop" 12" with the basquiat cover which i found at Normans in NYC...)

but the most expensive things i've bought recently were a 2-dvd sly & the family stone bootleg of tv appearances and sly's MSG wedding (around $40), a reissue of Cluster's "Zuckerzeit" album ($22), and i picked up copies of Leon Thomas' "Blues & The Soulful Truth" ($35) and Jon Lucien's "Minds Eye" ($40) for a friend of mine who promptly paid me back.

haha I worked at Norman's for a few months in 2001-02.

$30 for a Dutch "import" (I think boot) reissue of the Left Banke's out of print 1992 greatest hits. But it averaged out to about $1 a song, so not bad, especially considering that the real thing always sells for over $50 on ebay.

Tom Waits Orphans, Brawlers, and Bastards is the most expensive album I've bought recently. Back in the day (before kids and house payments) I would routinely drop $150 on a 4CD bootleg or cool promo toy, but I was young and stupid.

I finally picked up an original vinyl copy of Judee Sill's debut to round out my Judee collection (and at under $30 with shipping included, it was a pretty good deal).

Mosaic Records has way too much of my money. So far, Bear Family and Rhino Handmade haven't taken any of it, but they're close.

@Thierry: as an employee of water records i thank you for helping me remain employeed. did you get the bbc recordings yet? that shit kills.

The most expensive thing I've ever bought, music-wise, was the Cecil Taylor boxed set 2 Ts For A Lovely T. 10 CDs of liveage with William Parker and Tony Oxley - it was only available from this one record store in London, and delayed a couple of times due to printing problems, but I finally got it for 99 pounds plus shipping - the exchange rate wasn't terrible at the time, so that only added up to about $180. I've gotten lucky and been able to get review copies of a couple potential wallet-cripplers, like the Albert Ayler box on Revenant and the 20-CD Miles Davis live at Montreux box.

I had two out-of-print Mosaic boxes: the Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan 50s sessions. Sold 'em for $125 each about a year ago.

$36 for The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms on vinyl

@unperson: The Mobley isn't out of print yet...but the Morgan is.

If anybody wants a Sam Rivers set, I may be interested in parting with it.

I ponied up for that Fela vinyl box set a few years back that came out around the same time that MCA re-issued all his records - 1999? 2000? - and that wasn't cheap. Also I bought my nephew the Clash singles box set for his graduation - but mainly to prove to him that I'm still cooler than his dad.

FYI - Honest Jon's has released some great vintage Calypso in the last few years in the UK (afrobeat, too for that matter). You can get most of it here through Astralwerks.

The last two absurdly expensive deluxe packages I purchased were I think both in 2005.

#1 The Talking Heads "Brick" which reissued the entire catalog as DVD Audio

#2 The Naked City box set that compiled all of their studio recordings.

Both look sweet and were totally worth the approximate $100 price tags.

Back before "Zaireeka" was available at most record stores, I ponied up $50 to buy it on eBay. I didn't have then, and don't have now, four CD players or three other interested friends, so I haven't experienced the album in full sonic splendor.

The Louvin Brothers' Close Harmony box set, on Bear Family, with a slight discount from a trusted, authorized ebay seller (by that I mean a boarded-up record store that now deals primarily online).

Too bad I never had the scratch for that Tokyo Kid Brothers box when it was still in print. I think I ended up buying $250 worth of burritos that summer, instead.

The Chess Story from Hip-O Select. 3 boxes, 15 CDs (one interview, one CD-ROM). I bought the Chess Blues set a decade ago, and play it at least once a year at our Memorial Day barbeque, so when 300 of these were imported, I jumped. Glad I did, as Hip-O is now sold out, though you can still find them used from Amazon.co.uk. The remastering is worth the price alone.

I'm hoping the 50th anniverary of Stax Records finds me with similar reason to part with a lot of cash.

@Clevertrousers: Those Honest Jon's comps are really nice. I'm also a big fan of Ice's comps from the '90s, particularly Roaring Lion's Sacred 78s and the four volumes of Mighty Sparrow. (Found the whole lot in a cutout bin in Minneapolis some years back, one of the best bulk purchases I've ever made.)

I also bought those two Cactus 2CD sets ($40 each) from Rhino Handmade. Worth every penny, especially the live double.

I dropped $80 on "Peel Slowly and See", and have been eyeing "Brick" for the longest. I've only bought Honest Jon's "London is the Place for Me, Vol 2" and love it, but I have been working through the Ice Sparrow compilations through Emusic.

The only absurdly expensive thing I've bought in recent times are the Ron Hardy records being put out by his nephew ([partehardy.com]) -- the first volume has 2 of Hardy's disco edits, one per side, and was $25 at Gramaphone in Chicago.

But you'd have to care about House Music to know why this was such an automatic buy...

As regards the 'Peel Slowly and See' album I bought that back in the day as a cutout at Woolworth's, for $2.99. Until Punk started happening the Velvet Underground were regarded as one of the least successful rock bands ever.

@iantenna: That Judee Sill purchase doesn't really do much for Water, since it's the 1971 Asylum pressing (and the cds I have are the Rhino Handmade releases), but between the L.A. Getaway cd, some Jackie Lomax, Dreams Come True and the BBC sessions, I hope I've helped pay for a few hours of your work. ;) Great work on the BBC cd, by the way - I had a lot of these on a bootleg, but the Water compilation sounds much better, and including the interview was a great idea.

@Thierry: good find. i've been looking for originals on those since i got the handmades years ago. i figured if you were completing your collection you'd have to have at least 2 things on water, glad to know you have other stuff as well. keep an eye out for a sill tribute comp in the somewhat near future, should have some heavy hitters on it.

@Matos: Nice stuff! Another sweet one is that Emory Cook collection that Smithsonian Folkways put out:

[www.folkways.si.edu]

I recently dropped $60 for the Velvet Underground What Goes On box set on Raven (Australia). I already had the Polydor box, but what the hey, it's got a great bookelt.

Either the 10th anniversary edition of the Manic Street Preachers' "The Holy Bible", one of the Legacy Edition reissues of Jeff Buckley albums ("Grace" or "Live at Sin-é"), or the Dischord 20th anniversary set. All of which were used, natch. I don't count the Charlie Christian or Louis Armstrong box sets because those were even cheaper (hooray, thrift stores!), probably no more than $8.

When I bought the Wildhearts' "Moodswings and Roundabouts" Japanese box set in 1999, it cost $175. Thanks to some gift certificates and a Tower employee discount, I scooped the package for $25.

My husband and his buddy did the F-lips Zaireeka thingy years ago. I bought him (at our local & independent record store- same one I worked at when I was sixteen)the mixed down bootleg- cost me about $40.00.

Next birthday I bought him the Galaxie 500 box set & all the Pixies CDs. (Replacements due to theft from car.) Cost me about $150.00. A few months later his dog ate them... Needless to say, I'm not buying him cd's anymore.

But to the point lurking in the background: We're luddite-ish. We always by cds. And records. Fundementally I just don't trust this downloadable digital crapola.

Some squirrels eat through the power lines and poof! Computer's blown out and you know that shit ain't ever gonna be right again. Just sayin.