The Culling V – The Vinyl Frontier

The Culling is proceeding swiftly. Every waking moment I’m home is spent listening to records – the only exception being when I’m watching TV or DVDs. I’m well into the orchestral section of the collection: big string orchestras (101 Strings, The Hollyridge Strings…), everyone & His Orchestra (Xavier Cugat, Ray Conniff, Esquivel, Percy Faith…) and really whacked-out “percussion” records from the early years of stereo recording with instruments bouncing around the stereo spectrum ping-pong style.

Now playing:

Jackie Gleason didn’t write, read or arrange music but he still managed to released more than 20 best selling records of mood music for Capitol Records. The LP covers are fabulous – populated by high octane cocktails, smoldering cigarettes and glam babes – but the music is so sl-o-o-o-o-w. Anything Gleason recorded was bound to be the most languid version of that song ever heard.

Movie Themes and Music to Remember Her - gone. Music For Lovers Only survives by virture of its cover as does Music, Martinis, and Memories (also because it has “martinis” in the title).

“Oooo!” is also glacially slow but features an ethereal choir singing wordless vocals (“ooo”s and “aaah”s) which makes it interesting enough to keep.

Velvet Brass is arranged for brass orchestra (no strings) and is lively enough to listen to as foreground music without falling into a stupor.

The score:
Listened: 629
Loved: 453
Loathed: 176

Thrifty Weekend

bad sign?

bad sign?

Soviet kitsch

The Culling IV: A Record By Its Label

The Score
Listened: 510
Keeping: 359
Tossing: 151

The Culling III – Beneath the Beyond

It’s been about a month now since I’ve started the big record listening/purge project. I’m coming to a milestone – I’ve almost finished the top row. I’m in the “international” section. It was rough going at first – no one should have to listen to so many German cowboy songs, yodeling records or filthy English rugby songs in one sitting.

label from Sempre Roma by Udo Jürgens and the German national football team (for the 1990 World Cup in Italy)

Paradoxically, I cheered up when I got to eastern Europe. East German new wave, a Hungarian rock opera, late Soviet-era rock music, even Zamfir’s early folkloric panflute music have put me in a much better mood. Africa is next followed by Asia and the South Seas.

Box Score – Keepers: 283 Discards: 128

the rejects

The Culling II – It Lives

I’m about three weeks into my epic project to listen to all my records and cull the dross. Now Playing: The Troggs. Next up: Vanilla Fudge, The Vogues, The Walker Brothers. All very different and I’m looking forward to hearing them all. Yes, I’m nearing the end of the alphabet but my work has barely begun; this is just the end of the first category. I’m barely past halfway on the top row of records. Here’s a map of my record library so you can follow along:

1. pop/rock groups
2. “world”
3. instrumental, large groups (Mancini, Montenegro, Enoch Light, 101 Strings, Boston Pops, etc)
4. instrumental, small groups (Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, Tijuana Brass, etc)
5. instrumental, by instrument (accordion to zither)
6. female vocal
7. male vocal
8. duets (i.e. two artists with solo careers such as Harry Belafonte and Nana Mouskouri, not duos like Sandler and Young), choral groups (Anita Kerr Singers, The Swingle Singers, etc), barbershop, whistling
9. soundtracks (movie, stage, tv)
10. spoken word (documentary, history, interview, literature, instruction), sound effects and ambience, children’s, comedy
11. this’n'that
12. 10 inch LPs, 78s
13. 45s
14. electronic, experimental
15. Christmas
16. folk, country, trucker
17. jazz
18. classical

I’m really enjoying hearing all my records again and I’m often moved to read up on artists as I’m listening to them. Here’s an interesting factoid I came across: did you know Spike Lee’s father, Bill, was a bass player who played on records by Ian & Sylvia and Bob Dylan among others?

Box score – Kept: 184. Discarded: 69.

reject pile