Vinyl Additions

It's a Saturday and I have nothing planned with my day, which can only mean one thing: a trip to Sifters! I've been well behaved this month while I worked out if paying for my food and lodgings would permit me to continue frittering away my wages on music that I could listen to for free - music piracy?! Get of here!

As it turns out, I can. Huzzah for the price of pasta and sauce. Rent and existing aside, I've been putting off going into Sifters for a few weeks in the hope that Mr. Sifter might have some new stock for my player. And he did. So what am I spinning this week?

I've been waiting for the right Jackson 5 collection to come up for a while and this one fits the bill. Obviously, it has your ABCs and Want You Backs but also comes with a cover of Jackson Browne's 'Doctor My Eyes', 'Skywriter' and 'Mama's Pearl'. No 'Blame It On The Boogie' though. Ya win some, ya lose some...

Other than buying every Stevie Wonder album I can find, this is probably the closest I've come to finding a collection that I'll actually listen to in full. Across two sides, there's 'For Once In My Life', 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours' and 'Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday'.

Next up. A purchase inspired by Kanye's 'Slow Jamz', it's The Best of Luther Vandross. You can never have too much Vandross. See what I did there?

Okay, so Fleet Foxes' first album is one of the records on my post about my favourite albums of the last 10 years. I've found an American seller on eBay with a ridiculously good range of brand new stock that imports records for free, and this went straight in my basket. It cost me about a tenner and would probably be worth double in a record store over here. The medieval tapestry is also one of my favourite pieces of album artwork ever. If I weren't going to play it so much, it would already be in a frame.

Another import, and a little bittersweet. I bought this thinking I was purchasing the Paradise edition of Lana Del Rey's Born To Die album. What I actually purchased was the bonus eight tracks, which were released after Born To Die. Still a great listen but always read the label, kids.

Yes, he looks like you'd reject a lift from him if you were hitchhiking, but my Bob Seger collection is finally complete. Stranger In Town has both 'Old Time Rock & Roll' (music video referenced in this scene from Saved By The Bell) as well as 'Hollywood Nights', which you might remember if you were ever into Guitar Hero.

I also had a thorough rummage through Sifters' singles collection and surfaced with some absolute gold. All at 50p a pop. Ey, you can't beat northern prices! First out of the box was Eric Clapton with 'Layla' as well as a B-side of Monica from Friends' favourite song, 'Wonderful Tonight'. I shouldn't know that, should I?

Continuing along the theme of homosexual pop culture, I'm now the proud honour of both Kenny Loggins' 'Danger Zone' and Berlin's 'Take My Breath Away', from the film, Top Gun. Gutsiest move I ever saw. 

Also on the receipt was 'Romeo & Juliet' by Dire Straits (covered by The Killers) and 'Killing Me Softly' by Roberta Flack. If you're attentive, you'll know I already have it on 12" but I've doubled up for the B-side of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'. A happy weekend's picking!