On the playlist, or need new discs

Between the end of July till now, I’ve bought only six CDs. I can usually buy that many in a single month. So the new additions to the playlist come mostly from eMusic downloads, which seems to be a first. The release schedule this past summer has been underwhelming, and when I look at my calendar for the fall, I’m not encouraged.

Maybe it’s for the best. My disposable income doesn’t stretch very far these days, and what I don’t buy in compact discs, I’ve used toward mundane things such as, oh, gas and groceries.

Is that not so practical of me?

  • Arthur Russell, Calling Out of Context and First Thought Best Thought The former album was culled from hours of Russell’s outtakes and feels as miscellaneous as its origin. The latter album, on the other hand, reminds me a lot of Wayne Horvitz.
  • BONNIE PINK, "Kane wo Narashite" This single’s title track sounds harder than what she usually does, but the coupling track is a total Kylie Minogue knock-off.
  • Jane’s Addiction, Ritual de lo Habitual At the time of this album’s release, I liked it, but I loved other albums a lot more. Hearing it again after so long makes me realize just how resilient Ritual de lo Habitual is.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Concerto/Kreuzter Sonata (Isabelle Faust, Jirí Belohlávek, Prague Philharmonia) Still more exploration of entire pieces from the Immortal Beloved soundtrack.
  • Morton Feldman, The Viola in My Life/False Relationships and the Extended Ending/Why Patterns? New World Records finally made it onto eMusic, and I’ve been meaning to listen to this reissue of an old CRI disc.
  • New York Composers Orchestra, First Program in Standard Time At the time I listened to this album, I wanted something more along the lines of Pigpen or the President. Now I want to listen to it without those expectations.
  • OBLIVION DUST, "Girl in Mono" Why couldn’t this single have come from the self-titled comeback album?
  • Onitsuka Chihiro, "Hotaru" Nothing terribly surprising.
  • Roberta Flack, Softly with These songs: The Best of Roberta Flack I usually only make it as far as "The Closer I Get to You".
  • Spangle call Lilli line, ISOLATION The piano work is gorgeous.
  • Tarik O’Regan, Threshold of Night Waterloo Records held its first classical music in-store appearance with this album. I figured I may as well check it out.
  • TOKIO, "Amagasa" I never imagined I would willingly listen to a Johnny’s Entertainment band. Thanks, Shiina Ringo.
  • U2, Under a Blood Red Sky I’m beginning to prefer U2 before The Joshua Tree, or The Unforgettable Fire, for that matter.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto For Two Pianos in E Flat Major, No.10, K.365; Sonata For Two Pianos in D major, K.448 (Alfred Brendel, William Klien, Paul Angerer, Vienna State Opera Theatre Orchestra) More exploration of complete pieces from the Amadeus soundtrack.