Money Mark — Mark’s Keyboard Repair

• Artist: Money Mark
• Title: Mark’s Keyboard Repair
• Year: 1995
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1995 – Dunno where
• Keeper: Yes

Money Mark is the greatest. He’s played with everyone from Beck to the Beastie Boys, but the truth is, even though I love those artists, I play his music much more often. Mark’s Keyboard Repair has 30 tracks. You’re probably thinking “that’s too much” but I assure after one listen you’ll start thinking “I want more.” Some folks describe this recording as demo quality, but I disagree. It’s free and loose but the sound is perfect. Many of the songs are only about a minute long. In some ways it feels less like a typical album and more like the cue track to your favorite unmade movie. Give it a spin and pretend you’re the star.

Gimme more Money Mark…
MoneyMark.com
Money Mark at Wikipedia

Elastica — Connection

• Artist: Elastica
• Title: Connection
• Year: 1995
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1995? – Promo from…
• Keeper: Yes

I think I got this from Bob Schick when I was visiting Richmond. He was (is?) a buyer at Plan 9 Records (now “Music”) and always had more promo stuff than you can imagine. Anyhow, this is a fantastic single. When it was new I was turned off by the retro vibe, but I’m over that now. Bring the retro back! Make it double retro… or something like that. This is the only Elastica music I own, and it’s only two minutes long.

Tip: Elastica makes a great starting point for your next Jango station.

Leftfield — Leftism

• Artist: Leftfield
• Title: Leftism
• Year: 1995
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – SecondSpin.com
• Keeper: Yes

More than once I’ve read reviews that called Leftfield’s Leftism “the greatest dance record ever.” To that I say, “OK.” It’s good all right; that’s for sure. Leftism was their debut. I’ve had their second, darker and somewhat minimalist, record Rhythm and Stealth for some years, and it’s one of my favorites. I couldn’t find Leftism easily because it’s now out of print. Then, just recently I discovered SecondSpin.com. I’m sure they’ve been in business for quite a while, but they’re new to me. They have used CDs, DVDs and games, the prices are great, and best of all they have hard to get stuff like this record. You can bet I’m going to be picking up a lot of back catalog stuff from them.

Anyhow, the Leftfield deal is like this: They are two DJs with numerous guest vocalists (no less than John Lydon on this one) and have been described as the finest example of freestyle British club music. Yes.

Read more about Leftfield at Wikipedia.

Sam and Dave – The Very Best Of

• Artist: Sam and Dave
• Title: The Very Best Of
• Year: 1995
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2006 – Christmas gift!
• Keeper: Yes

I love the Stax stuff. When I was teenager I couldn’t get enough early soul music, and spent as much time listening to that as I did punk rock, arty stuff, and metal. Despite that, there are some big holes in my collection. Mary helped correct that by getting this Sam and Dave collection for me. “The Very Best Of” is, of course, excellent. Who in his right mind doesn’t like “Hold On! I’m A Comin'”? Other well-known classics include “Soul Man”, “Wrap It Up”, and my favorite “I Thank You.” ZZ Top also had a hit with “I Thank You.” It’s even one of my favorite ZZ Top songs, but they had to sleaze it up bit by replacing “me” in the lyrics a few times with “it.” For example:

You didn’t have to squeeze me but you did

And so on…