Another weekend record shopping excursion started out with a visit to Vacation that turned out rather, um, un-fruitful. Couldn’t really find any of the stuff I wanted, and didn’t really see anything else that tickled my fancy. So off to Amoeba, where I picked up these goodies:

• Midlake – The Courage of Others ($16.98)
• Andrew Hill – Point of Departure ($11.98)
• Andrew Hill – Live at Montreux ($8.99)
• Schoenberg – Complete Works for Chamber Ensemble (box) ($14.99)
• Kohon Quartet – American String Quartets Volume II: 1900-1950 ($2.99)
• Keith Jarrett – Facing You ($7.99)

I’ve been anticipating the new Midlake release for a while, and I’m extremely excited to have snagged a vinyl copy.  It’s probably my favorite record of the year so far.

But the coolest score was the collection of American string quartet music for just 3 bucks.  It features compositions by Copland, Piston, Gershwin, Thomson, Schuman, Sessions, Hanson, Mennin, and Ives – 3 LPs in total.  And the Schoenberg box features 5 LPs containing a load of chamber works, way more than I could handle in a single sitting.

Not the cheapest shopping day, but I’m happy with these purchases.

In an effort to spice up this blog, I’m going to start cataloging my record shopping excursions. I’ve been buying more and more music in physical form lately, and I figure this is a good way to share it all. Whenever possible, I’ll try to note where I purchased it and how much it cost (one of my favorite things about buying used vinyl is getting a good price

Today I stopped at two stores:

Vacation Vinyl

• U2 – War ($7)
• U2 – The Joshua Tree ($4)
• Xasthur – All Reflections Drained (red vinyl with slipmat) ($28)

Amoeba Music

• Iron & Wine – The Creek Drank the Cradle ($9.99)
• King Khan & the Shrines – The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines ($15.98)
• Starship – Knee Deep In The Hoopla ($5.99)

I’ve been searching all over town for those two U2 records, and found them at a great price at Vacation. While I was there I dug through the metal bins (the best in town, btw) and decided on Xasthur for no real good reason – even opted for the deluxe edition with slipmat, since my turntable needs one badly.

The Amoeba purchases are things I already own digitally, and have loved for a long time. I may have a download code to shoot out for the King Khan record, so watch my Twitter feed.