Thought I'd toss off a quick post about my trip to the Record Den today to check out the RSD leftovers. I almost picked up the Joni Mitchell live set, but was tipped off by my guy that he had heard the recording had too much crowd noise, so I passed on it. I'll just pick up a copy of Court and Spark and some L.A. Express albums from the used bin another day.
I did buy two more records and, oddly enough, they are the two best sounding records I got this year. They were also both mastered by Jim Webber, who I'm not familiar with, but they sound amazing. I picked up their last copy of the David Bowie live 2003 show and the Hindu Love Gods. I wasn't really familiar with the Hindu Love Gods, except that it was Warren Zevon and members of R.E.M. What a fantastic record. I was a little concerned when I opened it and the record was filthy. I gave it a quick brush and put it on and it was a dynamic listen. Their cover of "Raspberry Beret" was electric. It had a tinge of a raved up "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me". They also did a solid cover of "Battleship Chains", which had been covered four years prior by the Georgia Satellites. It also has several blues covers, and to their credit, it doesn't sound like an R.E.M. album fronted by Warren Zevon. It's quite muscular with virtually no jangle.
The great thing about the Bowie show, besides how it sounds, is the song curation. There are no old Bowie hits. It opens with "New Killer Star" and a fantastic cover of The Modern Lovers "Pablo Picasso". Side two opens with an inspired performance of "Looking For Water". I mainly bought this out of FOMO. It was the last one they had and couldn't pass on it. Glad I didn't. I've been kind of leery about some of these recent Bowie releases, but this one is spectacular. Now, if they'd just reissue the first Tin Machine album I'd be all set. Also, a quick tip of the hat to long-time Bowie bassist, Gail Ann Dorsey. She drives this set and doesn't get the due she deserves. I hope Black Friday is half as good as RSD this year. Peace.