Rhino Records is slowly moving to the head of the class as my CD label of choice. I clear my throat and shuffle my feet a bit when I say this, because Rhino trades almost exclusively in nostalgia. My first glance over their list of Rhino Music Artists I quickly realized I didn't come here to discover the next Marah or Galactic: I came to re-collect all those old LPs I threw away, the ones I listened to with headphones, after midnight, on a Friday, in a vain effort to ignore what a loser I was for not finding a party to crash.
*Cough* But what music that was! I'm particularly drawn to the reissues of the early X, Ramones, Talking Heads and Television, but when I scroll down their list I wind up clicking all sorts of unexpected names. What's John Coltrane doing here? Or Little Feat? Say, is that The Blasters? And the BoDeans? Suddenly I'm reveling in memories of Friday nights pleasantly spent being out and about.
Now that my Friday nights are taken up with Daddy Duty, I typically close the night with a splash of scotch, a comfy chair next to the glowing stereo and ... headphones. I've come full circle, so why not embrace it? I figure I'll start with Donald Fagen's forthcoming Nightfly trilogy.
Speaking of which, Mr. Fagen seems taken with this Music Video Interactive rig. Having neither the required SurroundSound outfit or the desire to travel down that road, I'm sure I'll be entirely oblivious to its better qualities. Have you exposed your ears to this format at all? What do you think?
3 comments:
That Rhino Nightfly trilogy looks sooo tempting. But how does one self-delude (and I'm a champion at that when it comes to cd acquisition) to buying the box set when one has all of the 3 cd's already. 10 bonus tracks? 3 videos and the deliberately vacuous and misleading "much more".
I may just sit that one out; I'll be counting on your review to allowing me to make an adult decision, sir.
Not to sound like one of those snots, but I happed across Rhino back before they were bought by a conglomerate. They were the first place I could get a bunch of my fave 70s one hit wonders. I have always been a big fan of them.
I got their whole "Have a Nice Day" and "New Wave Hits of the 80s" sets - and they threw in a bunch of free CDs!
The best thing about Rhino is they almost always have the best sound quality of any label out their. Their remasters sound amazing, and their compilations of oldies usually bring the ole chestnuts to life.
DV - if Fagen didn't rate as my all-time favorite singer-songwriter, I would find very little in this set worth the $60. I'm curious to hear the sonically revamped discs, and I'm greatly looking forward to hearing at least one of those ten bonus tracks. The concert footage ... well, it's nice to have, but I could live without it.
Mr.Y - it was a sad day when I realized I had held out too long waiting for Rhino's New Wave Hits of the 80s to come down even further in price. Finishing my own collection is proving to be a lifelong pursuit.
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