The second annual HPBT was held last Saturday all around the MPLS metro. The HPBT stands for Half Price Books Tour and it consisted of me and a few friends going to every conceivable Half Price Books location and shopping for entertainment media. You can get quite a haul for the price of a 12 banger of Pabst, and being cheap and broke, that is the only way I roll these days. Anyways, here is the breakdown of my purchases (with reviews) from this last weekend...
Adam and the Ants-"Dirk Wears White Sox"
I've been on a huge New Wave kick lately, and I have always appreciated ridiculous British Pop Music. Plus, I bought "Friend or Foe" on vinyl and found it respectable recently. I wasn't prepared for this one, though. DWWS sounds kind of like a bastard combo of Joy Division and the Cars. Really dark and murky, with songs about the Kennedy Assassination and decay. And it has "Physical" (which I came to love and know via NIN). B+
Bob Dylan-"New Morning"
I love Dylan, especially when he's playing it straight, so New Morning is right up my alley. "If Not For You" is strikingly beautiful, and "Went To See the Gypsy" is the only Dylan I can think of that references the home state directly. Plus, "The Man in Me" (the song I bought it for and which was featured in "The Big Lebowski") is really happy which makes me smile for Ol' Bobby.
A
Whiskeytown-"Pneumonia"
Good album for the $3 I paid for it, but it suffers from what I like to call Ryan Adam syndrome. This occurs when I hear a Ryan Adams song, love it, and forget everything about it 10 minutes later. Don't get me wrong, I really like the works of Misseur Adams. I just pull a Michael McDonald every time I listen to him and keep forgettin' (with the exception of "Gold", "Rock N Roll" and parts of "Love Is Hell" that don't involve political scientists). I also have RAS when I listen to Bright Eyes, Galaxie 500 and some indie rap. B-
Steve Forbert-"Jackrabbit Slim"
I fiddy cented this bastardo for the awesome "Romeo's Tune" and ended up liking the whole thing. Forbert had kind of a Dylan crossed with a more bad assed, throaty Jackson Browne thing going on. B
John Lennon and Yoko Ono-"Double Fantasy"
Another fiddy cent find. This album makes me pretty sad. I mean, if you get down to it, the concept (an album of love songs between a rejuvenated couple) is pretty interesting. Plus, the John songs are REALLY life affirming. The Yoko songs are even pretty good, not what I was expecting (think a pretty cool post punk band fronted by a crazy Japanese lady). Still, the fact that Lennon was shot as this album was on the charts will always haunt it. B
The Very Best of Hank Williams
I really only bought this for the cool cover. I already have the Hank anthology on CD. I know whats on it, and even though it doesn't have "Move It On Over" (call it Pre-Pre-Punk or maybe "woodshed rock") its still got "Your Cheatin Heart" and "Jambalaya". A
I also purchased "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung" by Lester Bangs. I'm about 80 pages in, and its a mindfuck of a read.
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