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You really have to hand it to serious record collectors like the folks who run the Numero Group record label. I used to consider myself a record collector but, after visiting the WFMU Record Fair last fall, I am downgrading myself to "record enthusiast" or merely "vinyl fan." I wasn't in the place too long before I realized I way out of my league. I was no match for the Japanese guys who showed up with their own portable record player, for on the spot break checks. Or the Euro guys shoving their way towards crates of Italian Disco 12" remixes. They are dead serious. I am merely mildly serious, with the list of post-punk vinyl I want written in the back of my moleskin notebook. 

In 1972 Lou Reed had his first taste of commercial success. His record from that year, Transformer, and it's hit single "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" were international hits. And, no pun intended but, this success transformed Reed's post Velvet Underground career.  With the help of David Bowie, who produced the record and Mick Ronson, whose guitar playing defined much of the record's sound, Reed went from cult fame to a household name.

Thunderclap Newman-Hollywood Dream
Now here's a band that's been marginalized by a legion of lazy music writers. The phrase "One Hit Wonder" is often used to describe Thunderclap Newman. The hit that's being referred to "Something in the Air" came out of nowhere in 1969 to top the UK record charts for a three week period. It has showed remarkable staying power and has been featured in quite a few movie soundtracks, including, to great effect in Cameron Crowe's 2000 film "Almost Famous." And, it's true that it is a great great song that emanates a very late 60's hippy message about burying the hatchet and getting along and it's got a soaring guitar to boot. Written and sung by former Who roadie John "Speedy" Keen it certainly deserves the  term "classic."  But, less than a year after the single road the charts a full record was recorded and arrived with a thud.  That LP, "Hollywood Dream," garnered little attention either in the UK and the United States and sank without a trace.  But really, there's so much  happening on "Hollywood Dream" that it was only matter of time until it would be rediscovered and celebrated for it's greatness.To debase the band by throwing them into the one-hit wonder ghetto is just plain wrong.

It's been a long road for the Flaming Lips. They've been with us longer than you think. Their first LP, "Hear it Is" came out 23 years ago, which makes me feel pretty damn old. In the early days the band had an inclination towards excess; the first three records were musically bombastic with lyrics that were preocupped with death, drugs and UFO's.It wasn't for the faint of heart and it's effects were pretty much polarizing. At that point it seemed no one just "sort of" liked The Flaming Lips. You either loved them or couldn't stand them.

Almost every hipster record collector knows that there are certain records that are, or were, the Holy Grail. These records are often prized because they're hard to find. It's not the music so much as it's the idea of finding and owning the record that's so tantalizing. For many record nerds, myself included, once you actually do find one there is always something else more obscure and sought after that you still don't have. It never ends.  And the crazy but very true fact is that the records you finally track down are hardly ever as great as you've heard they are. No matter if you found it for $1.00 at the Goodwill or if you criminally overpaid on eBay, it rarely lives up to the hype. But once in a great while it all pans out.

There aren't many contemporary performers that have had the sort of run Nick Cave has had; 14 studio records over a span of 25 years, with only a few clunkers in the bunch. That's not even counting his time spent with his seminal and highly influential

band The Birthday Party.He's also written two novels, written screenplays, acted in movies and has been an inspiration to countless hipsters, young and old. One wonders where he finds the time. When you look upon the span of his musical career, it is marked with several high water marks, where Cave and his band, the Bad Seeds, appear to be ridiculously at the top of their game.

I bought my first records in 1976. Details are sketchy but I remember going to the department store in my small midwestern town with my Mom and choosing Blue Oyster Cult's "Agents of Fortune" and Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare."  I liked them both but the Alice Cooper record was perfect, it was ghoulish and cartoony and totally rocked. Little did I know that, as an artist, Coopers best years were already behind him.

More gems I've recently stumbled upon.

MV + EE- Drone Trailer- Six songs; a few loud and clattery, some strange and unsettling and a couple which are quietly beautiful. MV + EE are a duo who, at least on this record, reside musically right about where Neil Young's "On The Beach" intersects with Royal Trux's "Twin Infinitives" LP. The titles suits these songs perfectly. They sound as if they were recorded in a trailer of sorts or, even somewhere in the woods. At times it's just Matt Valentine (MV) and acoustic guitar and a harmonica; other songs feature a full band which result in a sound reminiscent (to me) of the disoriented feeling one has shortly after waking up from a feverish night's sleep.

By now, I'm sure many of you are familiar with the folklore/mythology/stories that surround Anton Newcombe, so I'll spare you the details. If you're not, this may help. What I will tell you is that between 1996 and 2001 his band, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, released six albums, three in 1996 alone. For those wanting a crash course, I recommend the collection "Tepid Peppermint Wonderland." It's a great overview of the band but it may leave the listener a bit overwhelmed. There's just too much to be digested. The great songs get lost over two discs. Instead, let me lead you to the wonder that is "Bravery, Repetition and Noise. 

Most people have a list of "special" records; ones that you can come back to time and time again. For me, REM's first LP "Murmur" is on my list (along with the Clash's "London Calling" and Wire's "Chairs Missing.")

When the record came out in the spring of 1983 it was a revelation. It was sounded like nothing else. Surrounded by an air of mystery it was murky but not impenetrable. The kudzu and grey skies on the cover captured the record's sound to perfection. While some elements of the jangle pop that pervaded their debut EP "Chronic Town" remained, "Murmur" is imbued with a southern gothic feel; a melancholia of sorts.

It was in constant rotation during my college years. There were a lot of parties at my house then and "Murmur" was the record that was played as those parties were winding down. It was the perfect soundtrack for those quieter moments; it required your attention.