CD Collectors

For cd/hdcd/sacd/dvd-audio/bd-audio I brought out the big guns: Oppo BDP-83 NUFORCE Edition. Hpa: a humble SMSL SP100 for now. I’m actually playing a hdcd in the picture and the Oppo decodes it! 😊

Contains 2 cds and 2 blurays. A classic psychedelic 70s masterpiece.

I also had copies of Oceania and Monuments. Oceania was actually not half bad. Solid 6.5/10. Monuments just had "Being Beige" and "One and All." It's more of a 4. I never listened to the rest of it. I lost them at some point. No idea where they could have gone. I've moved house like a half dozen times since '14 so they probably got lost in the move.

Gish is an 8, Siamese Dream is a 9.5, Mellon Collie is a 9, Adore is an 8 (criminally underrated, check it out if you want to get into some of Billy Corgan's lesser known work). Machina is ok. About a 4 for me. "The Everlasting Gaze" is a real banger, but don't get your hopes up that the rest of the album keeps it up. "Try, Try, Try" and "This Time" are good songs and the only other ones of note to me. The rest of it I can skip. Pisces Iscariot is an 8 for me. It's got their "Landslide" cover and "Stella" absolutely slaps, but the whole thing is good.

I've also got Machina II, but you'll never find a physical copy. I just have FLACs. You can download it for free (which I recommend). The band rushed making it as they were about to break up. As far as I know, once the songs were recorded and everyone went their separate ways, pressings were sent to various radio stations. Perhaps as a way to get the music out there. Perhaps for preservation's sake. But some of them did create digital reproductions of the album and it's available for free digital download in various formats. Machina and Machina II were supposed to mesh together as an overarching concept album, but the label wasn't going to allow another double album like Mellon Collie after the flop Adore was. I'm actually okay with that because I think the low quality production of Machina II makes it a significantly better album. "Slow Dawn," "Vanity," "Satur9," "Try (Version 1)," "Glass," ""Cash Car Star," "Dross," "Real Love," "Go," "Let Me Give The World To You," and "White Spyder" are all great songs. "Innosense" is also pretty good. In short, Machina II is filled with some great deep cuts that not many people have really heard about.

I haven't checked out any of Billy's work past Monuments. I've heard Ogilala isn't bad. My sister really likes their new album Atum, but I'm not too big on it.

Anyway, if you've made it this far, go listen to Glynis. The song was written around the Gish/Siamese Dream era about a Chicago-area bassist Glynis Johnson who died in '92 of AIDS complications. It was written for the 1993 album No Alternative, which aimed to raise awareness of and benefit AIDS relief.

Also, check out Drown. It's just an awesome 8½ minute romp.

Came back to add: I have the Zwan album too.

I hear this one was pretty divisive. I liked it. "Lyric" is good. "El Sol" is a fun one. I'm not big on the first part of "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea" so I imported it to Audacity and split the song into its two disctinct parts. "Mary Star of the Sea" features some some of Jimmy's best drumming since Geek USA. I haven't spun this one up in years til now.

Top to bottom, left to right, they are:

• Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
• Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
• MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
• PacificUV - Longplay 2
• The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Soundtrack
• Beach House - Bloom
• Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
• Foo Fighters - There is Nothing Left to Lose
• Pink Floyd - The Wall
• Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
• Beach House - Depression Cherry
• Slowdive - Slowdive
• Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
• Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
• Wet Leg - Wet Leg
• My Bloody Valentine - m b v
• Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial (This is the recalled promo version)
• Pink Floyd - Animals

I picked up Space Jam ironically, but it slaps harder than it should.

It belonged to my father-in-law. I asked him how much he'd take for it. He said I could just have it. It was pretty dusty and the hinge was sticking. I put a little bit of lube on the hinge and lid arm. Now it pops open just fine. It takes 9 volts to drive this bad boy. This is from a time that CDs were genuinely cool, new, and exiting.

Manufactured April 1990. This thing is a full 2 years older than me.

I'm listening to Blue Weekend at the moment. Incredible album. Ellie Rowsell has a beautiful voice. Here's my favorite song from it played live.

The boys are back after over a decade!

I used to think it was a strange thing to do but ever since I started collecting properly, I almost never listen to a new release until I've at least heard it all the way through on CD once.

It's not a very convenient obsession - I'm itching to hear the new Hives album!

Hi. I am very happy to hear CDs are having a moment again. I intend to waste no time in offloading my collection while the getting is good. I have about 500 discs, mostly metal, punk, hardcore, weird alternative stuff.

Where do you look to determine prices for discs? Aside from eBay, where are they being resold? I’m breaking out the crate this weekend and cataloging everything.

Thanks for your help, everybody!

Personally I have an external CD drive plugged into my computer into MusicBee and then also a portable one with a case for on the go :)

• QOTSA: In Times New Roman...
• Interpol: Marauder, The Other Side of Make-Believe
• Green Day: Nimrod

About 40 quid for the lot :)