Joni Mitchell– “Hejira”
$12.98
I just got turned onto this one. It’s so thematically focused, so tuneful, and unbelievably atmospheric. This record is for everyone.
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Bjork – “Vespertine”
$12.98
Bjork can do no wrong in my book, but even among her catalog, this album stands out for the luminous musicianship on offer from Matmos (beats) and Zeena Parkins (harp).
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Eels – Electro-Shock Blues
$13.98
I gotta boost for this record. A man called E wrote it after his family died, and it will mess you up.
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Weezer – “Pinkerton”
$15.98
A once-in-a-career album. Sloppy, gristly power-pop, the locus classicus of “Emo” (but don’t use that word).
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Radiohead – “The Bends”
$16.98
I love Radiohead’s recent stuff, there’s no band working today who’s evolution I find more exciting, but this album has the tunes. I can’t argue with that.
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Boulez – “Repons”
$15.98
A steely, futuristic symphony from the world’s most accomplished classical musician. You can’t get the surround sound dazzle of the live concert onto CD, but this document is still a must have of the late 20th Century.
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Shostakovich – “24 Preludes & Fugues”
$35.97
We actually spent so many Sunday afternoons drinking tea and reading with this playing in our living room that it became a private clihce. Something of Shostakovich is sacrificed for the sweetness and quiet of Jarrett’s touch, but the payoff is tremendous.
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Reich – “Music for 18 Musicians” (ECM)
$16.98
From Oakland all the way to Los Angeles, this cassette rolled over and over in my tape deck (which later ate it. R.I.P) Reich’s seamless, lucid, affecting masterpiece.
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Mahler – “Symphony #2”
$15.98
He’s a dilettante, a pedant, a fanatic – all true. Still, Gilbert Kaplan is Mahler 2, as far as I’m concerned, and the Second is Mahler’s most shattering musical statement.
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Bach – “Motets”
$20.97
These choral works show Bach at the summit of his expressive powers: joyful, poignant, sublime.
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The Seven Samurai (DVD)
$39.98
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The Shining (DVD)
$19.98
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All About My Mother (DVD)
$28.98
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The Philadelphia Story (DVD)
$19.98
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The Devil's Backbone (DVD)
$19.98
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