The Great Record Purge 2016

Alayna gets an education in vinyl collecting (these are ones I'm dumping.)

Hi, gang.

You all remember how I'm sort of obsessed with records, right?  I'm sure I've mentioned that before.  Anyway, lately Kris and I have been trying to de-clutter our house somewhat, and I figured it was high time to trim some of the fat in my massive collection.  Kris is opposed to me buying additional shelving for my records, so any and all space I can find is valuable indeed.  And if I ever want to buy new records - which is a given, considering it's a passion of mine - I need to make some serious room.

Some of my 'mood music' section.  Lots of ethnic music, historical pieces, instrumentals, and spoken word.  Not something you'd go out of your way to buy, but trust me - this section comes in handy, and works awesomely well as 'background music.'

Rock. And. Roll.  This is by far the biggest selection in my collection.

More Rock (arranged in alphabetical, by artist), into Folk.

This wasn't the first time I've purged my record collection, mind you:  back in May of 2015, I got rid of an entire two boxes of records prior to moving back to Michigan - maybe 100 records or so.  That was fairly easy, I owned more garbage than I realized (embarrassingly so.)  Now, however, I was hoping to dump four boxes worth - to get rid of albums that had pops and hisses (I had gotten rid of my scratched LPs years ago), albums that I never listened to, or only owned because I like the artist and not necessarily the album itself, etc.

Country, Western, Tijuana Jazz, and Country Gospel

It sounds easier than it is, people.  It's like parting with one's children.

This process took a week or two, but in the end I axed my three and a half boxes worth - probably 150-175 albums, total.  It was painful, but it had to be done:  eventually, the space that I freed up in my shelves will be replaced with new albums purchased off Amazon, so there was incentive for such purging.  I still had a lot of nonsense in my collection that was overlooked last year, so some of it went fairly easy.

Soundtracks, instrumentals, jazz, big band, etc.

For example, I had a lot of John Denver and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.  While John Denver has a few decent songs, he's not one of my favorites.  Do I need his entire discography (because I owned it, for some reason.)  No, I do not.  I'll keep his greatest hits, his Christmas album with The Muppets (duh.)  Do I need eight, individual Herb Alpert albums when I have a 5-LP boxed set of all his best music, considering I rarely listen to him?  No, I do not - they're all duplicates and filler.

This is what I'm talking about, America.  Trimming the fat.  Trimming the fat, and making room for new additions.

Clearing out space.  Here's some classical and Christmas music. . .

Some of this purge's casualties. . .

Bye bye, dear John Denver. . .

- Brian

The Great Christmas Record Odyssey, Ep. XII

It's a John Denver-sorta episode today, Internet.  Get ready for fun.

Album Title:  A Christmas Together

Album Artist:  John Denver and the Muppets

This one's a no-brainer.

A Christmas Together is one of those albums that belongs in every holiday music lover’s record collection, alongside the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, Disney’s All-Time Holiday Favorites, and Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas.  It’s a classic, and as such there isn’t a whole hell of a lot I need to say to defend it.

It’s the Muppets, for Christ’s sake.  Not liking the Muppets is like not liking air conditioning or puppies:  it just doesn’t make sense.

Inside sleeve art (I love Rolf's hands tickling the keys at the far left.)

This collaboration with John Denver - which, I’ll admit, sounds a bit random when you first think of it - is music gold.  You have to remember that back in the day, during the hey-day of the Muppet Show, everybody who was anybody wanted a chance to jam with the Muppets.  They were the gods of television back then, so it only makes sense that, while at the height of his popularity and star power, a performer like John Denver would agree to cut an album with the Muppets.

Gangstas.

It doesn’t disappoint, either.  Much like the Disney holiday album I already reviewed, the Muppets and Mr. Denver take a similar approach in singing various Christmas standards:  the Muppets take the fun-loving carols, like ‘Twelve Days of Christmas,’ ‘Little Saint Nick,’ etc., while John Denver takes the more solemn, Jesus-based songs like ‘Noel’ (which plays to his strength as a mellow country singer.)

Unlike the Disney characters, I think the Muppets do have a handful among their ranks that could get away with singing a more religious jam, namely Kermit and Robin.  Nevertheless, I assume the album is named John Denver and the Muppets and not The Muppets (feat. John Denver) for a reason.

Long story short, this album is definitely in my top three as far as Christmas records go.  If you don’t own it, something’s seriously wrong with you.

VERDICT:  10/10 - . . . And Out Come the Wolves (The Muppets scoring less than '10/10'?  I don't think so. . .)

- REMAINS IN CIRCULATION -

Album Title:  Rocky Mountain Christmas

Album Artist:  John Denver

Continuing on with Mr. Denver, we have here a Muppet-less Christmas album that stresses something else the artist is famous for:  his love of the Rocky Mountains.  The whole ‘mountain’ angle shouldn’t really come to much of a surprise for anyone, really:  the dude’s last name is Denver. 

This looks nothing like my kitchen table. . .

While John Denver isn’t one of my favorite old country singers (I personally prefer some gunpowder and whiskey in my country songs, like you can find in the songs of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, etc.), this album is pretty good.  It’s more mellow, so you definitely have to be in the right mood for it.  I’d throw this one on if I was feeling nostalgic, sitting around a fire sipping egg nog and looking through photo albums of Christmases past.  

That’s not really the sort of environment that screams ‘Muppets’ or demands a rip-roaring Johnny Cash album blaring in the background, so John Denver is an acceptable substitute.

Now, I personally prefer my John Denver with a sprinkling of Henson, so this album doesn’t achieve the score of the other album in today’s Episode.  Nevertheless, it’s still good enough to remain on the Hough Record Holiday Shelf ’til December 26th or so.

VERDICT:   7/10 - Pretty Rad  (No Muppets, but still pretty good.)

- REMAINS IN CIRCULATION -

- Brian