I think — as record collectors — we can all agree that the toughest part of being a hoarder collector is storage. Every time I run out of room on my multiple shelving units I am overcome with shame. “What am I doing with my life?” I often wonder…stacking records up against the wall until I have time/room/space to file them away. “Should I buy another shelving unit?” I ask myself, before contemplating selling the whole thing and taking a year off to travel the world — or maybe put a down payment on a house — “Do I really need all these things?” Usually I ask that as I’m pulling out (and immediately putting back in place) a Harry Pussy record, or cursing myself for spending $35 on that fucking Wind Harp record eight years ago.
Invariably I return to that age old question, “What hole in my life am I trying to fill with all these things!?” And since I already know the answer to that question, the best I can do to reassure myself is to remember that this is a temporary thing, and I’ll sell them all soon before the market dries up and no one’s interested in vinyl anymore (again). Honestly, right now is probably its peak. I can’t see the trend driving prices up any higher. Which is why I’m gonna start selling off a couple things I don’t really listen to anymore. I might end up using the money to buy more records, but if I’m selling 5 to pay for 1 at least I’m not running the risk of having to buy more storage space for my collection.
Which brings me to this week’s An Album A Day theme. If you’ve been paying attention for the past 80 or 90 days, I’ve been going through my personal record collection 5 days a week sharing titles with my readers. Each group of five records is connected by a changing weekly theme, which can range from the lazy (they’re all on the same record label!) to the more obscure (they’ve got titles/lyrics related to baseball!). This week I’m going to share five albums that will no longer be a part of my collection come next week. I’m talking about the five worst records I own.
First up, we have the Os Tres Brasileiros record. I think I bought it back in 2007 (for $39.99 less a 20% employee discount) because my boss saw one sell for $150 once and figured it was rare enough to try at $75. It kept getting marked down and eventually it wound up in my hands. Why? Because I saw “Os” in the title and figured it probably sounded like Os Mutantes.
I know, I’m a fucking moron.
I didn’t bother checking the facts before purchasing (it’s a jazz record, and worse a vocal/bossa jazz record) so I wound up with a record I played once way back in 2007 and haven’t touched since. It’s like if the Free Design (who were very good!) had no talent, spoke another language, and without any of the cool psychedelic little twists they could tie into their vocal-centric compositions. Honestly, I’m confused as to why I haven’t tried to sell this record until right now. It’s not like Wanda Sà’s Vagamente, which is another record I picked up for $39.99 on a whim and absolutely fell in love with, Brasil: LXIX is much much worse than that! They do “Moon River” for Christ’s sake. I don’t even know if it’s THE “Moon River” because I gave up on this album so fast I didn’t care to find out. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to walk upstairs and pull it down from the shelf so that I never again have to see its spine and desire to flagellate myself for making such a boneheaded decision when I bought it. Then I’m going to sell it, and use the proceeds (what little I get, considering there are people selling it for a 1/3 of what I originally paid for it) to acquire something better.
Os Tres Brasileiros
Brasil: LXIX
(Capitol – ST-301, 1969)
A1. Fim De Semana Em Guaruja
A2. Linda Em Noite Linda
A3. The Shadow Of Your Smile
A4. Brincando De Samba
A5. Outono
A6. Days Of Wine And Roses
B1. Jequi-Bach [MP3]
B2. Voce Voce Voce
B3. O Som
B4. Moon River
B5. Mare Alta
B6. Sambamour
