500 CDs I think I would like to own

It would be hard to draw any conclusions from the list. Things I own, or have owned, on tape or vinyl sit side by side next to things I have never even heard.

Anyway, Ned, you pick up 500 a week, correct?

Have it.

"Going For One" is one of the only Yes songs I know that I am excited by, so I thought it would be a good first Yes album for me, but I don't really know the rest of it (though I must have heard the album at some point).

http://www.el-bakkar.com/

This site appears to be authorized and legit, and hence should provoke no qualms about downloading music for free.

In a way, in a way.

the dreaded Boulez version that omits the tape interludes. that fucker. look elsewhere for Varese, the Carter piece is ok though.

that Mimaroglu record is later odds and sods, wouldn't make the best first impression (not to assume what you've heard already)

lots of great stuff on this list, lots I haven't ever even heard of, be sure to post comprehensive reviews of every single one of these records to this very thread as they enter your collection. you have twenty minutes.

you don't need this one. it will give you bad dreams. unless you are a fan of bad dreams, in which case go for it.

definitely buy the 499 other ones though.

Oum Kalthoum: Zikrayat
Zaloumni al Nass
Yalli Kan Yeshjik
Udkhurini
Soundtrack: Widad
Soundtrack: Fatima
Raqq el Habib
Qussat al-Ams
Nahj el-Burda [live]
Ila Arafat Allah
Hayyart Qalbi
Hallit Layali el-Qamar
Hagartak
Gulubt Asalih Fi Rouhi
Gaddedte Hubbak Leh
Agharu Min Nasmat el-Ganoub
Aghani Wataniyyah (National Songs), Vol. 2 and 3
Zalamna el-Hub
Mush Mumkin Abadan (Ansak)
Lisa Faker
Lel Sabr Hodoud
Kul Leyla Wu Kul Yom (Bitfakkar fi Meen)
Isaa’l Rouhak
Huwwa Sahih el-Hawa Ghallab
Haseebak Lil Zaman
Hakam Aleyna el-Hawa
Hadreth el-Rouh
Hadeeth el-Rouh/al-Thulathiyya
Daleely Ihtar

Fairouz: Ana Ou Sehrani
Chante Philemon Wehbe
Chante Zaki Nassif
Christmas Carols
Christmas Hymns
Damascus Festival 1960
In concert at the Olympia-Paris
Houmoum El Hob
Immortal Songs
Jerusalem in My Heart
Qasaed
Rajioun
Safarbarlek/Bint El-Harass
Chat Iskandaria
Ya Tara Nessina
Yes’ed Sabahak

Farid El Atrache: Hekayet el Omr Kolloh
Nagham fi Hayatti/Enta Habibi
Hallet Layali Helwa
Sountracks: Risala Min Imra’aa Majhoula & Yown Bila Ghad
Fook Ghousanaka Ya Lainoma
Adnayani Bil Hajar
Ya Weili Min Hobon
Taksim/Kelmet Itab

Mohammed Abdel Wahab: HMV Recordings, v.1 and v.2
Cleopatra
Koulina Lahib al Kamar
Fil Bahr Lam Aftakim
Archives of Arabic Music vols. 8-10
Riad el-Sounbati: Roubaiyat el-Khayyam
Faiza Ahmed: Sitt el-Habayib
Abdel Halim Hafez: Legends of the 20th Century
Fatet Ganbena
Hawal Teftakerny
Abed Azrie: Epic of Gilgamesh
Mahmoud Fadl: Um Kulthum 4000
Love Letter From King Tut
The Drummers of the Nile Go South
The Drummers of the Nile
Marcel Khalife: Stripped Bare
Nazem al-Ghazali: Best of v.1 and v.2
Omar Bashir and Sahar Taha: Baghdadiyat
Saddon Jabir: Nazem al-Ghazali Songs v.1
Sayed Darwiche: The Classic Egyptian Songs from the 20th Century
Simon Shaheen & Ali Jihad Racy: Taqasim
Samir Siblini: Zaman al-Samt--Taqsim Ney
The 4 Seasons
Various: From the Libyan Folklore Music
Various: al Waha [Libyan]
Ibraham Hassan: Damascus Passage
Wadi el-Safi: Natrak Sahran
Inta Omri [BBC Legends of the 20th Century Series]
The Very Best Of
Mohamed Matar: Mohamed Matar Plays Bouzouk
Various: The Finest Mawawel from Iraq, Vol.1
Basem al Ali: The Finest Mawawel from Iraq, Vol.2
Mohammed el-Bakar: Port Said
Adib al-Dayikh: Courtly Love
Nassima: Andalusian Music from Algeria
Various: Maqams of Syria
Various: Music of the Nile: Original African Sanctus Journey
Farid Ghosen: The Storm “Al Asfia”
George Michel: Melodies of the Oud
Sami Shawa: Master of the Arabic Violin
Karim Mahmoud: Egyptian Oud and Vocal
Various: Algeria. Anthology of Arabic-Andalusian [Ocora]
Filfel Gourgy: The World is Happy
Cheikh Abderrahman ben Mahmoud: Sufi Songs from Tunis
Sheikha Ahmad Barrayn: Sufi Songs

Shaykh Saad al-Ghamdy: Arabic Quran Recitation Set
Mustafa Ozcan: Kuran-i-Kerim Assorted Short Surahs & Azam
Mohammed al-Barak: Barak - Part 29 (Juz Tabarakh)
Various: Calls of the Holy Mosques
Khalil al-Hussary: Complete Qur’an (Slow Tarteel)
Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais: Surah Baqarah

Ensemble David: Coptic Liturgies
Various: Mysteries of the Sabbath: Classic Cantorial Recordings 1907-47

Issa Hassan: The Art of the Buzuq
Culture Musical Club: Bashraf: Instrumentals from Zanzibar
Master Musicians of Jajouka: Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka
Various: One Night @ 1001, vol. 1: Moroccan Music Recorded by Brion Gysin
Najat Atabou: Country Girls & City Women
Mohamed Rouicha: Les Imazighen: Songs from the Middle-Atlas
Ooleya Mint Amartichitt: Praise Songs

Mohammed Reza Shadjarian: Dastagh Chahargah. Ensemble Aref.
Parvin Javden and Zohreh Bayat with the Avaye Doost Ensemble

Kudsi & Suleyman Erguner: Sufi Music of Turkey
Sulu Kule: Rom Music of Istanbul

Haris Alexiou: Best Of
Ta Doueta Tis Haroulas
Ta Laika Tis Haroulas
Elefteria Arvanitaki: Ekpombi
Glykeria: Bolta Stin Ellada
Best of Glykeria
Stelios Kazantzidis: Megalies Epitixies Dekaetia ‘50
Megalies Epitixies Dekaetia ‘52-`63
Megalies Epitixies Dekaetia ‘60-`70
George Dallaras & Marinella: Live Sto Megaro Mousikis

Erik Marchand & Thierry Robin: Songs of Central Brittany

Maria Tanase: Malediction d’Amour

Rev. Robert Wilkins: The Original Rolling Stone
Hank Williams: The Complete Hank Williams
Waylon Jennings: Dreaming My Dreams
Willie Nelson: The Essential Willie Nelson
Crazy: The Demo Sessions

The Crew Cuts: Best of the Crew Cuts
Thee Midniters: Greatest Hits
The Easybeats: Aussie Beat That Shook the World
The Byrds: Greatest Hits
Stealers Wheel: The Best of Stealers Wheel
Dave Mason: Let It Flow
The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975
Hall & Oates: Rock & Soul, Pt.1: Greatest Hits
Beatles: Anthology vol. 1
Let It Be. . . Naked
1962-1966
Beatles For Sale
John Lenon: Plastic Ono Band
Imagine
Mind Games
Rolling Stones: More Hot Rocks
Goat’s Head Soup
Some Girls
Neil Young: Decade
Rust Never Sleeps
Tonight’s the Night
Comes a Time
Live Rust
On the Beach
Hendrix: Electric Lady Land
Live @ Woodstock
Dylan: John Wesley Harding
Freewheelin’
Bringing it all Back Home
Live 1966
Slow Train Coming
Infidels
Oh Mercy
Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Greatest Hits vols. 1 & 2
David Bowie: Bowie’s Best
Pin-Ups
Low
Steely Dan: Everything Must Go
Yes: Going for One
Velvet Underground: Peel and See
Van Der Graff Generator: box set
Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure
Siren
Viva!
Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain
Discrete Music
Deep Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple
Black Sabbath: Paranoid
Master of Reality
Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard of Ozz

Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks
Smiths: Meat is Murder
Hatful of Hollow
Sonic Youth: Screaming Fields of Sonic Love
Devo: Q Are We Not Men?
The Go-Gos: Beauty and the Beat
Husker Du: 8 Miles High
Talking Heads: Remain in Light
Various: Billboard Top Dance Hits 1983
XTC: Drums and Wires
Black Sea
Apple Venus Vol. 1
Raincoats: Odyshape
The Raincoats
Kate Bush: Never Forever
Nirvana: Unplugged
Pogues: If I Should Fall from Grace with God
the Fall: This Nation’s Saving Grace
Psychic TV: Live in thee Subterranea
Coil: Scatology
Horse Rotorvator
Boredoms: Soul Discharge
Pop Tatari
Super Roots
Rebore 0
Ground-Zero: Consume Red
Altered States: Plays Standards
Groove Collective: It’s All in Your Mind

Various: Incredible Soul Collection
Various: Soul Train The Dance Years 1972
Various: Classic Salsoul Mastercuts
Jackson Five: The Ultimate Collection
Barry White: Best of
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
Dionne Warwick: The Dionne Warwick Collection
Diana Ross: (20th Century Masters 2CDs)

Grandmaster Flash: Message from Beat Street: Best of
Eric B. & Rakim: 20th Century Masters - The Millenium Collection: Best of
De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead
Haiku d’Etat: Haiku d’Etat

Prince: Controversy
Sign o’ the Times
Dirty Mind
1999
Cherelle: Best of Cherelle
Black Box: Dreamland
D’Angelo: Voodoo

Billie Holiday: Columbia box set
Commodore box set
Billie Holiday at Storyville
Ella Fitzgerald: Gershwin Songbook
Duke Ellington Songbook
Jerome Kern Songbook
Harold Arlen Songbook
Johnny Mercer Songbook
Irving Berlin Songbook
Jukebox Ella
Early Years w/ Chick Webb (2 separate CDs, I think)
Various: Capitol Sings Gershwin
Various: Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
Judy Garland: 20th Century Masters: The Best of Judy Garland
Nat King Cole: The Greatest Hits

J.S. Bach: The Six Partitas (Parmentier)

Conlon Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano, vol. 1-5
Kurt Schwitters: Ursonate
Various: Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center 1961-1973
Various: OHM: Early Gurus of Electronic Music
Varese/Carter: Carter: A Symphony for Three Orchestras/Varese: Deserts [for the Varese]
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Mantra
Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians [ECM recording]
Tehillim/The Desert Music [performers: Ossia/Alarm Will Sound, et. al.]
Group 180: Group 180 [performing Reich/Rzewski,etc.]
Margart Leng Tan: The Art of the Toy Piano
Dane Rudhyar: Advent/Crisis & Overcoming/Tansmutation

Pierre Schaeffer: L’Oeuvre Musicale
Pierre Henry: Des Annees 50
Iannis Xenakis: Electronic Music 1957-92
Ilhan Mimargolu: Outstanding Warrants
Halim El-Dabh: Crossing into the Electric Magnetic
Ann McMillan: Gateway Summer Sounds
Annea Lockwood: Surfacing/Delta Run
Richard Maxfield/Harold Budd: Oak of the Golden Dreams
Robert Ashley: Automatic Writing

Joan La Barbara: Voice is the Original Instrument
Meredith Monk: Doleman Music
Diamanda Galas: Defixiones
Litanies of Satan
Schrei X

Gunter Muller/Otomo Yoshihide: Time Travel

Fred Frith & Ensemble Modern: Traffic Continues
Frith/Kaiser: Technology of Tears
Fred Frith Guitar Quartet: Ayaya Moses
Frith: Digital Wildlife
Pacifica
Derek Bailey/Susie Ibarra: Bids
Derek Bailey: Balads
John Fahey: Red Cross
John Zorn: Masada Guitars

Robert Fripp: Let the Power Fall
Ash Ra Tempel: Blackouts
Durrutti Column: Return of the Durrutti Column

Lotus Eaters: Mind Control for Infants
Scott Tuma: Hard Again

K. Leimer: Land of Look Behind
Klaus Schulze: Irrlicht
X
Audentity
Heldon: Stand By
Agitation Free: Malesch
Second

Tortoise: Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Mice Parade: All Roads Lead to Salzburg
Cinematic Orchestra: Remixes
Rovo: Imago

Various: 2003 Ano de Exitos Salsa
Various: Salsa Dura de Cali
Various: Lost Classics of Salsa, vol.1
Various: Dancing Salsa USA Mix Vol. 2
Various: El Vacile Effectivo de la Champeta Criolla: New African Music from Colombia
Champeta Criolla Vol. 2: Visionary Black Music from Underground Colombiafrica
Various: La Rumba Soy Yo
Various: El Espiritu de un Pueblo

Ruben Blades: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Metiendo Mano
Bohemio y Poeta
Andy Montanez: Oro Salsero
Tito Nieves: Asi Mismo Fue
Tito Nieves Canta con el Conjunto Clasico: 25 Aniversario Recuerdos
Mongo Santamaria with Justo Bentacourt: Mongo Santamaria with Justo Bentacourt
Ismael Rivera: Eclipse Total
Joe Cuba: Diggin’ the Most
El Alma del Barrio
Beny More: 30 Exitos
Issa el Saieh: El Maestro et Son Orchestre
Juanito Marquez y Su Combo: Arrimate Pa’ Ca’
The Latin Jazz Quintet: The Latin Jazz Quintet with Eric Dolphy
Willie Rosario: Afincando
Nueves Horizontes
Back to the Future
Otra Vez
Cheo Feliciano: Una Voz. . . Mil Recuerdas
La Voz Sensual de Cheo
Fania All Stars: Cross Over
Willie Colon: Asalto Navideno
Canciones del Solar de Los Aburridos
Cosa Neustra
Criollo
(w/ Hector Lavoe) El Malo
(w/ Hector Lavoe) Deja Vu
La Gran Fruga
Willie
Sonora Poncena: 45 Anniversario Live y Sequimos Hacienda Historia
Grandes Exitos
La Orquesta de Mi Tierra
New Heights
On Target
Larry Harlow: Hommy
Los Munequitos de Mantanzas: Guaguanco- Con Pipin y Sus Rumberos
Rumba Caliente 88/77
Gregorio Hernandez “El Goyo”: La Rumba Es Cubana: Su Historia
Various Artists: Here Comes El Son. . . Songs of the Beatles, Cuban Style
Various Artists: Real Rumba from Cuba
Eddie Palmieri: Champagne
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri & Friends at the University of Puerto Rico
Eddie Palmieri & Friends con Lalo Rodriguez: The Sun of Latin Music
EP
Molasses
Palo Pa Rumba
Unfinished Masterpiece
Vamonos Pal’Monte
Celia Cruz: Regalo del Alma
Canciones Premiades
con La Sonora Matancera
Cuba’s Foremost Rhythm Singer
La Dinamica! Celia Cruz Con La Sonora Matancera
La Incomparable Celia (Con La Sonora Matancera)
Mi Diario Musical -- Con La Sonora Matancera
Angel Canales: El Diferente
El Diferente--Greatest Hits Live!
Live at Roseland
Mas Sabor
Regresa Mejor Que Nunca: Angel Canales y Salsa en Vivo
Sabor con Angel Canales
Johnny Polanco y Su Conjunto Amistad: Pa’l Bailador
La Lupe & Tito Puente: The King and I
Tito Puente: Dancemania, Vol.1
Tito Puente y Azuquita: Ce’ Magnifique
Ray Barreto: Indestructible
Louie Ramirez: Louie Ramirez & Super Banda
Pete (Bonet) & Louie
Alegres y Romanticos
Tipica 73: The Two Sides of Tipica 73
Various: Boleromania
Joe Arroyo: Cruzando El Milenio
Grupo Gale: Con El Mismo Swing
Homenaje al Grupo Niche: Con Los Grandes de la Salsa
Kike Harvey y Su Orquesta: Exitos de Kike Harvey
Raphy Leavitt y Orquesta La Selecta: Cosquillita
Manny Oquendo y Libre: Manny Oquendo Y Su Conjunto Libre
Pedro “Conga” Lopez y Su Orquesta Internacional: Joacao Muerte
Various: Rough Guide to Merengue and Bachata
Cortijo y Su Combo: Time Machine
Henry Fiol: El Secreto
Hector Lavoe: The Fania “Legends of Salsa”, Vol.2
Ernest Lecuona: Ultimate Collection
Complete Piano Music, vol. 1 (Thomas Tirino)
Melcochita: El Retorno De Melcochita
Tributo Al Jefe Daniel Santos
Hermanos de la Salsa: Melcochita & Lita Branda
Tommy Olivencia: Celebrando Otro Aniversario
Fire-Fire/Fuego Fuego
La Nueva Sensacion Musical de Puerto Rico - Cantan: Ramirez y Paquito Guzman
Tommy Olivencia y Su Orquesta
Johnny Ortiz y Taibori: Johnny Ortiz y Taibori: Vocals Tito Nieves
Leyo Pena: Que Traigan El Son Cubano
Adalberto Santiago: Adalberto
Saoca: Best of Saoca
Wilson Saoko: Lo Mejor De Wilson Saoko (Con The Latin Brothers And Fruko Y Sus Tesos)
Saxomania: Presencia Hector Lavoe
Alberto Shiroma: Like A Goddess She Walks
La Terrifica: Sabor a Pueblo
Los Titanes: Tributo a Hector Lavoe “La Voz”
Javier Vazquez y Su Salsa: Salsa y Montuno
Various: Boleros de Cuba
Various: Cumbia Cumbia - A Selection of Colombian Cumbia Recordings
Various: The Rough Guide to Cumbia
Ricardo Lemvo y Makina Loca: Ay Valeria
Batata y Su Rumba Palenquera: Radio Bakango
Chichi Peralta: Chichi Peralta en Vivo
Rey Reyes: Momon - Salsa, Reggaeton y Son
Los Soneros del Barrio: Siguiendo la Tradicion
Ibiono: Ibiono
Oscar D’Leon: Infinito
Jose Alberto: Serie 32
Nacho Sanabria: El Nuevo Sabor de Nacho
Johnny Zamot y Sociedad 76: Sociedad ‘76
Conjunto Borincuba: Conjunto Borincuba [Tito Rojas & Justo Bentacourt]
Bush y Su Nuevo Sonido: Lo Mejor de Bush y Su Nuevo Sonido
Descarga Boricua: Esta Si Va!
Mario Ortiz: Algo Diferente
Ivan Caceres y Su Bongolandia: Roots of Acid Salsa
The New York Sextet: The New York Sextet
Truco & Zaperoko: Musica Universal
El Gran Combo: 40 Aniversario en Vivo
Orquesta Mulenze: Desde el Principio
George Lamond: Que Te Vas Remixes
DLG: Serie Azul Tropical
Ry Cooder: Mambo Sinuendo

Violeta Parra: Las Ultimas Composiciones
Various: Rough Guide to the Music of Mexico

Joao Gilberto: O Amor, O Sorriso e A Flor
Various: Now Sound of Brazil
Various: Red Hot + Rio

Gary Lucas: The Edge of Heaven
Various: Bali: Roots of Gamelan
Various: Music for the Gods: The Fahnestock South Sea Expedition: Indonesia
Gong Gede of Batur Temple: Bali: Musique Pour Le Gong Gede
Musicians of STSI--Bali’s National Institute of the Arts: Music of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar, v.1
Banyumas Bamboo Gamelan: Traditional Music from Central Java
Sambasunda: Berekis
Nanae Yoshimura: Art of the Koto, Vol. 1
Reiko Kimura & Tadashi Tajima: Music for Koto
Kadri Gopalnath: Gem Tones
Various: Tibet (Ladakh) Monastic & Village Music
Various: Music of Makran: Traditional Fusion from Coastal Balochistan

Alessandro Belloni: Tarantella & Canti d’Amore
Various: Dancing with the Dead: The Music of Global Death Rites

Various: Ethiopiques v.1, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 14
Fela: Confusion/Gentleman
Opposite People/Sorrow Tears and Blood
Shuffering & Shmiling/No Agreement

Various: The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough
Various: The Harder They Come
King Tubby: King Dub
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
Burning Spear: Marcus Garvey
Man in the Hills
Social Living
Bob Marley: Uprising
Survival
Burnin’
Natty Dread
Babylon by Bus
Gregory Isaacs: The Ultimate Collection
Lee Perry: Arkology
Black Uhuru: Red
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Sinsemilla
Mystical Truth
Steel Pulse: Sound System: The Island Anthology
Mikey Dread: Dread at the Controls
Linton Kwesi Johnson: Making History
Cedric Im Brooks: Cedric Im Brooks and the Light of Saba

Sun Ra: Supersonic Jazz
Heliocentric Worlds 2
It Is Forbidden
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vols. 1 & 2
Space is the Place [Original Soundtrack]
Sounds Sun Pleasure
Sun Song
Live at Montreux
It’s After the End of the World
Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt
Other Side of the Sun
Pathways to Unknown Worlds/Friendly Love
Holiday for Soul Dance

Elmo Hope Ensemble: Sounds from Rikers Island [incl. John Gilmore, Ronnie Boykins]
Coleman Hawkins: Ken Burns JAZZ Collection
Alice Coltrane: Transfiguration
Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Third Decade
Jerome Cooper: In Concert from There to Here
Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Various: Jesus Christ Superstar

I already know I like Automatic Writing, so it's okay. Ahsley just sounds like someone continuously waking up from a nap.

I don't know Mimaroglu but am not seeing much of his work on sale anywhere.

*

What does Groove Collective sound like? Are they any good? They were originally with my Afro-Latin music, because I found them at a distributor for that, but they were described as psychedelic rock. Are you thinking of a different Groove Collective?

The Byrds: Greatest Hits
Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain
The Raincoats: s/t
Eric B. & Rakim: 20th Century Masters - The Millenium Collection: Best of
Various: The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough

As far as the Fela stuff goes: I'd say start with _The Best Best of Fela Kuti_, if you don't have it already.

gabbneb, I just didn't like the sound of the samples I listened to (after your comment) all that much. They sound okay, but probably not something high priority. I must have misunderstood or mis-remembered the description I originally read

Dylan: John Wesley Harding
Boredoms: Soul Discharge
Hendrix: Electric Lady Land
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
Dionne Warwick: The Dionne Warwick Collection
Hank Williams: The Complete Hank Williams

I freestyled it
with no notes while driving fast
in twenty minutes

also, no CDs
she found repugnant or shite
(hence no Fleetwood Mac)

I consider this
one of my great achievements.
oh my life is sad.

The English language recording here that I want the most is that Bowie collection, since I hardly have anything by him, and his songs pop into my head frequently (but I know for sure that I don't want a number of other songs he did--I don't like anything from Ziggy Stardust or Diamond Dogs that I can recall).

I made some small discoveries while putting this list together, since it forced me to pick concrete examples for general categories like "another 70's soul collection." That Incredible Soul Collection turns out to have a huge number of the songs I have wanted to pick up, with hardly any songs I really can't stand. I also found out that Forced Exposure carries Altered States CDs which I thought were out of print.

I went looking for Psychic TV Live at thee Subterranea, but the store I went do didn't have (though they had others from the series), so I ordered a copy. I really do want that and it's a limited edition (until it gets reissued later?). I bought my Mouse Parade CD, but haven't listened to it yet. I probably should have held off.

Then I went to Tower hoping to find that Cali salsa mix, which I am just going to have to order (soon). One thing I forget to add to my list was a generic compilation of current club style merengue and bachata. I picked one up. Unfortunately, there is way more bachata than merengue. That's not so bad, though, since I hardly have any bachata in my collection. At any rate, it loses a lot outside the context of being in a club. It all sounds like it's made with the same drum machine and keyboards (or is that actually an electric guitar they use?).

Also picked up the Lost Classics of Salsa comp. which is pretty good so far. It's kind of a small-scale salsa version of Nuggets, from what I gather.

The selection at Tower's Latin section seems to have improved a lot recently (or maybe I am just reading more reviews than I usually do, and keeping up with newer stuff?). There are still enormous, crucial, gaps, of course, especially since they will only carry labels who play their game when it comes to returns, something a lot of independent Latin labels probably can't afford to do, but can also afford not to do (e.g., El Gran Combo's label Combo Records). But there still tends to be a gap (a rather large one) between the slickest best-selling material and the stuff being talked about on NPR.

well I assumed this bcz you separated it in categories though it was prob bcz it was easier to read.

it should be all equal weight bcz then its scientific and that's a good thing ;)

Not sure if I want Schulze's X. Those space drone tones seem corny to me now too.

List of Afro-Latin CDs I want continues to grow.

I want to hear best ofs (or canonical albums, if there are any) by Dominicans Johnny Ventura, Wilfrido Vargas, and especially Juan Luis Guerra. Also Daniel Santos, who was a major Puerto Rican singer from a generation or two before the singers I normally listen to. Apparently he was enormously popular in parts of South America.

The big Arab music distributors (in the U.S.) tend to carry a lot of stuff made in the Arab world, or in Greece, and sell them at reasonable prices. Archival folkloric stuff on small labels that might be based in the U.S. or Europe doesn't always get picked up by these distributors, since it's pretty marginal compared to things released on EMI Arabia or Sonodisc or Voix de Lebanon (I have that name wrong, I'm sure).

Now that I actually have drawn up a list, I've been trying to update my copy of it, so I don't lose track of things I might forget about otherwise. It's kind of nice to lay it all out and say: okay, this is what I really want, this is what my taste looks like (like it or not, whether it makes sense or not). Granted, not everything here is remotely equally interesting to me. Yes, I'd like some musique concrete, but I'm not chomping at the bit to get a whole bunch of it all at one time.

Which sent me back to look over your list, and you're right.

I Remember Syria [Sulbime Frequencies label]
Radio Palestine: Sounds of the Eastern Mediterranean [Sublime Frequencies]
Radio Morocco [Sublime Frequencies]
Ahmad Adawiyyah: The Best of Adawiyyah [SHB540]

Eleni Vitali: [something]
Manolis Angelopoulos: [something]
Soula Birbili [composer: Theodorakis]: I Mikres Kiklades

Badfinger: The Very Best of Badfinger
Elton John: Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano-Player
Greatest Hits vol. 2
Simon & Garfunkel: Bookends
Pink Floyd: Ummagumma
Atom Heart Mother
Meddle
Gun Club: Fire of Love
Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
Sinead O’Connor: So Far. . .The Best of Sinead O’Connor
Erykah Badu: Baduism

Tuxedomoon: Ghost Sonata
Jaga Jazzist: Livingroom Hush

Larry Harlow: Tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez
La Raza Latina: A Salsa Suite
Tito Puente: El Rey Bravo
Saxomania: El Nazarenos: A Tribute to Ismael Rivera
Kako: Kako y Azuquita
Babo Jimenez y Su Banda: Babo
La Muralla: Avisal!
El Gran Combo: Mejor Que Nunca
Orishas: A Lo Cubano

Rumbanella Band et. al.: El Congo Brazza Kin--Rumba Congolaise

Las Ketchup: Las Ketchup

Bajo Fondo Tango Club
Juana Molina: Segundo

Princess Nicotine: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma) [Sublime Frequencies]
Night Recordings from Bali [Sublime Frequencies]
Radio Java [Sublime Frequencies]

Abyssinia Infinite: Zion Roots

Jazz Composers Orquestra: Communication
Oliver Lake: Movement, Turns & Switches
Keshavan Maslak: Loved by Millions

You're bailing out on this for the wrong reason. The right reason is that apart from the Rzewski there's just a VERY minor work by Reich and some decidedly second-rate filler by composers I've never heard of outside this disc.

But the Rzewski pieces are genius and this is my favorite performance of them. They're done in English but the narrator/singer has the thickest imaginable Hungarian accent. When I hear "Coming together" done by any other group and it starts "I think..." instead of "I theeeeenk..." it's just not the same piece of music! (More serious reason for liking this performance = the instrumental ensemble is extraordinarily tight and manages to get through the entire score almost flawlessly. A local group was going to do this piece so I loaned them the Group 180 disc and they ended up postponing the performance by a year in order to aim for something at this level.)

I once loaned a friend in high school a tape of stuff I had taped off the radio including Rzewski's "Coming Together." Apparently, he fell asleep during the piece, but was unpleasantly jolted awake by the sudden ending. (Serves him right I guess.)

Incidentally, for anyone who cares (nobody here), it's not "Sheikha Ahmad Barrayn" as I typed, but rather "Sheikh Ahmad Barrayn." My apolgies to the Sheikh for changing his sex with the slip of a typing finger.

Jimi Hendrix: Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight

Wadi Safi/Rev. Father Elias Saade/Madeline Khoury: The Maronite Mass

But I already just ordered a bunch of Arabic/North African (+ one Ethiopian) CDs.

Just heard a clip from this, and Wadi el-Safi's singing here is gorgeous. (He's definitely someone I need to follow up on. In the past I've just hit a couple duds in his recorded output, so I've been very cautious.)

Next batch of Latin CDs I want to branch out a bit--probably: Afro-Cuban rumba, Machito with Graciela singing, boleros, and that Latin jazz recording with Louie Ramirez and Eric Dolphy on the same album.