np: Now Playing
by Ben Ramsey

I like lists. I like making them and I like reading them. If you have top 10’s or reviews or anything, post them over in the music section of the forum.

I was thinking about some records I was going to take over to a friend’s house this weekend. The kids will be mainly indie rock kids and hip-hop kids in Lawrence and my role is going to mainly be playing some stuff when the main dj doesn’t want to play. Of the stuff I pulled out, these are the first 10 I grab out of that stack:

• The Cure – “just like heaven” 12” – Yeah the original 12” release of this . . . I just put on the b-side to it and . . . yeah the A will go over fine though I’m sure. One of the wonders of buying 50 cent records at goodwill.
  
• Deltron 3030 2x12 LP – You can’t go wrong here.
  
• Music for Modern Living 2x12 compilation – a Recycled Sounds find from quite a while go – Kruder & Dorfmeister, Nicolette, Combustible Edison, Jimi Tenor – and yet the other unknown artists actually have the more outstanding tracks.
  
• Elvis Costello – My Aim is True LP – Heh yes. Seriously – the KCPL library system has the extended cd release of this album. But you just cannot beat the original lp version. This is seriously a great, great album.
  
• Belle & Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap LP – Honestly, I remember when this band had a single or something out on pop radio, and I thought they were a tie-in from the Disney movie. I read otherwise and bought this on a whim. A nice factoid about Belle & Sebastian is that the twins from Mum were on the cover of Fold your Hands Child, You Walk like a Peasant, but seriously – this band is really pretty good.
  
• Digable Planets – Blowout Comb 2x12 LP – this is easily the funkiest album ever. I picked this up in Chicago – in Gramaphone actually, first time ever going up there for record shopping, and only had maybe $40 at that to do it with. This was something like a limited 1000 repress back in 2002 I think. This was worth picking up over all the other things in that store to me that day.
  
• Guns ‘n’ Roses – Lies 12” EP – I paid $2.98 for this, and I’m not sayin where. You know this is a crowd killer. And yeah, the inside dust jacket is a much larger version of the inside of the cd and tape sleeve.
  
• Nuyorican Soul – “Black Gold of the Sun” 12” – I’m glad I pulled this one out. This is, of course, a classic – I mean the original version has vocals by Jocelyn Brown and Q-Tip dammit. I have a few copies of the 4 Hero remix, which I highly recommend as well – but the A side here, the original Masters at Work mix, is a great track to play. The B-side is a couple of remixes of “Runaway,” another track from the Nuyorican Soul self-titled album, which are also featured in a 2x12 release of singles specifically for it, which means label redundancy – but ultimately it’s worth having both this and that. Double copies are always nice.
  
• Fugazi – Margin Walker 12” EP – 79 cents in a thrift store on Noland. Also got Never Mind the Bullocks there for the same amount. And Aztec Camera.
  
• Tears for Fears – Seeds of Love LP – I got this mainly for “Sowing the Seeds of Love” but honestly . . . it’s a good album.

As you can see, I like a lot of diversity in my music. I have a wide range of tastes, but honestly, I’m pretty narrow-minded when it comes down to what I like. If I like it, then I like it – very rarely, unless it’s truly innocuous, am I ambivalent about it. More importantly, I like forcing my tastes on others, so I hope you find something in this column now or in the future which turns you on to something new.