BURIED IN THE BARGAIN BIN AGAIN.

You Can’t Judge a Record Bargain by Its Cover.

Bargain hunting is an unpredictable affair.

While the junk shops are starting to cotton on to the value of old vinyl, they usually do us a favour by not knowing what they’re on about.

Their perception of what is valuable is often way off the mark. Hugely successful yet wildly overrepresented artists like Neil Diamond are often absurdly overpriced, while relatively unknown artists are not on the radar.

Today’s find-of-the-week well demonstrates this.

On the surface, this one might look like a low-budget affair. Some regional orchestra having a stab a Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and decorating the cover with a naive folk art painting of the story.

If that was an accurate assessment, then expecting someone to hand over 50 cents, hell, anything, for it seems like a bit of a stretch.

That would be a superficial interpretation as the record is, in fact, the prog rock classic:

Scheherazade and Other Stories — Renaissance.

The magic of Renaissance is that while they are unashamedly prog, they eschew the caterwauling guitars and keyboards that are the hallmark of many of their contemporaries.

If that wasn’t enough, the vocals of Annie Haslam are a revelation. Folky, yet eschewing the more traditional intonations of the likes of Maddy Prior.

The music, exploring themes like fairs with nobody there, creates a mythical, mystic atmosphere. Alice in Wonderland comes as readily to mind as Scheherazade.

Definitely a band I will be going in search of more of the releases.

Bargain-o-meter*: 7 out of 7.

Brubeck & Rushing — Jimmy Rushing and The Dave Brubeck Quartet.

From the same store where I purchased Desmond Blue from the last episode, I wonder whether they came from the same collection?

Rushing bluesy jazz singing sits at a comfortable juncture of gritty and smooth and is mostly well paired with the Brubeck Quartet.

At times, Desmond’s super smooth sax playing feels a little too smooth, but all told, a very enjoyable outing for all concerned.

Bargain-o-meter: 5 out of 7.

Berber Music

It has come as a surprise the amount of ethnic music that turns up in the second-hand stores of Hobart.

On the surface, it would seem the French have a greater ethnographic bent than most, with many of these recordings featuring cultures from across the world, with the French colonies featuring prominently, and the production values are often excellent.

This record is worth it for the photography alone. The cover shot is spectacular.

Released in 1971, it is a deluxe production featuring a gatefold and booklet cover, with excellent black and white photos and a map of Morocco and Algeria indicating where the music comes from.

Just as tempting is the list of other records available in the series. Music from such diverse locations as Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Bali, and Polynesia.

Structurally and melodically, the music itself offers something altogether unfamiliar to Western ears. Dominated by grouped voices and percussion, the tracks, including some traditional wedding songs, employ a call-and-response type structure.

As is often the case, the music feels a bit slow for our Western expectations, which can detract from the melodic impact. Still, with the wonders of the modern turntable, I pitched it up a few percentage points, which greatly improved the aesthetic qualities to my ears.

Bargain-o-meter: 6 out of 7.

Wondrous Music from India (South) — Mrinalini Sarabhai, Chathunni Panicker, and the Southern India Darpana Company.

Thanks to George Harrison, I’m probably more familiar with the sounds of India than those of the Berbers.

Nonetheless, a sense of having outside ears often leaves me feeling a lack of a deeper appreciation of the music — not unlike classical music, which I enjoy, where there is that feeling that a deeper understanding is to be had. While an expert might be able to divine the nuances, it all sounds like Beethoven to me.

Still, this is one of the better offerings I’ve collected from the subcontinent, and at a low volume, there is an enjoyable world ambient vibe going on.

The record does feature one of my pet hates from music released in the late sixties and early seventies. The slick cover. Most good quality album covers are printed on good quality, weighted card, yet the penny-pinching record industry at some point decided that there were savings to be had.

The quality card was discarded in favour of low-grade pulp cardboard, usually brown, that was then wrapped in a printed paper “slick.” While cheaper, it was an incredibly poor piece of design, with the covers being particularly prone to splitting along the top and bottom seam, turning the album into a piece of vinyl in a cardboard sandwich.

Bargain-o-meter: 2 out of 7.

Peter Gabriel — Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel’s first solo album after his departure from Genesis is a classic. Featuring the inspiring Solsbury Hill, the vibe is more art rock, veering into classic rock, than Genesis's prog leaning.

The cover and disc quality could best be described as fair. A few pops and crackles are going. Clearly a much-loved album for the previous owner.

Once again, the subdued cover artwork likely resulted in the shopkeepers missing its greater value.

Bargain-o-meter: 4 out of 7.

Norma Lewis — It’s Gonna Happen

An early eighties Hi NRG singer (I had to look that up), Norma isn’t a bad singer. Yet Hi NRG music mostly comes across as disco music with drum machines.

The material is fairly average, and while the purported hit Life Is The Reason is reasonably catchy, overall, the album is underwhelming.

And while we’re on the subject of bargain album covers, this one is a cutout. Record companies, when selling off bulk stock at a discount rate, would often adulterate the cover in some way to reduce its resale value.

This would usually be done by cutting a notch in the side of the cover, thus the reason for them being called “cutouts,” or they’d punch a hole in it, as was the fate of this Norma Lewis album.

Bargain-o-meter: 1 out of 7.

Isabel et Angel Parra

Isabel and Angel Parra are renowned Chilean folk singers. They are also sister and brother.

Folk music steeped in Spanish traditions it didn’t take too much imagination to picture this sitting in the mix with American folk musicians such as Joan Baez.

At various points, I wondered whether they had influenced the Eagles in some ways. Fleeting shades of Hotel California drifted out of the speakers at various points.

Bargain-o-meter: 3 out of 7.

*The Bargain-o-Meter.

Starting with this episode, I’ve got a new methodology for the Bargain-o-Meter.

Each bargain will get a rating from one to seven. The rating will be an indication of relative bargain-ness. While the rating may reflect the quality of the music to an extent, it is more of a holistic overview.

For example, a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours for 50 cents isn’t much of a bargain if it smells like the dog peed on it, the previous owner has drawn mustaches on all the band members, and the record itself is virtually unplayable.

You can check out some more of my bargain-hunting adventures here: