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beatcomber.bsky.social

@beatcomber.bsky.social
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Still Bill (1972) is the kind of album that makes you wonder why nobody told you about Bill Withers sooner. The best soul in the 70s wasn’t polished, it was lived-in and the truth came with a bassline that walked with purpose. This album is like getting good counsel from someone who has lived it.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It has been on my 'want list' for some time now, but came across a used copy in good condition for $20 Cdn.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Terry Reid’s River (1973) doesn’t proceed as much as flow, blues into funk, funk into folk, folk into jazz. It never tries to impress, no “classic album moment,” just a journey where the details are the destination, revealing themselves when you lean in. #TerryReid #Superlungs #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
CSNY’s Live At Fillmore East, 1969 (2024) feels like Stills and Young dueling for for custody of the band while Crosby and Nash are in the background lighting sage. Stills plays like he’s trying to win Employee of the Month, and Young’s summoning a thunderstorm. The magic is in the interaction.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
McCartney (1970/2017) is what happens when a Beatle processes trauma with a 4-track and a farm. ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ is the masterpiece, but the fragments and homemade experiments are Paul testing what he can do when the Beatles aren’t there to say, “Maybe don’t.” #McCartney #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I’d love to see a Pete solo show.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
🤣
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Runt Live (Necessary Cosmic Frenzy) (1971/2026) doesn’t have a lost masterpiece but it lets you inside Todd Rundgren’s musical development in 1971. Sometimes context is the treasure, and this release is all context. #ToddRundgren
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The setlist on Deep End Live! (1986) is potent, enough to anchor the night, enough solo tracks to show where he was in the mid-80’s, and covers chosen with the confidence of someone who knows he can make anything sound like a Pete Townshend original.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
On A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971), listen for Miles Davis’ entrances. He doesn’t play constantly, he drops in like a force of nature. Every phrase feels like a command, or a spark that shifts the band’s direction and reminds you who’s really in charge. #MilesDavis
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Interview (1976) is proof that complexity and accessibility aren’t opposites. Gentle Giant makes music you may not be able to explain, but you can instantly tell something extraordinary just happened. The oddness doesn’t fade, it becomes intelligible, then compelling. #GentleGiant #VinylCollection
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The 2016 David Live (1974) is the version where the band sounds like the monster it was. It is both an ending and a beginning as Bowie walked off that tour and straight into Young Americans. Most live albums document a moment, this one documents a transition. #DavidBowie #VinylCollection
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Listening to Signed, Sealed & Delivered (1970) knowing what Stevie Wonder is about to become is surreal. The album is a preview of history with flashes of the classic ‘70’s brilliance. At 20 he was already making timeless music. At 20 I was making toast. #StevieWonder #Motown #VinylCollection
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
A great live album should make you feel something happened that couldn’t happen in the studio. John Coltrane’s “Live” At The Village Vanguard does this. It doesn’t feel recorded, it feels witnessed; like being dropped into a legendary night without needing a ticket. #Coltrane #VinylCollection #Jazz
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
If you want to understand why prog was accused of being overblown in the late 70’s, Emerson Lake & Palmer’s Works Vol. 1 (1977) is Exhibit A. It’s bold, but proof that ambition alone doesn’t make a masterpiece. It’s so over the top it should come with a sherpa. #ELP #VinylCollection
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Awesome! Where?
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The Bill Evan’s Trio’s Waltz for Debby (1961) is jazz inviting us to sit quietly and stay awhile. Evans plays like he’s trying not to wake a sleeping cat, Scott LaFaro plays like he is the cat, and Paul Motian plays like he’s watching the cat. It feels more like a confession than a performance.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I'm with you, but not necessarily maudlin, maybe just more reflective. I like that we can revisit albums and 'deep cuts' we didn't pay as much attention to years ago are suddenly the ones with the most to say. Exhibit A: 'And I Fell Back Alone' from Goodbye Jumbo.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Lord Is It Mine may be the album's most underrated song. It feels more profound the older I get.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Some albums impress you immediately, others reveal themselves slowly. Supertramp’s Breakfast In America (1979) does both. The music smiles at you while the lyrics put a hand on your shoulder and ask if you’re doing alright. Come for the hooks, stay for the existential reckoning. #Supertramp #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World is the front door, not the house; deeper rewards are elsewhere on Freedom (1989). Crime In The City may be one of the great ‘forgotten’ songs in his catalogue and the spiritual cousin of Ambulance Blues. #NeilYoung #VinylCollection
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
If Skylarking had been made by a prog rock band, it would’ve been a triple album and come with a map. XTC captured youth, age, doubt, belief, endings, and renewal in under an hour. Skylarking is the musical equivalent of sunlight through the leaves.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Foreign Tongues (2026) works because the writing. playing, production and performances are all strong. Ronnie Woods’ guitar is sharp and Mick Jagger’s vocals are astonishing. It sounds like the Rolling Stones decided to make a late-career album and accidentally made a mid-career album instead.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
If Canada Day had an official soundtrack, Blue Rodeo’s Five Days in July (1993) would make the shortlist, alongside fireworks, mosquitoes and someone insisting they can paddle across the lake. I’m surprised it doesn’t come with a packet of maple syrup and a Parks Canada brochure. #BlueRodeo #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
In 1966, The Who were still figuring out what they were, and A Quick One (1966/RSD 2026) captures that evolution. It’s the sound of The Who before they became an institution, the album that walked so Tommy could run. If Who’s Next is the masterpiece, A Quick One is the origin story. #TheWho #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
There are jazz albums that demand your attention, and those that reward it. ‘Round About Midnight (1957) is the latter. Put it on late at night, lights low, and let Miles Davis do what he did best: say more with less. Some musicians fill space, Miles defined it. #MilesDavis #Vinyl #Jazz
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Vol 4 is a cocaine-dusted monolith of riffs, dread & delirium. ‘Supernaut’- the Big Bang in a leather jacket could level a small city. ‘Snowblind’ is a song and a mission statement as they were self-medicating at an Olympic level. This is the sound of Sabbath breaking down and through.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Not all prog is 20 minute epics about dragons or spaceships; Gentle Giant’s The Power And The Glory (1974) is about ambition, politics and the corrupting nature of power. Some albums ask to be turned up, this one asks you to sit up straight and pay attention. #GentleGiant #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
👊🏻
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The first 20 minutes of Live Rust (1979) are Neil Young doing acoustic songs about lost innocence, and then he summons Crazy Horse like he’s calling in an air strike. Some bands lock in, Crazy Horse leans in. #NeilYoung #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
One Nation Under A Groove (1978) is Funkadelic turning joy into a political act, pleasure as resistance; dance music with a manifesto tucked inside. Disco ruled, and Funkadelic showed up with grooves so strong they could knock the sequins off a jumpsuit. #Funkadelic #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmm5...
youtube.com
CFNY: The Spirit of Radio | TVO Docs
YouTube video by TVO Docs
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Judee sill doesn’t get talked about enough.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Foghat may look like 4 guys who will fix your car “for cash only,” but Fool For The City (1975) sounds like what happens when a blues band realizes it’s not about virtuosity, but velocity, groove, and an agreement they will never write a ballad. The pocket here isn’t found, it’s enforced.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
He doesn’t sound like he used to, because it’s 2026, not 1976. The voice aged, the instincts didn’t. The Boys of Dungeon Lane has that classic Paul McCartney move where a song may seem slight at first, then reveals it was structurally perfect all along. His guitar work is the sleeper highlight.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Todd Rundgren’s involvement with the album is how I came to it years ago. I don’t think I knew he played on any of the tracks. Thanks!
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
If Skylarking (1986) had been made by a prog rock band, it would’ve been a triple album and come with a map. XTC captured youth, age, doubt, belief, endings, and renewal in under an hour. Skylarking is the musical equivalent of sunlight through the leaves. #XTC #Vinyl #Skylarking
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Every so often a record doesn’t just raise the bar, it replaces the bar itself. Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus (1957) is one of those albums. Some people talk about jazz like it’s a museum, but this ‘essential jazz’ album is a classic that never feels like homework. #SonnyRollins #Jazz #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Charles Mingus’ Ah Um (1959) is full of social commentary, humour, and tributes. The music doesn’t follow a path, it clears one. The bass doesn’t support the story, it is the story. Ensemble playing where everyone gets a voice, but no one mistakes who’s in charge. #Mingus #Jazz #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Glad to be of service 😁
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Gratitude (1975) captures Earth, Wind & Fire’s worldview: excellence, optimism, community, spirituality and joy as something you generate, not something you wait for. A lot of live albums are retrospective, but this one is a victory lap taken halfway through the race. #EWF #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The debut Yes album (1969) is the sound of potential clearing its throat. This album preserves the road not taken, a version of Yes that only existed for one album. The distance between this and Close to the Edge is only 3 years. This is when music moved at absurd speed. #Yes #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
ELO’s Discovery (1979) is a ‘disco’ record where the fun sounds optional, like a party that shuts down around 9. The whole album is not just Don’t Bring Me Down. Wander into the quieter corners: Shine a Little Love, Last Train to London, Confusion, Midnight Blue and. Horace Wimp. #ELO #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Most compilations preserve a scene, Jamaica to Toronto:Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-1974 (2006) documents the creation of one. Musicians arriving in a new country and building a city’s musical DNA one basement dance and church hall gig at a time. It’s full of footnotes that should have been chapters.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The songs on Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak (1976) sound like somebody is either returning triumphantly, leaving dramatically, or remembering a woman sadly. Lynott treats every song like a story and every story like a fight. Some albums age into artifacts; others remain companions. #ThinLizzy #Vinyl
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Earth, Wind & Fire’s I Am (1979) doesn’t start, it arrives. “In The Stone” sounds like being knighted by funk; the horns hit and you start adjusting invisible cuff links. Even the B-tier songs show up in tailored suits. I Am is for those who prefer enlightenment with dancing and roller skates.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Foghat may look like 4 guys who will fix your car “for cash only,” but Fool For The City (1975) sounds like what happens when a blues band realizes it’s not about virtuosity, but velocity, groove, and an agreement they will never write a ballad. The pocket here isn’t found, it’s enforced.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Quiet Sun’s Mainstream (1975): Recorded in 12 days mid-Diamond Head sessions, Phil Manzanera digs up his pre-Roxy band and, with Eno adding elements like alchemy, delivers a prog-fusion masterclass no one asked for-but everyone should hear. It’s virtuosic and way too good to be this obscure.
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beatcomber.bsky.social @beatcomber.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Milestones is a transitional album that doesn’t sound transitional. It whispers it’s revolution, a recalibration of what jazz would be, the moment before the breakthrough. It’s the sound of Miles shifting from participant to architect, it is the blueprint before the cathedral.
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