NOTE (12/4/25): I've just recently been trying to resurrect this blog, and just discovered that I had this unpublished draft from May hanging out. Technically, it's unfinished. I intended to make a note about each of the albums listed in the title, but only made it through 4 of them before I went dark. Looking back, I think it was a bad idea to do batches like this, anyway. It's too much work for my lazy ass, and it's too long for even my goldfish-like attention span.
New rule of thumb: One record per Now (or Was) Playing post. Starting after this one. And now... my thoughts from May. (p.s. Since then, I got rehired back at the company that laid me off... and heaven knows I'm miserable nOWwww-owww 😜)
It's been a weird few weeks. I got laid off a couple weeks ago. My job now is job hunting. But am I ass-to-chair 24/7 on the hunt? Hells no. I've been using a lot of this free time to do a lot of the things that I've been talking about doing forever and never feel I have the time or energy. I went on a hike. Rode my bike. I'm working out more and trying to generally keep active. I've also been listening to a lot of records, of course.
The one thing that I didn't feel like I had enough time for? This. Blogging the listens. Honestly, it's highly manual process right now- a bit of a pain in the ass. So I tend to kick the can down the road on this, when really there's no excuse not to more fully automate this process and to generally just stick to it, right?
Right! So let's get on with it. Here's a rundown of what I've been spinning since 4/28.
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
This was part of the Island Years vinyl bundle I bought about 2 years ago, along with reissues (maybe remasters? I can't remember) of my favorite Tom Waits records of all time: Swordfishtrombones, Frank's Wild Years, and The Black Rider. I had these all on cassette back in the day, and for whatever reason, I don't listen to Tom as religiously now as I used to. But every now and then, he's exactly what I want to hear- so I busted out Rain Dogs. Frank's Wild Years is usually my "go to", but Rain Dogs is just a little less refined and that's what I like about it.
Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs": front cover, back cover and center label
Bruce Haack - This Old Man
This was just recently reissued by Shimmy Disc, and I had to grab it. A friend of mine recently recommended that I check out The Electric Lucifer album by him, and I was blown away. What a weirdo!
Bruce Haack's "This Old Man": front cover, back cover, center label
The Mekons - Fear and Whiskey
One of my favorite Mekons albums! It was recently reissued by the band and offered through their Bandcamp, so I jumped on it. I also grabbed the The Edge Of The World reissue while I was at it. It's... okay haha.
The Mekons' "Fear and Whiskey": front cover, back cover, center label, front insert, back insert
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
When I was around 16 or 17 my favorite "pastime" was to get very stoned and listen to this album. Alone in my room, with headphones on full tilt, grinning and grooving with my eyes shut and just generally getting carried away by The Plane. This album was a friend to me, and it still is. In more recent years I've discovered their Volunteers album, and it became my go-to Airplane album. But Surrealistic Pillow always comes back to me, it's amazing.
Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow": front cover, back cover, center label
Stupid licensing bullshit, unless it's "available in your country". This is SO not in the spirit of Jefferson Airplane, maaaan...
