i've been selling stuff back to shops over the last couple days. i ususally trade for cash and one or two records. here's what i've gotten in return:

1. al jarreau - the singer - okay, hear me out. this was put out on a dutch label and it's pretty good. al does justice for covers of 'use me', 'grandma's hands', 'the same love that made me laugh', and the reason a track from this was on soul beats #1, a pretty close cover of 'kissing my love'. the whole album is surprisingly good. this is the only al jarreau album i own, i swear.

2. dick hyman - the age of electronicus - oh man, this is great. i love things like luke vibert's 'nuggets' comps of wierd moogy tracks, and while these are mostly pop song covers, nothing beats the wierdness of hyman's version of 'give it up, turn it loose'. i love it, it's excellent. you even get a little open drums at the very end. 'time is tight' is cool, and 'both sides now' is enjoyable. my copy is is really good shape minus a hole in the top left corner.

3. iron butterfly - heavy - we've all heard the version of 'get out of my life, woman' on here, the break and then the drums w/ churchy pipe organ duo. there's actually another few useful things here. the intro organ to 'so-lo' sounds cool, and there's two small drum breaks on 'fields of sun'. a good find, i remember passing on it when sarah arthur's mom moved in favor of 'innagaddayadayada'. years later, i finally catch up.

4. manu dibango - afrovision - i got 'makossa man' in oklahoma and i've always been a huge fan, so this was a cool find. from 1978, so it tends towards disco in the production occasionally. 'bayam sell'am' is cool, while 'baobab sun 7' cools out a little.