February 2016

• The Cramps - Gravest Hits (1979,EP) ★★★☆☆
• Ding Dong Devils - Space Fezcapade (2014,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Porcupine Tree - Coma Divine (2012,LP) ★★★★★
• Sonny Rollins - Way Out West (1957,S) ★★★★★
• Red House Painters - Ocean Beach (1995,LP) ★★★★☆
• REM - Out of Time (1991,LP) ★★★★☆
• Natalie Merchant - Ophelia (1998,CD) ★★★★☆
• Field Music - Commontime (2016,LP) ★★★★☆
• Barrington Levy - Prison Oval Rock (1984,LP) ★★★★☆
• Mick Fleetwoods Zoo - Shakin' the Cage (1992,CD) ★★★★☆
• Abba - Abba (1975,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul (2001,S) ★★★★☆
• Til Tuesday - Everything's Different Now (1988,S) ★★★☆☆
• Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002,LP) ★★★★☆
• Blue Ridge Rangers - Blue Ridge Rangers (1973,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Lee Hazlewood - Love and Other Crimes (1968,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Isabel Baker - I Like God's Style (1965,S) ★★★☆☆
• Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs (1959,LP) ★★★★☆
• Abba - The Album (1977,LP) ★★★★☆
• Steve Winwood - Roll With It (1988,LP) ★★★★☆
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Hits (2003,S) ★★★★☆
• Muse - Drones (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Brent Best - Your Dog, Champ (2016,S) ★★★★☆
• Ennio Morricone - The Hateful Eight OST (2015,S) ★★★★☆
• Robbie Robertson - How to Become Clairvoyant (2011,S) ★★★☆☆
• Nirvana - Nirvana (2002,LP) ★★★★☆
• Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams (2012,S) ★★★☆☆
• The Sword - Age of Winters (2006,S) ★★★☆☆
• James Brown - Live at The Apollo, 1962 (1963,S) ★★★☆☆
• The Pines - Above the Prarie (2016,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Teen - Love Yes (2016,S) ★★☆☆☆
• Cavern of Anti-Matter - Void Beats... (2016,S) ★★★★☆
• Field Music - Commontime (2016,S) ★★★☆☆
• Tom Jones - Long Lost Suitcase (2015,S) ★★★★☆
• Spirit Caravan - Jug Fulla Sun (1999,S) ★★★★☆
• Big - #1 Record (1972,LP) ★★★★☆
• Alpha Blondy - Apartheid is Nazism (1985,LP) ★★★★☆
• Yellowman - Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt (1984,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - Guitar Heroes (2004,S) ★★★★☆
• Monolord - Empress Rising (2014,S) ★★★★☆
• Barrington Levy - Teach Me Culture (1983,S) ★★★★☆
• Barrington Levy - Poorman Style (1982,S) ★★★★☆
• Stephen John Kalinich - A World of Peace Must Come (2008,S) ★☆☆☆☆
• Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Wailing Souls - Firehouse Rock (1981,S) ★★★★☆
• Freddie McGregor - Big Ship (1982,LP) ★★★★☆
• Sun Kil Moon - Benji (2014,LP) ★★★★☆
• Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly (2015,LP) ★★☆☆☆
• Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning (2011,LP) ★★★★☆
• Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn - Banjo Banjo (2016,EP) ★★☆☆☆
• The Skints - FM (2015,S) ★★★☆☆
• Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night (2016,S) ★★★☆☆
• Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (2015,LP) ★★★★☆
• Camel - Pressure Points-Live in Concert (1984,Japan LP) ★★★★☆
• Camel - Mirage (1974,LP) ★★★★☆
• Hollie Cook - Twice (2014,S) ★★★☆☆
• Foo Fighters - Saint Cecilia EP (2015,EP) ★★★☆☆
• Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile (1978,S) ★★★★☆
• Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs (2001,S) ★★★★☆
• John Mellencamp - Live, Death, Love & Freedom (2008,S) ★★★☆☆
• Joe Cocker - Sheffield Steel (1982,MFSL LP) ★★★★☆
• Steven Wilson - 4 1/2 (2016,5.1 BDA) ★★★★☆
• John Lee Hooker - That's My Story (1960,S) ★★★★☆
• Israel Nash - Israel Nash's Silver Season (2015,LP) ★★★★☆
• IQ - Dark Matter (2007,S) ★★★★☆
• Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries (1984,S) ★★★★☆
• Black Uhuru - Red (1981,LP) ★★★★☆
• Frank Sinatra - Swing Easy! (1954,10"EP) ★★★★☆
• Clutch - From Beale Street to Oblivion (2007,LP) ★★★★☆
• Billy Cobham - Spectrum (1973,S) ★★★★☆
• Sugar Minott - Hard Time Pressure (2011,S) ★★★★☆
• Culture - Two Sevens Clash (1977,LP) ★★★☆☆
• Tut Taylor - Friar Tut (1972,S) ★★★★☆
• Toy Matinee - Toy Matinee (1990,LP) ★★★★★
• Tony Joe White - The Train I'm On (1972,S) ★★★★☆
• Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring (1986,LP) ★★★★★
• Raw Material - Raw Material (1971,S) ★★★☆☆
• Pixies - Surfer Rosa (1988,MFSL LP) ★★★★☆
• Ella Fitzgerald - Like Someone in Love (1957,S) ★★★★☆
• Riverside - Love, Fear & Time Machine (2015,LP) ★★★★☆

Chuck's Rating Scale

• Classic / Essential (Tops) 4.4 to 5.0 ★★★★★
• Must Listen (Great) 3.4 to 4.3 ★★★★☆
• Worthy Effort (Maybe to Good) 2.4 to 3.3 ★★★☆☆
• Below Expectations (Bad) 1.4 to 2.3 ★★☆☆☆
• Avoid (Awful) 0 to 1.3 ★☆☆☆☆

My initial impressions (and ratings) may change after repeated plays. I love albums that grab my attention on the first listen, but many others take several listens to truly appreciate and ratings may be updated accordingly.

Proviso: I tend to play albums I am familiar with and enjoy (imagine that!), so my ratings are typically at the mid to high end of the scale.

This list is chronological with the top album being the most recently played. Sound quality ratings are included for some releases, such as multichannel mixes and audiophile labels.

Vinyl is my preferred and typical method for playback, but I occasionally listen to SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray and (less likely) Redbook CD. For releases I don't own, esp. for music exploration and discovery, Spotify and YouTube are my favorite online resources for music streaming (noted with an 'S'). A new designation introduced this month is 'Road,' which is for music played in my car via Spotify, Amazon Music, or my iPhone.

Last month's listening log can be found below.

Older lists are saved in the archive folder.