Post-tour Listening Pile

been going through cds i accumulated on tour, trying to absorb. we were lucky enough to hit some great record store towns on this run -- Chicago (Dusty Groove), Columbus (Used Kids) -- and actually had time to shop which is rare in itself:

Lou Rawls - I Can't Make it Alone: The Axelrod Years i have fond memories of Lou's silky Gamble & Huff hits like "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" and performances on the Mike Douglas show when i was a kid, but this era (and the "Live!" record) is a bit more raw & harder-hitting, with cool arrangements and Lou's voice is great in any setting. Amazing version of Donovan's "Season of the Witch".
Tom Waits - Orphans box been waiting for this one and it doesn't disappoint...the "Bawlers" disc i assumed would be my favorite (the ballads) but "Brawlers" is great too, more diverse than i thought it'd be and i didn't get to "Bastards" yet.
Corrina Repp - The Absent and the Distant Corrina opened the show in Greensboro (along with Norfolk & Western, who's new record is great too) and i was unfamiliar prior to that, but the live set was really present yet sparse, and the album is the same -- pretty and even haunting in places but deadpan where it needs to be.
Bjork - the music from Drawing Restraint 9 i'd pretty much buy anything bjork made (except possibly the endless stream of re-packaged singles & eps) because it's bound to be at least interesting and usually much more than that. i have yet to see Drawing Restraint 9 but the making-of doc "No Restraint" is awesome. this ranges from minimal electronics to the orchestral to overdriven a cappella wildness, i'm digging it.
Crime and the City Solution - Paradise Discotheque the 1986 12" for "Kentucky Click"/"Adventure" is one of my favorite post-Birthday Party singles of all time, it's massive and the Room of Lights album is great too. i was never familiar with this record from '89 but found a used cd & am hearing it for the first time. seems pretty cool if less dynamic than those older records.