Dollar Bin Tragedies (or When I Cry in Public): Scratched Discs

Yup, that about sums it up when I sift through some cheap cds, pick out some surprising stuff, and then find the cds to be beat up beyond belief.  They are as if someone has vengefully taken a knife to an album that they didn’t like on a particular day and then figured, hey, maybe someone still wants this!  So they give it to the nearby affordable goods store and think nothing of it.  They certainly don’t think of the poor sod who gets his or her hopes up that they scored quite a find.  This is me, see.  Usually when I get to a thrift store, (and not a music store, since they take better care of even their foulest castoffs) I am usually able to sort out at least 4 or 5 discs that look promising.  It is inevitable, however, that at least 2 of those discs are seriously banged up.  Unlike the person looking through an assortment of fine trousers or the other customer sifting through capable plate-ware, I’m the one emitting an emotional grunt of disdain in the corner of the room that makes people around me jump.  It’s a short, terrible feeling when you hold in your hands what could have been great quality listening but which is now a circular piece of unsellable crap.  Do you feel these pains too?  Come, wallow in pity with me for the following albums that I just recently found and then just had to lay to rest back into the dollar bin.

Pinback: Blue Screen Life

This was truly unfortunate, for Pinback’s second record is actually a very enjoyable and interesting collection of songs.  I saw these guys in concert once based on a recommendation and, though I thought it was a pretty good show for the most part, I didn’t really appreciate them.  Listening to this record through, er, other means I have found it to be very engaging and quirky enough to maintain one’s attention throughout.  It’s not a rock record but neither is it typical indie rock stuff.  Quite good.  Too bad it was BEAT UP.  I want to thank the indie kid who tossed this thing around and then discovered the fragility of the CD medium.  No doubt this kid then felt for the general public and donated this wretched corpse of fine music.  Thanks, buddy, pal.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Soundtrack

Okay, you might be like, dude, what is the story here.  It’s true, I did consider picking up this record and it has something to do with a conversation I had with my wife not long ago in a Chinese restaurant.  I said to her, hey, what is that sad-sounding instrument that gets played over and over in this movie that just makes you want to jump off of a cliff like, say, a chick in this movie.  We couldn’t figure it out, but now that I looked up some info online, it turns out it was Yo-Yo Ma dishing out some sad-sacking cello music.  It is quite good, and as a soundtrack I’m sure it all puts you in quite a sedate, martial arts mood.  Unfortunately, someone went Toshiro Mifune all over this disc and I nearly wept profusely like one of those pitiful villagers in “The Seven Samurai”.  I don’t usually go for soundtracks, but this was supposed to be one of them.

Vengaboys: The Party Album!

This record is a ton of fun, and yet there it lied dead like a party thrown by your computer programming friends. Oh how I wanted to drive down a crowded shopping street on a Sunday and blast “We Like to Party!” to get people in the holiday spirit. It may not have been the best dance record from 1999, but considering what else got stuck in my ears that year, it was certainly the bubble-gummiest I wanted to get. “Boom Boom Boom Boom”, I want you in my room, let’s spend the night together, from now until forever. I mean, hey, it wasn’t Shakespeare but it made you move. Well anyway, perhaps you feel uncomfortable knowing that the author likes to get the funk on when he’s on the dance floor, but it’s true. Vengaboys, I’m gonna keep on the look out for that Vengabus because I heard it’s comin’.

There are many, many more that I forget having come across, but it just comes with the territory when you’re dollar bin diving. Have you found and lost a few good ones? These atrocious crimes to good music must come to an end, so let’s take good care of our low-end pieces from our personal collections before we send them on their way to future dollar bins!