The jewels in your music collection
 

What are the most prized, or loved, or rare or unusual albums in your collection? Everyone has signed albums, rarities or out-of-print albums, or maybe just ones that mean the most to them, old ones that they'd never consider getting rid of.

For me, one is definitely this
http://eil.com/images/main/The-Stars...wly-308330.jpg
An Irish band who were a cross between Country and Rock, and had a brief period of semi-fame before disappearing forever. The thing about this album is that I love every track on it (rare enough) and also that it is virtually impossible to get now, in any form, so my old vinyl copy is worth even more to me and something I would never even think of getting rid of.

I prefer downloads, so my collection of physical releases isn't that big, but there are some treasures.


Eugene Chadbourne - Adrift

It's a CDR with a hand-made case out of paper, some clippings and a kids sock.
Mr. Chadbourne told me, that he had so many of his daugters' socks lying around, that he eventually decided to utilize them.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/09.01.15/h13pxzj25jfq.jpg

Mono Für Alle! - San Pedro Konzert

Mono Für Alle! (meaning Mono For Everyone!) are a weird german band with strict DIY ethics. This hand-made release has covers made out of plywood, inside is a recording of a concert and a Video-CD of it.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/09.01.15/45fvo8dxq389.jpg

Henry Cow - The Road

A limited edition 9 CD/1 DVD set of Henry Cow rarities. As a die-hard-fan of the band I just had to have it.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/09.01.15/9tj6ibvyhqu7.jpg

Paal Nilssen-Love / Massimo Pupillo / Lasse Marhaug ‎– You're Next

An awesome vinyl release by three of my favourite musicians on the small polish Bocian Records label.
I don't even have a record player, so I had it shipped to a friend who ripped it for me. Now it's lying around here, waiting for me to buy a turntable.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/09.01.15/toul83z5p58m.jpg

Nichelodeon - Bath Salts

A numbered and autographed release featuring what I assume is a lipstick smudge from Claudio Milano on the cover. I helped financing it on kickstarter, so I got a bonus CD and my name is among those he thanked in the booklet.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/09.01.15/zjl83oldp3ks.jpg

Doesn't have to be physical. A digital collection is still a collection.

The Boys Next Door: Door Door.

All hail Nick Cave.

My In the Court of the Crimson King tape (1987 EG / Fripp remaster) is probably my favorite in my collection. Not only is it one of my all-time favorite albums, but it took 2 months of shipping complications to get it here from a guy in Poland. It's in near-mint condition and is probably the crispest sounding recording I have in tape mountain.

http://i.imgur.com/VSwcAw2.png?1

My soundtrack tapes have a bit of a sentimental nostalgic novelty to them:
(excluding that Bill Cosby tape, which is actually quite terrible)

http://i.imgur.com/W1saAGY.jpg?1

I also have dusty and somewhat degraded original cassette release copies of Megadeth's debut full-length (KIMB - 1985), Metal Church's debut full-length (S/T - 1984), Nuclear Assault's debut full-length (Game Over - 1986), and Boston's debut full-length (S/T - 1976).

Yeah, but it's impossible for a digital release to be rare or unique or anything like that.

Yo I can hold onto that until you get a turntable if you want.

I've got a flock of great vinyl releases as I've been collecting for a little under two years and I focused on getting my favorites when I could find them.

Various Artists - Concert for Bangladesh
An original 60s (?) release with a brilliant Ravi Shankar performance. Some good stuff from the Beatles and Dylan too.

Throbbing Gristle - The Second Annual Report
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (best album ever, if you haven't noticed yet)
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
Herbie Hancock - Thrust (ideal for romantic situations)
Jandek - Chair Beside the Window

I could just go on and list my collection since I have only four or five that I don't really like but these are my favourites.

For digital the first thing that came to my mind that has any sort of real historical value is my personal recording of Boards of Canada's latest full-length Tomorrow's Harvest. After a very long wait and mountains of hype , on June 3rd, 2013, BOC live broadcasted the full album online a couple of days ahead of release. I remember the broadcast time happened to line up very inconveniently with the end of my shift that night, so I had like 10 minutes to make it home on a walk that normally took 20. I made it just in time to launch Audacity, open their site, and hit record, missing about 10 seconds of the intro track. I've since bought a genuine recording of the record but that recorded stream has some pretty memorable personal significance, especially with the missing first 10 seconds, I had never been that hyped for a record release before.

I'll consider your kind offer.

Cool story. (Damn, it's impossible to say that without sounding sarcastic.:) I'm not being that though.)

Now that I think of it, I do have cherrished digital items.
I once wrote a positive youtube comment to an artist's video and he contacted me to thank me. We chatted a bit and at some point he not only sent me FLACs of all his albums, but also some unreleased demos, live recordings and alternative versions. Super nice guy. Afterwards I bought all his stuff that was available anyway. He deserves it.

Yes but it doesn't have to be rare or unique, just something you prize highly, love or are very proud of.