Aaron Hartley

Does Environment Impact The Music We Listen To?

January 17, 2021

Hello friends. In deciding what I should write here, I first thought about writing an easy Best of 2020 music list, but after looking over my list, I noticed...

Reviewing My New $200 Audio Technica AT-VM95SH Cartridge with Shibata Stylus

January 1, 2021

** Happy New Year. I purchased a new cartridge a few months back for my turntable and wanted to share my thoughts on how it sounds. I hope to broaden this...

I Missed Spotify? A Thanksgiving Playlist. Surprise Chef. Tortoise. Discogs Store. Karate for $5.

November 23, 2020

Hi everyone. Today is the Monday before the Thanksgiving holiday and I'm thinking about Spotify... I was an early adopter for Spotify here in the United...

Crushing on Cassettes (Again)

November 5, 2020

An ode to cassettes... What do you think of cassettes? Most people write them off as an inferior form of media, remembering the days of warbled sound, too...

I scored a $900 for free and bought 770 records in less than three weeks...

July 5, 2020

Hi everyone. I apologize for the infrequency of this newsletter but life has been rather busy these past couple of months. My day job's music festival in...

The Many Ways to DJ. Also, Songs Recovered from Miriam Makeba, Jorge Ben, Beastie Boys and more!

May 22, 2020

Let's talk about DJs. The concept of DJ'ing has so many interpretations depending on the culture where you currently live or grew up. Older Americans tend to...

Bandcamp Buys: Chris Forsyth, Sunwatchers, Metz, Archers of Loaf, Built to Spill and More!

May 5, 2020

I went nuts on Friday, buying music on Bandcamp all day long. Just when I thought I’d bought enough, an artist would announce a new pre-order or project and...

Quarantine Edition: Vinyl Music Documentary Reviews! I Love Discogs! Bandcamp Fees and More!

April 29, 2020

I'm sending a different type of newsletter this week, mostly recommending a few documentaries about record collecting and a couple of interesting articles...

My Gospel Soul Easter Mix 2020 - Listen Now!

April 10, 2020

Happy Good Friday and Easter weekend. I dug through my record collection this week and made an all vinyl Gospel Soul mix featuring classic soul and R&B jams...

Taylor Swift Is My Hero + Songs By Rich Ruth, Frankie Valli Singing Dylan, Jeff Parker and Scorpio!!!

April 6, 2020

How is everyone doing? First, RIP Bill Withers. I realized this week that I have a few of his 45s but none of his LPs. Something to keep an eye out for when...

Music for Relaxation! We all need it right now. Here are five of my favorites!

March 20, 2020

Hello friends. There’s no need for me to remind you how stressful things are right now. I really can’t think of an easy way to help but perhaps offering some...

Aretha Franklin's Sister! Funky Nassau, Let Your Feet Down Easy and More!

February 2, 2020

I bought 1,000 45s over the holidays from a lady on Facebook market. She was selling her personal collection and we struck a deal for all of them for $50. I...

Reggae Gospel: How Great Thou Art, Ollie & The Nightingales, CCR's Hey Tonight and Gospel Disco with The Mighty Clouds of Joy!

January 18, 2020

This is the first edition of the Songs Recovered newsletter in 2020 and, as you will read below, I'm still listening to a lot of gospel soul (something I...

A Best of 2019 Music List By A Guy Who Mostly Bought Used Records?

December 30, 2019

I didn’t buy a lot of new music this year. I bought a lot of records, don’t get me wrong, but most were used records, instead of new music released this...

I'm Deep in a Gospel Soul Rabbit Hole My Friends...Aretha Franklin + More!

December 7, 2019

I blame Aretha Franklin and Greg Belson. The first name will ring a bell and I'll explain the second shortly. Aretha's movie, Amazing Grace, is available to...

What if the Who covered the Beastie Boys? Bonnie Raitt Covers INXS, Lost Songs by Kenny Smith, Kanye Samples & More!

November 21, 2019

Quickly, thanks to everyone who subscribed to this newsletter. If you'd like to spread the word, feel free to forward to any friends who might be interested....

Welcome! My Favorite Recovered Songs by Wilson Pickett, Timmy Thomas, The Time, SF59 and Don Covay!

November 15, 2019

Here are five songs I thought were worth sharing this week: 1) Why Can't We Live Together - Timmy Thomas I bought two crates full of 45s from a friend of...