I like records. You knew this already, many of you.

Records are making a big comeback, too. In my house, they never went out of style, but now many brand-new releases on vinyl also come with a free digital download of all the songs. You can have the large-format artwork, the analog warmth, *and* the mp3’s. Now is a really good time to get a turntable if you don’t have one.

Used records are still really cheap, too, unless they’re “collectible” (please, not “collectable”; that makes me drive nuts). Even then they’re usually cheaper than a new CD.

Anyhoozle, proselytizing is over for this post. Here are a few of our recent acquisitions from the dollar bin.

Aw, shit, this record is sooo good — great soulful funk. Wowsers. Also, you cannot go wrong with a song called “Going Down Makes Me Shiver.” What’s that all about, you ask? I’ll tell you when you’re older.

The songwriting genius of Randy Newman will one day spawn dissertation upon dissertation, if it hasn’t already. I marvel at his ability to create incredibly complicated characters and make intricate points about American culture with simple, straightforward lyrics. Try to tease out and separate the layers in a song like “Rednecks” sometime. It’ll make you feel really icky, but also happy you heard it. Dollar bins are a great place to fill in the holes in your collection.

Jen pulled this one out, so I can’t take credit. Unfortunately, it lacks the promised “Free Shopping Bag.” No big hits are here, but solid pop, just what you’d expect. Perusing the liner notes I see some really big names among the studio musicians: Larry Carlton, Mike Melvoin, Tommy Tedesco. I wonder how many hours of their managers’ time went into working out the billing on the front: “Starring Shirley Jones” and “Featuring David Cassidy.”

Here’s a great find. The classic “Filthy Words” is on this one, in its 12-minute glory. Also, the genius of Carlin’s ability to do different characters and accents really comes through in “New York Voices.” The subtle distinctions he draws are amazing.

Delaney Bramlett died late last year. He and his then-wife Bonnie produced some of the greatest blue-eyed swamp soul blues rock of the early 70s. Bramlett taught Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Duane Allman a thing or two about the guitar. This is a great jamming live record that never lapses over into the noodley wandering that hampers so many jamming live records that I could name but won’t.

One of my favorite things about trawling the dollar bin is buying stuff based on nothing but the cover art and a hunch, and having them turn out to be really good. This is one of those records. This is not the much better known Jerry Williams who recorded as Swamp Dogg. This is Jerry Lynn Williams, who also had his connections to Eric Clapton (Williams wrote “Forever Man” and a few other hits for Clapton). This was one of Williams’s very few solo records, released in 1979, and it’s a lost gem. Think Lowell George singing over a less-mellow Steely Dan playing Labelle backed up by Tower of Power horns. Williams’s “Givin’ It Up for Your Love” appears here for the first time; it was later a huge hit for Delbert McClinton. Williams even did the Parliament/Funkadelic inspired album artwork himself. Multi-talented!

Here’s another album-art-made-me-get-it find. Don’t be fooled by the cute kitten cover photo (although I really do dig cute kittens). Ellen McIlwaine can play a mean slide blues guitar and sing the hell out of a song. This was her first solo record, released in 1972. The first side was recorded live at The Bitter End in New York, right across the street from Cafe Au Go Go, where she had made a name for herself playing with Jimi Hendrix and opening for Muddy Waters in the mid-60s. There’s an excellent cover of Steve Winwood’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” here, along with an up-tempo version of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billy Joe.” Another lost gem.

Well, I could go on, but I’ll stop for now. That’s it ’til next time!