How often did you take chances with the music you bought "back in the day?" Were you an experimenter with your room filled with albums? Or were you a conservative purchaser with a nice stack set up vertically near your night stand, a collection of about 50 well-listened to albums?

Fast forward to now...

Do you still take chances on your music or have you gotten more conservative in your purchases? With a wider variety of music more available than ever before, it can be daunting. It's especially daunting when you have a tendency to be more explorative. If you're a fan of particular styles of music then that is the genre you look for.

If you got out to a Record Store today, perhaps, like some, you found long lines looking to get the special Record Store Day releases before they were snapped up. But most of you that participated went for the reasons you went when you were younger, when stores such as these were more prevalent influences. You leisurely explored, thumbing though stuff you have no idea about. You then asked questions or offered commentary on an album that you know about to someone holding up a copy near your person.

Record stores were/are many things to many people. Whether you were a buyer that knew exactly what you wanted or you were a tireless seeker of new talent, the Record Store was your refuge.

If you got out to a store on Saturday, I sincerely hope that your experience was a fun one.

BTW, who's going for the vinyl 2LP release of Exile on Main Street?

We have no release news for today except the news that Recovery by Eminem is expected to release on June 22.

Today, I have two reviews for you. The first is by our friend, Robert Metcalf, who leaves you with a breakdown of The Incident by Porcupine Tree, and the second is my review of the recently released Dark Matter album by the always excellent, The Lost Patrol.

See you Wednesday.

As some of you know, I have recreated this MusicTAP website. It's in the process of being completed after 6 months of intensive work, I'm hoping that you'll like it as much as I do. Here's the link; take a peek. I'm continually updating it even though it is not live as of yet. If you have suggestions, let me know. I've already fielded a few and have made some changes. There are also some lids being closed on some things, most notably the review pages. I'm reducing the info (removing the Facebook, MySpace, Last FM buttons and links, produced by info, etc) that is found within the content of the pages. Click the lnk below to get a sneak peek.

MusicTAP

I want to alert TAP readers to the fact that I have finally put together a FaceBook fan page that you can access and join by clicking on the badge below.  What this offers is the exact same thing as my Twitter feeds provide and that is first buzz on upcoming releases and free offered downloads, many announcements  that beat our main post, sometimes by days.  We also provide a Google BUZZ page that expands on most of the Twitter/FB feeds. On Buzz, you can even hear the music stream if a stream is offered.  There are still things that I'm working on in the FB page, like calender notes as well as links to great sites like The Second Disc.  I invite you to join us at our FB page and bookmark it.  Visit it daily and you'll be rewarded with much news and info.  Of course, you'll still want to come to the main MusicTAP page for our noisy commentaries.  Remember, with our Twitter feeds, you can elect to receive the news bursts as text on your mobile phone keeping you effortlessly up to date with stuff.  Lots of choices.  Find one, or two, that fits.

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Yeaaa!!! Tom Waits comes back to vinyl. On June 29. Elektra Records reaches into the Asylum vaults and will reissue four Tom Waits albums, Nighthawks in The Diner (1975), Closing Time (1973), The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), and Small Change (1976). Exciting!

Nonesuch Records will release Antifogmatic by The Punch Brothers on June 15 as a 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition.

Roadrunner Records plan the release of Population: Declining by Hail the Villain on CD scheduled for June 8.

Reprise Records plan vinyl LP release for Blood Mountain by Mastodon on April 17, in time for Record Store Day. The album will be released as a Deluxe 2LP, 180g 45rpm set as well as a standard LP issue.

Shout! Factory will release an Anniversary Edition of Bloodletting, a Concrete Blonde title from 1990 that featured "Joey", as well as a reissue of Don't Say No (1981), a popular solo album from ex-Piper (remember them?), Billy Squier. Both albums will feature remasteirng and a dose of unreleased bonus tracks. Bloodletting arrives on July 13, while Don't Say No drops on July 27.

Eagle Rock will release a BD (Blu-ray) set of an Emerson, Lake & Palmer show called Live at Montreux 1997. It will drop on June 22. Eagle Rock will also release Live at the Isle of Wight on BD featuring The Moody Blues, also on June 22.

Island Records will re-release The Greatest Hits: Don't Touch My Moustache (2009) for Hoobastank, while To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach will be released by Geffen Records. Both collections are planned for June 22.

Palindrome will be released by Billy Cobham via Varese Sarabande Records, which is scheduled for June 29.

Downtown Records will be releasing Memphis Blues by Cyndi Lauper on June 22 in both CD and LP formats.

Varese Sarabande Records will be releasing Essential Sun Records Country Hits by Jerry Lee Lewis on July 6.

Interscope Records plan the release of Nothing by N.E.R.D. on June 15.

Oglio Entertainment will release Singularity by Robby Krieger on July 13 on both CD and LP.

Geffen Records will release the debut album from Semi Precious Weapons called You Love You on both CD and DD, scheduling for June 22.

UMe Imports will release Callin' All, a comp album by The La's on June 8.