The quintessential dinner soundtrack, The Art of Tea encapsulates the best of Michael Franks. Whether it be a one-tracker, multi-tracker or a solid full listen, below are more records easily found, with a little patience, for under $5. Many so-called throwaways can contain one or two huge tunes that you can’t believe have been overlooked or snobbishly dismissed, and such discoveries lead to different kinds of epiphanies. Whether due to their availability or invisibility, their cheapness doesn’t necessarily reflect their value. We’ve got an affinity for these beloved titles, which have been relegated to the cheap section due to a mix of abundance and ambivalence. The dollar bin: It stands neglected in a corner of most record stores, and will often hold many LPs near and dear to us. But there’s a ton of crucial cheap (we mean $5-or-less cheap) records sitting in the so-called dollar bins. In the record collecting community, there’s an idea that to build a great collection, you must dig deep for expensive, rare, first press, private press, exclusively international, etc.

Part 3 of our series highlighting hidden gems from your local record store’s bargain bin.

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