Category: Vinyl

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Robert Ascroft
Album Title: Echo still remains
Year released: 2025
Details: Special edition, custard vinyl

The skinny: Do you have a favourite record label? One that you swear by, trust, and pretty much love everything it releases? For a while in the 2000s, Arts & Crafts* was that for me. Into the 2010s, it was Paper Bag Records**. And now, it seems to be Hand Drawn Dracula***. Incidentally, all of these have been Toronto-based but not coincidentally, all have been locked into one scene or another, what was hot and new and seemed to be making music just for me. Early last year, Hand Drawn Dracula announced they were releasing the debut solo album of photographer/producer Robert Ascroft. I gave it a go, like I seem to do for all their releases of late, and quickly fell for its dark and cinematic sound and wonderful cast of guest vocalists (just check out that hype sticker). I purchased this special edition, custard yellow pressing off of the label’s Bandcamp site, and further spins drove me to place “Echo still remains” at number eight on my Best albums of the year list for 2025.

Standout track: “Empty pages (feat. Zumi Rosow)”

*Home to Broken Social Scene, Stars, Dan Mangan, etc.

**Home to Austra, Young Galaxy, The Rural Alberta Advantage, etc.

***Home to No Joy, Breeze, Tallies, etc.

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Clientele “I am not there anymore”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: The Clientele
Album Title: I am not there anymore
Year released: 2023
Details: Double LP, limited edition, black-in-red

The skinny: This will be the final installment (for now*) in my series highlighting The Clientele’s LPs on my record shelves. The dream pop trio released their 8th studio album, “I am not there anymore”, in the summer of 2023 and it landed on a number of end of year lists, including that of yours truly. For me, it was quite a shift from their previous output, the last of which came six years earlier, tinkering with their tried and true formula, but ultimately, it was still a Clientele record. It is much longer than their normal work, requiring two discs, which allows their sound to breathe and to brood. I didn’t buy the album right away, but added it when I saw it on the shelves for the taking, when I ventured out for some post-Boxing day shopping. I lucked out with this limited edition pressing in red with a black splotch in the middle of both discs. It looks and sounds pretty sweet spinning on the turntable.

Standout track: “Blue over blue”

*Pretty sure I read somewhere that Mr MacLean plans to spend some time in the studio this year so perhaps a new one to add to my collection in the near future.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Clientele “Music for the age of miracles”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: The Clientele
Album Title: Music for the age of miracles
Year released: 2017
Details: standard black vinyl

The skinny: Returning back to my series, spinning all of The Clientele’s long players from my collection, I thought it pertinent to quote part of the post (with some updates) I wrote when I shared the band’s sixth studio album as my favourite from 2017. “When I purchased [this standard black copy of the album] from my local record store Compact Music, Tyler, my favourite vinyl pusher*, noted the album with a grin and said it was a good one. He used all the usual adjectives dragged out when describing their music, but assured me that when that “hazy, epic tune backing a spoken word monologue” (“The museum of fog”) came on, he said to himself, “oh yeah… these guys”. And he nodded slowly in a way that suggested he was hearing the song again in his head at that very moment. When I put on “Music for the age of miracles” for my own first listen, it didn’t disappoint at all. It was like returning home and sitting in your favourite comfy chair and watching the greatest movie you’ve never seen before but with all your favourite actors and characters. Familiar yet mind blowing and new.”

Standout track: “Lunar days”

*Compact Music used to have two locations Ottawa. The location I purchased this record at in 2017 was on Bank street, sadly, now closed down and Trevor has moved on to other pursuits.