(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 Rolling Stones Album Title: Early tracks Year released: 2019 Details: Black vinyl, RSD2019 exclusive, available for free at certain stores
The skinny: Brace yourselves. I’m kicking off a two-part Vinyl Love weekend, both posts showcasing a couple of Rolling Stones items obtained on two separate Record Store Days. Return to Analogue pressed this disc specifically for Canadian independent stores in 2019 and it was made available for free at select locations on Record Store Day that year. It just so happened that one of these stores was Ottawa’s The Record Centre and because I was one of the first handful of customers to make a purchase, I went home with this record. “Early tracks” is a compilation of tunes from some of The Rolling Stones’ earliest recordings, all twelve songs from 1964. Many of these are actually covers of R&B standards, including the only one of these recordings that I had heard before: “Time is on my side”. It is an album that I likely wouldn’t have put down money for but for free, I definitely didn’t refuse it.
(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: Keane Album Title: Hopes and fears Year released: 2004 Year reissued: 2017 Details: Gatefold sleeve, 180 gram, translucent green
The skinny: Back in 2004, when I first heard Keane’s single, “Somewhere only we know” (the standout track below), it reminded me of other English bands that I was already following at the time, like Coldplay, Embrace, and Travis. So, of course, I went out and got the debut album, “Hopes and fears”, on CD and found myself easily getting into the piano-focused, emotive indie rock. I had absolutely no idea how huge the album was in the band’s native country until I saw their performance at Live 8 and I was struck by their energy and dynamic as a trio led by the piano sound. From there, I became even more hooked and began to look forward to their followup album. Unfortunately, I was less enthused with that one and how it ventured further into pop territory, a trend that continued with each ensuing release. I don’t think I’ve even bothered to listen to Keane’s last two records but when I saw this green vinyl reissue sitting on the shelves at my local Sunrise Records location last year, I remembered the excitement I felt when I first listened to it and brought it home with me. I dropped the needle on it that very night and gladly reacquainted myself with every song.
It’s doubly happy for me because today marks the first day of a two week vacation from work. And to truly recharge, I’ve decided to take a brief blogging break as well. But first, I’ve got something fun to send things off right. I have a song here that provides a unique opportunity to combine a post for my Best tunes of 2012 list with one for my ‘Vinyl love’ series. Let me explain.
In the spring of 2012, I had just started collecting vinyl. My wife had texted me from Greenwich village in New York City where she was visiting a friend. She had happened upon a street sale and one of the vendors happened to be selling used vinyl, some by bands that she knew I loved, and I remember her specifically asking if I wanted Oasis’s debut album on vinyl. When I responded that I didn’t have a turntable, she said that she planned on getting me one. She ended up coming home with “Definitely maybe”, as well as “Talking Heads: 77”, both of which are still on my shelves. Shortly after that, I ventured out on my very first Record Store Day and purchased my first exclusive. A vinyl addict was born.
If it wasn’t for those events, I may not have even flinched when I heard the news that Paper Bag Records was releasing a double a-side 7”, vinyl only release from Young Galaxy. It’s true that the Montreal-based dream pop band had just released their third album, “Shapeshifting”, on Paper Bag the previous year and though it was a departure for them, it was a welcome one and garnered them lots of new attention. It’s also a fact that I had contributed to the group’s Kickstarter campaign a few months earlier to help raised funds for them to travel to Sweden to work again with the producer of “Shapeshifting” for their next album, but this time in person. So I was already excited and on the lookout for news from one of my favourite Canadian bands in years and it didn’t hurt that they were working with my favourite indie label at the time, who I thought for a while, were turning to gold everything they touched. But it was the vinyl already sitting on my shelf that greased the wheel and I placed the online order.
The record arrived in the mail, wrapped in brown paper, a fun touch that the label was doing back then. I brought it home and admired it with plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” before putting it on the shelf with the rest of the small collection I had amassed thus far. I didn’t yet have a turntable so I had to listen to the two songs on my computer, care of the download rights that came with the purchase. I listened to both the a-side and the double-a-side, “Shoreless kid” and “Youth is wasted on the young”, and was struck by how different they sounded (and yet, at the same time similar in aesthetic) to the album they had released the previous year. I thought at the time that these two songs that were heavier on the guitar were either signalling a return to their earlier sound or a last kiss good bye as they soared off into the synthesized horizon. It turns out it was the latter.
“Youth is wasted on the young” starts off feeling a little construction time again with pipes spewing steam and rivets being pounded and then, the Johnny Marr guitars chime in with the jangles and everything kicks into highway driving roars. It sounds very much like 1983, dark and shiny leather jackets and all manner of sunglasses cool. And Catherine McCandless is channelling some Siouxsie Sioux, a strong woman, glamorous and iconic, against the world, keeping up with the frenetic pace of it all. It’s like a love song to both the music of the band’s youth and to the music of today that is just as fresh and fabulous.
I wouldn’t mind dying at all
If it weren’t for the songs I’d miss…
Youth is wasted on the young
See you all again soon.
For the rest of the Best tunes of 2012 list, click here.
My (life in) music lists 