Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Alvvays “Blue rev”

(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: Alvvays
Album Title: Blue rev
Year released: 2022
Details: Clear

The skinny: It had been five years between the release of Alvvays’ sophomore album, “Antisocialites”, and their third album, last year’s “Blue rev”. Thus, even though I’d been following the Toronto-based indie pop group since their early days and have both of their previous records on my shelves, I didn’t jump on the pre-order train for this one right away. I wouldn’t say I had tired of them or gone off the band in any way but perhaps just wary, taking a wait and see approach. Any hesitation melted away, though, when I gave “Blue rev” a go shortly after its release last October and I was more than pleasantly surprised at the group’s leaps and bounds to escape their allotted pigeonholes. I ordered a copy off Pop Music Toronto’s online store because they had a few of the clear pressings released by the group’s own Canadian-based label Celsius Girls on their virtual shelf. The album ended up placing at number two on Billboard my end of the year album list for 2022 and this record continues to be one I return to my turntable often.

Standout track: “After the earthquake”

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Spiritualized “Laser guided melodies”

(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: Spiritualized
Album Title: Lazer guided melodies
Year released: 1992
Year reissued: 2011
Details: 2 x 180 gram, 45 rpm

The skinny: So this six-ish week journey through my collection of Spiritualized records ends where it started for the group. “Lazer guided melodies” is the 1992 debut album that appeared two years after Jason Pierce dissolved his first band, Spaceman 3, and re-formed the same members, minus Peter Kember, with a new name. It was a natural progression forward and laid the bedrock for what was to come, the special production just a glimpse at Pierce’s ear for perfection. From what I can tell, this 2011 reissue is a faithful reproduction of the original packaging and 45 rpm mastering, albeit pressed to two 180 gram discs. Each side is a colour-coded, three song, cross-faded suite. And each side is an exercise in psychedelic noise beauty. This is just yet another record in this set that I purchased early on in my collecting and has seen many a late night on my turntable.

Standout track: “Run”

 

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Spiritualized “Pure phase”

(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: Spiritualized
Album Title: Pure phase
Year released: 1995
Year reissued: 2011
Details: 2 x 180 gram

The skinny: Just over a month ago, when I first started this Spiritualized ‘Vinyl love’ series, fellow blogger 1537 commented that he was at that time “obsessed” with Spiritualized’s sophomore album “Pure phase” and asked me if I was purchasing any of the “fancy pants” reissues. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t even tempted because I certainly was. However, my vinyl collecting hasn’t yet reached those obsessive levels where I need to collect multiple (or all) versions of certain albums*. This album, along with Pierce’s debut** and third albums as Spiritualized, have always been amongst my most favourite ever albums and so were amongst the first records that I sought out in the record stores once I started collecting. This was back before I really started nerding out about vinyl and studying discogs.com and various other message and Reddit boards and the comments of other vinyl aficionados. I’ve since read and heard all of the complaints about reissue label Plain Records and their shoddy pressings but I’ve never claimed to have such a dynamic ear to hear what all the fussing is about. All that to say, I’ve never regretted this purchase.

Standout track: “Medication”

*And with vinyl prices the way they’re going, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford such levels of obsessiveness.

**Which we’ll see next week