Tag: 12″

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Beths “Jump rope gazers”

(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 Beths
Album Title: Jump rope gazers
Year released: 2020
Details: tangerine vinyl, included foldout “takahe” poster

The skinny: Ever since I saw Auckland New Zealand’s The Beths blow the proverbial doors off the stage at 2019’s Bluesfest, I’ve been spinning their debut constantly, to the point where I’m sure even my turntable was looking forward to new material from the band. The announcement of the impending followup came last spring and I immediately jumped on their American label, Carpark Record’s website to get the pre-order done. I must’ve been one of the quicker draws because when it was finally delivered a few months later, it arrived with a limited edition foldout poster tucked in with it. Just one more bonus to add to the bright tangerine colour of the vinyl pressing and the fun and energetic music within. “Jump rope gazers” wasn’t the immediate doe-eyed crush that “Future me hates me” was but it grew on me to the point where it landed at the number seven spot on my top ten albums of the year list. Good, good fun.

Standout track: “I’m not getting excited”

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Bright Eyes “Down in the weeds, where the world once was”

(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: Bright Eyes
Album Title: Down in the weeds, where the world once was
Year released: 2020
Details: 2 x LP, indie exclusive, limited edition, red and orange vinyl, etched, die cut sleeve

The skinny: The 10th studio album by the indie rock trio led by Conor Oberst is the band’s first in nine years and it also happens to be their first album that I immediately liked and liked all the way through. In fact, I liked it so much that I managed to find a spot for it (at number eight to be exact) in my top ten favourite albums of the year. For me, it captured the mood and the uncertainty of the world and put it to music with which you can sing along. Multiple different pressings and presentations exist for this album. The one that I purchased has the die cut sleeve, a circle cut out of the cover and the insert to show off the fireball colours of the two discs, one red and the other orange. The second disc is also one-sided with the other side etched with the same falling stick man that graces the cover, arranged in spiralling concentric circles. Sweet stuff.

Standout track: “Mariana trench”

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Venus Furs “Venus Furs”

(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: Venus Furs
Album Title: Venus Furs
Year released: 2020
Details: standard black vinyl, hand written note from the artist

The skinny: A week and a half ago, when I started my annual series counting down my favourite albums of the year, I told the story of how I learned about a new act out of Montreal while perusing one of my favourite sources of all things indie music, Under the Radar. The self-titled debut by this very same act, Venus Furs, captured my imagination and drew me in while listening to it on Spotify through my iPod ear phones. It may have been during my second time through that I went on the hunt for it on vinyl, thinking that something this expansive required owning it in a better format. I ordered a copy of it from frontman Paul Kasner’s own label, Silk Screaming records, and received it within a couple of days, complete with a handwritten ‘thank you’ note from the man himself. Always a nice touch. “Venus Furs” ended up squeezing its way into the number 9 spot in my top ten for the year and if you enjoy noisy psych rock in the vein of Spiritualized or My Bloody Valentine, this might just be for you too.

Standout track: “Chaos and confusion”