Tag: 2008

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: James “Hey ma”

(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: James
Album Title: Hey ma
Year released: 2008
Details: original pressing, standard black vinyl

The skinny: James, one of my favourite ever bands, was recently announced as part of the lineup for this year’s CityFolk festival, one of the local music festivals, but unfortunately, I will unlikely be able to make the show given the timing. Still, it got me thinking about the other two times I saw the band, especially the first, when my wife and I drove to Montreal for their stop there on the tour supporting 2008’s “Hey ma”. We had already been big fans of their earlier work but this*, their 10th studio album and their first since reforming after an almost six year absence, made us even bigger fans. It was my very favourite album in the year of its release and this wasn’t just a nostalgia vote. “Hey ma” was a return to the sound of their best work and kicked off a string of very good albums that continues to this day. I picked up this original pressing more than five years after its release from one of my favourite local record shops. I just happened to be flipping through their racks one day and there it was. No hesitation, purchase made and there have been no regrets. It’s hit my turntable more times than I can count. So good.

Standout track: “Hey ma”

*And the show, of course.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Airborne Toxic Event “The Airborne Toxic Event”

(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 Airborne Toxic Event
Album Title: The Airborne Toxic Event
Year released: 2008
Year reissued: 2020
Details: Limited edition, 180 gram, white with red splatter, signed by some of the band members

The skinny: I’ve been back collecting vinyl for well over a decade now and have quite a few great pieces in my ever-expanding collection, as you might have noticed by these very posts. And though I do try to spin them quite regularly, what I have found that I don’t do enough of is what my wife might call listening to them “with intention”. So I started changing that this year. Instead of putting on discs while doing something else, I’ve been focusing on devoting time to just listening to the full album, examining the artwork, and reading the lyrics and liner notes. In fact, I started this routine back during the second week of the year, working my way through my collection, from A to Z, a couple of days a week and documenting each with photos on my Instagram* account. The first couple were Adorable’s “Against perfection” (for which I’ve already done a ‘Vinyl love’ post) and this one, The Airborne Toxic Event’s self-titled debut. I was all over this album when it was originally released back in 2008, mostly on the back of the excellent track referenced below, and then, I got to see them live at V fest that fall. I’ve seen them live a few more times since and enjoyed their following records as well, but never quite as much as I did the debut. So when they announced a reissue in late 2020, pressed to coloured 180 gram vinyl and signed to boot, I was all over it.

Standout track: “Sometime around midnight”

*If you’re interested in following along, go find and follow me on the Insta and I’ll likely follow you back.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Spiritualized “Songs in A&E”

(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: Songs in A&E
Year released: 2008
Year reissued: 2012
Details: Limited edition, 2 x LP, white, gatefold sleeve

The skinny: Continuing the backwards trend through the Spiritualized records on my vinyl shelves, we come to their 6th studio album, 2008’s “Songs in A&E”, aka the album that got me excited about one of my favourite bands again. It had felt to me like Jason ‘Spaceman’ Pierce had lost a bit of momentum with his previous two albums but when this one arrived, a whole five years after its predecessor, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Named for the period of time that he had spent in the hospital after a brush with death, this album felt like a different approach to a similar destination but one that revelled in its journey. And whenever I think of this album, I remember seeing the band supporting its release in Toronto with an afternoon slot at the Virgin festival and being tickled pink by a toddler-aged fan singing along to all the tracks and dancing with his father. Like the rest of the records that will be featured in this series, my copy is a reissue (this one in white) and was plucked from the racks of one my favourite indie record stores*.

Standout track: “Sweet talk”

*I’m pretty sure this one was found on the racks at Rotate This in Toronto.