(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.
Here’s another song by a band whose introduction came by way of a sampler. Yes, they really did work!
Back in the latter months of 1994, I was living in a basement apartment just north of Toronto while attending my second year at York University. Although it was definitely a shorter commute from that apartment than it was in my first year driving in from my hometown, it still meant hanging about on campus, killing time between classes, haunting the library, the student centre, the arcades and games rooms, and the pubs. At some point nearing the end of the fall term, I was in the campus general store* in the York Lanes Mall, perusing the magazine section for music mags. I came across one that I’d never heard of before called CMJ New Music Monthly and flipping through, saw names of artists I knew and respected, names I wouldn’t always see in the mainstream press, outside of the British music mags. I got to the end and saw a sampler CD was included and was impressed by the artists featured there as well. I was sold**.
The first track on the CD compilation was the Brauer mix of “Shining road” by Cranes and it hooked me right away with its haunting minimalist approach and the trademark childlike vocals of Alison Shaw. As it would turn out, my friend Tim*** was discovering the band concurrently while attending Waterloo university, about 100 kilometres away. The lucky jerk got to see them in March 1995 in Toronto and covered their show for his university paper. Granted, Cranes certainly fell neatly into Tim’s gothic, dark, and heavy musical oeuvre, which also included bands like Sisters of Mercy, New Model Army, KMFDM, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Indeed, though the English alternative rock band has often been labelled as ‘Gothic’****, the band has not been happy about it. Cranes was formed by Alison Shaw and her brother Jim all the way back in 1985 and save for a brief hiatus near the end of the 90s, they were active until the end of the 2000s. They reformed again a couple of years ago for some shows and a new album in 2024. In all, they’ve released nine full-length studio albums, a couple of mini-albums, and a litany of EPs.
“She’s been making plans to go (you know)
Hit the bright lights, hit the road
To the city lights this time
Just don’t worry I’ll be fine”
“Shining road” is the opening track off Cranes’ third studio album, “Loved”. It catches your attention right away with those thumping ritualistic beats. The guitar strumming is restrained and taut, ominous and foreboding. At the chorus, though, things rev up considerably, to almost evil sounding levels. Yes, it plays the quiet-loud-quiet game, alternating between traipsing amongst dark clouds and stomping heavily through muddy puddles. Set all of that against the aforementioned childlike and haunting vocals by Alison Shaw and its pure magic. Pure black magic.
*Probably not the right name. I’m sure it’s long since closed.
**And blew a third of that week’s grocery budget in the process.
***It’s actually Tim’s birthday today. So this one goes out to you Tim!
****I included the very song that is the subject of today’s post on a “Goth” playlist I created and posted to these pages almost seven years ago.
For the rest of the Best tunes of 1994 list, click here.
(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.
My (life in) music lists 