Tag: Coloured vinyl

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Strokes “Is this 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: The Strokes
Album Title: Is this it
Year released: 2001
Year reissued: 2024
Details: Original cover, transparent red vinyl

The skinny: Here’s my most recent vinyl purchase, having just received it in the mail a few weeks ago. The Strokes’ debut album “Is this it” has been on my wishlist for a while but every time I saw a copy in stores, I already had something else in my hands. And of course, it always seemed to be the US version of the cover, which I did not want. The album probably up there with some of the best debuts ever, certainly ranking amongst those released in the 2000s. I distinctly remember that there was a lot of excitement with its release, breathing new life into American indie with its blistering take on garage rock. I wasn’t as enthused with the albums that came after, however, with the exception of The Strokes’ most recent release, but I never lost the love for “Is this it”. So when I caught the news of its reissue on transparent red vinyl with the international cover art, I didn’t second guess – I put in the order.

Standout track: “Last nite”

 

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Eyelids “A colossal waste of light”

(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: Eyelids
Album Title: A colossal waste of light
Year released: 2023
Details: ‘purple lightning’ coloured vinyl

The skinny: Two weeks in a row and two vinyl love posts and both were amongst my favourite albums of last year. Where last week’s was just on the outside of my top ten faves, this week’s was just outside the top five. As I wrote in my end of year posts, Eyelids are a band I had not heard of at the beginning of last year, despite having been around a good while. I actually heard about the release of “A colossal waste of light”, the group’s fourth album, from a posting on The Decemberists’ Instagram account, whose drummer, John Moen, is one of the Portland based band’s principal members. Co-produced by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, I fell hard for the hook-laden jangle pop and an album that lacks any real skippable tracks. After two listens, I was on the internet to track down a copy for my record shelves and found this rather pretty pressing on clear vinyl with purple splatter, aka purple lighting. It looks and sounds great on the platter.

Standout track: “Colossal waste of light”

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Rural Alberta Advantage “The rise and the fall”

(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 Rural Alberta Advantage
Album Title: The rise and the fall
Year released: 2023
Details: Limited edition, gatefold sleeve, grey

The skinny: Tonight will mark only the second indoor concert I’ve attended since the beginning of the pandemic. I’ve had my eye on the show since it was announced in the fall, finally pulled the trigger on a ticket last month, and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since. Sure, I’ve seen the Toronto-based indie rock trio three times already, but the last time was almost nine years ago, and each of their performances have been incredible and memorable. Of course, I’ve been listening to them pretty much non-stop over the past week, including spinning their latest record on the trusty turntable. The Rural Alberta Advantage’s fifth album, “The rise and the fall”, didn’t quite make my top ten for 2023 but I definitely made sure to list it among my honourable mentions for the year. And when I saw it on the shelves at Rotate This during my marathon vinyl store shopping spree on Boxing Day, I didn’t hesitate to rescue it for my collection. As I said in that aforementioned post back in December, it is so much “more of the frenetically told tales of Canadian minutiae that we know and love”.

Standout track: “AB bride”