Tag: Coloured vinyl

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: R.E.M. “Life’s rich pageant”

(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: R.E.M.
Album Title: Life’s rich pageant
Year released: 1986
Year reissued: 2016
Details: Black vinyl

The skinny: So that’s that. Seven weeks ago, I started this journey. I first posted about my most recent R.E.M. vinyl acquisition, a 25th anniversary pressing of “New adventures in hi-fi”. Then, I worked backwards chronologically through their albums in my collection, sharing pics of “Monster”, “Automatic for the people”, “Out of time”, “Green”, and “Document”, and now we are at the final piece. “Life’s rich pageant” is the band’s fourth studio album and the only one in my collection not produced or c0-produced by Scott Litt. I originally picked up this album on CD shortly after graduating high school, after hearing it in the backseat of a car, driving home from some long forgotten party as the sun was coming up, the volume cranked and windows wide open. Now, these songs will always remind me of that invincible feeling of youth. And maybe also because of this memory, this vinyl reissue was the first R.E.M. record to hit my vinyl shelves. I don’t see myself purchasing any other of their records, unless someone can convince me otherwise. Who will take up that challenge?

Standout track: “Fall on me”

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: R.E.M. “Document”

(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: R.E.M.
Album Title: Document
Year released: 1987
Year reissued: 2018
Details: Limited edition, Limited to 2500 copies, 180 gram vinyl, orange translucent vinyl

The skinny: Six albums into this mini R.E.M. ‘Vinyl love’ series and here is the first sign of any coloured vinyl. Lovingly pressed to a 180 gram disc like all of the albums we have already seen, it was advertised as ‘gold’ but it sure looks like translucent gold to me. I purchased this pressing of R.E.M’s fifth studio album and first with Scott Litt producing right from the R.E.M. store back in 2018. It was an impulse buy. I saw ‘limited to 2500’ and didn’t see it anywhere else so I pulled the trigger. Of course, it was fated to be a part of my collection eventually. “Document” is one of the albums that I had to go back to discover after falling for the band with their next big three. Of course, there were a few tracks here with which I was already familiar but the rest were just as great. There’s just one more to go. See you back here next weekend.

Standout track: “The one l love”

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Big Red Machine “How long do you think it’s gonna last?”

(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: Big Red Machine
Album Title: How long do you think it’s gonna last?
Year released: 2021
Details: Limited edition, double LP, red opaque

The skinny: This sophomore release by the collaborative effort between Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner marks the final instalment in this ‘Vinyl Love’ sub-series featuring my favourite albums of 2021. To be honest, I wasn’t bowled over by Big Red Machine’s 2018 self-titled debut, so I was a bit skeptical and didn’t rush to check out “How long do you think it’s gonna last”. When I finally did, though, mostly at the urging of a couple of my vinyl-loving friends, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the twitchy and anxious painting of this strange world that we are more and more finding ourselves in. Much is made of all the great guest contributions, and they certainly are great, but I think the most compelling moments are when Dessner steps out of his comfort zone and into the spotlight. This limited edition double red LP pressing was purchased from Pop Music Toronto’s online webstore, bundled with the 30th anniversary pressing of “Trompe Le Monde” to save on Canada Post shipping costs. And with all the time it has spent on my turntable, it’s not a purchase I regret in the least.

Standout track: “Magnolia”