Tag: Double LP

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Blur “The special collector’s edition”

(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: Blur
Album Title: The special collector’s edition
Year released: 1994
Year reissued: 2023
Details: RSD 2023 reissue, 2 x LP, Light blue translucent

The skinny: Long gone are the days when I would set the alarm to wake up early, drive downtown, and queue up in a massive line at one of my favourite independent record stores for a chance at purchasing one of that year’s Record Store Day exclusives. In fact, there have been some years in the last handful where I haven’t even ventured out at all and instead, tried and generally succeeded at tracking down some of the exclusives online. This year, though, I decided to head out for the festivities* in person, albeit arriving at the respectable hour of 11 am, instead of 7:30 am, when the employees at the store I chose to visit opened up early to a ridiculous amount of waiting customers. I had my own eye out for a couple of the special releases and yesterday, found one of the two at Compact Music, and so after flipping through the rest of that store’s wares on the racks**, I returned home satisfied with my limited participation. Then, last night, I gave Blur’s “The special collector’s edition” a proper spin for the first time and quite enjoyed it. Originally released as a Japan-only release back in 1994, this b-sides collection, from what I would consider the best period of one of my favourite bands, featured some tracks with which I was already familiar*** but others that I had never at all heard before. For even more fun, the artwork plays upon magazine pull out adverts for collector’s edition memorabilia that I always though no one ever purchased. Twenty-four hours and two full spins later, I am still quite pleased with my Record Store Day purchase.

Standout track: “When the cows come home”

*Unlike last year when I went out a day afterwards and still found what I was looking for.

**And finding a non-RSD exclusive to bring home with me.

***Including the above tune, a hidden track on the CD copy I had of 1993’s “Modern life is rubbish”, and one of my favourites on that particular album.

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Spiritualized “Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997”

(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: Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997
Year released: 1998
Year reissued: 2014
Details: 2 x 180 gram

The skinny: We interrupt this backwards journey through Spiritualized’s exceptional studio album output to bring you a live album. But not just any live album. “Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997” is perhaps one of my favourite ever live albums, being one of only a small handful on my record shelves*. As its title suggests, Jason Pierce brought his band, along with a horn section, a string quartet, and a gospel choir, to Royal Albert Hall one night in October in 1997 and blew the doors off the place. I know this is true, not just because of the recording that blows my mind every time I hear it, but also from the stories recounted by my friend Tim**, who was lucky enough to be in attendance that night in London. The double album contains blissed out and freak out jams of most of the tunes off their latest album at the time***, plus samplings off their first two records, and as a bonus, one song from Pierce’s pre-Spiritualized lifetime, Spaceman 3. Though this pressing is another bare bones reissue by Plain Recordings, it’s a limited edition release on two lovely sounding 180-gram discs and the artwork is (almost)**** like I remember from the original copy I had on CD.

Standout track: “I think I’m in love (live)”

*Indeed, it’s only one of two that I purchased specifically for the live record, the others being bonus discs or parts of box sets.

**Happy birthday Tim!

***Yes, yes, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space“.

****As you can see in the cover photo above, the circle at the end of the band name on the cover, that usually includes a registered trademark notation, but here, is supposed to surround the concert venue, has somewhat missed the mark.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Spiritualized “Let it come down”

(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: Let it come down
Year released: 2001
Year reissued: 2014
Details: 2 x 180 gram

The skinny: Those of you following closely along with my backwards trip through Spiritualized’s discography* might recognize an album sized gap here. I never have been a fan of the fifth album, 2003’s “Amazing grace”, being the one album I couldn’t get into and so I never expect to add it to my vinyl shelves. In fact, I wasn’t particularly fond of this fourth album in 2001 by the group, but as the years passed, I came to realize that very little Jason Pierce could have produced would have held a flame his previous studio release** and I’ve grown an appreciation for “Let it come down”. The version I purchased for my shelves and is represented in these photos is the 2014 reissue by Plain Recordings. It’s pressed to two discs in 180 gram vinyl but other than that, it’s pretty bare bones, containing only a portion of the original artwork I remember from the compact disc copy I had back in the day. Still, I am glad I have it to give a spin on the old turntable now and again and drift off to space with J. Spaceman.

Standout track: “Stop your crying”

*Especially those of you familiar with said discography.

**More to come on that in a couple weeks.