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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Teenage Fanclub “Howdy!”

(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: Teenage Fanclub
Album Title: Howdy!
Year released: 2000
Year reissued: 2018
Details: Black vinyl, gatefold, 180 gram, reissue, remastered at Abbey Road Studios, included bonus 7″ single “Thaw me” b/w “One thousand lights”

The skinny: So here’s the final of the five reissues the Fannies released late this past summer. “Howdy!”, their sixth (or seventh, depending on how you count them) album, was their first since the debut not to be released on Creation and the first since the debut that I didn’t immediately rush out and purchase on CD. In fact, this repress is the first physical copy of the album I’ve ever listened to and for some reason, it sounds quite different than the digital version I have. Perhaps it’s the remastering? Nonetheless, another great and underrated offering by the band that followed very much in the same vein as “Songs from Northern Britain” and was the last proper album the band would release for five years.

Standout track: “I need direction”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwjU5_AdD34

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Teenage Fanclub “Songs from Northern Britain”

(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: Teenage Fanclub
Album Title: Songs from Northern Britain
Year released: 1997
Year reissued: 2018
Details: Black vinyl, 180 gram, reissue, remastered at Abbey Road Studios, included bonus 7″ single “Middle of the road” b/w “Broken”

The skinny: I bet you thought when I stopped posting about my Teenage Fanclub vinyl reissues back September that I only got albums two through four. But not so fast. There’s more. Album number five by the Scottish alt-rock quartet, “Songs from Northern Britain”, is a great one, hitting number 8 on my Best albums of 1997 list back in April and considered by many to be one of their best. Released just as Britpop was starting to wane, the album’s title pokes fun of the fact that the band was lumped in under its umbrella. Like the others reissued this year, this remastered vinyl is lovely sounding and a prize in my collection.

Standout track: “Start again”

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Teenage Fanclub “Grand prix”

(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: Teenage Fanclub
Album Title: Grand prix
Year released: 1995
Year reissued: 2018
Details: Black vinyl, reissue, remastered at Abbey Road Studios, included bonus 7″ single “Every step is a way through” b/w “Some people try to fuck with you”

The skinny: If I wasn’t already a massive fan of Teenage Fanclub by the time their fourth (or is it fifth?) album rolled out, “Grand prix” definitely would have sealed it for me. The Scottish four-piece switched things up a bit, toning down the noise for more jangle, but kept the sweet vocal harmonies intact. This album soundtracked my third year of university and for that, it’ll always be a favourite… And man, does it sound sweet on this reissue.

Standout track: “Mellow doubt”