Tag: Signed

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Airborne Toxic Event “The Airborne Toxic Event”

(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 Airborne Toxic Event
Album Title: The Airborne Toxic Event
Year released: 2008
Year reissued: 2020
Details: Limited edition, 180 gram, white with red splatter, signed by some of the band members

The skinny: I’ve been back collecting vinyl for well over a decade now and have quite a few great pieces in my ever-expanding collection, as you might have noticed by these very posts. And though I do try to spin them quite regularly, what I have found that I don’t do enough of is what my wife might call listening to them “with intention”. So I started changing that this year. Instead of putting on discs while doing something else, I’ve been focusing on devoting time to just listening to the full album, examining the artwork, and reading the lyrics and liner notes. In fact, I started this routine back during the second week of the year, working my way through my collection, from A to Z, a couple of days a week and documenting each with photos on my Instagram* account. The first couple were Adorable’s “Against perfection” (for which I’ve already done a ‘Vinyl love’ post) and this one, The Airborne Toxic Event’s self-titled debut. I was all over this album when it was originally released back in 2008, mostly on the back of the excellent track referenced below, and then, I got to see them live at V fest that fall. I’ve seen them live a few more times since and enjoyed their following records as well, but never quite as much as I did the debut. So when they announced a reissue in late 2020, pressed to coloured 180 gram vinyl and signed to boot, I was all over it.

Standout track: “Sometime around midnight”

*If you’re interested in following along, go find and follow me on the Insta and I’ll likely follow you back.

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: Cults “Cults”

(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: Cults
Album Title: Cults
Year released: 2011
Year reissued: 2022
Details: Limited edition, 10th anniversary, gold foil, signed

The skinny: Here’s a recent record purchase that illustrates the current state of our vinyl collecting woes. Dream pop duo Cults announced the special edition 10th anniversary pressings of their incredible self-titled debut back in June 2021. I remember thinking the price a bit steep and the projected December delivery date a bit far out but I jumped on it anyways. I had fallen in love with this album back in 2011 and its retro sounding wall of sound escapades. It had been on my vinyl collection wish list for a while and I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen a whiff of it at any of my local record shops. I opted for a the gold foil version and of course, I went for the signed option, given that it wouldn’t cost me anything more. I had nearly forgotten about ordering it when last Christmas rolled around but then, I saw an update on their Instagram account explaining how it was wildly delayed. I completely understood and went on with my holidays. Later news was that it would be delivered in February but then that month sailed by without further updates. I checked in with the online shop in April and was told it was pressed but no shipping date had yet been provided. The band finally received them in June, nearly a year after the reissues were initially announced, and I got mine near the end of July. No harm, no foul, because as you can see, it’s lovely. But between you and me, with the rising costs of these things, the delays, and delivery charges, my purchasing has slowed to a crawl this year.

Standout track: “Go outside”

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Charlatans “A head full of ideas”

(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 Charlatans
Album Title: A head full of ideas
Year released: 2021
Details: Limited edition, indies only opaque white vinyl, 3 x LP, includes “Live _ Trust is for believers”, and signed art print

The skinny: One of my favourite bands for most of my life, The Charlatans (or The Charlatans UK in North America), were all set to celebrate their 30th anniversary last year. Of course, COVID derailed that, just as it did everything. Instead, the group announced plans to celebrate their 31st anniversary earlier this year, including a tour in their native England and a career spanning compilation. Of course, I jumped right on the pre-order for this white opaque, three disc version and it just arrived in the mail a few days ago. The first disc glosses over the highlights of their heyday in the 1990s. The second disc collects everything that has come from this surviving and thriving group since the turn of the century. And the bonus disc includes live cuts of tracks that haven’t appeared on the first two, recorded at a number of different shows throughout their whole existence. It’s a great collection that illustrates the group’s resiliency and chameleonic evolution, a nice trip down memory lane, and well, the autographed photo insert is just a nice touch.

Standout track: “The only one I know”