Friday 5 January 2018

New Additions to my Vinyl Collection, January 2018


Since my first vinyl collection post last April I've acquired some new editions to my collection- both newly pressed and second hand. It's quite hard to group my new records in the same way as I did before ('classic'/'iconic' albums vs. random finds) as I have found some popular, classic albums by chance when out and about. A gem of a place for good prices on second hand vinyl is a shop called Boiler Room in Poole, Dorset. 


I'll begin with some Motown:
Left: Talking Book/ Stevie Wonder; Top right: One Day in Your life/ Michael Jackson (7 inch); Bottom right: Show you the Way to Go/ The Jacksons (7 inch)
It's no secret that I love Stevie Wonder and since a young age, The Jackson 5/ The Jacksons/ Michael Jackson. In Boiler Room I picked up the 7 inch singles. They have lots to look through and I got these for only a few pounds. One Day in Your Life(1975), was of particular interest to me for the B Side, Take me Back. Show me the Way to Go is a 1976 release. I've loved these particular tracks for many years, owning them as part of CD albums in my teenage years.

Talking Book (1972) was picked up for £5 in a charity shop. It's in quite good condition- all my second hand vinyl plays well. It features well-known songs like Superstition and You are the Sunshine of my Life, but my favourite song is Blame it on the Sun.

Basket of Light/ Pentangle
1969 LP, Basket of Light, was a really exciting find for me because I own Pentangle music in digital form, but had them on my list of artists that I knew I wanted to purchase on vinyl. The folk group are a favourite of mine. Jacqui Mcshee's voice is ethereal and I love to watch videos of them from the late 60s and 70s on Youtube. The use of the sitar in their music, particularly on the track, Once I had a Sweetheart, is mesmerising.

Huey Lewis and the News
Another chance find which appealed. Most people know this  80s group from the Back to the Future soundtrack. We had a tape of theirs back in the 90s that we listened to in the car, which, for nostalgic listening I now own on CD. This 1980 release has some tracks I've never heard of before plus a few familiar, such as Some of my Lies are True.
Level Best/ Level 42
I own a 'best of' in digital form, but how could I resist this? I love the 80s band, Level 42. I'm an 80s child (a 90s teen), so groups like Level 42 were always in my periphery as a child thanks to my parents eclectic tastes in music. There are so many good songs on here, with Starchild, Something about You, Leaving me Now and Running in the Family to name a few. 
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/ Elton John
I got this double LP for Christmas; I'd had it on my wishlist for a while. The 1973 album's title track is one of my favourites, plus the atmospheric opening track, Funeral for a Friend.

In my later teens I went through an Elton John period. My first introduction to him was when I was about eight and I watched the 1988 TV musical Totally Minnie which featured the song, Don't Go Breaking my Heart
The Miseducation of Lauren Hill/ Lauren Hill
Released in 1998 and an album that I loved then, this was another album that I got new on vinyl for Christmas 2017. I think I must have recorded this onto tape from a borrowed copy either from a friend or the library back in the late 90s. One of my favourite tracks is Everything is Everything and it had an iconic music video which featured New York city as a vinyl record on a turntable. The whole album is perfectly suited to listening to on vinyl due to the production.
A Rush of Blood to the Head/ Coldplay
I'm not a huge Coldplay fan, but this album is very nostalgic to me and I new that I would one day own it on vinyl. I bought it on CD when it was released in 2002 and I moved away from home for the first time to go to university. It was on sale in HMV the other day, so I knew I had to get it.

Listening to it after so many years takes me right back to the heartache and freedom and moodiness of that time. The Scientist is especially poignant for me as well as Green Eyes
Painted Lady/ Jon Boden
Folk artist and former lead singer and fiddle player of Bellowhead, Jon Boden, first released this album 10 years ago. I picked up the re-release just before seeing him live at The Anvil in Basingstoke back in 2017. He's a very talented musician and his new 2017 album, Afterglow, is a pleasing listen based on the theme of a post-apocalyptic era. Boden blends traditional folk with more modern influences. He's a very charismatic performer and has been amazing to see live both with Bellowhead and in his solo set.
This is the Lie (And That's the Truth)/ Matt Berry

One of the real treasures I picked up this year was this 7 inch double A side featuring Matt Berry's cover of the Mark Morris song, This is a Lie (And That's the Truth) and Morris' cover of Berry's October Sun- one of my favourite Matt Berry tracks.
This was first released by Acid Jazz in 2015 and I was recommended it by a fellow Matt Berry enthusiast on Twitter. I've played it a lot.

So that's it, all up to date. If you want to see the rest of my vinyl collection, click here.

What are the treasures of your music collection?

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