New Vinyl!

I'm happy to report that my turntable and speaker purchase a few months ago was not an impulse, use-for-a-month-and-forget-it purchase.  I'm amazed every time I sit down and listen as to how much better music sounds with a decent setup.

In any case, Amanda and I (and a crew of other friends) took a trip up to Berkeley 2 weekends ago to check out one of my favorite bands that I never actually thought I'd see live, Sigur Rós.  I had every intention of blogging about that experience, but have been way too crazy busy since to do anything about it.  The day after the show, we took a trip to Rasputin and spent a couple hours pouring over all the cool albums they had, where I actually picked up a couple few new.

The thing about buying vinyl, at least for me, is that, while I'd like to go out and re-buy all of my CD/mp3 collection on vinyl, that'd be kinda pricey and take up a bunch of space that I don't have.  So I had to come up with a couple rules:

Rule 1: I can buy any of my top 10 albums
This one might be a bit ambiguous since I don't really have a list; and if I did, I'm sure it'd change from year to year.  In general, I think I have a fair idea of what's not on the list though.  This is probably going to be a blog topic in the future...

Rule 2: I should only get new-music albums if they come with digital downloads
Many vinyl distributors are--most thankfully--including a piece of paper with the record(s) with info on how to go download free mp3s.  This is awesome.  After I started buying vinyl, it dawned on me that you can't just borrow an album from a friend, rip it, and give it back.  (shut up)  That was actually kind of weird.  And a little sobering.  But it doesn't matter.  With the downloads accompanying the vinyl purchase, I'm way more apt to buy it since I can listen to the tracks at work, in the car, whatever.  If I want to listen "on the go", I'm not forced to buy the CD, in which case I might not ever buy the vinyl, depending on the album.  Great marketing--please keep it up, music distributor people!

Rule 3: The music (style, production, etc) should be a "good vinyl" album
I regret my vinyl purchases, like the new "On My Way Here" from Clay Aiken... uh... jk.  :-)  Really though, there are some albums--whether due to the style/genre, production style, or both--that just sound so great on vinyl.  Others will sound better than their digital counterparts, but I can wait on getting them if they don't fit in to any of the other rules above.

The Goods
So, here's what I've picked up recently, both in Berkeley and eBay:

In Field & Town, Hayden
Thanks for sharing this with me, Biz--this has been one of my favorite albums over the past few months.  I haven't been super interested in listening to much folk rock in the past year or two, but I can't get this one off my mind.  And it didn't include digital downloads--it included a CD!  ...and on 180 gram vinyl, no less!

The Hawk Is Howling, Mogwai
This is becoming my favorite Mogwai album.  Check that--it has become.  It definitely passes rules 2 and 3--super high quality mp3 downloads, and the instrumentation and production on this album makes me want to listen to it over and over again.  So warm, but clear and concise; mellow, then powerful.  No silly lyrics to get in the way.  Also on 180 gram vinyl.  Mogwai, you guys did an amazing job on this--11/10.  Oh, and the album artwork is soooo awesome:







Ballads, John Coltrane
Personal #1 Jazz album.  Also on 180 gram vinyl.  Never thought it could sound so good.


Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
This album is one of my recent County Library discoveries, and is a stellar album for those that dig the Stan Getz/Jobim albums with all those great Brazilian tunes.  Another on 180 gram vinyl.  This way, it really sounds like the band is in the room...
Mr. Beast, Mogwai
Another great Mogwai album.  The production sounds like their old production when compared to The Hawk is Howling, but is still a great listen for vinyl.  Yet another 180 gram vinyl pressing.


Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3, Rachmaninoff, Van Cliburn, Kiril Kondrashin & Symphony Of The Air
I didn't realize it when I bought it, but this album is super rare.  I can barely find any info on it on the net.  Van Cliburn is a legendary pianist, the Rach 3 is a legendary classical work, and while this album was recorded in in 1958 at Carnegie Hall, it was remastered in 1983 using a new high-fidelity technique to compete with the onset of CDs at the time.  They recopied the original tape to vinyl at 1/2 the speed of the recording, which is supposed to provide more granularity and depth of tone--similar to the uber expensive and rare MFSL albums that were done in the 80s.  Not bad for a $3 purchase.

(because of the rarity, as well as my laziness in not wanting to take pics of this, I can't find any album cover pics)

1992-2002, Underworld
Yes, I like some house music every now and then.  I scored this 4 LP set off eBay for $20 and am quite happy to couch rave/dance to this now.  $5 a record for some of the original house music masters.  Yeehaw.


Ok, that's all for now!

Forgetfulness = Happiness

At some point one must become OK with not knowing everything.  In fact, one must become OK with the idea that much of what they come to know, they will eventually forget. Sounds like a silly statement, probably, but it was something that popped in to my head this weekend while at the Brewer's cabin.  I was sitting on the patio about 9:15am and trying to soak up the silence and enjoy the nature before heading back to dirty, smokey, mucky, grimy, sticky, hot Fresno, when I started pondering silly questions. The Question(s) I noticed these two trees (don't ask me what kind--I don't know a cedar from a fir from you name it, unless it comes to fruit) and how perfectly straight they seemed, but yet they weren't perfectly perpendicular to the ground.  If they were so straight, what made them get like that?  Why is it, again, that trees grow in different directions?  ...and then how do some end up so straight like these two?  That, of course, led to other silly questions... I know somebody knows the answer to that question about the trees, but why don't I know it?  Maybe somebody told me why trees might grow like that, but I guess I probably just forgot. So why do I forget?  Why can't I know all of the stuff I was once told?  Why couldn't I remember why trees grow the way they grow? My (Completely Unfounded) Answer It's too much for my brain.  As a kid, I learned things, then for some reason, my brain dismissed them.  So... at some point in my life, I must've realized that I can't remember everything I read or heard or saw...  I must've then decided that it's just OK to never know it all and that I'll continue to forget all kinds of things for the rest of my life. But why?  Why is it OK that I forget? Because that's how it is.  No choice in that matter. My Refreshing Conclusion (well, at least to me) While all of that may sound like a downer or even a "who cares", I think it might point to the opposite.  Maybe bad memories serve us well.  Maybe they allow two of us to have the same conversation over and over again and it's OK.  Maybe they allow us to dismiss the ways that we've been wronged without realizing we've dismissed them. When it comes to music, forgetting how that one note in the Rach #3 can bring me to tears every time I hear it, is really priceless.  That, in fact, drives me to listen to it again, and again, and again...  but only after I've forgotten it just enough to make me long to hear it again.  And when I do finally hear that note again (in context, of course), my heart flutters, the corners of my eyes dampen a little, my teeth show a little, and I'm satisfied all over again.  (Sometimes I want to punch Mr. R in the face for being so damn good to me.) I'm thankful for my forgetful brain.  It helps put smiles on my face time and time again.