Ok, you have started a vinyl collection and you want to get a few of those classic records you loved so much back in the day. Unfortunately, the used copies you found sound like crap and you don’t know where to turn. Well, first place to stop is… http://www.mofi.com/Articles.asp?ID=255
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has been around (with a brief absence) since 1977 and are known for making the best quality vinyl on the market. All their vinyl is put together using the original master tapes and then recorded onto the vinyl at half speed to make sure the music is recorded with “greater precision”. Essentially, Mobile Fidelity are the biggest name in the audiophile vinyl market. Actually they have done similar things with CD’s, and over time I’ve come to own a few of their products. You’ll pay a bit more than the standard vinyl and CD prices, but the end result is worth it.
For the collector out there ‘mofi’ does all of their vinyl in limited edition quantities of 5000, and once an album has ‘sold out’ you’ll see people asking for huge dollars in the re-seller market. (see Joe Walsh/e-bay links below)
While my first foray into mofi was a ‘silver’ or CD copy of Joe Walsh’s Barnstorm,
it was my quest to find the first B-52’s record on vinyl that got me into discovering the lengths Mobile Fidelity goes through to release a quality record.
As it stands, I managed with only a bit of work to get my hands on a copy. Ordering direct from Mobile Fidelity in Canada is costly. The shipping is almost the price of the vinyl itself. However, if the album is still in print, it can be ordered from your local record retailer, or can be found by online retailers within your country of choice. I got mine from Northern Volume and the shipping was free as my order was over $60. (http://www.northernvolume.com/the-b-52s-self-titled-silver-label-audiophile-vinyl-lp-record-from-mobile-fidelity/)
Overall, when the vinyl is put up against the CD copy I own, the vinyl wins hands down. One listen to the opener “Planet Claire” is proof enough. The keyboard/synthesizer is warm and more present within the mix while the guitar seems to hum with slightly more depth. The result is a record that slaps you upside the head with just how damn fine it is – all over again.
The most frickin’ expensive record I paid for last year and I’m not happy about it. The shipping cost was almost the price of the record, than I got nabbed for duty, than UPS thought I didn’t pay and tried to make me pay a second time… arrrrrrr!
Why did I go through the trouble?
Well, there was this cardboard 7” cover of Roky Erickson’s “Two-Headed Dog” that came with the pre-order. You could only get it through the advance order and I’m a sucker for cool collectibles, so a small fortune was paid out. Funny thing is people on e-bay are trying to sell that same 7” now for between $60 and $90.
Another problem record but this time there was an easy and awesome resolution. My initial copy was warped and played like crap. I wrote the distributor and was expecting to jump through a bunch of hoops. Nope. They fired a message right back that a new copy was on the way. So, I only had to wait an extra few days. With the ‘yellow swirl’ vinyl was a copy of the CD (standard with the vinyl purchase) and I was a very happy camper.
Commonwealth by Sloan
Yep Roc Records
Great record! This double album came in two 180 gram vinyl records with download card and a 12” poster of the band as playing cards.
They Want My Soul by Spoon
Republic Records
Outstanding record musically and came as a copy of 180 gram white vinyl. Beautiful piece of work.
Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention this folks…
Real fans BUY their music!
(and great fans buy the music from the band directly because they know the artist will actually see some money from their work.)
Back in the day and over time I’ve picked bands that have gone on to massive success and then others I’ve scratched my head at and wondered why they haven’t found “rock star status”. Sometimes I’m just at a loss. Why aren’t people hearing what I hear?
This has always seemed the case for Aimee Mann and Ted Leo who I have been fans of for a number of years now. Mann has put out a consistent string of records that are perhaps too smart to be considered pop, and to soft to be considered rock, but have always stood out as great pieces of perfection. If you go back to her Oscar nominated work on the Magnolia soundtrack, she inspires emotions through song that come off as these awesome award winning short stories. She can twist a phrase to play irony, despair, or revenge in quick order… in fact, she can do that often in one line. She is just that damn good.
Ted Leo for his part is a former punk purveyor who turned his politicized lyrics toward a more power-pop sound. As a bonus, he is just as comfortable singing politics as he is singing 80’s pop hits while blasting it all from a nicely distorted electric guitar. Even his melancholy stuff can be emphasized with waves of amplified sound.
There was literally a point in the early 2000’s that I was listening to both of them in heavy rotation on the carousel of my CD player. So imagine my surprise when the two played a show together a couple years back – then to my absolute delight when I heard they were recording together.
Later, of course, came the worry. How would they sound together? Would this be chocolate and peanut-butter or chocolate and potatoes… I mean, I like both, but that doesn’t sound like a good combo at all. (see Minor Alps for a combo that didn’t work last year.)
Would Aimee surpress a bit of that Jon Brion sound in favor of Leo’s guitar, or would Leo turn down the volume enough for Mann sense of tongue-in-cheek wit to shine?
Well damn folks, it was like Belgian chocolate covering June picked strawberries. The best of both artists brought together. The songs are instantly catchy, driven by melodies, harmonies and powerful guitar. Leo has shortened his solos to emphasize emotion rather than guitar prowess. Mann has stepped back to let Leo’s political ramblings filter in without drawing attention away from the overall sound of the record. What we have is the best elements from their solo careers shining in. Mann is edgier and Leo is more ‘poppy.’
The result is that this record is perfection.
Then you have the vinyl in blue and an inner sleeve with animated cardboard cut outs of both artists with instruments and a change of clothing (AND YES, a download card). The record is fun and best of all, my kids sing along with it as it plays in the car, at the cottage, at home, at friends, at families, at…etc.
I’ve been a fan for a number of years, but I will admit to not having as much faith in the New Pornographers for a couple records now. So believe me, when Brill Bruisers first started spinning on my turntable, I was ecstatic. There is nothing hit or miss about this album in both the music and presentation. It all out RAWKS!
For lack of better explanation and categorization, I’d call this the best power-pop record I’ve heard by the band yet. The promise of their first three records comes to total fruition with a glorious record that doesn’t lean on any one sound for very long.
In the past it often seemed like some songs would come off as weighing a little too heavily on the sound of one instrument to drive their song while others stayed in the background. It would only be certain songs where the mix encouraged everyone to put it all out at once (think “Mass Romantic”). Brill Bruisers doesn’t do this. It is playful and gives everyone their due.
Think of this record like the 1970’s Montreal Canadians during their cup wins. The band is loaded with talent and now they’ve learned how to work beyond one or two people carrying the team at a time. Instead they are just one cohesive unit firing on all cylinders. It is just that frickin’ brilliant
Now don’t ask me why that is, perhaps being apart on other projects has given them a new found joy when they get together. Or maybe they’re letting some ‘nerdier’ 70’s influence seep into their music (think ELO who they have recently been covering, or the obvious reference to the Brill building itself). Whatever the case, it is working for them.
So by itself the music is outstanding on this record… but it didn’t stop there. Having ordered it in advance direct from their website (actually, the same edition is out in your local record stores, you just don’t get your choice of colour), it arrived at my home in a glorious 12” inch cover depicting multi coloured neon fun. Then I rip into it, and find cool 70’s style 3D glasses, a large poster of the album cover. Put on the glasses and the poster shimmers in glorious “ChromaDepth 3D”. Pull the record out of the sleeve and the vinyl is a translucent light blue and just looks damn fine spinning on my stereo. Add to that the down load card and you get one awesome package.
Brill Bruisers is the very definition of why I like my music on vinyl. It isn’t just the songs that stand out, but the entire experience is expanded to be a visual and tactile art as well. Now if only they could have packed a club sandwich in with this and I would really be jumping up and down with joy.
First off, of course I’m doing a best of the year. Every frickin’ critic in existence wants to tell you how much they love something and have you agree with it. I’m no different from anyone else in that regard. I’ll check out the rankings and see if I own the stuff they talk about and if I feel the same way.
Only problem for me is that I only started this blog a couple weeks ago, and haven’t reviewed enough records to give a big list. Then there is the fact that I’m focusing on vinyl and not just music, so I’m judging presentation as well as quality of work. So, for 2014, I’m only going to list three records in this category.
Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for… dum dum DUUUUUUUM.
Yeah that sounds like a horrible headline and a cliché to boot, but it’s true. For several years now he has not only been championing vinyl, but also making it special for those who buy it. This ‘record’ contains alternate cuts from the CD and downloads and also plays from the inside out on side one. In addition the centre of one side plays a song at 45 rpm and the other side plays a tune at 78 rpm. (Only problem with the 78 is finding a turntable to play at that speed and a turntable that allows the arm to play in the centre.) Which the jaded would call nothing more than a cool gimmick if the music didn’t hold up – but it does, and quite well I might add.
White doesn’t just play the blues, but explores it and turns it into something he owns. Sure Clapton could get you to weep, and Page could make you shake, but White flips it on its head and actually has fun. By mining different forms of southern American roots music and then throwing out any semblance of a rule book, he puts out a record that is merely rooted in the blues but refuses to pray at the altar. He jumps styles, employs more than the standard guitar, bass, keys and drums rock method and writes songs that defy the cookie cutter approach of today’s top selling artists.
Sure, in terms of his ‘I’m better than anyone’ public image, I get annoyed with him, but damn, he puts out good records. Even his critics, those that are giving him mediocre reviews are not holding White up against his peers in music, but rather against his own body of work in the White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather and solo material.
While White has kinda made a career out of being one of the “last guitar heroes standing” he has also evolved into an outstanding overall artist who earns the best compliment I can give… I’ll buy a Jack White record before I even hear a song from it. Believe me, the list of artists who have earned that right is very short.
As Christmas approached in the winter of ’86- ’87 I knew shit at home was going to be bad. When I left to go on Katimavik (a youth volunteer program that kept me away from home for 9 months) my parents were separated. When I arrived home they were together again, and my father had fallen into the same old habits that caused my mother and I to leave in the first place. In fact my father wasn’t really talking to me much. We had a rather large disagreement about responsibility in which I pointed out he was a hypocrite and he pointed out that he could “throw me out of the house threw the fucking key hole.” Needless to say, I had enough sense to realize things would be tense as my father got into his 24 Export Christmas present after dinner.
Of course, everything wasn’t all that bad. A friend had given me keys to his apartment so that I could hang out at his place and listen to tunes as he spent the day with his own family. I in return had taken some of the cash I had left from lifeguarding the previous summer and bought him the gift of music. It was a vinyl copy of Springsteen’s Live ’75 –’85.
It might seem tacky, but as a guy, and knowing enough that my friend would see it this as a cool gift opened or opened, I removed the shrink wrap and made myself a cassette copy of the whole thing as I sat alone and just let the music hit me.
All these stories just started walloping me all at once. Two and a quarter hours Bruce explained the universe to me. I had come back from Katimavik with a renewed sense of confidence, but had done nothing since to foster that side of me. So as Mr. Springsteen sang, I began to imagine what I wanted to do with the next few months.
“Thunder Road” has me thinking about how to get out of the house, and perhaps out of town.
“Growin’ Up” gets me wanting to face a couple of life’s failures and making up for it.
By “Cadillac Ranch” it occurs to me that perhaps adding some fun into the mix would be good.
Each song took on new meaning and laid itself as some kind of plan, and soon this screwed up Christmas started feeling like an epiphany.
The first twenty years of my life shouldn’t be used as an excuse to fuck up the rest of my life. From this point on, my successes and failures had to be my own, and exist separately from where and how I was raised at home.
When the music finished, I took my cassettes out of the tape deck, left a Christmas card on top of the cover of the record and made my way home. Bruce was now singing through the headphones of my Walkman and continued to do so most of that winter. The plans he inspired saw me through the next few years as I moved out, upgraded my high school marks and went to University.
Here it is folks, the first real post for the new Barrettbites. Or, well, at least the written blog part. The video portion will be coming soon, but needs a bit more work. I put the theme song at the top of the post and will start adding the rest of the episode as each video segment is completed.
In the future, I probably won’t cram five pieces into a single post, but I wanted to get this out there…
I really hope you enjoy it, because it was a lot of fun putting it together.
Thanks
On The Path To Vinyl Glory
Twice a year the wonderful people at “Record Store Day” get great bands to do some limited stuff and music geeks like myself line up to wait for our store of choice to open its doors. Official Record Store Day is in late April, but the second is on Black Friday. The irony is that you wait in a line to spend cash on things with no savings to be had at all, while a couple doors down people are waiting to save a whack of cash on things to play their music on. Once the flood gates open, the line becomes a mob in an effort to get those one or two must have items while they remain on the shelf. This of course leads to an absurd scene in which a bunch of musical nerds (including myself) paw at narrowly displayed vinyl until they get hold of that Mother Love Bone 7” inch and send records flying in all directions during the collection process.
The highlights of this Black Friday included in no particular order
The Ramones – curated by Morrisey
It doesn’t get much cooler than one of the planets most influential artists picking songs that best represent another set of influential artists.
A red vinyl re-release of Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You
Perhaps the greatest pop influenced Christmas record ever recorded.
A limited re-release of the Kinks Muswell Hillbillies
The best example of Ray Davies overall song writing prowess.
A live Green Day ep Tune in, Tokyo as well as a bunch of 45’s by J.Mascis, the Decemberists, the Beatles and many many more things.
Today, as I was kneeling to see what was on the lower shelves, a shower of various records fell upon my head. There was Dio and Joe Satriani. There was Miles Davis and the Flaming Lips. There was Green Day and David Bowie raining down upon me as if to say “Merry Christmas, now please, take home more than you want or can afford.”
So, while I got a few things I wanted today, some of which I will review later, there is always a couple that just didn’t show, or were purchased before I could get to it. This times it was a cover of J.Mascis doing Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” and the Greatest Christmas rock album ever – Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You. I’ll keep looking for them, but for now, they have escaped my grasp.
Which is just how it goes on Record Store Day in Canada… A long list shows up over the net – you put together a geek wish list of items you want – you politely battle for a position in front of the corner where said records are displayed – only to find that a bunch of items are not at your favorite retailer – or are not even being shipped to your country.
The Blast From The Past
Vince Guaraldi Trio
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Fantasy Records (Newbury Comics Limited Edition Red/White Vinyl)
With the holiday season in mind, what better time to look back at one of the best Christmas records ever. Guaraldi created something so magical that one cannot imagine the animated special without the music. The best moments of A Charlie Brown Christmas is where the animation and the music link arm in arm to create a perfect mood.
“Merry Christmas Charlie Brown” yell the Peanuts their heads all look to the sky and the holes that are their cartoon mouths move to the sound of “Hark, The Hearld Angels Sing.” It is one of my favorite Christmas special moments – but why should you own the soundtrack – and why on vinyl?
First, the music not only holds up without the cartoon, but it actually stands out as something special alone. Guaraldi’s greatest triumph as an artist was always his ability to convey emotion through music. In just over 40 minutes he captures the varied feelings brought out during the season. There is a sense of not only joy and wonder, but also empathy, sadness, and even humour. It is music that can be enjoyed with a set of headphones or put in the back ground as you enjoy a glass of Riesling with a few friends. It is an awesome sit down record that seems as familiar as reminiscing with an old friend during the holiday season.
So, the real question… why vinyl?
Glad you asked.
With only a decent turntable, the sonics hold up against the CD. In fact, it sounds a bit better. Having played them against one another, certain piano runs just have a warmer and more dynamic feel. It sounds like someone is in the room playing rather than a couple of speakers pumping sound.
Next, while a CD is a pretty good gift, a limited edition coloured vinyl album is a really cool and collectable gift. Hecky darn, it’s an amazing and sentimental Christmas gift. Really it is the kind of thing that someone remembers exactly who gave it to them over the years, and will be pulled out with a big smile on their face.
Now the copy I have here is from Newbury Comics which is not only a pretty cool comic book/record store retailer, it also puts out limited edition coloured vinyl. For A Charlie Brown Christmas, Newbury has a limited run of 1500 records put out on a split red and white 12” vinyl priced at $27.99 US. Shipping is a very reasonable eleven bucks and change, which coming in from the US, believe me – it could be a lot more.
Even if you don’t get the Newbury edition, the A Charlie Brown Christmas album had been released a couple years back on a limited green vinyl release. While Amazon isn’t carrying it, you can still spot the odd one in some of the better independent record stores around.
Lately I’ve been thinking… listening… whatever… it’s a new review damn you!
Imagene Peise (The Flaming Lips)
Atlas Eets Christmas
Warner Bros.
Back in 2007, the Flaming Lips were still at their peak as they were touring 2006’s At War With The Mystics. So, with a massive backstory written on the CD jacket they put out a Christmas record in very limited quantity under the pseudonym Imagene Peise. The only clue to it being the Lips was a sticker on the plastic wrap that read “Merry Christmas from the Flaming Lips.”
Fast forward seven years and the Lips are doing a larger run of their Christmas record, this time on red translucent vinyl. What is extremely fascinating about Atlas Eets Christmas is just how well the Lips stay in character. Yes they sound like the Flaming Lips, but with the crackles and pops they have added to the record, at times it really does come off as some little known jazz artist that walked straight out of a mid-eastern desert.
So what you get is this instrumental record that is driven by piano and accompanied by synthesizer and sitar. Instead of the usual holiday sentiment poured into your consciousness like a well known Chardonnay, you find yourself drinking Port for the first time ever. It’s cigar smoke drenched and kissed with oak in a darkened bar where you sit alone by the window and contemplate the true meaning of that one bright star hovering in the sky.
Or, let’s just say that this isn’t an easily accessible holiday record designed to make you remember roasting chestnuts and singing Rudolph with the family. Nope, it mixes joy with quiet reflections and darker hues of greens and reds that don’t so much shine with a warm glow as threaten to burn. The character of “Imagene” is rumoured to have committed suicide in 1978, and that underlying feel is carried throughout the record.
Personally, I found myself rather mesmerized by Atlas Eets Christmas in much the same way I find some of the darker records in my collection. It isn’t an easy listen, and not one I would pull out while toasting the health of my in-laws as we sit down to our turkey. But, it is a worthy record to pull off the shelf in mid-December after you’ve spent a few hours shopping in an over-crowed mall, that has ‘syruped’ your ears with greetings from Celine and Bolton in some attempt to make you want to buy more stuff from more places. This might be a kind of apocalyptic Christmas record, but sometimes that’s what we need in order to really appreciate what we have.
Anyway, it is a very cool record, and any Flaming Lips fan would be ecstatic to find this under the tree on Christmas day. When I last checked their were still copies to be found at the independent record stores around town, and it shouldn’t cost anymore than 25 bucks a pop.
Comic Relief – The Christmas Edition.
Perhaps you’re looking for the perfect gift this holiday season to give to that Fan Expo person in your life… well if so, look no further than the Uncanny X-Men # 143.
In this Christmas issue of the Uncanny X-Men, every fan-boys dream girl-next door Kitty Pride, faces off against a soul sucking demon, with claws that can rip through solid steel walls and yada yada yada. Because you know, nothing says happy holidays like a young Jewish teenage girl being chased through a mansion by a demon reminiscent of the aliens in… well Alien.
From a trivia/ value point of view, it is also the end of a run of issues that saw the stellar Chris Claremont and John Bryne team up and produce some of the X-Mens most memorable issues including the introduction of Canadian Super-Team Alpha Flight, the Death of Phoenix, and the inspiration for the most recent X-movie, Days of Future Past.
Both writers are legends within the business and comic guides always have their material marked up a couple extra bucks. From a gift perspective, this is a stand- alone issue that has great character development, and importance within the greater Marvel community as the first issue Kitty has had to battle alone. Honestly, it shows just how damn smart her character is.
Prices will range depending on the condition of the comic itself, but you should expect to pay between $20 and $35 for a decent copy. And even knowing the issue came out back in 1981, which by my math makes it 33 years since its release, you can still find it easily enough at some of your better comic shops. Or if all else fails – ebay.
Collectors Corner
A Christmas Carol or Scrooge
The 1951 Alastair Sim Version
For many years I have stayed up late on Christmas Eve so that I could watch the old 1951 classic black and white version of A Christmas Carol. For me, it is the ultimate holiday movie. While not exactly what I would call family friendly, it does put forward not only the themes of kindness and generosity, but also the desire for redemption.
The movie acts as morality tale, horror film, and holiday movie all in one shot, which pretty much speaks to its lasting appeal. Then of course there is the multitude of versions inspired by both the original Dickins tale, and this film. Bill Murray, Mickey Mouse, the Muppets, Jim Carrey and many many many others have all taken shots at telling this story.
However, from a collectors point of view, beyond the books and movies (movie in Blu-Ray can be had for about $15.99 from Amazon) – what is there?
Glad you asked.
The movie posters!
Yep. The movie posters.
A quick search online and you will find yourself at movieposters.com which is located in Toronto and has a massive selection of movie posters to be had.
Seeing as I’m sticking to the 1951 film, you can find two different reproductions at great price points.
The first is close to your standard sized movie poster at 26” by 39” for $10.99. Standard size these days is 27” by 40” but places that sell posters usually also sell frames that will fit any film poster size.
Of course, if you don’t have wall space for something so big, you can go with the more classic look poster that is only 11” by 17” which is also $10.99.
Then, let’s not forget the collectors dream come true – an original poster! While it is identical to the 26″ by 39″ it is bigger.
The one selling at movieposters.com (http://ca.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-54764/Christmas_Carol.html) is not standard size and does not come cheap. Remember that this movie holds legendary status amongst people that love both old films and Christmas themed films.
The poster itself is 44.5” by 82.5” which is both wider and taller than me – and I’m pretty wide and tall. It also sells for $2529.99; which means, sign up for their newsletter and wait for a 15% off sale because even that will save you a few hundred bucks. Of course, a serious collector will love ya forever with a gift like that, but let’s face it; it is out of the price range for most of us.
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