Mission:
The Idea behind this blog is to give suggestions to people who have modest collections or want to start collecting, are looking for new music, like all sorts of different genres, and maybe don't know too many bands. I wanted to suggest things that weren't obvious like Bob Marley's Legend, NWA's Straight Out of Compton, Bob Dylan's Freewheelin' or anything by the Beatles. I also wanted to get a little more obscure then major albums like Aeroplane Over the Sea, High Violet, Doolittle, or Good News for People Who Like Bad News and get more into lesser known works like On Avery Island, Alligator, Come On Pilgrim or The Lonesome Crowded West.Why Vinyl?:
I suppose the format doesn't really matter to the casual listener, but there is something magical about vinyl. The warm tones of mono, the hunt for cheap used ones, the care and effort it takes to listen to it, it's almost a meditation within itself. Even the sounds of the dust from an aged vinyl make it feel more raw and alive. I suppose things are just too easy now a days, you can listen to albums free on Spotify or just illegally download them (not supporting this notion, but not ignoring it either). Buying on iTunes is quick and painless, and Shazam no longer requires to really remember lyrics to look up later. I might be the notion of the hipsters (which I am not a kin too, though other say that is debatable), but taking music back, to less of background noise and more of the experience, really comes out on vinyl. There are things that vinyl lacks, like albums or artists that have never been pressed (still waiting on you Gillian Welch), of the self destructive nature of listening to a record, but really, it just makes what you got all the more special. It forces you to stop, sit, and really listen.
My Story:
Number 1 Record. That was my first vinyl. I bought it at Amoeba in Hollywood. From there, it's been a slow building addiction. From digging through $1 bins, to standing in record store day lines, to surfing ebay, to finding surprisingly cheap deals on Amazon.com, I've been building up my collection
I love music, both live and recorded. Although it really didn't become a large part of my life until middle school. I would just listen to top 40 hits on radio (whatever Rick Dees was spinning) and it wasn't until middle school that I started to actively go out and search for new music. My first CD that I bought was blink 182's live album The Mark Tom and Travis Show. It was a combination of dirty lyrics and raunchy jokes that caused my 11-year-old self to barely listen to it all the way through without the fear of getting in trouble. Oddly enough, it was that feeling of "I shouldn't be doing this" that sparked my interest in music discovery.
I spent my adolescents in the era of the Emo/Softcore boom. Some of my favorite bands included, but weren't limited too, Brand New, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Mae, and Death Cab for Cutie. Along with this new genre came going to live shows, a place where my music library exploded to bands that I still enjoy today. Be it Frightened Rabbit opening for Pinback, Mates of State opening for Taking Back Sunday, Stars opening for Death Cab for Cutie, or Brand New covering Neutral Milk Hotel, I gained a more eclectic ear for music.
Fast forward to today. Living in LA, going to at least one show a month, big or small. Reading various blogs, attending free shows, and running around festivals to see as many acts as possible have given me my music knowledge today.
And so, not to take up anymore of your time, I wanted to share what I know and what I recommend, so that you can also build up your vinyl collection with albums you may or may not know. I am not claiming to be an Audiophile, I can't tell the difference between listening to a 180 Gram vs and a clean normal vinyl. I'm not a DJ, I don't have any special speakers, no pre-amp, no fancy head phones, but I do know what I like listening to. I just consider myself a fan of music, and a casual listener. Though I don't think you should take my opinions unbiasedly and hope that you discover something new and interesting, refine your musical taste, and that some of my recommendations help build up your collection.
I love music, both live and recorded. Although it really didn't become a large part of my life until middle school. I would just listen to top 40 hits on radio (whatever Rick Dees was spinning) and it wasn't until middle school that I started to actively go out and search for new music. My first CD that I bought was blink 182's live album The Mark Tom and Travis Show. It was a combination of dirty lyrics and raunchy jokes that caused my 11-year-old self to barely listen to it all the way through without the fear of getting in trouble. Oddly enough, it was that feeling of "I shouldn't be doing this" that sparked my interest in music discovery.
I spent my adolescents in the era of the Emo/Softcore boom. Some of my favorite bands included, but weren't limited too, Brand New, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Mae, and Death Cab for Cutie. Along with this new genre came going to live shows, a place where my music library exploded to bands that I still enjoy today. Be it Frightened Rabbit opening for Pinback, Mates of State opening for Taking Back Sunday, Stars opening for Death Cab for Cutie, or Brand New covering Neutral Milk Hotel, I gained a more eclectic ear for music.
Fast forward to today. Living in LA, going to at least one show a month, big or small. Reading various blogs, attending free shows, and running around festivals to see as many acts as possible have given me my music knowledge today.
And so, not to take up anymore of your time, I wanted to share what I know and what I recommend, so that you can also build up your vinyl collection with albums you may or may not know. I am not claiming to be an Audiophile, I can't tell the difference between listening to a 180 Gram vs and a clean normal vinyl. I'm not a DJ, I don't have any special speakers, no pre-amp, no fancy head phones, but I do know what I like listening to. I just consider myself a fan of music, and a casual listener. Though I don't think you should take my opinions unbiasedly and hope that you discover something new and interesting, refine your musical taste, and that some of my recommendations help build up your collection.
Favorite Artists:
My favorite artists include; Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, The Velvet Undergound, Built to Spill, The National, Rilo Kiley, the Unicorns, Belle & Sebastian, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Gil Scott-Heron, Talking Heads, Wilco, Ben Folds Five, Pulp, LCD Soundsystem, Gorillaz, Outkast, The Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bon Iver, Atmosphere, New Order, Descendants, Sigur Ros, the Flaming Lips, GAYNGS, A Tribe Called Quest and The Jimi Hendrix Experience
10 Favorite Albums:
10. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
9. The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone
8. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
7. Outkast - Stankonia
6. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
5. Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
4. The Velvet Underground - Loaded
3. Built to Spill - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
2. Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeroplane Over the Sea
1. Broken Social Scene - S/T
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