Vinyl Novice

Two giants of nineties Alternative Electronica, both who had moments where you couldn’t exist in that space in time without either artist having inserted themselves into the process of growing up. Bjork recollects as the end of a house party where the host was draped over an armchair clutching the jewel case of the album ‘Debut’ having surrendered his body to passing out to repeat playing of the David Holmes collaboration ‘Play Dead’. This memorial exists as a metaphor for both the person listening to it and the swirl of emotion that resonates during that song. Endtroducing as an album sits further forward in my brain as the first fours bars of ‘Building Steam…’ seemed to be everywhere I turned at the time. In an age before artists like Moby popularised electronica as backing tracks to TV Show idents and adverts, DJ Shadow seemed to permeate from every surface. He did this while also seeming never to trouble the mainstream charts. The student life often creates such heroes that soon f

Back in the days when I was (literally) half the man I am now, I used to dabble a bit in the playing side rather than listening to the flip side. Specifically, I was classically trained while dabbling a little into jazz. Jazz is a medium that takes a vague outline, whether that is tempo, melody or accompaniment and encourages the artists involved to add, supplement and express freely over that template. It is a genre that I have fallen in and out with over the years as it best served with live performance where you, the listener, can connect with the atmosphere in the room and the emotion in the musician. I can also say that my greatest moments in music came through the genre. I'm not trying to be snobbish about my experiences, as you can certainly achieve this while listening to music, where you are transported to another place and having that out of body experience where your soul is lifted to another place while your ears absorb what is thrown at it. However, there is no su

Listening Party #1: Graceland by Paul Simon  Tis' the season to be jolly, or at least it seemed that way since my visit to town today where there was a wide selection of crackers and the usual Christmas paraphernalia in our local Poundland equivalent.  Upset as I was that this could happen in modern Britain (in September no less), I arrived home to be greeted by the welcome sight of a large cardboard mailer. It was Christmas indeed as the contents inside revealed that of a recent eBay pickup of the 12" vinyl of Graceland by Paul Simon.  I have a little history with Graceland. This was not my first rodeo with the album as it reminded me of summers gone past when my sister and I were farmed out to whichever relative was free that day while my mother and father tried to get the day in (working of course). There never seemed to be a rota, as it could be a different house every day. So it happened during this period that we were due to spend 3 days in (what seemed