Being the merciful conclusion of a multi-part wander through the Vinyl Connection year in music
Let’s cut to the chase. Here are the 2017 albums of newly recorded (or, in a couple of cases, newly released) music that found their way into the Vinyl Connection cave during the year. All had merit and brought aural enjoyment; for the sake of the exercise they are ranked roughly according to overall listener enjoyment and likelihood of on-going plays. Naturally this is totally subjective. Different tastes will produce different lists.
The links are to feature articles.
The Flaming Lips — Oczy Mlody
Beaches — Second Of Spring
Public Broadcasting Service — Every Valley
Goldfrapp — Silver Eye
Grateful Dead — July 29, 1966 (New archival release, RSD 2017)
Bill Evans — On A Monday Evening (Newly discovered 1976 performance)
David Bowie — No Plan (EP)
Subterfuge — Blind To Reason
Kraftwerk — 3D – The Catalogue
Radiohead — OK Computer—OKNOTOK 2011-2017 (Re-issue + new material)
Richard Pinhas – Reverse
Alice Coltrane — The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane
Brian Eno — Reflection
Matthew Sweet — Tomorrow Forever
Nova Collective — The Further Side
Tangerine Dream — Quantum Gate
Yazz Ahmed — La Saboteuse
Let me know if you’d like to see any of these featured at Vinyl Connection.
One I’ll certainly endeavour to write about soon is the last entry. La Saboteuse is a superb blend of funk, world, jazz and progressive sounds from a young UK trumpeter. It is my album of the year. Listen to Yazz cover Radiohead here.
There were plenty of significant deaths in the latter months of 2017, but to be honest, I’m not up for further eulogies. Suffice to say, it was a bad year for the Young family (Goodbye George and Malcolm) and for Can (Holger Czukay reconvened with Jaki Liebezeit in the great Konzerthalle in the sky) while Brother Greg Allman joined Butch Trucks at the Asgard Fillmore.
For those of you have been following—doubtless with mild disgust—the revelations of vinyl gluttony disclosed in the preceding posts, I suppose we need to tie up that particular sub-plot.
Claims in the popular press that an average of one album was added to the VC holding for every date on the calendar were absurd. Fake news! The mean was a modest 0.874 discs per day*.
It was, even so, an entirely ridiculous amount.
As I wrote this Rearview Mirror series, various strategies for reining in the nauseating excess were contemplated.
—get a bigger house
—make it compulsory to write about every new purchase
—set a monthly budget, administered by Ms Connection
—don’t buy anything at all. There’s enough music there to last the rest of your life.
This last had quite a strong pull. So much so that I kicked it around (in broad, general terms) with my mate Steven (Hendrix aficionado and Dylan supporting character). He enthusiastically supported the idea…
Well, no. He sneered.
‘So I wanted to offer you first pick at the remaining jazz albums from my father’s collection,’ he said with something approximately an evil glint in his eye. ‘No interest, I imagine.’
‘No,’ I said loftily.
Pause.
’Where are they?’
There may have been muttering as I squatted on the floor blowing dust off the covers.
Too many records already…
Not enough time to listen to them…
How much jazz do I really need…
Lots of cleaning to do here…
So I went home empty-handed.
Would I lie to you?
* If you do not quite credit the final anecdote, the 31 December figure was 0.953. Still totally less than 1, right?
Happy New Year from Vinyl Connection to friends and followers world-wide. May your 2018 be filled with pleasing melodies.
vinylconnection.com.au 
The Brian Eno record, would love to hear you write about that. I own it on vinyl (which is unusual as I don’t have many records now, don’t collect or buy them anymore really) but I got that one when I was on a dry January last year taking baths as a crude proxy for alcohol and listening to that Eno. That one or The Ship. God I love that man. Happy New Year’s, boss. Bill
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In fact guest post on mine if you want? On Eno? Idea. Have been drinking, a little.
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Or one of those collaborative things?
Cheers, mate. Happy NY.
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Yes I will think on that, sounds good. Maybe connect on it this coming weekend. Cheers Bruce!
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OMG I would take ALL the jazz records! Great mate!
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It was a generous offer of Steven’s, for sure. Kind of a bit poignant too as it was a reminder of a lifetime in music. Still, this grateful beneficiary ended up with 22 LPs and 7 CDs.
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Holy. Moly.
I’d be having kittens!
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(Stop meowing back there!)
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No! Look at all the MAJESTY!!
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It’s easy to contemplate just finishing what’s here in the house before buying more. Until the next trip online or to a record shoppe. Amazing how that resolution goes away…
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I’d really like to know your thoughts on the extra stuff on the radiohead set. I meant to get that, and I still might, though I have a new something on its way here that will make my buying less for a wee while…
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A wee something? (If so, congrats and good wishes)
To be honest, I noted that the quality of the extra LP seemed pretty high, but was so transfixed by re-immersing meself in the original album I paid it quite little attention.
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Haha nooooo it’s just a new toy for me. A post will be forthcoming, I promise!
The original OK Computer is SOOOO damn good! I can see how you got lost in it…
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Also: Maaaaaaaan you got a lot of records this year!
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Too true. But I’ve been sober, er, clean, um dry… for almost two days now!
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That’s a start!
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Most of that most stuff the Easybeats did in rock mode is at least pretty decent, while some of their pop stuff is just boring…
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Nice to see a Goldfrapp mention. I vote a post for them later this year! – Marty
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I’d be interested in reading your thoughts on Oczy Mlody (possibly my favourite album last year, but I can’t quite make up my mind!). And that La Saboteuse artwork is quite splendid, eh?
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Once again I may be out of step with the prevailing opinion. I found OM underwhelming. Sonically, moody like The Terror, but less intense.
La Saboteuse is brilliant in every respect! 😀
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I don’t think you’re alone; I know a few folks who have similar feelings.
Out of interest, did you get the double LP or the single release?
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Didn’t even know there were two versions, James. So just the single. You?
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Yeah. There’s a fancy double LP with an extra track – Listening to Frogs With Demon Eyes. I have the single LP myself, but that bonus track is part of the download and… what I was gonna say was that it’s a better listening experience without that track. But given you have the single LP too… well, y’know. My observation is kinda redundant. Ha!
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That’s probably true. (Be silent, obsessive collector inside!)
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Wow Bruce, you glutton! You’ve made me feel a whole lot better about my 149 LPs this year, I’m only a minnow in these waters.
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Practice makes perfect, Joe
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I’d be keen to hear more about OKNOTOK – that trumpet cover was a good one too!
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I noticed a Daly Wilson Big Band LP in your haul. (Thank you Victor Nathan for the life time gift you gave me when nearly fifty years ago you asked me if I’d like to go with your younger son Greg to see the Daly Wilson Big Band because you’d forgotten about a parent-teacher interview about my friend Rod, your older son). Give it a spin, Bruce.
But as to reviews, I am definitely looking forward to reading about La Saboteuse.
And who knew statistics could sooth the soul.
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That Yazz Ahmed album is really nice. Looking forward to your thoughts on that.
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I’m up for anything you do Bruce. I see Jack Teagarden on a cover with Bobby Hacket in that jazz pile.. Have i ever mentioned how much I dig Jack T. He’s a member of the super cool club
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