Category A PERSONAL APPROACH

THE WELSH CONNECTION

ONE Driving to lunch last week, the in-car entertainment was provided by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, the fabulously named Welsh band (b: 1991, d: 2006) recently featured by Mr 1537. It was the first album; a collection of EP material that – whilst not having the polish of later releases – shows their quirky creativity and […]

SING A SONG IN A SHAKEY VOICE

In the late 70s, I loaned a girl a record. It was never returned. And that, I confess with equal parts shame and defiance, was the last LP I ever loaned. Books? No problem. CDs? If you have references and are of good character. Vinyl? Forget it. In psychology it is called ‘one trial learning’. […]

DIARY OF A VINYL HUNTER-GATHERER – SECOND INSTALMENT

Being a report from the arrival lounge of a hopeless music addict, with annotations. Day Three Holidays are great for Vinyl Hunter-Gatherers. First stop is Goldmine CDs & Records. Even though the used vinyl holding is much smaller than the ‘New’ section, it often comes through with a couple of interesting LPs or at least a […]

VINYL HUNTER-GATHERER GOES FORTH

In these parts the financial year begins on 1st July. A good time for fiscal resolutions and for a vinyl addict with fast diminishing storage space and finite resources to ponder stemming – or at least reducing – the flow. The original idea was to have a purchase-free month. Catch up with some listening. Cleanse […]

SEA OF JOY

My friend over the back fence invited me to come and hear his latest LP. Greg was two days older than me and we’d been playmates since our Mums met on the maternity ward. But in terms of musical sophistication, Greg was years, worlds, away from me. Not in terms of understanding how music worked; […]

“TRUE COLOURS” – NO LOOSE ENZ

True Colours was the fifth album by New Zealand band Split Enz. It is a lively, tuneful, sometimes edgy, sometimes melancholy pop rock treat.  The album’s first single ‘I Got You’, was supremely catchy, highly successful, and written by the latest addition to the band, twenty-one year old Neil Finn. First, an executive summary of the Split […]

ANOTHER COVER IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY

Along the broad and crowded highway of record collecting there are some fascinating diversions. One I enjoy involves albums that appear with different sleeves in different parts of the world. It is not a particular obsession of mine; I have several, but we need to know each other better for them to be revealed in […]

TURNTABLE TRAVELS

As far as travelling was concerned, I was a late starter. Most of the people I knew had been somewhere outside of Australia, even if it was just a package trip to Bali (cue song, Redgum, 1984). Many had done the Europe thing and had come back somehow wiser, more knowing, more confident… more something. […]

Vinyl Hunter Gatherers

Just recently someone said that the city where I live has more record shops per capita than anywhere else. The claim may not be factual, of course; there are always hollow boastful claims being made about something or other. But I want it to be true because that is what I call a liveable city. […]