Category Records
OF FLEAS AND FAUST
Like a down-market department store for heads and hippies, Goesunder Flea Market in the heart of Melbourne’s retail district was the unlikely venue for an import record shop, yet that is where I first encountered Krautrock. It was my first year at the university, a 15 minute walk north of the city centre. I was […]
A BRAND NEW DANCE
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was released in the second week of September 1980. Preceded by the hugely successful single ‘Ashes to Ashes’, Scary Monsters hit #1 on the UK album charts on 27th September. It also made #1 in Australia and peaked just outside the Top 10 in the US. Bowie’s fourteenth studio album […]
BIRTH AND DEATH OF A WORLD
Not long ago I wrote about an unscheduled month in the UK in the late 90s. A side trip to Wales was mentioned and that is where our story begins today. Every music tragic knows that it is not civic architecture or religious edifices that get the music hunter-gatherer’s pulse a-quickening; it’s record shops. We […]
CLOSE TO PERFECTION
CONTEXT Just in case it isn’t immediately obvious, music is a passion and hobby here at Vinyl Connection. There are several thousand titles in the collection and no imminent danger of a growth plateau. [Picture here, if you will, the crestfallen expression on Ms Connection’s face.] Close to the Edge sits high on my list […]
Lost and Found
Back in the late 70s and early 80s television stations were not the all-night amphetamine driven beasts of today. They went to bed each night at a reasonable hour. Some, like Australia’s national broadcaster the ABC, often said goodnight well before there was any danger of turning into a pumpkin. Usually a piece of music […]
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’. […]
BACK LIVE
Having already offered two pieces on the joys of ‘live’ albums*, it would probably be sensible to leave that topic alone for a while. But I re-acquainted myself with so many terrific recordings while writing those posts that I just had to bring out those that didn’t quite make the first two ‘Live In Your […]
Terminal Buzz [Cover Art #7]
Spectrum “Part One” [1971] Spectrum “Miles Ago” [1971] The Indelible Murtceps “Warts Up Your Nose” [1973] Spectrum / Indelible Murtceps “Testimonial” [1973] Spectrum / Indelible Murtceps “Terminal Buzz” [1973] From The Age, Thursday August 8, 2013, Melbourne “Bill Putt, a founding member of 1970s progressive rock group Spectrum, has died from a heart attack” Goodnight […]
NOWHERE AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME
A brief hum of feedback echo then a scuzzy crash of drums, a squall of guitar; “First Wave Intact” is crunching the gravel of my neural driveway with a heavy, insistent tread. the open way’s too dangerous listen close, they’re watching us Welcome to the opening song on “Now Here is Nowhere”, the 2004 album […]
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 […]
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