December 2020 Challenge Thread: Let's Go Out With A Bang (The return of the raffle!)

Day 4: Concept Album
Play a concept album

Lorde Huron - Vide Noire

The black void. Floating in infinite space. Here, but not present.

Ben Schneider says, "I conceived it as sort of a nocturnal journey through the city where you encounter these different stories along the way. And part of the way I thought about it was you wander into these different clubs that have different styles of music or different types of people inhabiting them. So there’s sort of a through line in terms of the story. I think the way it begins and ends are the two ends of that person’s journey, but along the way, we kind of take all these twists and turns and wander through portals to other places."

It's an extra-ordinary trip through a mythical version of L.A. nightlife where people long for lost loves that have gone to the afterlife, get curses, overdose on Vide Noire, long for lost loves that are just gone because there is no afterlife, question the balance of the universe, and/or long for lost loves that aren't lost at all but right beside them, yet also not present. Floating in infinite space. The black void.

way out here in the void is the loneliest place to die when everything you loved is a lie
IMG_1121[2431].JPGIMG_1122[2433].JPGFun Fact: Black album covers with a shiny sleeve are very hard to photograph. I had to stand clear across the room and zoom way in to get pic with minimal glare on the cover.
 
Day 7: Tell us a story.

Orange Juice - Rip It Up

Ok so this is going to be a bummer of a story. A friend lent me this record to tape in early January some 30 years ago. A week later he drowned in a boating accident. I kept the record, making sure to take good care of it.

But he would say “enough of the sob story, if you are getting up, please grab me another beer and turn up the volume on the stereo while you are it.”
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Day 4: Concept album

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

Love me a good concept album. In my early and mid teens, I think my obsession with a handful of them led to my love of literature. (This wasn't one of them, but I don't remember seeing this played and this is arguably the concept album. If it has been played, I got plenty more.)

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Day 7 - Tell us a story....

Pulp "His N Hers" (1994 Island Records; 2019 25th anniversary remaster)

So this is not a story about the record or the music itself. This is about when I bought this record: February 1, 2020 at Aux 33 Tours in Montreal. We went to Montreal for a little family getaway that weekend. It's been a tradition for us to go to Montreal for Super Bowl weekend since we've moved away from Montreal in 2009. That's because that weekend has TWO matinee hockey games. So I can doubly enjoy my Habs in a single trip. This time around, I went to the first game with my good buddy from my McGill University days (been going to games with him for almost 20 years now!) and I went to the second game with my daughter. I saw a win and a loss, which was pretty much par for the course for that team. We are also big asian food fans, so we rounded out the weekend with some north chinese, an outing at a japanese grill with my buddy's family, some chinese hand pulled noodle soup, pho and an outing for korean. I'm salivating just thinking back at the awesomeness of that menu.

Here's a photo of me and mine at the game.

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What's so special about all this? Well, it's the last time I've been to a physical record store and flipped records in bins.... I also picked up a copy of Duran Duran's "Notorious" and Roxy Music's "Manifesto" during the same visit. In conclusion, fuck COVID, because for the first time in 10 years, we wont be doing this again come February 2021.

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Day 7: Cool story, bro!

So the last major music fest I went to was the first Boston Calling on the Harvard Athletic Fields. It was, to be very kind, a shizzle show. The first year introduced obscene lines to get in, major food shortages, and torrential downpours. Solange cancelled, I missed Sylvan Esso, and the artist this is about. As beautiful as Bon Iver and Sigur Ros are in the rain I was dejected by the end. And I had tickets to an after show too.

I take a train or three to get to the late Great Scott and grab a spot in the middle of a very small crowd to catch Lucy Dacus. She was on well before I got to BC but the aftershow really made the whole day worth it. She was gracious and really played the hell out of this album to a rather game 1 am crowd. Map on a Wall specifically is really a live experience This also served as my intro to one of my now favorite current artists, which led me to Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker who also take up a lot of my music time as well. She is still really underrated and as long as I can afford to I'll be happy to go see her anytime. This was an HM on my Top 50 to boot.

Lucy Dacus - No Burden

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LeSamourai said:
Day 2: Finally!
Play something that was in your wantlist for a long time

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model

I spent about 20 years buying CDs and digital before getting into vinyl a couple of years ago, so I have a LOT of albums that I love that have been sitting on my wantlist for one reason or another. This one arrived this week, so I'm gonna give it its first spin now.

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I was planning on catching up but, today's theme has got me a bit anxious and this puppy showed up today:

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day 7 - cool story bro; no cities to love - sleater-kinney

I went to see SK on tour when they were supporting this album and got busted for underage drinking before the opener even went on. I got thrown out of the show and a Cincinnati PD officer made me cry. The dumb thing was that I was only a few months away from turning 21.

Fuck Bogarts.

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Day 7 - Cool story, bro

I’m a big Waxahatchee fan, so I was super pumped when she was coming to Madison and playing my favorite little venue (High Noon Saloon). The show was on a Tuesday, and the Fri orSat night before, I was drunk grilling and undercooked some chicken. I took a bite and immediately spit it out, but I guess the damage was done - I got salmonella poisoning. By Monday, I was in rough shape and going to the show seemed bleak.

Anyway, Tuesday afternoon rolls around and I’m eating and drinking fine, thinking I might risk it. I still had a bit of a temp, still had some stomach pain, but I said fuck it and went. I was still unsure whether it was a good idea until I heard the opening act come on and was immediately blown away. I figured I made the discovery a lifetime. After they played, I ended up getting into a great conversation with Lindsay about her influences, what it’s like to tour with a fairly big (for indie) act, and so on.

Overall, it was a great night. Snail Mail was great, Waxahatchee was great, and (most of all) I didn’t end up needing to poop in the middle of the show. Later, I learned that Snail Mail was not exactly a unique discovery (they signed to Matador shortly after), but the night was no less memorable.

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Day 7: Cool Story, Bro

Garrett - Private Life II

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Last year, my mother and younger brother visited me in Portland and stayed in at a Airbnb in a higher end district. While taking a walk to explore the area with them within three blocks from the Airbnb, I came across a small boutique shop record store by the name of Musique Plastique. I wanted to explore the store but my mother and brother weren't too interested in records/record stores. They agreed to explore the nearby area while I stayed behind to check the shop out for a few.
I entered the shop and was friendlily greeted by one of the co-owners. The space was very spartan but with very clear cut labeling. I browsed for about 15 minutes but didn't purchase anything right away. I was intrigued by the selection they carried; album covers that either were so bizarre or simple...many of which I hadn't seen in my life. I knew I had to go back there at some point in the near future.
About a month later, I did end up returning to Plastique on my own. I bought this record on a recommendation after 30+ more minutes of exploring, after providing context to the same co-owner that I was interested in exploring ambient music in depth and enjoyed the music of Boards of Canada. It began my interest in specific labels for music on vinyl, with this one (Music From Memory) being my favorite to this day.
Unfortunately, they, like many other small businesses, fell victim to COVID-19 and had to close down their brick 'n mortar location. They are currently operating their business out of their apartments. I can only hope that both the co-owners Tony and Luke can get through this; I am indebted to them for deep music discovery and for their friendly nature.
 
Day 8: Strangs - What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? A fiddle has straaanngs. Play something with a string section

Nas with National Symphony Orchestra - Illmatic (Live From The Kennedy Center)

I used this one last month but had to use it again because it fits perfectly. Before I heard this version of Illmatic, it was already my favorite hip hop album, and I knew it well. However, listening to it this way brought out so many of the samples and sounds that I didn't really notice in the original. It was a whole new listening experience and the string section was a big reason as to why.

 
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