July 2020 Record Challenge (The Raffle Strikes Back)

DAY 8 - OOH PRETTY

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I am a sucker for gold and silver in real life, as they are my go-to color pops.
So when I saw this beauty, I had to.
If you do not know who Fred Thomas is, he is formerly of the band Saturday Looks Good To Me, and a one-time member of His Name Is Alive. This album, Changer, is exactly what you think a full-on collaboration between Lou Barlow and Lee Ronaldo would sound like: extremely tuneful, full throat delivery, and incredibly dense, intense monologues. I just love it.

 
JULY 9
JUST GIVE IT TIME
An album that grew on you

The Cult - Electric

When I discovered Love by The Cult in 1985 I was immediately smitten. Loved the sound. I was lucky enough to see them live a few times in 1986 and they were road testing material that would later end up on Electric. In 1986, these songs very much had the Love vibe. I got my copy of Electric upon it's release and was shocked to hear the songs I'd heard live were drastically reworked. The Cult's swirling psychedelia had been run through the Rick Rubin wringer and come out AC/DC on the other side. Took some adjusting, but I warmed up to it.

Before...



After...



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Day 8 - OOH, PRETTY

Kishi Bashi - Sonderlust (Joyful Noise Recordings, 2019 Clear w/ black, white, gold, & bronze splatter, Hand Numbered & Signed by Kishi Bashi)

Im not one to specifically seek out coloured or splattered variants, but Kishi Bashi always seems to go the extra mile with his and they always look really cool as a result. I've also included a signed set-list and photo from when I saw him in London last year (remember when going to gigs was a thing!!). He's an incredible live performer and really humble. When he started getting ready to walk into the crown to perform his encore, he gestured to me to stand on the stage before he jumped off so I would have a better view. Then at the end he handed me the set list sheet and signed it while I waited before calling over Tall Tall Trees and Emily Hope Price to sign it as well. Very cool dude.

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Day 9 - JUST GIVE IT TIME

The National - Cherry Tree (Brassland, 2016 VMP Limited Pressing On Black and Burgundy Marble - No. 0027/1000)

This might come as a surprise as I had quite a few albums by The National (also had tickets to see them a few weeks ago until COVID delayed it to next year) but it actually took a while for me to properly enjoy them. I bought a copy of the VMP Cherry Tree EP in their Throw Back Thursdays (remember them?!) a while ago and I believe that might have been the first time I heard them. After the hype behind the EP on the old forum I was ready to be blown away, but after the first listen my reaction was just luke warm. I then binged their discography (streamed) and started appreciating them more and more. It was never a "it all clicked" moment for me, but over time and listens it began to just make sense.

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Day 9 - JUST GIVE IT TIME: An album that grew on you

Moses Sumney - Aromanticism

When this album was first announced as the VMP ROTM I listened to it once and did not like it at all. That listen was while I was at work and I didn't really get a chance to really focus on it. A few weeks later I gave it a few more listens at home when I could pay more attention to it, and from there my interest continued to grow until it got to the point that I couldn't stop listening to it. It definitely took quite a few listens, and more time than I usually give albums, but ultimately I grew to love this album!

 
JULY 8
OOH, PRETTY
Your favorite variant/color vinyl

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You

I was tempted to wait until my copy of Mordechai came in the mail, because that mock-up looks incredible, but even though it's shipped it still may not be here for a month and a half. Hahahahahaha.......oh.

The Vinyl Me, Please variant of ...Never Loved A Man.... It looks and sounds amazing. I fell like this is the best looking record VMP has put out in a long time. The music itself? Eh. It's alright. I mean, it's probably one of my favorite albums of all time and I used to put it on every night when I got home from the bar in my 20's, but other than that what does it have going for it? Great vocal performances? Okay, yeah there's that. Great song composition? Yeah yeah, there's that. Ridiculous emotion in the title track, Do Right Woman, and Baby, Baby, Baby? Yeah, I guess that, too. Y'know, this might be a pretty good album.

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Bonus shot of what the record would look like at 200rpm. I may not have the steadiest hands.
 
Day 8: OOH, PRETTY
Your favorite variant/color vinyl

I'm going a different route today for various reasons. I have several color-vinyl variants but none of which I was in the mood to spin. Also, I would have no complaints if all vinyl records were black. So I'm interpreting the description of the Day 8 category to mean "post your favorite variant or color vinyl," and choose the variant part.

My first impulse was to spin The Cure's Disintegration, specifically the old pressing on a single LP featuring 10 (not 12) tracks ("Last Dance" and "Homesick" are omitted; they're fine B-sides, but the album flows better without them).

Ultimately I settled for what may very well be my favorite piece of vinyl: a variant of Allen Toussaint's second solo album (originally released in 1970 and titled Toussaint) that was released in Europe in 1985 under the title From A Whisper To A Scream. All versions of this album feature a mix of instrumental and vocal tracks. What makes the Whisper variant special is that the track list was modified so that all vocal tracks are on Side A and all the instrumentals (including a bonus track) are on Side B. In effect, the Whisper variant plays like two EPs, and Toussaint and the Meters are in absolute peak form on both sides.

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Day 9 - Growin’

Didn’t love this when I first heard it. Was this the team that made Smile? And Brian just singing, what the fuck! But over time I’ve learned it’s a gorgeous thing that deserves it’s place amongst the work of the geniuses responsible.

Brian Wilson & Van Dyke Parks - Orange Crate Art

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Day 09: JUST GIVE IT TIME
An album that grew on you
Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc..
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Growing up in the rural Midwest, Country Music was the music that Farmers and their tobacco chewing offspring listened to and thus was automatically (and ignorantly) reviled by me and my group of friends. The only Country music that was acceptable was Johnny Cash. I had some friends (that much cooler than I) who attempted to give me the heads up of the likes of Dwight Yoakam but I was not having any of it, that all changed in college when I started to explore other genres. Initially this Record was “too Country” for my taste but I kept coming back to it and over the next year or so, it slowly grew into one of my favorite Country albums of all time.
 
Day 9: Better with time??

I know this is an easy one to hate on...and I get why people can't get into it. I couldn't for the longest time. I actually listened to a CD made from the rehearsals DVD - and kinda wish they would release a nice version of those on vinyl.

But....I keep coming back to this album. I've probably listened to it more than Death Magnetic and
Hardwired...To Self-Destruct combined.

I still don't know what Lars was thinking with this snare, tho. SMH

Metallica ‎– St. Anger
Elektra ‎– 62853-1, 2003

Original pressing

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JULY 9
JUST GIVE IT TIME
An album that grew on you

Peter Gabriel- So

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This album came out when I was a sophomore in high school and I was obsessed with Sledgehammer (thanks MTV!) but thought the rest of the album was kind of boring. Thank god I grew up and came to realize that songs like Red Rain, Don’t Give Up, Mercy Street and In Your Eyes (thanks Say Anything!)

This is a great episode of Classic Albums all about the making of the album

Watch Peter Gabriel: So (Classic Albums) | Prime Video

The release of Peter Gabriel's acclaimed 1986 album,
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LeeVing said:
Day 9: Better with time??

I know this is an easy one to hate on...and I get why people can't get into it. I couldn't for the longest time. I actually listened to a CD made from the rehearsals DVD - and kinda wish they would release a nice version of those on vinyl.

But....I keep coming back to this album. I've probably listened to it more than Death Magnetic and
Hardwired...To Self-Destruct combined.

I still don't know what Lars was thinking with this snare, tho. SMH

Metallica ‎– St. Anger
Elektra ‎– 62853-1, 2003

Original pressing

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I can't believe this of all albums has been used twice, and for two different themes no less 😂
 
Rip_City said:
July 9: Just Give it Time

Death Grips - The Money Store

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I still don't love this album, 8 years later. Still, I appreciate it for what it is. I've been warming up to it more and more with every listen over the past back half of the '10s.
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Yeah, I am still waiting on Death Grips to click with me also. Seems like something I would enjoy but every time I give it a go I get nothing. This and King Krule are the two I am sure will eventually love if I keep trying, right?
 
JULY 9
JUST GIVE IT TIME
Blonde Redhead- s/t 1995
I bought this record when it came out, partly because of its Sonic Youth connection (produced by SY drummer Steve Shelley and released on his label). After giving it a lot of listens over a couple of years, I just could not get into it. It felt like it was a poor Sonic Youth clone but 3 times removed.

In 2017 I came across the Numero boxset of the first 2 albums plus 2 discs worth of bonus material for a good price and took a chance on it. I am so glad I did as I these 2 records really clicked with me some 20 years later. Not sure what I missed the first time around.

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TenderLovingKiller® said:
Yeah, I am still waiting on Death Grips to click with me also. Seems like something I would enjoy but every time I give it a go I get nothing. This and King Krule are the two I am sure will eventually love if I keep trying, right?
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As a DG fanatic, my experience is that they either work for you or they don't, but maybe it's as simple as finding the right song or album to make it lock into place. I personally think they have a fair amount of range compared to what they're usually typecast as which is "angry man yells over the sound of pots and pans being mashed together." I think The Money Store is a good entry point, being their most well-known album, but I also feel like they've progressed pretty far beyond it for it to still be what they're "known" for. Even the album that came right after TMS, No Love Deep Web, is an entirely different sound and vibe, and, in my opinion, a much more effective version of the band's sound.

I don't mean to lecture, it's just this is a question I've seen a lot, and for some, they can tell within a millisecond whether or not they will like DG. I think a big part of it for some people who are on the edge, unsure how they feel, is if they have a desire to return to it at all. People who have a visceral negative reaction probably will never find them appealing, but a lot of fans will tell you they started off with mixed feelings but there was also this strange attraction that kept them coming back until they finally "got it." It happens for some and not for others and that's just the way music works. This stance that some fans of certain bands take that those who don't like their favorite band just don't "get it" is extremely condescending. You could do all the research in the world on Death Grips and their art and still just not have a personal taste for it. I will never tell anyone to stop exploring and seeking out music, but that discovery has to happen organically.

Sorry for the rant, here's a fun picture of DG to make up for making people read all that.
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