June 2022 Vinyl Spin Challenge - Red (N&G's Version)

20 – State of Grace (Acoustic Version) – Making me think of four themes for a song, rude as heck.

Play an acoustic album

John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness

Can't think of anyone I'd rather listen to with an acoustic guitar than John Prine. Wish I could have seen him live at some point.
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Used the past 2 days to catch up and wanted to just post all at once so get ready for a posting spree lol

Day 21 - Ronan

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ABBA - Arrival

Second time doing ABBA this month but I cant help it lol. "Dancing Queen" has always been one of my favorite songs and I remember just being obsessed with it as a kid
 
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Day 22 - Better Man

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Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years

Simon is easily my favorite songwriter of all time, and even though he is celebrated I feel like he is still weirdly under appreciated. This is my favorite solo album by him and can stand alongside Simon and Garfunkle's untouchable discography
 
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23 – Nothing New – Featuring Phoebe Bridgers like everything else in 2021 right? To Taylor’s credit, unlike nearly every other feature, Phoebe actually got to say words on this one. Also, it was inspired by Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You, and a song can only be so bad if it’s citing Joni Mitchell

Play an album you picked up used

My first thrift store MoFi for 2 bucks. I was just getting back into vinyl in 2010 when I found this.

I thought that MoFi's would be cheap anywhere, but quickly found out this was not the case. I even made a thread about this score on Audiokarma.

The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab/Arista – MFSL 1-084, 1977/1982

Pressed In Japan

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26 – I Bet You Think About Me
Play an album either by Lori McKenna or someone she’s written a song with or for

Toad The Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea

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Not very familiar with Lori McKenna but it looks like she co-wrote a song once with Glen Phillips, the lead singer of Toad The Wet Sprocket. I had the opportunity to meet Glen Phillips years ago and from my memory, when I told him that his band was my first concert ever, he responded like it was the most boring thing he had ever heard.
 
26 – I Bet You Think About Me

This one was penned near my neck of the woods in Foxborough, Massachusetts at Lori McKenna’s house and she grabbed Chris Stapleton to feature on it. Two fantastic names. It also had that great little bitter vibe in it that a lot of the great Taylor songs do.

Play an album that has elements of scorn or resentment flowing through it


Lingua Ignota - SINNER GET READY

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The magnitude of album that, if it was written about you, should keep you up at night for the rest of your days. Kristin Hayter spawned this record to document the physical/sexual/psychological/emotional abuse she had endured from her ex-partner, the frontman of Daughters.
 
26 – I Bet You Think About Me

This one was penned near my neck of the woods in Foxborough, Massachusetts at Lori McKenna’s house and she grabbed Chris Stapleton to feature on it. Two fantastic names. It also had that great little bitter vibe in it that a lot of the great Taylor songs do.
Play an album that has elements of scorn or resentment flowing through it

Phil Collins Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982 Atlantic; 2016 remaster)
Phil is banging the shit out of the drums, asking people if they care and wondering what matters anymore.

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25 – Message in a Bottle – When I first heard this song it felt like the kind of song you put in a cheesy feel-good movie scene. Other reviewers were reminded of Carly Rae Jepsen which, well, don’t we all wish we could be Carly?
Play a pop banger in honor of CRJ.

Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion

Most obvious choice possible, I guess. 🤷‍♂️


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26 – I Bet You Think About Me
This one was penned near my neck of the woods in Foxborough, Massachusetts at Lori McKenna’s house and she grabbed Chris Stapleton to feature on it. Two fantastic names. It also had that great little bitter vibe in it that a lot of the great Taylor songs do.

Play an album that has elements of scorn or resentment flowing through it

Elvis Costello - Armed Forces

Elvis will always provide a healthy dose of scorn and resentment.

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21 – Ronan – The story behind this one is particularly tough. It’s worth reading in full but she wrote this about a three-year old who died of cancer after an eight-month battle. She has only performed it a handful of times and is something very different than nearly anything else she’s put out. On that somber note



Play an album that reminds you of your childhood

The Clash - Combat Rock

Stretching the definition of childhood a little, but nothing reminds me more of high school than the Clash.

I take to heart what Craig Finn of the Hold Steady sang: "Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer, I think he might have been our only decent teacher."
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22 – Better Man – We’ve now made it to the Taylor’s Version exclusives. One of the more interesting aspects of this song is that she gave this to Little Big Town to use, which they then won a Grammy with.

Play an album by an artist known for their songwriting

Drive By Truckers - Welcome 2 Club XIII

Definitely a big songwriting band, this actually will be my first listen to their new album
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27 – Forever Winter
This felt like such an odd choice for the expanded album as it’s so distinctly not a song like most of the others. It’s not about a romance, it’s not about resentment – it’s about fear and panic in many ways. It may be a bit on the simplistic/basic side for the material, but a mental health awareness / friendship song is an interesting turn on this album.
Play an album that has a theme of exploring mental/behavioral health

JOHNNY CASH AMERICAN RECORDINGS IV: THE MAN COMES AROUND (2002 American Recordings; 2014 reissue)
For the track Hurt, which somehow manages to match and even top the NIN original.

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26 – I Bet You Think About Me

This one was penned near my neck of the woods in Foxborough, Massachusetts at Lori McKenna’s house and she grabbed Chris Stapleton to feature on it. Two fantastic names. It also had that great little bitter vibe in it that a lot of the great Taylor songs do.

Play an album that has elements of scorn or resentment flowing through it

Some resentment and a (un)healthy amount of scorn.

Bob Dylan ~ Blood on the Tracks

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27 – Forever Winter

This felt like such an odd choice for the expanded album as it’s so distinctly not a song like most of the others. It’s not about a romance, it’s not about resentment – it’s about fear and panic in many ways. It may be a bit on the simplistic/basic side for the material, but a mental health awareness / friendship song is an interesting turn on this album.

Play an album that has a theme of exploring mental/behavioral health

or

Play an album that you’ll often spin in the winter (or when you’re in the dumps)

Let's double up the theme - I'll say up front I really haven't spun this before as it's also a fresh grab, but it kind of aligns with it all. The title isn't a statement on mental health or anything - it's the title of a 30s musical song, however I think it can be taken that way. Much of the modern world is really, really fast - stimuli are being thrown at you from every direction and it becomes overwhelming. I'm not one to say that problems are going to be fixed by stepping back, sitting down, and letting some slow, languid jazz wash over you. With that said...it sure can't hurt right? Also I feel like it'll go real well with some hot cocoa six months from now

Paul Desmond - Glad To Be Unhappy

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