May 2020 Record Challenge Thread (PRIZE RAFFLE AT THE END!)

BjorgenFjorgen said:
Day 10: An album that makes you YEARN

Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway

Almost this entire album is about yearning in some way or another. From reminiscing about staying up late watching old movies with his dad or remembering the days in her donut shop before the owner, Eleanor, passed in the opener "Glenn Tipton", to long lost loves in "Carry Me Ohio", this whole album covers all sorts of the ghosts we leave in our dust on the highways of our lives.

"Green green youth
What about the sweetness we knew
What about what's good what's true
From those days
Can't count to
All the lovers I've burned through
So why do I still burn for you
I can't say
Sorry that
I could never love you back
I could never care enough in these last days
Heal her soul, carry her, my angel, Ohio"

I got into this album shortly before moving to South Korea to teach when I was 24. The centrepiece of the album, "Duk Koo Kim", named for a young Korean boxer who died during his first ever fight outside Korea, always brings me back to the times I had while living there, and to yearn for them again.

"Sing to me once more, my love,
Words from your younger years
Sing to me once more, my love,
Songs that I love to hear."

It's also pretty close to a perfect record.

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Just to deepen the yearn about “Carry Me Ohio.”

It’s about the same girl as the one in the Red House Painters tune “Katysong.” Apparently she was from Ohio.

He wrote her this song after she died.
At least, that’s what I remember reading.
 
Day 10 (a day late): an album that makes you yearn

The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I

Especially the first ("A Life of Possibilities") and last ("Back and Forth") tracks. This is the album that most makes me think of my freshman year of college and suddenly feeling like life is wide open, with the mundane mixing with the profound daily.

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Day 11: (in da) record club

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Juju "Live at The East 1973"

Haven't pulled this out in a while! Just saw Egon post about this band on IG so what better time than now to spin my exclusive pressing! Still trying to understand what being a member of the club means and what advantages it has over not being a member....
 
Day 11 - Album you've gotten from a record club

Feist - Let It Die

You know what, I've enjoyed many of the things VMP has brought me. I know it's shortcomings. It's brought me you, it's brought me some albums I've loved more than I thought it would, it's brought me some quality stuff I've thoroughly enjoyed. I'm going to see the good I've received in it.

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Day 11 - Clubbin'

I too am an ex-VMP member. It's the only vinyl club I've ever been in, although I've thought about joining others...I just never have. The two main things I loved about that club were the kickoff of Classics, and the forum. So here's one of my favorites from the Classics sub.

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And also, I'm still so happy this forum came to be after the unceremonious end of that other one.

"What would you do with more time?"
 
DAY 12 - FOMO BUY YOU HAVEN'T SPUN IN A WHILE
Taylor Swift - Lover
It was a madhouse when this went up for sale because it seemed like it'd be limited and knowing Taylor's fanbase can be pretty rabid, it was a rush to get one. However, if I'm not mistaken, you can still order one directly from Target so clearly the FOMO was ill-founded. This is a pretty great album imo, though I've only spun it once and it had quite a bit of surface noise disappointingly. Because of that, it's one if those albums that I just go digital whenever I want to return to it. It's a shame because the packaging itself is pretty nice and I love the colors chosen for the records.
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Day 12: FOMO buy you haven’t spun in awhile

Stella Donnelly "Beware of the dogs"

Usually I'm pretty good in avoiding any FOMO buying of records I don't really need. That being said, "Beware of the dogs" is an amazing album. 💜 Somehow it must have just fallen under my radar and I haven't spun it for 10 months or so. Glad this thread made me dig it out again. 🙂


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Day 12 - FOMO buy you haven’t spun in awhile

Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie

This is one of the few instances where I am so glad I got caught up in the FOMO. When it was first annouced I listened to it and enjoyed it but decided not to pick it up. Not too long after it was shown as sold out and then a few more ended up going up for sale. I had some very persistent help from those on the old forum (Thanks, @Mather!) letting me know it was back up and counting down the number left. I was out, but eventually saw the emails and grabbed it immediately because I didn't want to miss out on it. Unlike some other records by VMP marked as sold out that aren't actually sold out, this one was gone for good and is an expensive grab now. I've only fallen more in love with this album over time and if it's been more than a week since I've listened to it, it's been too long since I've played it haha

 
Day 12 FOMO

I’m really not much of a FOMO guy, I really don’t buy any records that I don’t want. Some I have to buy sooner because of limited quantity though so I guess that’s FOMO.
I’ll put this one in because I’ll admit I didn’t like it at first, mostly because I was just listening to it on my phone which really isn’t the best way to hear music. But it was in swaps and a lot of people on here were praising how good it sounded with the relentless Bass so I jumped on board, and was glad I did it ended up being one of my favorite purchases from that club last year.
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RowBearToe said:
Day 12 - FOMO buy you haven’t spun in awhile

Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie

This is one of the few instances where I am so glad I got caught up in the FOMO. When it was first annouced I listened to it and enjoyed it but decided not to pick it up. Not too long after it was shown as sold out and then a few more ended up going up for sale. I had some very persistent help from those on the old forum (Thanks, @Mather!) letting me know it was back up and counting down the number left. I was out, but eventually saw the emails and grabbed it immediately because I didn't want to miss out on it. Unlike some other records by VMP marked as sold out that aren't actually sold out, this one was gone for good and is an expensive grab now. I've only fallen more in love with this album over time and if it's been more than a week since I've listened to it, it's been too long since I've played it haha

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I still need to get that one, I missed it a few times . I will bite the bullet and overpay one of these days.
 
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Day 12 - FOMO Buy You Haven’t Spun In Awhile

Frank Ocean - Endless (Boys Don't Cry, 2018 First Pressing)
plus bonus
Frank Ocean - Blond (XL Recording, 2018 First Pressing - Sealed)

Frank Ocean's Endless is the perfect record for today's challenge. When Blond was released on Black Friday 2018 I was casually scrolling through posts online when I saw that the announcement of the release caused a big stir. I wasn't familiar with Frank Ocean at that point but sampled some of his music and decided to buy a copy. By the time it arrived it was selling for 3 times the price I paid so I kept it sealed and have yet to open it (at this point its an investment). So, when Endless was announced I knew it was worth picking up, and this time I ordered 2 copies. I opened one of them when they arrived and listened to it....but since then I think it has stayed on the shelf next to the sealed copy. Having just listened to it again I do like it, its a great relaxing album, but not one I would of bought had it not been for the hype surrounding it.

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