This Time It's Personal: The November 2023 Record Challenge Thread

[Wes C. Attle]

November 1

What was the first album you remember having? Did you get it as a kid or did you more recently get into this silly hobby? Can you still smell the liner notes when you hear these songs?

Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know It’s True



Already doing CD’s, but I assure you the vinyl copy is still at my mom’s.

Just like @imtheocean, CSN&Y’s Deja Vu was a very important record to me early on. One of my earliest memories was getting frustrated at preschool because I couldn’t properly teach my classmates how to sing the harmonies from “Our House,” which was absolute favorite song. But that was my dad’s record so it doesn’t count here.

Had to look up the release date, and it appears this Milli Vanilli record came out in the United States when I was seven years old. I think I had heard the first two singles and don’t remember them completely registering. Shortly after we got cable and this access to MTV, I remember vividly seeing the video for “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” (the album’s third single) and I was stopped in my tracks because it sounded like perfection to me. It made my stomach hurt but I liked it and when it was over, I had to hear it again, by any means necessary. I turned to my dad and asked him to drive me to Fred Meyer so I could buy it with the money I had saved up. He seemed to understand me immediately and we got in the car to go to the store.

Later on when it was announced that these guys didn’t actually sing the songs, I didn’t care. It wasn’t their persona that drew me to their music in the first place. I remember hearing that you could send your record back to them and they’d send you a refund and I thought that sounded like the craziest mistake any owner of this album could ever make.

 

[Rip_City]

ALRIGHT FINE. I'll do this again. For now.

November 1
Guest comes to your home for the first time: “You seem to like music a lot- holy smokes that’s a LOT of vinyls!” (Guest runs their hand -too aggressively, you determine- across the spines of the records)

What was the first album you remember having? Did you get it as a kid or did you more recently get into this silly hobby? Can you still smell the liner notes when you hear these songs?


Angel Olsen - My Woman



First record I purchased from Amazon when buying my AT-LP120, bookshelf monitors, gram scale, and record brush simultaneously back in 2018. No hidden story to be shared here.
Coincidentally, I went to see Angel Olsen for the third time last week.

 

[Wicked Dreamer]

Day 1: Guest comes to your home for the first time: “You seem to like music a lot- holy smokes that’s a LOT of vinyls!” (Guest runs their hand -too aggressively, you determine- across the spines of the records)

I started buying in 2007 & had bought a few used records in the early 2010s (idk in what order I’d bought those in), but I decided to go with the first new record I remember buying:

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color



Bought it the day it came out in 2015!

 

[Yer Ol' Uncle D]

November 2
What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.

The Pterodactyl Club was a smoke-filled sweatbox that probably held about 300 people in the actual music room. A righteous dump located in the wrong side of Charlotte...





Back in those days, you had to be a "members only" club to get around liquor laws. As you can tell by the official membership card, it was a pretty stringent vetting process to attain entry...



I saw lots of cool shows there. One was The Ramones. Joey actually wears an official Pterodactyl Club t-shirt in the Pet Sematary video...




But the hands-down coolest gig was Iggy Pop with Jane's Addiction opening in the fall of 1988...



Iggy was touring in support of Instinct, a really good under the radar record in my book. It's just a fun, straight ahead rock record that features Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols on guitar. Translated really well live woven into the classics. And what a treat to see Jane's Addiction at this stage when pretty much no one on the east coast had caught onto them yet.

No pics from the show but of course I taped that shiz...

 

[Rip_City]

November 2
“Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”

What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.


Ichiko Aoba (青葉市子) - Windswept Adan (アダンの風) [signed]



I saw her perform just over a year ago at a ~250cap venue where it was fully seated. Fully sold out. I went by myself, none of my friends enjoy Japanese music to my knowledge.
Her traditional dress and very unassuming candor is something that I struggle to communicate into words. I was fully mesmerized; in helpless awe of how pure Aoba-san's vocal timbre held throughout the entire performance. Just her classical guitar and a pair of songs on a keyboard were all of the external tools that she needed. She didn't need backup vocal/musician support, any cinematic visualization/projection, or audience participation to make her message felt. She even had little short stories in between that had her using onomatopoeic hums and whistles to play as a voice actress. She used her fingers to symbolize insects crawling across a branch, leaves blowing in the gentle wind, or even fish swimming in the water in tandem with her gentle humming and high pitched, breathy occasional spoken word.
One of the most unforgettable moments of my life. I've thought about this concert + speaking with her briefly at least twice a month since. Her spoken Japanese is some of the most polite/honorific that I've ever heard be used in a real world setting. I have the gut feeling that I'll never see her perform again unless I am in Japan at the same time she is performing in a theatre or park by happenstance.
As an artist, she is one of my top50 all time. As for this specific concert, it is one of my top5 all time.

 

[gafacaode]

November 1
Guest comes to your home for the first time: “You seem to like music a lot- holy smokes that’s a LOT of vinyls!” (Guest runs their hand -too aggressively, you determine- across the spines of the records)

What was the first album you remember having? Did you get it as a kid or did you more recently get into this silly hobby? Can you still smell the liner notes when you hear these songs?

My parents gifted some compilations a la @Turbo 's pick when I was kid (I don't have any of them anymore), but this one is the first record I remember going to the store on my own and buying, probably in 1987/88. And I still have it.
My "oh-shit" moment with records was when I picked up my uncle's copy of Wish You Were Here that was laying around at my Grandma's.

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street

 

[gafacaode]

November 2
“Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”

What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.

Radiohead, In Rainbows tour, Kraftwerk as opening act, March 20, 2009 in Rio de Janeiro.
Attended with my usual partner in crime for concerts (we've been going to shows together since 1991- that one was Faith No More) and our wives.
We're going to Buenos Aires later this month to catch Pulp, Blur and The Cure!

Setlist from the concert



Radiohead - In Rainbows

 

[Turbo]

November 2
“Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”
What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings "100 Days and 100 Nights" (2007 Daptone)
My attendance to concerts has gone way way down over the last dozen years. Just about nil really. Coincided with moving out of Montreal and into Gatineau, which doesn't get as much options that are appealing to me, getting a child, being busy and not having my ear to the ground enough to know who's playing nearby. I think my last real show was The Flaming Lips at Blues Fest a good 10 years or so ago. My all-time favorite shows are a toss-up between Beck at the Montreal Spectrum in 1996, a small now defunct sub-1000 attendance room, after Odelay came out but before he blew-up, R.E.M. during the Monster tour at the Bell Center, The Tragically Hip on Canada Day 1991 at Landsdowne in Ottawa and Sharon Jones at a tiny venue in Montreal in 2005. I've mentioned this story before. The room was jumping, the show was electrifying with everybody dancing from start to finish, and then after the show Sharon just walked into the audience and greeted everyone (Bless her, she is forever missed!). This is when I got one of my favorite pieces of memorabilia - I had brought the 7" single of her first release and my wife asked her to sign it for me - I was too shy to ask.
On a different but related note, I'm about to put an end to this concert drought. We're driving to Montreal tomorrow to see Depeche Mode with DIIV opening. I'm sooo looking forward to it! One of my favorite bands and a bucket list item I'll actually cross off!

 

[imtheocean]

November 2
“Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”
What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it? If you’ve never been to a show, who would you love to see (or love to have seen) live? Digital high-fives will be given if you include photos from the show.

Concert - Grateful Dead, Los Lobos, and David Lindley and El-Rayo X at the Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey CA - 7/30/88

I was just talking to my oldest about this concert this morning. It took place on my 20th birthday, was the first Dead show that I drove a significant distance for, and seeing them in Northern California was pretty special. Not to mention the absolute size and scope of the scene surrounding the concert itself. It wasn't a Shakedown Street, more like a Shakedown City. But the reason I was talking to her about it was the fact that about an hour outside of Monterey we realized that we left our paper tickets at home in SoCal. So I got some posterboard and made a sign for my car that said "My First Born for Tickets", and managed to get a pair pretty quickly. Nobody has taken me up on that offer yet so I think she's in the clear.

Anyway the lineup was fantastic. Getting David Lindley and Los Lobos as openers were perfect for a summer day, and the Dead's setlist was prime late 80's goodness. I've been to a few other birthday shows but this is by far the best. And since this was pre-cellphone, I'll rely on the internet for pictures from the show, including Bobby at his short-shortiest.

 

[Wicked Dreamer]

Day 2: “Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”

GA-20 - Crackdown



I’ve never been to a live show because I really don’t like crowds, amp feedback or really loud noises in general, but a part of me does wish I’d seen these guys when they were in town. They were at the Blues On Whyte a couple of years ago, but that was the night before Black Friday (or Thanksgiving in ) so I went to bed early.

 

[avecigrec]

Day 2: “Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”

GA-20 - Crackdown

View attachment 186293

I’ve never been to a live show because I really don’t like crowds, amp feedback or really loud noises in general, but a part of me does wish I’d seen these guys when they were in town. They were at the Blues On Whyte a couple of years ago, but that was the night before Black Friday (or Thanksgiving in ) so I went to bed early.

Blues On Whyte is a very nice venue, probably my favourite of the small handful I've been to in Edmonton in fact.

 

[jamieanderson1968]

November 2
What was one of your all-time favorite concerts that you’ve been to, who went with you, and where was it?

David Bowie - Serious Moonlight ’83
I was at this show. My friend's brother won 4 tickets to the show and his parents forced him to take us as well. My lifetime obsession truly kicked off that day. Recorded live at the PNE Coliseum, in Vancouver on 12th September, 1983.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Day 02: Live Show
The National - Cherry Tree, Vol. 4

Outside of DMB, the band I have seen the most live is The National. We saw them a couple times at Pitchfork Music Festival and them Open for Arcade Fire prior to moving to Washington State and since landing here we’ve had the pleasure of watching them headline 4 concerts here in the Pacific Northwest. Also, they are up there with Neil Young and The Grateful Dead when it comes to Live Albums in my collection. I own all 5 Cherry Tree Fan Club albums and a couple RSD live releases.

Here’s a shot from our most recent show this past summer in Portland.

 

[imtheocean]

Day 02: Live Show
The National - Cherry Tree, Vol. 4
View attachment 186299
Outside of DMB, the band I have seen the most live is The National. We saw them a couple times at Pitchfork Music Festival and them Open for Arcade Fire prior to moving to Washington State and since landing here we’ve had the pleasure of watching them headline 4 concerts here in the Pacific Northwest. Also, they are up there with Neil Young and The Grateful Dead when it comes to Live Albums in my collection. I own all 5 Cherry Tree Fan Club albums and a couple RSD live releases.
View attachment 186300
Here’s a shot from our most recent show this past summer in Portland.

Seeing them again a week from Saturday. Can't wait!

 

[Wes C. Attle]

November 2
“Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”

Beck - Sea Change



I think I’ve told this story before, but my dad really liked Beck because of the zaniness of Odelay and Midnite Vultures. In 2003, the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, WA had finally opened the week before when I got a call from my dad saying he had like 5 or 6 tickets to the Beck concert that same night and he was very excited. He told me to gather up any of my friends who wanted to come with us but everyone had plans, so it ended up being just the two of us sitting on the cold general admission lawn in the wind watching Beck sing songs from his new, quite un-zany break-up album and we still loved it. One of my favorite times spent with my dad. Wish I could have gone to more shows with him.

 

[avecigrec]

November 2
“Yeah the record’s great, but you’ve GOT to see them live!”

Dave Matthews Band – DMB Live Trax Vol. 2


Pictures of me at this show exist somewhere, or did in the past - but I've not had digital copies in many years. I don't know that this would be my all-time #1 show, but probably the the top show experience! Over the course of the summer of 2004 I decided I wanted to make a trek from the Canadian Rockies down to San Francisco in order to attend Michael Franti & Spearhead's free Power To The Peaceful festival in Golden Gate Park (line-up: Xavier Rudd, John Butler Trio, Gift of Gab, String Cheese Incident (acoustic) and Michael Franti & Spearhead). I pestered my friend with whom I was hosting a weekly open mic to make the trek down with me - we'd already had a couple of good festival experiences together between the Canmore and Calgary Folk Festivals, and rolling down in his van seemed way more fun than riding the old 'hound. Reluctant at first due to work, his union wound up on strike so he had the time. On our way down we were giving a friend a ride to southeastern BC and convinced her to come down to California with us instead of hanging on her friends' farm. In the days leading up to the festival, we learned DMB would be playing a show in a different section of Golden Gate Park the next day. My friends were much bigger fans than me and decided they wanted to try to make it happen. Because it was a fan event tickets had been free, plus a $10 service charge, so they were confident it wouldn't be an expensive scalping situation. Sure enough, the three of us got in for $20! (the cute young lady got her ticket for free)

Now, I enjoyed Dave Matthews Band well enough, had a couple of their CDs even, but I was feeling pretty take it or leave it about the show. Until the day of. The energy in the park was absolutely ELECTRIC and the weather was gorgeous. We found ourselves a comfortable spot to post up out in the field for the day. The opening act was DJ Z-Trip who had done a mix called Uneasy Listening, Vol. 1 with DJ P a few years before that I listened to an absolute ton. At one point during his set, he was mixing Saul Williams' "Not In My Name" with Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and I was already way up on clouds. Once DMB hit the stage things leveled up something fierce - the production level for the show was absolutely top-notch. Crystal clear sound, stellar playing, and the videography team were ON POINT. It was pretty immediately apparent why people would follow these guys around on tour like Phish and Grateful Dead. AND THEN after a couple of hours of sustained euphoria, they brought out motherfuckin' Carlos Santana! Goddamn. (My stepdad lost his shit when I told him about it a couple of days later.)

I've been to a goodly number of shows, before and since, that had top-notch production, musicianship and even crowds, but nothing's really hit as such a full-day vibe the way this show did! When they released on CD the next year my buddy I'd been at the show with ordered it and immediately burned me a copy. I played the hell out of those discs for the next couple of years. Even more stoked to have this on my vinyl shelf now.

A couple of other fun bits:

• DMB and the crew actually saved Power To The Peaceful the day before by loaning them a generator after the festival's blew and threw a huge delay into the proceedings.
• The night between PTTP and DMV we were sleeping illegally in a van in the park and were visited by police in the night. Due to a misunderstanding between my buddy and the cop he was speaking to out the window, my presence was a surprise to the other cop who'd come around to open the side door and for the first time in my life (and not the last time on that road trip) I wound up with a gun pointed at me! The situation resolved well enough, and they even gave us directions to where we could park and hopefully not be bothered again in the night. We have no way to ever know for sure, but all three of us are reasonably certain the cop who had the gun on me was a few rows behind us at the show the next day (he seemed to perk up a bit that night when we said we were there for the show!)

 

[Rip_City]

November 3
“Hey, this is our song! Remember?”
“No.”

What record will forever remind you of that special someone, a relative, or a good friend and why? What does it remind you of doing with them? (ahem, keep it clean)


Sharon Van Etten - Are We There



When I was working a crap dead-end temp job in early 2018, a then coworker (now turned close friend) recommended Sharon's music to me during a lunch break. I warmed up to Sharon the following year with the excellent Remind Me Tomorrow which ended up being, and still is, one of my top10 of that year. But on Are We There, the sound she explores here sounds fully fleshed out and panoramic. Yes, it is an album about broken love, I get it. Albums about broken love are made every day, but it's something people still write about because it's the most everyday kind of pain.
When I moved to my following stint at my longtime place of employment which would then turn into my first ever full time job, I secured a pair of tickets for my company's skybox suite to Bon Iver's stop in Portland with SVE opening. I invited my aforementioned friend as a +1, which was the first time I've ever been to a concert with a friend (outside of year end college festivals). Had a great time, and was def a bit intoxicated from the alcohol provided to us by the time Justin Vernon returned to perform a "Skinny Love" solo encore, one of the few Bon Iver songs that I do recall. The company stopped providing alcohol for our skybox package not long after Moda Center reopened for concerts/events again, sadly.

 

[Nee Lewman]

Day 2

April 25, 2011
Durham Performing Arts Center

Bert Jansch opened.

My daughter and I went. She was the ripe old age of 14. She patiently watched Mr Jansch.

Then Neil came on stage and started out acoustic. My daughter didn’t recognize the first couple of songs.

When he started Down by the River, one of her faves, I went to go hey, you know this one and she was fast asleep and remained that way through the rest of the show.


Neil Young - Time Fades Away

 

[Nee Lewman]

Day 3

Witchcraft was the first dance at our wedding reception. I had a print made with the lyrics for our first anniversary.

Frank Sinatra - All the Way

 

[Nee Lewman]

Day 3

Witchcraft was the first dance at our wedding reception. I had a print made with the lyrics for our first anniversary.

View attachment 186342Frank Sinatra - All the Way

View attachment 186343

My wife requested our other song. We did not feel this song was appropriate for the first dance. However, I was in fact our DJ. So this one played later in the evening.

Up On Cripple Creek

The Band - The Band