July 2011 archives
Archive
July 30, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1909
The Clean, Mister Pop (2009) Mister Pop was one of the first brand-new albums I purchased on vinyl – I’d always purchased old (tried-and-true) albums but new material was – still – demoed on CD in most cases. But that changed with Mister Pop. Before the CD was sent to me to review I just [...]Archive
July 29, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1910
Stevie Wonder, Stevie Wonder’s Original Musiquarium I (1982) Released in 1982, this double-album celebrates Stevie’s wonder years (the 1970s) with 11 singles and one album cut. And to show it really was designed for the double-LP format (rather than the CD or iPod) each side features a brand new song. Four new cuts to close [...]Archive
July 28, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1911
Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (1969) It’s not my favourite Led Zeppelin album – that will come up later on in the Countdown – but it’s one of my favourites; it’s also the first Led Zeppelin original album I heard. My introduction to the band was the Remasters compilation. But somewhere along the line, some [...]Archive
July 27, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1912
The Smiths, Strangeways Here We Come (1987) This is my favourite album by The Smiths. I think it is their best collection of songs – in the sense that they stand alone and work together, in sequence, as (very much) an album. But, before you suggest that I should be picking other albums instead – [...]Archive
July 27, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1913
Deep Purple, Made In Japan (1972/1973) I’ve been listening to Made In Japan a wee bit lately, firstly via myPod and that sent me back to the original double-LP. The double live album – four sides of vinyl – was like a final exam for prog and metal bands in the 1970s. You released your [...]Archive
July 26, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1914
The Mockers, Swear It’s True (1984) My memory (the main one) of The Mockers was seeing a drunk Andrew Fagan on the New Year’s Eve TV specials back in the day when the TV stations closed down at midnight or thereabouts but sometimes went all the way through or at least until 2am on New [...]Archive
July 25, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1915
Terence Trent Darby, Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’arby (1987) My mum bought this album when it was released. The whole family became fans of Terence Trent D’arby (who was born Terence Trent Howard and now, naturally, goes by the name of Sananda Francesco Maitreya, renouncing TTD as dead; a victim of those [...]Archive
July 24, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1916
St. Vincent, Actor (2009) A late-late entry to the 2010 Wellington International Arts Festival was St. Vincent (played, as always, by Annie Clark). It was an amazing show – but hardly anyone knew about it or bothered or was able to turn up. She played to about a hundred people, maybe less. But she [...]Archive
July 24, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1917
Jaydiohead, Jay-Z X Radiohead (2009) The Jaydiohead project is one of many mash-ups to use Jay-Z’s record, The Black Album against a contrasting/incongruous musical background. Here it’s Radiohead. I picked it up for $15 on vinyl; call it a curiosity – but it works (most of it). It’s a fun thing to have in the [...]Archive
July 23, 2011 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1918
Paul Ubana Jones, Paul Ubana Jones (1988) I have all the Paul Ubana Jones albums – but I’m very pleased to have the self-titled debut on vinyl also; signed to me by Paul. I first saw Paul play when he had released Blessings And Burdens and I worked back through his catalogue from there. I’ve [...]Archive
July 22, 2011 by Simon Sweetman