Having a record player again has allowed me to rediscover a collection of albums that have sat in storage for over twenty years. Recently I listened to a record by Ride, a shoegaze band I loved in the early 90s. When I took the vinyl out of the sleeve (decorated with penguins walking around in snow), a piece of paper fell out with the autographs of all of the band members. My friend Homay and I saw them perform when they came to Providence, Rhode Island in 1991. The venues in that town were so small and we quickly realized that if we hung out in the club after the performance, the band would eventually come out. The division between star and audience had dissolved and everyone was free to just talk. I remember thinking that the lads of Ride were very nice. They were young. They asked us how old we were. I remember answering "19". One of the guys from the band eventually joined Oasis. Maybe it was Andy.
As much as I love the music of Ride and My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain, I found that it's not particularly suited to my little portable record player. All the feedback and distortion gets contained in the little speakers and the wall-of-sound fails to unfurl. What does sound great however, is music with a clear vocal melody. More treble-centric music. Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66 sounds great. Lani Hall's voice chimes through like sunlight. I played their record one morning and kept it playing while I showered so that Rosie could enjoy the music. I couldn't tell from her facial expression whether or not she had a preference for music played on phonographs.
There's not a lot of preference expression range in Rosie's face, I fear. I, on the other hand, have been adoring getting to know my favorite music all over again on the turntable. I'm staying with my friends here in London (you know, G&G), and am so loving playing everything from Roxy Music and The Seekers and Hall & Oates to Robert Wyatt and PJ Harvey and Roger Miller and Kate Bush and...
ReplyDelete