Erasure for Christmas?

When I found out Erasure were recording a Christmas album, I have to admit, I wasn’t very excited. In fact I was anticipating it being as bad as “Other People’s Songs”. Yet, as a sucker for a limited edition (I even subscribe to @sdedition twitter feed) I couldn’t help but order the deluxe box set of “Snow Globe” and boy am I glad I did. Not only is the box set one of the most thoughtful I’ve ever bought but the music is quite brilliant.

Firstly we should look at the music. Why does (what on paper) looks a terrible concept, work so well in execution? Well firstly Andy has truly found his inner choir boy. Tracks like “Silent Night” and “Silver Bells” work specifically because Andy sings them so well. Vince’s sparse arrangements seem to extenuate the beauty of the vocals yet remain imaginative and unique. Christmas related music makes up 75% of the album with the remainder taken up by fantastic new tracks such as “Loving Man” and “There’ll be no Tomorrow”. From first listen this album was good enough to even make this Scrooge feel Christmassy in November. The box set also features a second disc with remixes, acoustic versions and oddities plus a  third disc with a 'Radio Show'.

As you might expect, the 3000 box sets were only available for pre-order and are sold out. 

 

Losing my edge

Sometime in 2005 I was going to work on a night shift and for some inexplicable reason I tuned my car stereo to BBC Radio 1. This was strange as I never listened to this station normally and frankly, I haven’t listened to it since. But as I drove along that night, I heard a track titled “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” that was both weird and glorious; I loved it instantly. I bought LCD Soundsystem’s eponymously titled debut album as soon as I got access to Google and Amazon.

Over the next few years I bought “45:33” and “Sound of Silver” and found LCD Soundsystem were increasingly brilliant. By the time the glorious “This is Happening” was released I was truly engrossed by Mr Murphy’s music as it was a cunning mix of the sombre and the facile.

However, it became apparent that this was to be the last LCD Soundsystem album and by the time I went to see them live in the spring of 2010 we knew it was soon going to be over. I followed the break up of the group via their website with a mixture of disbelief and ambivalence.

Yet it is only when I watch “Shut up and play the hits” that I realise what a loss LCD Soundsystem are to the music world. Yes, we have the music and the memories, but to think a talent like James Murphy no longer has an output is quite sad. He says touring was ageing him and he wanted to get on with his life. Fine, stop touring if you have to, but please Mr Murphy, make some music. You’re too good not to.

Aventures in vinyl

I recently acquired a new turntable. Consequently I have spent quite a lot of time collecting new vinyl from a wide variety of sources. I have bought from eBay, collector web sites, charity shops, big chains like HMV and independent record shops all across the country.

I have bought ‘mint’ or ‘excellent’ records that look like they have been stored in a dust trap and conversely I have bought 30 year old vinyl that plays and looks as good as the day it was pressed. I have received flimsy 12” singles that I won for 50p wrapped in the sturdiest and most frustratingly secure packaging known to man. I have also received much anticipated eBay victories stuffed in a jiffy bag without a stiffener and its fate trusted to the Royal Mail (it turned up with a heavily creased sleeve but vinyl intact). I have bought record cleaning brushes, a new stylus, cartridge protractors and all kinds of protective covers. So what have I learned from all of this?

The remastered Kraftwerk LPs are by far the best I have bought

Modern remastered vinyl sells at a premium: Most modern pressings are often of a very high quality and that is reflected in the price. You get what you pay for I guess. The soundtrack to “Blade Runner” by Vangelis (2013) is £28-32 depending on where you shop, but is worth every penny. The remastered Depeche Mode (2007) and Kraftwerk (2009) LPs are fine examples of what is possible with brilliant mastering and virgin heavyweight vinyl but average out at £20 each. However….

Brand new 180g vinyl doesn’t guarantee quality: The reissues of Mike Oldfield albums such as “Crises” (2013) are lamentably inferior to the Kraftwerk repressings and quite disappointing. In 2011 Jean Michel Jarre’s first three LPs were released on vinyl for the first time in 20 years. Vinyl does have its limits and these releases highlight the compromises that must sometimes be made. The higher frequencies seem attenuated making the music sound dull, especially in tracks such as Equinoxe Part IV (with a terrible edit at the end of Part VII ruining the second side of the disc).

Not many people understand how to grade a second-hand record: When buying records, major suppliers and collectors use the system created by Record Collector Magazine. The average seller, who is often ignorant of the grading system, will commonly list a record as “good” when it should be graded as “excellent” and vice vesa. Buying vinyl on eBay from private seller is something of a minefield as a result. It took me 5 attempts to secure an “excellent” condition of one LP. Most people simply don’t refer to the condition of the record and this should be a warning!