Vinyl Report: Holiday Edition
Over the course of the Yuletide season I acquired several new records (not counting the milk crate full of my dad’s records, which my aunt had been holding onto for years – that deserves a post of its own) through some online orders and a fruitful trip to that old mainstay, Half Price Books.
Starting from top-left, working clockwise:
Kraftwerk – Autobahn (1974)
The first of two great finds at Half Price Books, and for less than six bucks! I had previously bought the 2009 reissue of Trans-Europe Express and loved it, so it seemed worth checking out, especially since it came with high praise from Jeff (whose opinion about music I generally trust). The 22-minute title track evokes the feeling of driving on the highway in that strange mechanical, electric, hypnotic way that Kraftwerk do so well, but it never feels like pure background music. The tracks on the other side are nice, though they seem focused more on atmospherics; they end up being a bookend to the title track, as if the listener had driven through the night and into the morning (“Morgenspaziergang”). Autobahn is great, though I think the band refined their direction and took it to another level on Trans Europe Express. If you’re a fan of German minimalism or early electronic music, you should definitely check this album out.
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies (2011)
I first heard of Phantogram on a RELEVANT magazine podcast, when one of the writers was talking about their favorite performers at last year’s Lolapalooza music festival. He gave high praise to their solid show, so I searched them out on Spotify and really dug what I heard (I mini-reviewed them in a previous music post). I picked up a copy at Hastings as a preemptive “end-of-projects” treat. The vinyl itself was pretty roughly-cut and had squarer edges than most records I’ve seen, but it was sturdy enough and sounded great playing on my stereo – definitely an improvement over web-streaming files on computer speakers. Eyelid Movies has fun, danceable moments and a mostly darker, laid-back tone, like if Portishead sampled hip-hop tracks instead of spy movies and lightened up a little bit.
She & Him – A Very She & Him Christmas (2011)
I will very openly admit that I have a huge crush on Zooey Deschanel – her opening vocals on “The Christmas Waltz” make me weak at the knees. The arrangements on the album are simple, sometimes even verging on bare, but it’s nice to hear Christmas songs that aren’t bursting at the seams with choirs, church bells, and other hallmarks of holiday overproduction. The record itself is printed on clear red vinyl, and the album credits come on a little Christmas card inside an envelope. Merge Records really made an effort to have this record feel like a 60s Christmas album – the outer jacket is super-flimsy, with a more solid inner sleeve for the record, just like some of the old Christmas albums I have from my granddad. Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas will always be my top Christmas album, but A Very She & Him Christmas is definitely going to be a permanent fixture of my Yuletide season.
Henry Mancini – Music from the Motion Picture “Charade” (1963)
Charade is one of Savannah’s favorite movies, so when I saw this record at Half Price Books I thought it’d make a fun addition to her collection. Henry Mancini, of course, is most famous for the Pink Panther Theme and various other TV and film scores, and known for that “cool 60s jazz” sound. The score for the film fits the tone perfectly – it’s fun and flighty with a dark edge. Interesting film fact: due to a goof on Universal’s part, the film did not have any copyright notice and thus entered public domain immediately on its release. Anyway, you can check out the opening title sequence here:
That’s all for now. Next up: books!
