The Vinyl Thread

[w/o horse]

Perfunctory caveat concerning potential pre-existing thread, rationalization for topic being a lack of functioning search feature.

So. . .'bout a couple months ago I remember a slew of people saying things like "I would post at Xixax more but I've really been into music more lately" and I remember also thinking how bizarre that sounded, but since late-Feb and a gift of a new 120gig. iPod the same thing has happened to me, kind of.

It's more like the theaters have been in their usual early year slump and I have that new iPod and that's the way it goes.  I also bought a record player and made this topic.

Pretty soon this is coming:



with these limited exclusives:
Iron and Wine - full live disc, Tom Waits/Lucinda Williams split - Live 7", Pavement - full live album (LP), Sonic Youth/Beck - split 7", Gaslight Anthem - Live at Park Ave 10", Magnolia Electric Co. - 7", Mutemath - CD EP, Misfits - Walk Among Us LP, 7" series featuring Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, & Bob Dylan, My Morning Jacket - live CD/LP, Sublime 7"

Mmm.  I'm going to try and grab a couple of those, if I can.

What records do you own that you listen to frequently and also what records do you own that are like long oop and you are very pleased to have and also what records are still in-print and you would like to talk about, etc?

I can list my entire record collection very easily:

Nerves - One Way Ticket
Mike Watt - BallHog or Tugboat?
Black Lips - Let it Bloom
Boston - s/t
Palace Brothers - There is No-One What Will Take Care of You
Kinks - One for the Road
David Bowie - Scary Monsters
Songs: Ohia - s/t
Guided by Voices - Propeller
and some Fucked Up 7"s

[w/o horse]

Oh yes and where do you purchase yours?

[RegularKarate]

Off the top of my head, here are a few I listen to and enjoy:

Okkervil River: The President is Dead EP/ The Stage Names/ The Stand Ins
Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Order / Out of The Blue / Discovery
Patton Oswalt: Feelin' Kinda Patton
Ted Leo/ Zach Galifinakus split EP: Rock'n'roll Dreams/ Up In Them Guts
Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited / Blood on the Tracks
Shit load of Queen and the Beatles.

[Bethie]

my older siblings loaned me a bunch of their records several years ago but the only one I ever really listened to was a live Bruce Springsteen record. I listened to it like every single day. I can recite all the stories he told before going into a new song. "my mom wanted me to become an author..my dad wanted me to become a lawyer. get a little something in my life theyd say....what they didnt know is i wanted everything"

I don't have a record player now and I've been wanting one. I made a phone call to a local record shop a few days ago asking prices. I'm hoping to find one cheap/used instead of one of those fancy new ones they sell at Target.

[tpfkabi]

I got my dad's console stereo he bought in the mid 80's - we used to love to jam the Top Gun theme on that (6 speakers/3 on each side) and it sounded sweet. It's a dual cassette/radio/record player. I guess I had broken off the needle at some point. Then this cat named Richard Swift started releasing these vinyl only singles so I got my dad to track down a new needle and started buying vinyl some.

I really don't buy expensive records, most are $5 or less, but I will buy the occasional totally new record if it's an exclusive thing.

There is one cool used vinyl/cd/etc store in both of two local towns that I go to sometimes and look around.

I think my happiest find - and most expensive other than some new deluxe thing - was an original copy of Pet Sounds - the kicker is that it's not the Mono mix, but the 'faux' Stereo Capitol did at the time. You can still hear the Mono if you pull the faders down on one side though. 

Revolver is my favorite so that is probably the next record I would be really happy to see if not at a ridiculous price and the original Parlophone version, not the US with alternate tracklisting.

[The Perineum Falcon]

The most frequently spun record at my house is the soundtrack to Un Homme et Une Femme, it's really just too pleasing not to be played, especially when a nice, quiet atmosphere is in order. Edith Piaf always follows.

I inherited my dad's records, which among his collection of Eagles records (like every goddamn one, what the fuck), he gave me Elton John's Don't Shoot me, I'm Only the Piano Player and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. He'd had more records at one point, but he let my uncle borrow them who then sold them/gave them away.
From my mother I inherited an assortment of Motown, Elvis and.... Streisand.

We used to have a couple of shops here in town: Riffs was great (but then closed) and then Flip Side (but then went out of business). So, when in the mood to hunt, my friends and I will drive all over town hitting up all the Goodwills, Salvation Armies, and general Thrift Stores. We've all come away with some pretty decent finds. I, myself, claim among others:

Cat Stevens - Teaser & the Firecat, Tea for the Tillerman
Elton John - Mad Man Across the Water
an early Johnny Cash record
some Emmylou Harris
Hall & Oates - Rock & Soul, Pt. 1
Billy Joel - The Stranger
Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits, 1 & 2 (though, I must admit, I went away for a week to London - desperately searching for Blonde on Blonde, which I never found. When I came back, I'd discovered that my friend hath found it - mint condition - at a fucking Goodwill.)
Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love
and Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme; Wednesday Morning, 3 a.m.; Bridge Over Troubled Waters

I've also held on to some Led Zepplin albums, some Beatles, etc. from my friends who've left them over at my house.
I'm hoping that they will forget about them.

[hedwig]

the coolest one i have is an album called "Great Classical Themes from Clockwork Orange." i don't know if it's an official release, but it's got an amazing cover showing alex's Beethoven bust superimposed over a woman's breasts. it's GREAT. i can't find a picture anywhere online or any information about it at all, really.

[Neil]

I recently dug out some old records. I hadn't had the nerve to go through all my dad's shit that was in storage, and now i fully regret that.  I have about 120 of his records but, stacks of like 7 or 8 recieved flood damage.  I considered trying to steam them to get them to come apart.  I'm not sure what approach to take, i highly doubt there is even anything i can do, it's probably way beyond fixing, but there are too many good albums to just start ripping them apart. any suggestions?


Rubber soul is stuck to axis: bold as love.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg

[Jefferson]

I considered trying to steam them to get them to come apart.  I'm not sure what approach to take, i highly doubt there is even anything i can do, it's probably way beyond fixing, but there are too many good albums to just start ripping them apart. any suggestions?

my dad would probably know, if i recall correctly he was a dj before god was born and i remember the huge cases of records he had when i was a kid. i should be seeing him tomorrow and i'll ask what he thinks.


as for me, i've been playing the shit out of tea for the tillerman by cat stevens lately. maybe its the harold and maude connection but whatever it is im loving it.

[Neil]

thanks, i appreciate it.  I tried a few different approaches on some of the records that i didn't really care for.  None of them worked out well.  So, other than that, I can move on from the covers being damaged, i still have the records.  So, as for mold, i did a google search on how to clean of mold and shit, and there were so many different techniques and each person swore that it was the only way to do it.  There was this asshole at vintage vinyl, who pretty much told me (without seeing them) that the records with mold, and water damage were useless.  So, i was curious if anyone knew some good cleaning methods to get these in better shape? I played let it be and it had some shit on it, and i read not to wipe shit off with my shirt, needless to say it played fine with the mold or whatever on it.  I just need to take care of it before it gets worse!

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

I'm not an expert, but I love records and as far as I know, there is no way to salvage them due to their nature of being made of wax and grooves.  I mean, hell, if they're positioned diagonal for too long, it can warp the sound.

If you find any methods to try, it couldn't hurt since otherwise you're SOL.

[Neil]

this is the aftermath of a few, some were salvageable, but some still have shit on the records, and i'm going to attempt to play them, and see how it goes, I've taken them out of the sleeves, to avoid any more molding.    The top ones were fine, Rubber Soul has some of the back ripped off.  When i ripped Revolver from the from of Let it be, it was one of the worst things i have ever had to do.  Destroying one of my favorite covers of all time.

I've read a few differerent techniques, and will post links here as soon as i find them, but i'm at least going to try those methods, do you think that they won't play with the mold?  or will it mess up my needle?

[tpfkabi]

tell me you have the US/Capitol versions and not the UK/Parlophone please...

[Neil]

Abbey Road has Her Majesty and Some say capitol on them, i couldn't find it on all of them. I'll keep looking. 

So, also, what i've done is try soap and water, i have anti bacterial dish soap, and i just rinse it off after and dry it softly with paper towel, it seems to work, i tried it on a few that i didn't care for, and they seemed to play ok.  Not that anybody is interested, but so far soap and water worker for me as getting mold off, and what looks like out of the grooves. i used the soft side of a dish pad and went with the grooves.