Westwood Avenue (featuring Erin Rae)
Bachelorette Screams b/w Tennessee
scum stats: two versions, 25 copies on Wax Mage variant, the rest on pink (mine is pink)
HAPPY SEVEN YEARS OF RECORD OF THE WEEK WRITE-UPS!!!!!
Each anniversary here, I choose a record from the local Nashville label Soul Step. As a local vinyl focused label that is (essentially) a one-man operation.
I am disappointed in the missed opportunity to rhyme "bachelorette screams" with "Jason Aldean's" but otherwise, the a-side is a charming country ode to the "change" that has gone down in downtown Nashville, specifically the neon jungle of Broadway. Even more in the spirit is that Melvin, main man behind Soul Step, oversees a large corporate operation in the heart of Broadway and he described to me his release of this song as some quasi-payment of karmic debt to the situation.
Melvin explicitly said to me "I might only ever sell a handful of copies, but I just felt like I needed to put it out."
Having been in the game for nearly 25 years, shit, just this morning digging through decades old boxes of Cass Records backstock looking for a single copy of a record long-since declared unimportant by the masses of record buying public...I know the exact feeling. It's real. It motivates. It is arguably the reason I'm even here.
So while it seems like once a year is too infrequent to relay such a message, I will continue to relay it...SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDENT VINYL RECORD LABELS. They are not forever. They are not lucrative. They are not easy. They NEED it. They are imperative to the success of the overall vinyl (and music) ecosystem. Without small labels doing the leg work, taking chances, discovering the unknown...you don't ever get huge successes of the "next big things."
As a celebration of seven years of you folks continuing to read what I put here...I'm doing a giveaway. Post a comment here before Friday October 6th. Just make it good. Maybe it's about something YOU JUST HAVE TO DO. Maybe good equals funny. Maybe good equals emotionally heartbreaking. Maybe good is clever. You be the judge...until I be the judge.
Prize is...since I don't have anything specific sitting in my hands that makes me think that the winner will be all "oh boy oh boy oh boy!" I'm gonna call the winner, we're going to have a conversation about records and music and we'll decide, together, what record from the depths of my closet is commensurate with their award-winning commenting abilities.
25 wedding anniversary coming up on the 24th of this month. My wife has even started her own little collection of records as of late. Would love to be able to add something to her collection. Thanks
first time vault subscriber for the syd barrett box!
i love physical media, well, mostly records, books and cassettes. i have been trying to complete my jon spencer record collection. i have to have it.
7 years ago this month I proposed to my wife. Now we’re expecting our first child in the next few weeks. I look forward to the next 7 years as well, perhaps with a story to tell my child about a special record I received for their birth.
This year is 10 years of being a vault member for me. I started when I was 14 and was able to convince my mom to loan me the $6(5?)0 for the Jack White and The Bricks live on the Garden Bowl Lanes. And this is after about a year of asking her for money for the vault. I remember The White Stripes first shows at the Gold Dollar and the vault edition of Blunderbuss being particularly enticing to me. Anyways, I bring this up because so much has happened to me over 10 years, the most significant, however, is that I am transgender and have been transitioning for the past 2 years. Being trans is crazy because there’s such a dichotomy of what you feel is so different about yourself now and what has stayed absolutely the same. It’s incredibly difficult to describe to friends and family, like, I’m still the same kid you grew up with but also there’s so much you’ve never known about me. I’m very grateful to the friends and family in my life who have been so supportive of me. The reason I write this is because Third Man and The Vault are some of the things that will always stick with me. I’ll always be a fan, I’ll always be looking forward to what’s next, I’ll always support, and I’ll always find a way to scrounge an extra $75 every 3 months. Cheers to Third Man, Cheers to The Vault, Cheers to local labels, and thank god for trans people every day. We don’t got it easy that’s for sure. 🏳️⚧️
So the other night I had a dream I was sitting on the floor of a kitchen in an Italian restaurant, watching the chefs make stuffed shells, pizza, and other assorted goodies. While watching I was pawing handful after handful of nacho cheese Doritos into my mouth. I went to clean off the cheese dust from my fingers with my mouth, only to wake myself up to cheese dust free finger. I truly knew in that moment what Jamey Jasta of illustrious CTHC band Hatebreed meant when he said: “When I wake up, the real nightmare begins!”
In my opinion there are many mediums in music that are essential. First off, I am 61 years old. Vinyl records were how I first experiences my music. The tactful experience of holding it in your hands. The way a record ages and grows hisses and pops just like I grow wrinkles. Vinyl may not sound as clean as is one other mediums, it sounds real.
The other medium that is crucial to me is live music. So many things take place at a concert. You hopefully see the artist and pick up on what makes them tick. You see a one time only version of each song. But best of all to me is experiencing the audience. I love to look around and see others as they enjoy the experience. To see the arms waving and people dancing. Music is life.Seven years ago, we sat unaware of what would happen to our lives in a few short weeks. Seven years ago, I woke every day with tasks like – menu plan, and carpool children to musical practice, and internships, and the reminder to pray.
Seven years ago, I started making my desperate escape from a painful marriage, and seven years ago, I started to recover.
Lately I’ve been thinking about all the melodies Pavement has ripped off from other songs. It’s. A. Lot.
Unimportant to the record buying masses doesn’t necessarily mean unimportant. Some of my favorite things in the world are unimportant to everyone else – I think that the heart of the spirit of crate digging
Jerkin off is good and I just have to do it!