saturday

saturday was a great. the sun was shining. weekend jobs were put off. a jaunt was called for. i went record shopping with a friend. bliss. that might not be everyones idea of fun. but. to me, it is. i am an old school girl. i remember the glory days of vinyl. the days where i used to save up my pocket money to go to the local record shop (the one that wasn't woolworths) to buy a record. as the local record shop has long since gone a trip to hmv was called for. again old school; i like to buy the cd. i know it's all about downloads now. but. there is something great about actually going to a shop and having the instant gratification of the record in your hands. no delivery to wait for. that to me will always be better than the tracks appearing on your computer screen. you never have the artwork in your hands. i'm way too sentimental for that. it makes me sad to think that one day it will be downloads only. my storage space will be freed up. but give me visually stimulating artwork any day.


so what did we buy? music i had never listened to before. in this day and age when you can check out online prior to buying with the likes of spotify or we7. i did neither. i listened to the radio. the actual radio. in my office the radio is mainly background music. every now and then tracks get through the quiet and arrest you. that's what happened with michael kiwanuka. his track i'm getting ready stood out. when i heard him do a live lounge performance. that was it. he was the winner of the bbcs sound of 2012. judging by this record. i am not surprised. brilliant. 

(of course the artwork might also have helped the impromptu purchase).

my second choice was emeli sande our version of events.  this voice came through the tv screen whilst flicking channels.

what a voice. what a talent. this girl trained to be a doctor before starting performing herself. she writes songs for others too. the sleeve note thanks read like a whos who. she also won awards this year; the brit awards critics choice. parts of this record bring to mind massive attacks blue lines. to me. that is no bad thing.

i bought both records blind. i am not disappointed.

my friend opted for records old and new. the old was saint etienne. the best of.  

(i quite like the packaging of this one too).

the new was broken bells.  i had been told about the project. found it unlikely. we listened on spotify. loved it. he bought it. on second listen i remembered a lot of the tracks. i love that. that's when you know you have good songs. the singalong factor at the second listen. when it happens at first listen, you know you have a keeper.

finally. thirty one. this was the reason for the record shopping trip. a birthday voucher to spend. this was the record that was selected to be the present. i was happy about that.

thirty one has been put together by the factory foundation in manchester on behalf of CALM (campaign against living miserably). it is a charity that aims to help reduce the suicide rate amongst men under the age of thirty five. i would urge you to buy this record not just because it has good tracks on. but. because it will help others. 

records purchased. car journey home. sun still shining. french doors flung open. glass of wine poured. now the marathon ripping of cds commences. and. scanning of barcodes into databases. (thats the sign of a modern record buying person).  the music and conversation continues late into the evening. musically stimulated. happy. content. i was glad i put the jobs off until sunday.

Emma