It’s been a while since I’ve done an unboxing video, but I knew this record would be a great one to unveil on YouTube. Watch below to see the gorgeous vinyl for The Decemberists’ new album, I’ll Be Your Girl, hear a snippet of the best track on the record, and listen to me ramble on about my love for this band.
It’s time again, time for looking back at the year in music and trying to distill it into a list of the best albums that 2017 had to offer.
This was an incredible year for music. There were so many wonderful new albums that I could hardly keep up. I kept a list of albums released that I enjoyed, and that list ended up being 76 albums long. And those are just the ones I felt were noteworthy. As I’ve been reading various publications’ year-end lists, I’ve been struck by how many albums I hadn’t even listened to yet. I might never catch up on 2017. But that’s okay, because I’ve got plenty of music to keep me busy.
Without further ado, here are my top 25 albums of 2017:
25. Partner, “In Search of Lost Time”
24. Alvvays, “Antisocialites”
23. Gordi, “Reservoir”
22. Diet Cig, “Swear I’m Good at This”
21. Julie Byrne, “Not Even Happiness”
20. St Vincent, “Masseduction”
19. Palehound, “A Place I’ll Always Go”
18. Offa Rex, “Queen of Hearts”
17. Marika Hackman, “I’m Not Your Man”
16. Jay Som, “Everybody Works”
15. MUNA, “About U”
14. Allison Crutchfield, “Tourist in This Town”
13. Aimee Mann, “Mental Illness”
12. Stars, “There is No Love in Fluorescent Light”
11. Girlpool, “Powerplant”
10. The New Pornographers, “Whiteout Conditions”
9. The Dove & The Wolf, “I Don’t Know What to Feel”
8. Adult Mom, “Soft Spots”
7. Big Thief, “Capacity”
6. Julien Baker, “Turn Out the Lights”
…and check out my video below for my top 5 of 2017!
I had a wonderful trip to the Pacific Northwest last month. I visited record stores in Portland, Eugene, Beaverton, Olympia, and Seattle. I found something to buy at almost every shop I checked out, and my DJ bag was stuffed when I returned home. Not only did I find some incredible things on my trip, but I came home to some VCLT from one of my YouTube buddies. The vinyl community is truly a wonderful place.
Check out the video below to see what I’ve added to my collection!
The Vinyl Hysteria crew is off to the Pacific Northwest for some good ol’ record shopping. While we’re gone, the site won’t be updated, but we’ll be posting plenty from our Instagram and Twitter accounts. Follow us there, if you don’t already, so you can keep up with our travels and our vinyl finds.
It’s been a pretty good week for new releases. We got new tunes from The National, Prawn, Florist, P!nk. We even got a new track from a favorite of mine, Tori Amos, though I can’t say I’m crazy about the song. It feels too sterile, too produced, to hit me in the gut the way Tori normally does. And I suppose you could say the same for the new P!nk track — it is fairly predictable, a standard pop tune. But her voice is strong enough to pull me in.
If you haven’t had a chance to check any of these songs out, give ’em a listen. And happy Friday!
The National – Carin at the Liquor Store
Florist – Glowing Brightly
Prawn – North Lynx
P!nk – What About Us
Tori Amos – Up The Creek
I’ll be back in the PNW in a couple of weeks, and by some crazy awesome luck, I’ll also be seeing two fantastic bands perform while I’m there: Filthy Friends, and Wimps. When I booked my airfare eight months ago, I hoped that there would be some good shows taking place while I was out that way. There’s always great music happening in Portland and Seattle, but I didn’t expect to see some of my faves. When I found out Filthy Friends (the supergroup headed by Corin Tucker and Peter Buck) was performing in Eugene, I grabbed tickets. We’d planned a day in Eugene anyway to check out the local record shops, so it worked out perfectly. And then I found out Wimps would be opening for them — hooooo, that’s gonna be a good show.
Also, last time we were in Portland, we were supposed to go see Wimps, but then some assholes broke into our house back home and we had to fly out immediately. So this makes up for us not getting to see them last time.
For those readers who don’t know these bands, here are some tunes you can check out.
Wimps – Repeat
Filthy Friends – The Arrival
Wimps – Old Guy
(yeah, this might be me at the show that night)
Filthy Friends – Despierta
Wimps – Couches
By Laura S. Marshall, contributing writer
On March 21, 2016, a keening sound rose into the air over Canada as music lovers learned that that summer’s Wolfe Island Music Festival had been cancelled. Fans and artists alike worried that the small but passionately beloved festival was gone for good: No more basking in music from favourite bands under the extra-blue skies of Marysville, Wolfe Island, Ontario? No more discovering new favourites to follow after the fest? No more communing with fellow festivalgoers? We all went into mourning.
Artistic director Virginia Clark promised it was a hiatus, not a permanent goodbye, but it was hard not to wonder: Would WIMF really ever return?
Well, we can all rejoice, because it’s back! And it’s soon. The festival will be held Friday and Saturday, Aug. 11 and 12, in Marysville, Wolfe Island, Ontario.
This is a special fest. It’s held on a baseball diamond in a small village on an island where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario. You take a 20-minute ferry ride from Kingston, Ontario, and walk or bike (or drive your camper) a couple blocks to the site. You get to camp on the grounds, if you want, so you can live a night of musical magic and then cuddle up under the summer stars; alternatively, you can take the ferry back to Kingston and crash on a friend’s couch (or in a hotel or rental nearby). Everyone is friendly and carefree. And Clark brings in top-notch acts, from well-known artists to artists who will be well-known very soon. As the sun goes down, everyone revels in the music, the beauty, the connection.
Clark makes a point of bringing in Canadian musicians for the festival, and why not? Canada has always has a rich musical landscape. “It’s a large country, but a [small] music community,” she told the Queen’s Journal in a June 2017 article. “We support each other. It’s the only way it should be.”
Even better: Women and female-fronted bands comprise nearly half of this year’s lineup, which includes perennial Vinyl Hysteria favourites Land of Talk, Hannah Georgas, and Forty Seven Teeth. Here’s a peek at the artists:
FRIDAY, AUG. 11
The Waterkeeper Showcase: Swim Drink Fish Canada presents:
Flying V Productions presents:
Frontenac County presents:
Hand Drawn Dracula presents:
SATURDAY, AUG. 12
Oasis Juices presents:
Tickets and more information are available at www.wolfeislandmusicfestival.com.
I’m about to venture to the Pacific Northwest again, so I thought I’d finally get those clips from last year’s vacation posted. Watch below and follow the Vinyl Hysteria crew as we race through Portland and Olympia in search of cool vinyl and rare cassettes.
It’s almost time for my vacation in the Pacific Northwest, so I’ve been busy creating playlists of all my favorite PNW bands, and deciding what albums off my want list I’d like to look for when I visit all those amazing record shops in Portland and Seattle. I’ve had so much awesome ’90s music in my head that I thought I’d share a few of my favorites for this week’s Friday Five. Now, I could easily just lay down five Sleater-Kinney tracks, because you know they’re my favorite PNW band. But I’ll refrain. For now.
Bangs – S.O.S.
Dear Nora – You Are 26
Lois – The Trouble With Me
Team Dresch – Remember Who You Are
Beat Happening – Godsend
vinylhysteria.com 