Summer Vinyl 2017!
The first half of 2017 is coming to a close, which means it’s time to decide on a vinyl record to get. After a while of thinking about what criteria to use, I finally came up with a solution I like:
Lasting Impression: This title (and the vinyl) will henceforth go to any album released in the previous year that exceeded listening expectations set at the time. An album worthy of leaving a Lasting Impression usually takes a bit of time to grow on me, but once it does it becomes a previously-underrated classic.
With all of that in mind, the Lasting Impression Vinyl 2017 is:
Noname - Telefone
Listen here
The Chicago rapper most well-known from her features on Chance the Rapper albums released her own mixtape last summer, which made it to my 2016 top 10--but this year I’ve been listening to it probably more than any of the other records on the top 10 combined. Noname’s knack for poetic lyricism and flow, combined with the gentle, wavy R&B/electronica production style, makes this one of the kindest rap records ever made, shattering many common stereotypes about rap music. I’ve since used Telefone to break those stereotypes in some of my friends, the end result being a newfound appreciation for the genre. That alone gives Telefone a special place in my heart--but there are so many songs on here that are so damn soulful and groovy and catchy, that I can’t help but listen over and over again myself. For all of these reasons, Telefone is my Lasting Impression Vinyl for 2017--
Wait a second. They don’t sell Telefone on vinyl? That really sucks!
Time for vinyl plan B, which I’ve appropriately named Side B.
Side B: For any record that isn’t offered on vinyl, a replacement record will be bought from 10 years ago. This allows me to build my collection of favorite classics as well as modern records, and my collection doesn’t just have to be a bunch of second-bests.
The Side B year is then 2007: when iPhones threw the world into a new era of portable tech, YouTube was at the apex of its first golden age of viral videos, and I was a dorky kid in elementary school listening to classic rock while my friends jammed out to the new Fall Out Boy and Paramore albums. It took me a while after that to get into modern music as much as I am now, and since then I’ve realized 2007 as one of the more remarkable years in music of the new millennium: LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, and many others all dropped projects still hailed as classics. For me, however, one of these albums was a favorite even from the very beginning of my indie days:
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Listen here
Nothing quite fuels a high-school cynical angst binge like good ol’ Modest Mouse. The songs in this album range from upbeat and even groovy little diddies to long, multi-movement laments, but they’re all riddled with eccentric and elaborate guitar work and uniquely intense lyrics that’ll make anyone consider following nihilism. One of my favorite songs ever was and still is Parting of the Sensory, the song that got me into this band and the best memento mori anyone could put into song form. I also adore how much the band’s sound ranges between classic, angry Modest and gentler, indier Modest in a pretty even mix. This album isn’t AOTY material to many, especially with such strong competition in 2007--heck, this isn’t even the best Modest Mouse album--but it’s my favorite album of the year, and that’s all it needs to be my Side B Summer Vinyl.