This week, we popped down and chatted to the lovely people who run the store and asked them about their favourite record and what it means to them.
You Forgot It In People
Broken Social Scene
“When I came across ‘You forgot it in people’ it felt like I’d come home. At that time I was 17 and experimenting with a lot of sub-genres, but to this day I still feel like it’s the perfect mesh of all the different elements of the music I love. It was released by Canadian indie collective Broken Social Scene, and despite most of the members of this band coming from noisy, artsy, musical backgrounds, when they join forces – something magical happens. You’re flung straight into an explosion of energy and infectious optimism right from the beginning (see ‘KC Accidental’) yet the delicate lulls in-between create room for inescapable tenderness and intimacy (see ‘Lover’s Spit’). This band has up to a whopping 19 members, they say ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’, but BSS are clearly the exception to that rule. This album resounds togetherness, a perfect musical broth.”
– Amy Prosser
Stranger In The Alps
Pheobe Bridgers
“My actual favourite record of all time is Vespertine by Bjork but I wanted to pose with Bridgers because it has been such an important record to me and so many of my friends over the last couple of years. It is so intimate and honest and cool and I’ve shared some absolutely lovely, memorable times with some of my very favourite people listening to her and watching her perform the songs live since late 2017. Now it affects me like no other record ever which is high praise indeed and totally valid in this case. It reminded me how special listening to music can be.”
-Matthew Boycott-Garnett
Spiderland
Slint
“I’ve chosen this record in particular because I think a great band or artist shows their worth by doing two things. One is whether you can feel the authenticity of it, second is if the work somehow manages to create its own world which I think Spiderland does spectacularly. It’s like a Bela Tarr film or some dark modernist poetry but made by for virtually anonymous dudes with guitars. It’s terrifying, weird and yet simultaneously beautiful. There are few listening experiences quite like this one.”
– Kane Martin
Plantation Lullabies
Me’shell Ngedeocello
“One of my all-time heroes is a prolific writer/bass player and poet Me’shell Ndegeocello. I’d only heard Ndegeocello’s heavier hip-hop work and couldn’t believe how funky she could go when I found this record. The blend of old and contemporary RnB is so fluid throughout, as is that careless, sexy, tongue-in-cheek attitude that the 90s was so unique for. Whenever I play “Call Me” in a set, every head starts nodding and it’s a joy to watch. This album is absolutely one for the lovers, but it should be an all-time household classic in its own right.”
– Pops Roberts
Ys
Joanna Newsom
“Ys is a true modern masterpiece. Produced and partially recorded by the legendary Van Dyke Parks and Steve Albini respectively, the album is a sonic fairy-tale with masterfully crafted lyrics and music. This album completely blew me away with overwhelming emotion when I first heard it. Effortlessly transporting you from beatific heights to abject despair as the stories unfurl alongside Newsom’s masterful harp playing supported by lush instrumentation and backing vocals from her sister and the wonderful Bill Callahan. The vinyl itself is a work of art also, with a beautiful medieval-style cover reminiscent of Elizabeth I’s “Armada Portrait” and inside the gatefold, the lyrics are displayed, complete with illustrations over several pages. Whilst in Sydney, I was homeless sleeping in a park because I chose to go see Joanna Newsom perform at the opera house instead of using the money for a hostel, one of my best decisions I have ever made.”
– Matthew Proctor
X-Static
Hall & Oates
“The mighty Hall & Oates had a run in the ’70s that could rival anyone’s, and I could have picked a number of their LPs. I went for the one that has the supreme banger of ‘Portable Radio’ on it, a tune so great my band is named after it. Like choosing a favourite anything, I’d completely changed my mind five or six times in the literal minute that followed my photo being taken. It could have been David Wiffen’s eponymous LP. It could have been Outkast’s ‘Stankonia’. It could have been a million things, but let’s singalong with “I don’t want to hear no static – I don’t want to hear no jaw – put them platters on automatic, I cannot get enough.”
– Mof Gimmers
1989
Taylor Swift
“I’m an unashamed pop nut and for me, this record represents pure pop at its very best and the 1980’s synth undertones are also a total pleasure too. Taylor has evolved from a pop princess to an all-around megastar over the past few years of her career and I’ve loved every minute of it, from the folky beginnings of her timeline to the ballads of modern-day Swift. ‘1989’ casts her in her rawest form, no strings attached, no power moves, no bravado, no customer changes, it’s Taylor to the core.”
– Andrea Horrocks
Hotel California
The Eagles
“I’ve gone for an album that, for me, comes with an emotional tie. ‘Hotel California’ reminds me of being twelve years old and driven around the countryside by my Dad on little adventures. My brother and I would stare mesmerised by the view out of the window with this, The Beatles’ ‘Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and anything on Stiff Records (Madness, Kirsty MacColl, The Pogues) as our soundtrack. I fell for the variance that plays throughout the LP – although I didn’t know what the meanings of the tracks really meant – I admired the compassion and themes that each song conjured up in my head. So, of course, it was what I started off my record collection with. This record for me is more of an accolade to the man that introduced me to music and planted the seed in my head – thank you, Dad!”
– Hannah Tinker
