Sunday, May 27, 2007

record shopping

It's ridiculous that my record collection still exists in two places, but unfortunately it's the case that the vast majority of my vinyl is still, years after moving out, at my parents' house. I'm there now and trying to work out what to bring home with me. So many records were bought over fifteen years ago and while the excessive amount of time I spent poring over the sleeves means I still remember how they look and feel, so often I forget what they actually sound like.

Just how good were The Jesus Lizard? Good enough to do a split single with Nirvana, so perhaps I should bring back one of their LPs. But then, I've got three albums by them, somehow, and a clutch of 7"s. Did I really love them, or something? Why so many? Why can't I remember which album was best, so I can just bring that one?

Did I just buy a ridiculous number of records by bands whose names I only dimly recognised from reading Melody Maker or Lime Lizard?

Yes, I did.

But I've got some great stuff to take home with me and it's a bit like record-shopping, only I get some new music and a momentary glimpse at a valued memory, all wrapped in one. Bargain.

2 comments:

Andrew Brown said...

The Jesus Lizard were great, at least in the early part of their career. I'd keep Goat which is probably their best album, and if you've got Lash that's worth keeping as well.

Jonathan said...

Excellent, good stuff Andrew, thanks for the advice. I've got both of those, yes, the latter being a very beautiful little pack of 7"s. I might end up keeping everything by the band, actually, mainly because I realised last night that all the albums are on rather exquisite coloured vinyl. Lovely.