I didn't do any kind of 'end of year' post in 2018, and twelve months on I kinda regret it. The only real point of this thing these days is to serve as some kind of documentation of what I buy, and without the year-end wrap up it isn't easy to look back on a year in one handy post. So I made myself do one this year mainly so I can look back in the future.
This was a weird year for me and records. It felt like I bought fewer new releases than any other year. It also felt like I added fewer records to my collection than any other year. Both of these are partly due to the way I have been buying records the past few years. I seem to have fallen into a habit of buying records and having them shipped to a friend in the states, and then getting them shipped over months later, which means that I generally receive the physical copies of new releases months (or years!) after the release date. As a result, the timeline of this blog is all over the place. It seems like a long time since I used to receive new releases a few days after they came out and blog about them a couple of days later. So in some ways, my year-end look back has become less meaningful as the years have passed.
Regardless of the delay in receiving new releases, this year was generally a pretty good year. On the personal front, I took two large chunks of time out of work, and also had 4 holidays, meaning that I worked for 9 months of the year had a total of 3 months off.
Our house renovation also got finished, allowing me to fulfill a lifetime dream and get my very own record room... which was definitely one of the highlights of the year.
One of my 4 holidays was to NYC back in March so that I could see Into Another play again. The band were great, and I brought home circa 75 records, which gave me something to blog about for a while. But other than that trip and the records I received, I probably only received about 10 packages in the rest of the year. So this blog was pretty quiet for long periods of time.
Anyway, enough chit chat. Time to get on with the show...
MY FAVOURITE RELEASES OF 2019
When pulling together this list, I actually surprised myself, as I listened to more new releases in 2019 than I initially thought. But due to the way I buy records (as mentioned above), I don't actually have many of them on vinyl. In previous years, I have been pretty strict on only listening to records once I have the vinyl, but this year I changed that approach and just listened to stuff whether i had the vinyl or not, as I was pretty hungry for some new music. So I decided to do a list of my favourite new releases in two parts...
PART 1 - STUFF I HAVE THE VINYL FOR:
01. Magic Circle 'Departed Souls' LP (20 Buck Spin) 02. Cave In 'Final Transmission' LP (Hydrahead Records) 03. Morrissey 'California Son' LP 04. Stages In Faith LP (Quality Control HQ Records) 05. Tied Down 7" (Refuse Records / Sakari Empire) 06. Tørsö 7" (Revelation Records) 07. Dividing Line 7" (New Age Records)
Overall I've kinda cheated by doing two lists. It seemed easy to figure out which records were Number 1 on each list, although I'm not sure I could decide which of the two number 1s is my favourite. As for the rest of the entries, I could probably change the order on a weekly basis. In fact, as I look at it now it looks wrong, as I played Orville Peck way more than Payday. I guess this list more represents where I am with these things this week.
BEST PICKUPS
I picked up a lot of great and rare records this year. I also spent more on records this year than in any other year in my life. I guess there were a lot of opportunities that I couldn't say no to. Hopefully my bank account will be able to chill a bit in 2020. Anyway, it was difficult to pick a top 5 or top 10, so I just picked a bunch of records that I was super happy to add to my collection. There was a very clear number 1 in this list though...
STUFF I LISTENED TO A LOT IN 2019
This list could also be called 'stuff I don't have on vinyl but will probably get around to buying at some point in the future'.
Other than the stuff highlighted above, this list represents some of the stuff that I have spent time listening to that's old and that I only just got around to listening to in 2019 (and not bought on vinyl for various reasons) is:
Bad Brains 'Rise' & 'Quickness' LPs Black Sabbath 'Mob Rules' LP Drain 'Time Enough At Last' demo Jar 'Daylight' LP Zozobra 'Bird Of Prey' LP Saves The Day '9' LP Shook Ones 'Body Feel' LP
AND FINALLY...
I seriously have no idea how many people still read this thing, although I'm guessing not too many. I'm mainly doing this for myself these days, but I very much appreciate anyone who does still read this. It is nice to get comments and interact with people, albeit less than I used to. But if you are still reading this in 2019 (or 2020!), I thank you!
Now, onward to 2020...
15 comments:
Seeing Black Sabbath 'Mob Rules' on the list makes me love you even more than I already do.
Still follow and enjoy reading mate, especially as I move around a lot. Happy New Year!
always will read this.
Still reading and still enjoying. Thanks for keeping it going.
Still reading....
Still reading in 2020. Keep it going!
Always reading it
Keep going - still reading here although I rarely comment. I've kinda fallen away from the music you cover but I still enjoy reading what you post from the passion that comes through in your writing.
Stephen
Still reading!
Always a pleasure to check your blog -keep it up!
Same, still reading!
Glad you're still going strong after so many have stopped. I look forward to your updates on here as well as Instagram.
I'm just a random who stumbled on the blog a few years ago. While the Venn diagram our our taste in music is somewhat narrow, it's a good read. keep it up. - tdc
Been reading your blog for many years. Its really cool to come back to it time to time and catch up on posts. Keep it up.
THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR THESE COMMENTS! It is nice to know that some people are still interested.
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