As I promised 
There are other things in the vinyl corner I want to start discussions about. Will you join me?
First my selection for tonight. I promised to pick something not as big as the Stones. I hope I did well.
- Zebrahead – Get Nice
- Ludovico Einaudi – In A Time Lapse
- Triggerfinger – By Absence of the Sun
How did your love story starts?
But first things first! I believe there is a bigger group of vinyl lovers here on Steemit than we could possibly imagine. Why are all you people listening to vinyl? I will start my story about how I got to the beautiful world of music on vinyl.
I believe it was in the last month of 2013 I bought my turntable. I lost fun listening to music. Selecting songs from my Ipad didn’t work for me. Skipped way too many songs after seconds of playing only searching for better sound quality and better and better and still not satisfied. I started to choose songs from my Ipad because I needed to sell my CD collection. Don’t ask why not important for this story. I sold it and there I started to stream FLAC files for my musicnights. I couldn’t find the pleasure of listening anymore… So, I was already searching for many, many months where I lost my pleasure of listening music. Till that moment some things just happen, and life brings you beautiful things
Approx two months before I bought my turntable Iwas invited by a friend. She said why don’t you join me to a party from a friend of mine. We will have a singer/songerwriter playing his songs live in the livingroom, and you’ll know a lot of people from the Racoon concerts. That night I joined my friend to the party. The singer/songwriter turned out to be Collin Hoeve. Playing very good and I still love the guy his music. Go listen to him on Spotify or say Hi on Facebook from me.
Audience listening to Collin (I'm the guy in the left corner with the yellow t-shirt). Isn't music beautiful as you see those people dreaming away
But the best part of the evening… the wall with vinyl’s. The host Hilde said to me why don’t you return later when there is no party, so we can listen to vinyl. Well that’s where I got lost in this beautiful world. Later she joined me on my tour for the search of a new turntable. We ended that day in the shop of Rik Stoet in Den Haag. Rik explained me everything I wanted to know, he was telling with passion and a lot of patience. We stayed the whole afternoon and evening (way beyond closing hours) in his room listening to different players, on different sets, with different albums from artist I know pretty well. He didn’t even bother to open the plastic seal from new records so that I could listen to them. The players I listened to that day where from Pro-ject, Takumi, Rega, Michell and Clearaudio.
After that day, I started to think what kind of budget I have for this new adventure. I fell in love with the sound the Pro-ject turntable produced. So, I needed to choose the more expensive player I liked more because of the looks (the RPM series), or a player with a better element. All the Pro-ject players I listened to with an Ortofon Red and a Blue element. This so I could make a choice according to my budget. I choose the cheapest player with a more expensive element and a carbon tonearm and an acrylic platter. Was it the best? By far not I think. But I liked the combination of all things when I returned to the shop, telling Rik I made a choice, and asked if I could listen to the combination of all these elements again. No problem at all he said. After listening that day, I returned home with a new turntable. First night I only had two vinyl’s, but there was a smile while listening to them I lost long time ago. The beginning of a new love story.
One of the two vinyl’s brought me to the idea of writing this “how did my love for vinyl started” part. That was the album from Zebrahead – Get Nice.
Zebrahead – Get Nice
It’s the first ever album Zebrahead produced on vinyl. Lucky for me Zebrahead plays a lot of shows in the Netherlands. This year they played the Halloween show at the end of October. Hey you notice the timing? 😉 I bought the vinyl at their show and got it signed by the band.
Back to the record. I think around the release of this album the band was already fifteen years playing together and still going strong. The Californian punkrockers know how to record a catchy punk/rap combination at a high level. Too bad in the Netherlands, they’re no big well known public band. Even Get Nice didn’t change this. They are here the one hit wonder with the song Playmate of the Year. Does that make Get Nice less fun? Not at all!
It’s good to know the band returned to their own sound. Their last album with covers from female artist fitted into a new punkrock jacket was fun but the band is better at creating their own unique songs. Are they original after eight albums? Think not, but this is real poppunk the best you can get, from Offspring and Greenday levels.
The album opens with two decent nothing special catchy punk tracks. The ones from the tunes you can sing along with after you hear them one or two times. But Black Out has some energy I bet you can’t sit still on a chair while listening to this! Nothing Too Lose follows this recipe. Think these songs qualifies for some #RAK themed songs. Think everyone hearing these songs starts humming or singing along with them. Perfect musing for the perfect mood while doing good things for other people.
She don’t wanna rock starts a little different, this tracks tries to cover some 80’s themed rock songs with some great lyrics.
The song after this one, shows usZebrahead is still growing after all those years. Songs with the real Zebrahead sound but other styles introduced, like a sniff of Ska, pop or Hardrock.
But their growth is not from epic proportions like they showed to us on the Phoenix album.
But there it is the title track, and it stands out of the crowd. At my first listening of this record, I can’t sit on my chair anymore. I need to get up and shout some whoo-oo-oo! 🤘🕺
From here it’s getting better and better with the whoo-oo-oo’s. with songs like Nudist Priest and I’m definitely not gonna miss you. And the best songs of the album still needs to come along. Once you get to Demon Days, you’ll be jumping through your room shouting all along with the best song from the album. I can imagina when you throw a houseparty and you put this album on repeat I don’t think anyone would mind? Zebrahead shows that you don’t need coarse language to show the audience you have some hair growing on your chest. Zebrahead plays a little safe on this album but the level they’re playing is high very high! If you don’t know them maybe just start listening to Phoenix, otherwise you’ll have great fun while listening to this album.
Spotify
Tracklist
Blackout
Nothing To Lose
She Don't Wanna Rock
Ricky Bobby
Get Nice!
The Joke's On You
Nudist Priest
Galileo Was Wrong
Truck Stops And Tail Lights
I'm Definitely Not Gonna Miss You
Too Bored To Bleed
Kiss Your Ass Goodbye
This Is Gonna Hurt You Way More Than It's Gonna Hurt Me
Demon Days
Light Up The Sky
A Freak Gasoline Fight Accident
Ludovico Einaudi – In A Time Lapse
I needed some rest after Zebrahead so what better than some modern classical music from a Stainway piano composed and played by an Italian minimalist. I’ve seen Ludovico Einaudi once at the Jazz festival from Ghent. And I’ve never seen an audience to be so quiet at a concert. But Einaudi almost don’t speak with its audience so why not listen to the record at home!
Think his most popular album is In A Time Lapse. Why is this? I think he knows what his audience wants not too much, just enough to keep things interesting. No complexity in his composed songs. I think he likes orchestral finery, but he keeps it simple in his heart. During the play of the album one melody line dominates the tracks from this album. Einaudi makes you think composing this kind of music is easy. But the master himself really shows us that composing is really difficult by just staying at a minimal. All the life from the tracks comes from that one melody that dominates this album without you even noticing it. Isn’t that real art?
Although in A Time Lapse is far from an easy sunny ride through the Italian Alpes. Einaudi tries to combine the dark with the light. Just listen to the track Newtons Cradle with it’s electronic beats and put on life afterwards that shows us happiness and innocence but these songs are on the same album. The best is they push each other to greater heights. What these songs shows us is that Einaudi knows how to use all those different dynamics at their best. He will bring his audience from the softest piano tones to complete battle scenes and switches fluently between them.
Where he shows this at his best is the track Run. It has only a few notes and he implemented this in an environment where the silence prevails. Although Einaudi has incorporated a stylish spectacle in the composition at the same time dominated by the whole instrumental family of strings. Goosebumps all over while listening to this!
Spotify
Ludovico Einaudi – In A Time Lapse
Tracklist
Corale
Time Lapse
Life
Walk
Discovery At Night
Run
Brothers
Orbits
Two Trees
Newton's Cradle
Waterways
Experience
Underwood
Burning
Triggerfinger – By Absence of the Sun
It’s Friday night and Belgium is playing against Brasil in the Worldcup so I couldn’t end this night without listening to the best dressed and loudest playing band from Belgium. It’s Triggerfinger ofcourse! With they’re fourth album By Absence of the Sun the band shows us they’re still growing. The band is from the city of Antwerp where I’m living nearby. So I watched them playing already many times live on stage. Maybe you don’t like their music on your set at home. But promise me, when you have the chance you got to see them perform live!
They open with the track Game with screaming guitars all along YEAH!! Every band wants a song like this to open their album with. Everything comes together in this song, the vocals and the hard noise produced by some guitars and drums. It’s just A GAME!
From the opening track we go to the first single from this album. After the opening this songs starts slowly but with a nice rhythm. The bassline melts together with the vocals, on a good sound installation this is so nice to turn up the volume.
With the next track these guys have another song that’s not sounding like anything you’ve heard before from them. They continue with those little unexpected gems, the band continues to create their own unique sound.
Get in there with a chair and a whip and let it crack, Oh loose behavior! There it is total panic with Black Panic. This is the best track from the album in my eyes. Wild and low bass sounds reach your ears and then they got their eyes on you.
After this all the daylight will be gone in your eyes and the groovy songs will continue singing about stuff that never sees any daylight at all. Darkrooms, woman. The craving for the better and the pleasure.
One moment to catch some breath at Halfway there. This songs shows the capabilities of this band. Without any loudness at all they can create beautiful weird songs, while the lyrics dig deeper and deeper.
The way these guys make some noise well it’s just a PERFECT MATCH!
PS. Did you hear the strike of a match at the end of the Perfect Match track? Just a signal to set everything on fire while performing live on stage. Rock on! 🤘
PPS. Belgium did win that night! ⚽ 🎉
Spotify
Triggerfinger – By Absence of the Sun
Tracklist
Game
Perfect Match
By Absence Of The Sun
Big Hole
Off The Rack
Black Panic
There Isn't Time
And There She Was Lying In Wait
Splendor In The Grass
Halfway There
Trail Of Love
Masters Of All Fears
I hope you will enjoy reading this piece of work as much as I did while listening to these albums dear Steemians.
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