Get yer lugholes ready...

Live at Leeds is fast approaching us (1st May 2010 to be precise), and I'm writing a little preview for you which will be with you - um - as soon as I finish it. 

However in the meantime I made a Spotify playlist containing something from each of the bands who are playing the Saturday (the ones who have a Spotify presence anyway).

Whether you're planning on going to Live at Leeds or not, you could do worse than to click the link (in my humble opinion ;) )

Enjoy!

LiveatLeeds2010

A Vinyl Junkie's Sundrenched Dream

Inspiration
I've been having a little browse around the blogosphere today (yeuch, terrible word, who thought that up?) and happened upon fellow culture vulture contributor Ben Denison's Good Arrows, who does lots of inspiring creative stuff with Leeds' Hope and Social. This ties in nicely with some things I've been wanting to say about Record Store Day, for which I was queueing yesterday at the ungodly hour of 7.40am, outside Crash Records in Leeds, to buy VINYL. In 2010. And I don't even have a record player.

Record Store Day Queue - Leeds - 8am

Let me start at the beginning...
I've long loved packaging of music and its presentation - the more quirky or unusual the better. We never really had music on in the house when I was growing up - Terry Wogan over marmite on toast was about as avant-garde as it got. My mum didn't like my dad playing anything more risque (Ian Dury and Led Zep are all I remember) with us youngsters around, and Top of the Pops was banned for the same reason. I even remember covering my ears and crying when a 60s party compilation cassette was on in the car once - the music wasn't the sort of stuff Wogan played and I wasn't used to it; I didn't know how to react (I was only 7 in my defence). But I do remember poring over the inlay, and the brightly coloured drawings of the hip and groovy Austin Powers style scenesters partying on the front. And thinking wow. I can't stop looking at this.


I've never bought my own records (aside from a couple of awful 7"s that I demanded to be allowed, when 7"s were all anyone bought), and then when my dad moved out and took the record player with him, it was cassettes all the way. Not really getting out much when I was a teenager meant my life revolved around the radio and the cassettes I (sometimes) bought or (more usually) borrowed & copied from the library or my friends (yes kids, this was how we used to do illegal filesharing). 

Old-skool cassettes: side Ride

My choice of tapes was undoubtedly pretty pedestrian but I loved the artwork and attention to detail. Like a lot of people, I'd sit and listen to my new acquisition, staring at the packaging throughout the whole album - opening it, looking at the pictures, folding it back again, opening it up slowly, turning it round, trying to compute what the band wanted to convey. Had the artist made the words flow around the pictures? Were there any quirky details? (Side Drive / side Ride and trumpet silhouettes on the run-in were two of my favourites). This is something that's engaging, and priceless even, about physical format music. You get none of this inclusivity or visual connection with mp3s, and sadly, a lot of this is being lost from commercial CD packaging too, to keep design and printing costs down and maximise profit - necessarily so in the on-demand culture. Naughty mp3s.


So it's 2010, and I'm queueing to buy a cassette..
This brings me to Record Store Day (see my previous blog for culture vulture). There were two releases I really really wanted: firstly the new Blur 7", and secondly the new limited-to-300-worldwide Goldfrapp cassette. 

Goldfrapp- Head First (cassette release)

Mother Vulpine - Keep Your Wits Sharp (her words are quick) (mint green vinyl release)

Now I didn't think I'd have to fight for my Goldfrapp (sadly) but I knew that Blur would be a different kettle of fish - I'd never been shopping that early in my life. Fortunately the morning was sunny and my fellow queuers were in amiable mood, and I tried not to think about the facts that I was 34th in the queue and that Crash had only 25 copies of the Blur record on order. 

1st choices of the first 31 people in the Crash RSD queue / I'm 34th!

But what else would I get? I have been known to buy vinyl before, if I love the band and the artwork, despite not having the facilities to play it in my own home (I do have friends who do I hasten to add). My prized mint green vinyl Mother Vulpine 7" is a case in point. Some of the RSD releases were really special, and the effort gone into the artwork on the majority of items was stunning, even the simple stuff. 

Queue buddies

My queue-buddy for the morning (hi Jonny!), who turned out the be a graphic designer, also often buys vinyl on the strength of the artwork or presentation. People don't tend to release on vinyl these days unless they're really passionate about their art, because they understand what I've long believed, and what Ben Denison explains better than I ever could: that the end result of creating according to your own art is more inspiring, joyous and desirable than anything produced with commercial goals in sight. 

You may - or may not - like to know that I plumped for Crystal Castles in the end, with cover art that reminded me of how 12"s USED to be - those illicit LPs in my dad's collection with just an atmospherically yellowed photo covering the front; the only text on the 288 square inches of the whole cover being boldly and simply on 6 lines on the back, just white on black. Speaks so many volumes, and differently to everyone who sees it.

Crystal Castles / Doe Deer 12"

Getting physical (Ha. Sorry..)
So unexpectedly, my Record Store Day experience has reminded me of things I'd long forgotten about physical format music, and in particular, vinyl. The cameraderie in the queue; the genuine and good natured excitement about what we would get to rummage through; hopefully take home, look at, hold, listen to, share, enjoy, and look at some more. My friend's reaction when I gave him the Mogwai/F*** Buttons white vinyl 10" split I'd bought him. My other friends' reactions when I showed off my haul. 

Mogwai/F*** Buttons 10" split on white vinyl

The last time I felt that was when I was swapping homemade tapes with my schoolmates when I was 15. But this is grown-up, and much much prettier. 


I'm off to borrow some separates.

In Store for Record Store Day

Well I don't know about you but I'm getting a bit excited about Record Store Day. Which is probably quite a dangerous thing considering I am skint and don't own a record player..

We have three independent record stores in Leeds who are participating in Record Store Day, and fortunately there aren't just vinyl-related shenagins going on - releases will be on CD and cassette (god bless you Alison Goldfrapp!) too, plus some exclusive instore performances from some pretty big names.

You can read more about what's going on in my culturevulture Record Store Day post here: http://ow.ly/1xtca 

Exposure in Leeds

Image (c) Tim Parkin

This week I dragged a friend to hear landscape photographer Tim Parkin speak at the Leeds photography network ExposureLeeds meeting. I say dragged - my friend loves photography, especially landscape, but he's been feeling a bit disillusioned lately and hasn't been taking many pictures. It probably didn't help that I probably bigged it up a bit too much and made it sound like a compulsory networking event, but fortunately he ignored me and succumbed to my additional bribe of cider and cake. Always a winner.

Tim Parkin comes across as a lovely, unassuming chap with a real and expert passion for his photography. As well as talking us through how he'd developed as a photographer, he'd also brought along his fabulously complicated looking large format camera (it's VERY different to digital, non-photography geeks). These things take an hour or so to set up to get the photo you want, but he demonstrated this so simply and clearly, he made even me (who gets intimidated by the vast majority of the functions on my single lens intermediate camera) want to go out and have a go.

Tim's a sneakily inspiring speaker - he clearly knows a lot about his craft, both technically and compositionally, but describes it in such a straightforward way, with subtle yet obvious passion, it feels like he's explaining it over a quiet pint in the pub, making it seem realistically achievable for you to develop your artistic streak to its maximum too. 

He certainly had this effect on myself, and my friend as well, who took it a step further and resolved to go out the next day (not having been out taking landscapes for a good six months) and put Tim's top tips on composition, colour and timing into practice: This is the result:

image (c) Malcolm F Stoney

Clicking the links below each image will show them a bit bigger and in a bit more glory on flickr.


Thanks Tim!

Have a look at: 
Tim Parkin's website

Tim Parkin's flickr

Malcolm F Stoney's flickr

Vote for (bigoted) change?

You may have heard in the press that Conservative MP & Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling thinks that christian B&B owners should be allowed to refuse service to gay couples. Frankly I find this idea incredibly bizarre - apart from being discriminatory, how on earth is it consistent with any other rule or law we have in this country? I have to disagree with commentators who think that people with these views should be allowed to exercise them as they will soon go out of business - I fail to see how easy it is to spot that a B&B landlord is a massive homophobe unless you happen to be the stranded vitim of their bigotry. Or are we to back to a time when B&B had signs hanging in their windows that said "no coloureds" ("no gays")? If the laws in the country condone these views, then fewer people will challenge discriminatory views like this, and it will remain acceptable. Our country's leaders should lead the way, not brush the issue under the carpet. What sort of example does this set to young gay people struggling to come to terms with their sexuality? Or gay people of any age experiencing discrimination because of their sexual orientation? Awesome way to boost self-esteem there.

The Conservatives, at the time of writing, have not mentioned the continued tenability of Mr Grayling's position in the party, although calls for his resignation are becoming louder. You can sign a petition to add to those voices - here is my response below:

I am quite stunned that views like this do not constitute grounds for dismissal - MPs and parliamentary candidates have resigned/been sacked for much lesser issues, that have no bearing on their public life or work (eg having an affair). Chris Grayling's comments are wholly offensive and inconsistent with anti-discrimination laws - where will it stop? Muslim B&B owners will have the right to refuse entry to white christians? Jewish B&B owners will have the right to refuse unmarried couples?



The Conservatives' silence over Mr Grayling's comments inherently condones his views during the run up to the election, when MPs, candidates and party members must be seen to be promoting their party's policies. Mr Grayling must be sacked, or The Conservatives become the party of discrimination, not just against gays, but against any minority group that a conservative politician takes a dislike to. Please remember, just as it's not ok to be racist, it's not ok to be homophobic either.

In need of caffeine

I've *attempted* to sum up my upcoming April activities here for the ever-lovely culturevulture.co.uk. Have a read. I'm going to be quite busy. And on top of that please bear in mind I also have Unfinished Drawings at Verve, and National Record Store Day all over Leeds on the 17th. And a full-time job. 

I can have a break in May though - there's another Bank Holiday and everything! Wrong. May Day Bank Holiday sees my birthday, Live at Leeds, and the last weekend I have to work out what I'm doing when I go to Iceland for a few days (answer: lots). Then there is the going to Iceland, and coming back via gigs with Pavement and Shonen Knife. All before the middle of the month.

So have pity, and buy me caffeine when you see me out.

xx