Category Archives: Her Vinyl Quest

Whiskey Vinyl Vibe #10

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There is no question that we’ve been pretty terrible lately about keeping this blog updated, and while we certainly haven’t been missing any vinyl or whiskey opportunities during our absence (see our Instagram account for evidence), we are determined to pick up the pace here. This brings me to our latest Whiskey Vinyl Vibe, which also happens to include an album from my vinyl quest.

Over the past week, we found ourselves up in Michigan for a family wedding and time well spent visiting friends and family. Right in the middle of our Sunday of brewery and cocktail hopping in Grand Rapids, we found ourselves parked across the street from Vertigo Music, and of course I had to go in. This place was massive and had a very impressive selection of used vinyl, not to mention the folks working there were incredibly friendly. The friends we were with got to see me in true geek-out form, and I had to try hard to contain myself and keep the visit short so as not to bore everyone. As difficult as this was, I still managed to pick up a few great finds, one of which is Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Crush.

OMD 10

Crush is the 1985 selection from my vinyl quest list, and while I could’ve picked it up at just about any online record store pretty easily, it’s far more satisfying to find it during crate digging, especially at a locally owned shop. So why is Crush on my life list? I will admit, this is one of those albums that is on my list because of one song, and in this case it is So In Love. I didn’t come across OMD until a few years after the 1985 release, but I remember very clearly the first time I heard this song. I was in a car with a few friends, a couple of which were a bit older and as such, way cooler than I was during the oh-so-awkward early teen years. The driver popped in this cassette and played So In Love no less than three times during the drive up to Chicago, where we spent the afternoon in Grant Park picnicking and listening to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform. It’s one of those memories that really sticks with me – that song, the beautiful, clear day, the excitement of being in the city without any parents, the sense of feeling like I belonged.

Placing this album on the turntable for the first time last night and immediately hearing So In Love on side one/track one was almost as exciting as finding the album in the first place. The nostalgia never gets old. A special thank you to my husband for mixing up a cocktail with a name that felt very fitting as a reminder to the perfect day that I spent so long ago.

-Her

Well, given that her first OMD experience revolved around a day trip to Grant Park, this seemed an appropriate cocktail selection. This is a really great summer bourbon cocktail, the thyme gives it a wonderfully soft herbal note and helps round the drink out a bit. I strongly suggest you give it a try one of these warm summer evenings, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Cheers!

Sunday in the Park:

Instructions – In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine 1.5 oz Lillet Blanc, 1.5 oz of bourbon (I suggest something 90 proof+, to stand up to the juice and Lillet), 1 oz of fresh lemon juice, a couple dashes of Angostura bitters, and .25 oz of simple syrup. Add a whole thyme sprig, shake hard, and double-strain (using a fine mesh strainer) into a tall glass with fresh ice. Top it off with 1.5 oz of soda water and garnish with a new thyme sprig.

OMD 4 Good

–Him

Whiskey Vinyl Vibe #8: Love Is In The Air

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It’s been a couple of weeks since our last post as our world has been incredibly busy, but we finally had some quiet time together last night – and I must say, that it was a perfect Saturday night. With our San Francisco & wine country trip coming up in two weeks to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary, I was inclined to take advantage of this beautiful night and enjoy a recent addition to my vinyl life list: Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams.

Jack Johnson2Released in March 2005, just a few short months before Trent and I met, I was playing this album like mad when we started dating that summer. It’s good thing for me that he liked it, too, otherwise I might not even be writing this post. I’ve heard some music enthusiasts (I’m trying to refrain from using the term “music snobs” here) scoff at artists like Jack Johnson and this album in particular. Maybe it isn’t indie or complex enough for them, but for me, I love the simplicity of the singer-songwriter beachy vibe that Jack Johnson delivers, and you’ll eventually see that I feel that way about a number of other artists, too.

This album in particular holds so many memories for me, for the time that I met and fell in love  with the man of my dreams, and the years that we’ve spent together. Every time Banana Pancakes comes on I just have to stop and smile – and the best part is that he does it too. Although, I did have to give him a hard time about serving up our cocktails in glasses with a skull and crossbones on them last night – perhaps his take on the upcoming anniversary is a tad different than mine…

-Her

Well, as she said, she picked this album because of our impending anniversary. I love this record and will gladly listen to every track on it just about any day of the week. It’s definitely not something I need to be “in the mood for” like some music. A large portion of the reason for that is the emotional connection I have between this record and meeting the love of my life.

What to drink with it, though? Obviously something beachy or something suited for warm weather, at the very least. We didn’t have everything in the house for a Singapore Sling (plus we still haven’t bought proper tiki mugs), so we decided on a cocktail called the Shipwreck.

I hope you give this drink a try and find it enjoyable. We were well pleased as we sipped these on the back porch last night, listening to Jack Johnson float from the speakers, mixed with the sound of the frogs and the warm early-spring breeze.

JJ

The recipe:

1 oz bourbon
1 oz aged rum
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz heavy syrup
4-5 mint leaves
2-3 dashes of bitters (I used whiskey barrel aged bitters)

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well and double strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with more mint.

With most of these cocktails that call for citrus, I find the juice to be slightly over the top, so for round 2 we used less lime juice.

This drink also reminded me that we don’t have a fine strainer in the house, either – another thing to add to the list…. It seems to be never-ending.

Slainte! (It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day)

-Him

 

3/28/2006

3/28/2006

Whiskey Vinyl Vibe #7: Blood & Sand

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Blood and Sand2

Given my age, I was a bit late to the party on a number of musical discoveries, but I clearly recall when The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry entered my life. It was the summer of 1988, I was just about to enter high school and this album hit me like a ton of bricks.  It was funky, a bit tinny, twangy, and had a punk vibe that I didn’t understand at all. It shocked me a little with Killing An Arab, Subway Song gave me the creeps, and I couldn’t get enough of F-I-R-E-I-N-C-A-I-R-O! Although the album had been out for over 8 years, it was unlike anything I had really been exposed to at that point and I wore that cassette out.  I still love it today, which is why it made its way onto my vinyl quest list. This album takes the 1980 position, given the year of its release, and it is my first find on the quest list. Thank you to the seller in the Netherlands for this near mint beauty!

As for the cocktail selection, given that I’m solo this evening, I opted to do my own pairing. When I unwrapped the package containing this beautiful vinyl today, the first thing that came to mind was a Blood & Sand, which likely had to do with the album cover and the various tracks that bring the desert to mind, even if inappropriately so. I couldn’t deny myself the treat, and having never made one before, I had to hunt down some Heering Cherry Liqueur – which is something quite different than the Luxardo we recently added to the bar, and apparently isn’t always so readily available here in NC. Fortunate for me, we happen to have one of the best liquor stores in the area nearby and they did not disappoint. Blood oranges are not a requirement for this cocktail, but given that we had one left, I decided to squeeze the life out of it – which was a beautiful decision. The standard recipe calls for equal parts of the ingredients, but I went a little heavier on the scotch as I prefer a bit more peat and felt that the sweetness needed to be toned down just a bit.  This one is definitely a keeper, and I imagine my husband is going to be a tad jealous that he missed out. Cheers!

Blood & Sand

3/4 oz Orange Juice (Blood orange, if you have it)

3/4 oz Heering Cherry Liqueur

3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth

1-1/4 oz Blended Scotch Whisky (I used Johnnie Walker Black)

Add all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake, strain and pour into your glass of choice.

Garnish with orange zest or a cherry – my preference is the zest.

-Her

Her Vinyl Quest

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New Stack 2

Another package filled with vinyl arrived last night and I could hardly contain my excitement. Since starting this new collection just about 4 weeks ago, this may have been the longest stretch without bringing a new album into our home – 7 whole days. To be fair, the delivery was slightly delayed due to the inclement weather over the weekend, which really set my level of jonesing up on high. I am certain that I must be driving my husband crazy by now, but he just shakes his head and smiles a little – after reminding me how fast my collection is increasing.

In just about 4 weeks, I now have 47 albums, but is that fast? I supposed it might be, but I really have no comparison. For someone who didn’t stumble upon a collection left by a relative, I suppose I might have made some swift progress, but let me break it down just a bit. Of those 47 albums, 14 were new purchases, 2 were gifts, and the rest were either bin finds or pretty cheap purchases from a handful of online shops. All in all, I think I’m doing just fine, but stopping to consider this inspired me to move forward with some intent for building the collection, something besides the obvious of having as many awesome and varied records as possible.

After picking up on a similar idea while reading through various vinyl blogs, I’ve decided to make it my mission to purchase one record that carries some significance for each year of my life. Now, this doesn’t mean that this is all that I will purchase, that would just be madness, but it does give me some focus, and it definitely makes for a great challenge that is sure to spark some deep thinking and just plain fun. My rough plan is this:

  • Start with creating the list. Working year by year, I’ll need to spend some time determining the options. This could potentially mean that what I want on vinyl for a particular year may not be available, so some back up options might be necessary, but figuring out what to dig for is going to be half the fun – then comes the actual digging.
  • Soundtracks are okay if they are significant enough, but I plan to stay away from greatest hits selections. Given that they are basically compilations of works over various years, something about it seems like cheating in this case.
  • The entire album doesn’t necessarily need to be significant (that’s a pretty tall order), but there should at least be a solidly meaningful song included, or maybe it has more to do with the artist and the time than even just a song. I should be able to figure that out as I work through each year.
  • I’m still trying to determine how I feel about reissues. My thoughts are to  avoid any reissues, and that is certainly where I’ll start, but I’ll let the hunt determine where I officially land on this point. Some exceptions may be necessary, but we shall see.
  • There is no time limit on this quest of mine, but I start today. I cannot use any of the albums I’ve already purchased towards this challenge – which just knocked a few good ones out.

Obviously, if this interests you at all, you’ll be able to follow my journey right here on the blog. In fact, a new category is in order: Her Vinyl Quest. Let the fun begin!

– Her