Tag Archives: album collection

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

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