This time around we feature the collection of Nik Cameron, creator of and author at Glacially Musical, a St. Louis based music blog.
The first record I ever bought with my own money was…
My attempt at being into vinyl has taken a lot of twists and turns, but the first album I purchased for real was Best of the Doors. The one with Who Do You Love? that came out in like 1973 or something. It’s a pretty decent collection of tracks. Back then it was about just getting more Doors stuff.
Needless to say, that purchase didn’t stick and didn’t make me a vinyl guy. A bit later in the 90’s I tried again with a scratchy copy of Kiss’s Alive!, but it was scratchy so it didn’t work. Then years later when it got popular again, I made fun of it. Why would I buy an inferior format, or so I thought anyway.
In 2014, I accidentally purchased Crobot’s self titled EP at a show I was reviewing. Thankfully it had a download code because I didn’t have a turntable! My friend ended up giving me hers, but I didn’t have a receiver that could even play it. So, it sat until 2015. I was laying awake one night and it occurred to me that due to Glacially Musical, my blog, I didn’t really buy music anymore. So, if I was going to do it, might as well be vinyl….and now 4 years later, I have over 400 records. My wife has about 90 and hell, my 8 year old daughter has about 30! She’s very proud of her Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack on colored vinyl.
She asked me last time we spun it, how many kids her age have colored vinyl? Of course, I bought it for her. Haha.
The record that made me want to make music was…
Well, I’m not precisely a musician, but I do play guitar poorly. I failed at being a failed musician. I can’t tell you what album spawned that. I was in to music at a very young age and I just always wanted to play.
The record I’ve played more than any other is…
There’s no real good answer for that. I often wonder if anybody else does this, but I shuffle through my whole collection. I have an antique case that holds about 90 records and another three shelving units that hold about a hundred each. The very far right has the up next pile. When that clears out, I start moving records over. I do this so I don’t listen to the same stuff over and over again.
I have these albums on vinyl in order to listen to them. So, I guess the answer is Crobot’s self titled since I got it first?
The record that always make me feel good is…
Pink Floyd The Wall. I’ve owned that on cassette, CD, and now LP. It was my first introduction to the genius of Pink Floyd. That’s probably a bit reason as to why I’m so into concept records now.
There’s so much personal history hidden in those grooves for me. It was always the record I turned to when I was depressed. My adolescent and young adult years were turbulent to say the least. It’s an album that I relate to in a very strong way. There’s nothing else that gives me that connection. I also have Roger Water’s 2015 live version of it and I’m hoping Pink Floyd releases their live version too.
I also had the 1990 release The Wall Live In Berlin on CD, but I have no real desire to ever hear that version again.
The record I turn to when I’m feeling down is…
Really, it’s just about listening to music to feel better. The aforementioned The Wall is a big one for me, but I no longer really seek out a specific record to listen to when I need a pick me up. Our house has two living rooms: one for TV and one for Music. Just being in the Sitting Room (i.e. the music living room) and spinning a record and drinking a beer is enough to lift my spirits.
When I’ve had a hard day, I’ll tell my wife, I need to spend some time upstairs. Everybody understands and sometimes they even join me. Also, my beer fridge is in that room along with my pint glasses. So it’s pretty much a little slice of heaven for me.
The record with my favorite cover art is…
There’s really no good answer for me on this one. From being an 80’s kid into a 90’s teen, cover art was always either squished or really small. So those big vinyl covers really make the art pop. The cover art from the 80’s to now was kind of lost. That’s kind of my takeaway from it. The covers always look better on a larger scale because I can see more of the details.
The strangest LP I own is…
Now, this is a tough question for me. How do I rate strange? I own Metallica and Lou Reed’s Lulu on vinyl. In fact I had to get that from the UK because I didn’t know Metallica sold it on their website.
Or is it the strangest thing I have that people would never guess? I guess that would be the Michael Bolton (then Bolotin) and Bruce Kulick album, Blackjack. Or is it the record with the strangest music on it? Then it would have to be Libras by Saqqara Mastabas…that thing is just insane. Or maybe, just maybe it’s one of the wacky Christmas LPs we have. Like the Hawaiian Slack Key guitar christ album.
The rarest LP I own is…
I don’t really care about rarity or value, apart from using Discogs to appraise for my home insurance policy. I’ve got some stuff like David Gilmour’s Live In Pompeii that’s not exactly common or Roger Waters’s Amused to Death.
The most valuable single LPs I have are Coheed and Cambria’s Afterman: The Ascension and Afterman: The Descension. Both of those go for around $75 on Discogs. I tell people that I have a music library on vinyl and not a collection. It sounds pretentious, but I play with my toys. To me, collection implies that I’m trying to gain value with my purchases, which I’m not. Everything I buy gets opened and put on the platters.
The value to me is what comes out of the grooves.
The last LP I bought was…
Gary Clark Jr. Live. My wife turned me onto him right before his debut LP came out and I have that on CD. It was finally time to get something he did on vinyl. Seeing his new songs on Saturday Night Live definitely helped get me off my duff to pull the trigger.
And finding it for $15 on Amazon didn’t hurt.
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Be sure to check out Nik’s blog, Glacially Musical, using the links below.
http://www.glaciallymusical.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/glaciallymusical
http://www.instagram.com/glacially_musical
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