Apparently, I buy too many records

My wife Helen, like every other woman i've ever lived with, believes that I buy too many records.

Which, as every record-buying man knows, is a ridiculous belief.

I will concede, however, that I do indeed buy a lot of records and that I don't afford them the same amount of listens and attention that I did 20 or 30 years ago.

To this end, I have decided to blog about the records that I buy, in order to help my appreciation of them - and perhaps to show Helen that I don't buy that many records after all.

Because i'm crap with deadlines the blog posts will be sporadic and probably be about a month or 2 behind but that's just the way i am! The posts will not necessarily be actual reviews (most likely comments, at best) and will generally be pretty damn short due to the reasons outlined above. As a writer in a previous existence i have decided not to worry about writing as art in the pieces but, instead, to attempt to convey feeling over semantic (and often grammatic) perfection.

And 'OCRB'? It stands for 'Obsessive Compulsive Record Buying' - a little known mental health affliction that is potentially damaging to the bank account but ultimately life-affirming. It is sad.......but a nice form of sad.

Monday, 22 August 2011

Vetiver: The Errant Charm (Sub Pop)

Having slavishly followed Vetiver since their second (and still best) album, i have enjoyed their transition from Americana troubadours to folky plodders to simple country pickers and finally to this incarnation - breezy summertime-loving laid back west coast sounding bbq inspiring gentle rockers. Whilst it never actually rocks, it seems to roll along at a faster pace than previous albums and with a lighter mood that bring to mind the impression that they really enjoyed making this one whilst their beards grew long, their hair fell unkempt from beneath their hats and their women patched their jeans. I'm hearing Crazy Horse, i'm occasionally hearing The Eagles, im hearing a band throwing caution to the wind and making rock music free from pretension and, at times ('Faint Praise'), fucking beautiful. I'm also hearing far more keyboards on this than previously, a fact not entirely unconnected to the aural successes here.

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