#44 The Gun Club - Death Party

Sympathy Records, 2004 (reissue - original Animal Records, 1983)

Genre: Alternative, Gothic Folk Punk

I chose this one special tonight. Technically it's out of order, because I have listened to other records that I still need to update on, but I wanted to write about this one in real time.

Listening to this record tonight is scratching multiple itches. I'm feeling really anxious about going back to in person learning tomorrow (on a cart, no less) amid the madness of omicron outbreak, so there is an element of macabre humour in listening to "Death Party". On a more practical level, though, I find this record soothing. It reminds me of departed friends---outsiders who lived large and didn't blend in, but with whom I resonated on a spiritual level. Thinking of them, I feel reinforced, like I can handle anything. I am reminded that life is strange and absurd, and we all find our way to some end or other, so we might as well move with poetry and act with grace.

I don't mean to be dramatic---I recognize that it is highly unlikely that contracting omicron will be my end; but there is something so final in being told by my employer that I must go, and that I will be infected. After two years of avoiding getting sick, I'm being mandated to attend what is essentially a chicken pox party. It's so bizarre.

Since I really have no other recourse, I might as well spin one of my favourite records, have a whiskey, and gather the spirit that's fueled me through other hard and strange days.

Sláinte.

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#73 Tyrannosaurus Rex - Unicorn

Blue Thumb Records, 1969 Psychedelic Acoustic Folk This album is very important to me. Those who know me, know I am fond of T Rex, but this pre T recording is extra special. I first remember hearing it in grade 8, and I fell in love with it entirely. It resonated with me a on strangley personal level, considering how far out the lyrics are. Warlord of the Royal Crocodiles was my jam. My friends were forced to listen to poorly dubbed cassettes every weekend, because that was the easiest way to copy and share music on the North Mountain in 1998. I had always listened to my dad's record (from whence came the cassette) and didn't have my own copy when I moved out, so I was very excited when I found it at Taz---the old spot on, what was it, Grafton? Two locations ago. It was like finding treasure, though I spose that's always what second-hand vinyl shopping feels like to me. Maybe it was more like finding the Arkenstone. I remember being super excited, and Bob telli...

#3 - John Allan Cameron - Weddings, Wakes and Other Things

Released 1976, Columbia Records. Category: Cape Breton Folk, Country, Canadiana This was the 3rd random pull, and I'm grateful, because this album perfectly reflects why I am doing this complete collection countdown. It's not a record I was super familiar with---it was given to me by my Dad as a Canadian classic. Of course John Allan Cameron is a household name in much of Nova Scotia, but I'm not sure if I've ever sat down and listened to the whole thing before. Of the two records, I liked the second better, as it was a little more traditional and I like that vibe. That said, the first was also very good, in more of a 70s folk / country way. There are some songs I will definitely be humming to myself later. Perhaps the nicest discovery of this album? John Allan Cameron signed the records, autographing one for my father and my mother. It was a sweet little surprise!

#32 Prokofieff, Strauss - Peter and the Wolf, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

Camden, year unknown Genre: Classical Performed by the Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevitzky, narrated by Richard Hale This lp is in terrible condition---even after cleaning, it's crackling and hiccoughing, even skipping. It's tough, because I LOVE this recording, but this one will have to be purged. Let it be known, however, that this lp has been loved. It was a formative education piece for me, teaching me both about music and about narrative. It also taught me that you should always watch you back in unfamiliar places, and not underestimate the unknowns in your surroundings. It also taught me that representing animals with instruments is hilarious. Dad listened to it when he was a kid, and played it for us when we were kids. Maybe I'll make some kind of art with this one.

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