# My Record Collection Written: 2023-01-08 Updated: 2023-12-02 There's a great scene in High Fidelity where John Cusack's character (Rob), searching for the meaning to life, love, and successful relationships, decides to reorganize his massive record collection. His friend Dick walks in and sees the chaos: Dick: "What is this, chronological?" Rob: "Nope" D: "Not alphabetical" R: "Nope" D: "hmm" R: "Autobiographical" D: "No fucking way" ... R: "If I want to find the song Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, I have to remember that I bought it for someone in the fall of 1983 pile but didn't give it to them for personal reasons" D: "That sounds... comforting" R: "It is" --- Consider this my digital autobiographical reorg. I wouldn't attempt it in real life since I don't want to remember (or explain to others) the timeline, but I'm a sentimental person and revisiting the origin of each album feels like the perfect Sunday afternoon. If you enjoy this style writing, you may enjoy my year-in-songs phlog (which gets more active updates): gopher://alexkarle.com/1/yis --- Some high level stats first: * First Record: 2012-12 * Total Records: 70 In general, my collection grows a LOT on Christmas, as my parents and siblings get me new records (sometimes from a list that I'm looking for but more recently I ask them to surprise me with their favorites!). --- ## Post-College / Early Adulthood 2023-12-02: Vulfpeck: Thrill of the Arts Jennie picked up this up on a repressing as a surprise gift for me. Definitely my favorite vulfpeck record of all time. Fun fact, "Welcome to Vulf Records" was the first song I played in my car; I bumped it on the first test run to test the speakers. Jennie, my dad, and the salesman all cramped in to the tiny thing :) Back pocket is of course a classic for jamming with Matt too. 2023-04-03: Lake Street Dive: Bad Self Portraits This was all Jennie. "You know, we don't have any Lake Street Dive!". We've been fans for a long time--I've got fond memories of listening to "Better Than" together in college. Later we saw them at Levitate some years back. Bad Self Portraits is such an awesome album. Highly recommend a listen! 2023-03-12: Peach Pit: You and Your Friends Jennie and I picked this up on a restock/repressing. It's got sooo many great songs on it from my jam-tuesday days (Brian's Movie was a favorite of Matt and mine). Being So Normal is still the house favorite, but this is close behind. 2023-03-07: Snarky Puppy: Empire Central What an absolute beast of a record. The largest in my collection so far (3 disks), and every minute of it is amazing. A birthday gift from my parents. We'll be going to see them in April! 2022-12-25: Tame Impala: Currents 2022-12-25: Fleetwood Mac: Rumours 2022-12-23: Harry Styles: Fine Line 2022-12-20: Tower of Power: 40th Anniversary (Filmore Auditorium, SF) 2022-12-18: Yes: Close to the Edge Christmas 2022 was a great year for my record collection :) It started with a work secret santa where Sam bought me the Yes album (which I've been loving, Jennie not so much). Manuel bought me the Tower of Power record, which is fun to put on. I bought Jennie the Harry Styles record (which, I admittedly like a few tracks on :)). Sammy bought me Fleetwood Mac (and wow, so many hits I know!) and Mom and Dad bought me Currents (likely because Jennie told them I was super into Tame Impala this year--they thought it was tah-may impala!). 2022-11-??: Goose: Dripfield GOoooooooose! Jennie picked this up for me after I went on a huge Goose kick (seriously, look at my Year in Songs phlog). She got pretty into them too, so this one has been fun to have on hand for dinner parties and game nights :) 2022-??-??: Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon 2022-??-??: Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes I'm pretty sure I picked up these for myself sometime in 2022. Fleet Foxes was just a find at Barnes and Noble for a cheap-ish price (and I knew a couple songs on it)--it's got great winter vibes. Dark Side is... well an album I suspect most record collectors have :) I was super into Dark Side in high school, so it was about time to pick it up! My discovery of Fleet Foxes has a fun story behind it; when I was in high school I was in a band, and we were playing a talent show with another band. It was the day of the show and their drummer was sick. They asked if I could sit in. I remember them frantically trying to explain Ragged Wood by Fleet Foxes and Reptilla by The Strokes to me "just follow our lead! it slows down in the middle!" etc. I never had to perform it because the drummer got better in time, but I've loved that track ever since! 2022-02-15: Dr. Dog: Shame, Shame ~1 year after I got REALLY into this album (and playing a few of the songs like Shadow People all the time while jamming with Matt [1]), I finally came back in stock. [1]: gopher://alexkarle.com/1/jam-tuesday Shadow People really was the catalyst for all of jam-tuesday. We were coming home from our grandparents farm (or maybe hiking monadnock, maybe both), and he's DJ-ing in the car. Shadow People comes on and I was shocked he knew the band (not many people do/did--they blew up on TikTok some time later). If my memory holds, playing shadow people was one of the original goals of our first jam, which turned into a routine. 2022-??-??: Dr. Dog: Live at the Flamingo Hotel Jennie ordered this for us a few months after we saw them live in NYC. It was such an amazing concert, we were obsessed with them for the next few months. 2022-02-??: Vulf: Wong's Cafe A surprise from Jennie. We're big vulf fans and they were doing this "we'll only ever press this album once" shenanigans, so we picked up the Corey Wong special (in hindsight, might have preferred the Joe Dart or Antuan Stanley ones.. but this is still a fun instrumental). 2021-12-25: Parcels: Night and Day 2021-12-25: Artic Monkeys: AM 2021-12-25: Manchester Orchestra: The Million Masks of God Parcels and Artic Monkeys were definitely Christmas gifts, and I'm pretty sure Million Masks was too (I don't remember buying it myself). Sammy gave me AM, I'd guess Matt gave me MO, and I'd guess Mom and Dad got me Parcels (at Matt's recommendation). Great albums all around. AM is great for dinner parties (everyone knows Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High and Do I Want to Know). Parcels was one of the most-listened to albums of winter while driving to the Rock Gym with Jennie (Coming Back & Famous, especially). Million Masks is just a great addition to my MO collection :) 2021-10-20: Dr. Dog: Psychedelic Swamp Before seeing Dr. Dog live I decided to expand my repertoire beyond Shame, Shame. For some reason (maybe because Bring My Baby Back was one of the first songs I ever heard by them along with Shadow People--shoutout to Elise from Croo for the intro), I decided out of their many albums to give Psychedelic Swamp a listen. What a weird album; I was hooked! The lead in guitar riff of Golden Hind; the triumphant exit of Good Grief. This was also, coincidentally, one of the few records they had in stock (my first choice would have been Shame, Shame), so I ordered it. No regrets. Jennie really came around to it too! 2021-06-??: Peach Pit: Being So Normal Was there a more influential album during Covid lockdown that reminds me more of Jam Tuesdays with Matt? I don't think so. I remember ordering this with him sitting next to me. They had just announced another pressing, and we had finished our jamming for the evening. It was pricey but boy have we played it enough to get our moneys worth. Still my favorite Peach Pit album (Alrighty Aphrodite, Drop the Guillotine, Chagu's Sideturn, Techno Show, Tommy's Party, the list goes on). We got to see them live in 2022-12, and they were just as good as the record. Alrighty Aphrodite went on to be a recurring song in jams with friends (Todd and Alice especially). 2021-02-09: The Black Keys: Brothers 2021-02-09: Vampire Weekend: Contra 2021-02-09: The Head and The Heart: Self Titled 2021-02-09: Led Zeppelin: IV "Four Albums for Four Years". Jennie and I have for the past few years done joint gifts together. We buy something for us, since that's what we're celebrating! So for four years we bought some new records. Head and The Heart is a special band to our relationship--within the first month of dating Jennie bought me tickets to see them at Smith college for my birthday. They were also playing in the background (Lets be Still) when I asked if she wanted to "make it official" (and be my girlfriend). The self titled album is still my favorite of theirs. Jennie picked up Contra as her personal pick (she's a big Vampire Weekend fan), and I picked out Brothers for us (thinking she'd like it / having limited options to select from our local record store) and Led Zeppelin IV because it's an absolute classic and it's got IV in the title! 2020-12-25: Wooten Chambers Franceschini: Trypnotyx 2020-12-25: Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride 2020-12-25: Hozier: Hozier I'm reasonably certain these were all Christmas gifts for 2020. Sammy definitely got me Hozier (she's a big fan, saw him live in Colorado). I'd guess Jennie or Mom and Dad got me Trypnotyx (Funky D!). I'm pretty sure I bought Jennie Father of the Bride (she was with me when I bought it so it wasn't a big surprise). That winter Father of the Bride was on on repeat. We'd sing Big Blue to our cat. We'd play it while Matt was over for dinner pre-jam-tuesday. Matt and I jammed on Sunflower and This Life. Good times. 2020-??-??: Theo Katzman: Modern Johnny Sings: Song is in the Age of Vibe I can't remember when I got this, but I'd guess sometime 2020 (could be Christmas, maybe from Matt?). This is a great album full of songs Matt and I jammed to. 2019-12-??: Vulfpeck: Live at Madison Square Garden This album was released in 2019-12 but I can't remember when it actually arrived by mail. Its a super special one in our collection because it's the only album featuring yours truly. That's right: we were in the audience! So somewhere in those call and response sections of Back Pocket you can hear us belting. What a phenomenal show, too. Some track versions (Running Away, My First Car, etc) are just so much better on the live album. 2018-12-25: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Smash Hits Matt definitely gave this to me for Christmas one year. I'm guessing it was 2018 because I have a memory of dancing around the living room one morning with Jennie in our old apartment (which would have been early 2019, pretty sure it was to "Fire"). ### The College Years: My college music taste started out angsty and graduated into a more refined taste / broader spectrum of artists I was listening to. However, the records acquired during college don't reflect that too much, in a good part because for over half of college I didn't have my record player with me (and records were low on the list of things I wanted to spend money on)--the artists look a lot like High School. 2018-??-??: Ripe: Joy in the Wild Unknown Not sure when I got this (I think Jennie bought it?), but I've been listening to Ripe since sophomore year of college when a friend (Nick A) put it on during a dorm party (this was the Hey Hello era--Talk to the Moon, Brother Sky, Goon Squad, Caralee.. such a great album). We went from casual listeners to big fans, seeing them twice in Northhampton (once after college) and at Levitate music festiaval. JitWU is a solid album (but Hey Hello is still the most nostalgic). I have a strong association between Ripe and walking around campus. Specifically to my nutrition class senior year. That and listening to their Audiotree session on repeat (Ex-Life in particular) while recording robotics data for my lab / thesus. What a throwback. 2018-??-??: Disney Classic Collection A gift from Jennie, either for my birthday or Christmas. I think because it contained "The Bear Necessities". I love that song. So positive. 2017-12-25: Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface Matt gifted this to me for Christmas one year (guessing 2017, since that was the release year). Manchester was one of the bands I kept listening to from my high school favorites. I always went to go see them when they came to town (Matt and I have definitely been together a couple times! I think we went on this tour) 2016-12-25: Boston: Boston A gift from Matt for Christmas one year (guessing 2016). I was super into Boston back in maybe middle school when I had a CD player boom box in my room (the AC/DC era :)) 2016-??-??: The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour 2016-??-??: American Football: II Just guessing on the dates for these. This is by far my favorite Beatles album (so many great songs). And whats a record collection without The Beatles? American Football II was OK, but not nearly as good as I. 2016-??-??: Owen: King of Whys Cooper gifted this one to me--he had ordered it and Amazon sent him an extra copy by accident! So this makes the second "amazon messed up" album in my library. (See "Neutral Milk Hotel" below) 2016-??-??: O'Brother: Endless Light 2016-??-??: Joyce Manor: Cody Ah, Cody and Endless Light. These were the last albums I was really into for both bands. Cody had "The Last You Heard of Me", which I listened to a good bit. Part of it might be that I met Jennie a few months later and became a good bit happier in life :) 2016-??-??: The Dear Hunter: Act V 2015-??-??: The Dear Hunter: Act IV Ah the Dear Hunter. A high school era band for sure. I became a big fan in the course of days when Matt Cooper invited me to see them for their one-night-only Color Spectrum Live event in Boston. I had never heard of them, but he was a fan and someone in their ticket group had dropped out last minute. I heard the first couple songs of Black at the back of the concert band practice room on tinny iphone speakers and I decided in that moment I'd go see them for the drummer alone. The show didn't disappoint; 36 songs ranging from industrial Black to classic-rocky Orange to happy Yellow to country-like Green to sad Blue, etc.. it's a great series to check out. The Acts are a 5 part story about the dear hunter, and I got pretty into both the story (being a fan for the second half of it) and also the music. I remember being in Virginia Beach with family when one of the first tracks off Act IV dropped: A Night on the Town. Just blown away by it. (That was also the summer I had "Cough it Out" by Front Bottoms on repeat--must have been 2015). Act V definitely doesn't get as much love (although Matt and I do a great rendition of Moon/Awake), but Act IV became a surprise hit with Jennie years later. We played a lot of the Scythe board game listening to that :) 2015-??-??: Alabama Shakes: Sound and Color I absolutely loved Sound and Color the second half of freshman year. I distinctly remember driving around in the final weeks of the semester with friends late at night and putting on "The Greatest" on the red mini van aux. Alabama Shakes came on my radar due to a bandmate in the high school jazz band (Rex?) putting on "Hold On". I remember being blown away by the performance (he also introduced me to Julius by STRFKR and Late July by Shakey Graves, both great songs). Sound and Color is such a great album--I love pretty much every track but "Gemini". 2015-??-??: Owen: L'ami du Peuple 2014-??-??: Owen: Ghost Town I'm not sure when I got these Owen albums. Cooper definitely introduced me to Owen (of American Football). I don't remember ever really being into Ghost Town. Maybe I ordered it since it was a chill album? Maybe a gift? L'ami du Peuple I remember listening to a bit sophomore year of college (the last two tracks get me every time "Where do I begin" -> "Vivid Dreams"). 2014-??-??: NRBQ: At Yankee Stadium 2014-??-??: Santana: Borboletta I picked these up sometime early in college at a flea market for very cheap (a couple bucks each). NRBQ was the favorite band of a high school english teacher that I really liked (so it was a fun find--Riding in my Car is a great track!). Santana because.. well it's Santana! I grew up listening to Santana, and this album isn't the best but it was a name I recognized amongst the dusty old record collection being sold :) 2014-10-??: Foxing: The Albatross 2014-??-??: Modern Baseball: You're Gonna Miss it All I got to see MoBo live before they broke up and damn it was one hell of a show. The crowd was so into it and the venue was tiny, resulting in being constantly pushed forward towards the stage and then pushed back, like a human wave. Foxing opened for them (which is how they came on my radar), and they fit the angty freshman fall mood, so I was into them for a hot second (talk about a well done emotional performance! When the singer brought out the trumpet... so good!). 2014-??-??: Joyce Manor: Self Titled 2014-??-??: Joyce Manor: Never Hungover Again Ahh Joyce Manor. A coworker/friend of mine introduced me to them during my lifeguard days at Walden Pond (Amanda, I think). Kinda pop-punk-emo but much darker and almost speed-punk with crazy short tracks. I couldn't get enough of Never Hungover Again when it first came out fall semester of college. Looking back, it was very much a phase. ### High School Era: At this point, I'm really just guessing on these albums. 2014-??-??: Beck: Morning Phase An odd pick amongst the others. Rolling Stone gave it their album of the year and I was determined to like it. It... somewhat worked. Not my favorite Beck album. 2014-??-??: Queens of the Stone Age: Like Clockwork I remember buying Like Clockwork in Boston at a Newbury Comics. I liked a few QotSA tracks in high school and the album was new / well reviewed. I think my first exposure to them was Rock Band / Guitar Hero at Kenzo's house (3's and 7's?) 2013-??-??: O'Brother: Disillusion 2013-??-??: Cage the Elephant: Melophobia Not much to say about Disillusion. Not my favorite O'brother record but I was a big fan / supporter in high school. Melophobia however, has really stood the test of time. Cigarette Daydreams is a great jam tune, and the whole album has a lot of tracks I love (Halo, Come a Little Closer, and Hypocrite were some of my favorites in high school IIRC). 2013-??-??: Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band: Bubblegum 2013-??-??: Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea This was a funny pair of records. I ordered KD&TGDB from Amazon but received NMH instead! I had never heard of the band, but a quick google showed this album was legendary. It was $2 more expensive (I think 17 vs 19) so I cancelled the return and re-ordered Bubblegum. The first listen to was so funny though. I remember putting it on, really digging King of Carrot Flowers pt 1, then pt 2 comes in hard with the "I LOVE YOU JESUS CHRIIIIIIST" And I instantly turned it off and thought "what the hell did I just listen to!". On a second listen-through, it proved that powering through was well worth it :) 2013-??-??: Modern Baseball: Sports I don't remember how I found MoBo (I think it was discovered by me, not Cooper). But I remember picking up Sports at the mall's Newbury Comics. It felt like a risky buy at the time (I only knew "Tears over Beers"), but I _really_ liked that track. I was not disappointed--I had it on repeat that winter. 2013-??-??: Bad Books: II Bad Books II will forever be associated with my trip to Spain in high school (I did a 2-3 week exchange, living with a family there). I remember having "The After Party" and "Forest Whitaker" on my ipod and feeling so cool. I have a cringe memory of being in the back of the host-fathers car riding somewhere (home from the airport?) with my host student and discussing music and being all like "I'm into alternative music you've probably never heard of" (but I said it in Spanish so it was probably less hipster / obnoxious, right? :)). I think I played him a track off Bad Books I. Worth noting Bad Books is Manchester Orchestra + Kevin Devine. So there's a lot of overlap here! 2013-??-??: O'Brother: Garden Window 2013-??-??: O'Brother: Death of Day 2013-??-??: American Football: American Football 2013-??-??: The Front Bottoms: Self Titled 2013-??-??: Into It. Over It.: PROPER 2013-??-??: Manchester Orchestra: Mean Everything to Nothing 2013-??-??: Caspian: Waking Season The first wave of albums based on my taste included alternative rock which ranged from really heavy (O'Brother) to pop-punk-emo (Front Bottoms). Almost all of it was introduced to me by my bandmate Cooper. Caspian was my study music. American Football was relationship angst at its finest (Never Meant is a gem). Manchester Orchestra was a favorite. I remember bumping "Shake it Out" and "I've Got Friends" in the computer lab at school (maybe even all the way back to middle school? Mean Everything was 2009, so I guess it checks out). MO introduced me to O'Brother--I saw them open for MO (with Cage the Elephant no less!) and I remember Ascension from Death of Day just blowing me away live. I could feel the bass in my stomach. I stopped listening to them after college (with a brief revisiting when Endless Light came out), but Death of Day was one of my top-5 high school albums. The Front Bottoms were in the same scene as MO despite sounding wildly different. I first heard them in the car on the way to a school US History Debate, and Cooper put them on: "You're gonna hate this at first, but then you're gonna love it. His voice is so bad, but the songs are so good" And the rest is history. I've been listening to them off and on throughout the years. They've been super impactful in helping me garnish the courage to sing myself (if Brian can do it, so can I!). 2013-??-??: The Clash: London Calling 2013-??-??: Paul Simon: Graceland 2013-??-??: XTC: Skylarking 2013-??-??: Peter Gabriel: So 2012-12-25: Miles Davis: Kind of Blue My First Handful of records were classics picked by my parents Kind of Blue gets a lot of play to this day (my dad picked it out because "Jazz is the best to test speakers" among other reasons)--great for brunch / mellow hosting. Graceland also gets a good bit of play. In part for a while because it was one of my few records that wasn't super obscure / in-your-face music.