A Record of My Records
Are your first album purchases still in your collection? (Image courtesy of Charlotte Adams ‘25)
by Charlotte Adams ‘25
I got a turntable from a church yard sale when I was thirteen. It’s seen several phases of music and now lives comfortably in my dorm room playing everything from Danzig to DOOM. I’ll always treasure this record player because it truly has lived through my youth with me. Unfortunately, my first vinyl purchases are something I’m slightly less thankful for. A classic example of the hubris in preteen music taste, here are the first three albums I bought for my turntable.
In Rainbows - Radiohead
This is the very first album I remember wanting to hear on vinyl. Radiohead embodies an interesting presence in music history, being critically acclaimed yet simultaneously a common butt of music jokes. Maybe it is music for sad people with superiority complexes—doesn’t mean it’s bad. There’s a wonderful variety in their discography (one of the best things about Radiohead is their embrace of experimentation). On vinyl, the sound is a little more complex. In tracks such as “15 Step” where the band experiments with more mathematical time signatures, the medium adds depth. I still believe, six years later, that the best song is “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.”
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
I discovered NMH at a different church yard sale: a CD of their album On Avery Island. Luckily, the band belongs to a genre of music made in the twenty-first century for twentieth century playing methods, so there’s a benefit to owning the vinyl as opposed to digital. Although my personal enjoyment of this album has dwindled, it remains an iconic cult indie piece, and I am glad to have a copy in my collection. In terms of best tracks, I’d recommend passing on this album and listening to frontman Jeff Magnum’s work on the podcast The Orbiting Human Circus.
Guppy - Charly Bliss
An album I unashamedly still spin regularly is the first release from the group Charly Bliss—a pop collective from New York. The pressing I got was especially useful for the lyric sheet, which was unavailable online until the band got a little bigger. Other than that, digital is just as good for this work, but I like having a physical medium regardless. I’m not so big on pop as a genre now nor was I in middle school, but there’s something truly infectious about Eva Hendricks’ vocals. “Westermarck” and “DQ” are eternal favorites on the track list.
There’s no shame in evolution of music taste, nor is there in nostalgia. Allow yourself to appreciate multitudes, and don’t regret the tunes that got you to where you are now. There’s a little pride for me, in these yellowing sleeves. They represent the growth of my collection and the growth of my enjoyment in music.
