Judge a vinyl by its colour?

Since 2016, Wellington vinyl lovers have been able to borrow records from the library. However, not all of our LPs are rendered in the traditional black. One of our staff members, Joe, checks out some of the more colourful items found among the shelves.


Soft sounds from another planet.
The sublime music of Japanese Breakfast makes its home among translucent cherry grooves. Restful ambience, cathartic vocals and flawless indie rock instrumentation are the mainstays of one of 2017’s most exquisite releases.

Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit.
Barnett’s studio debut delivers rollicking riffs and self-aware stream of consciousness lyricism. Barnett’s trademark delivery and lush arrangements are perfectly captured on yellow vinyl.

Bush.
After dabbling in reggae, the doggfather of hip-hop turned his attention to nostalgic, funky R&B grooves. Blue plastic transmits Snoop’s smooth autotuned vocals over slick Pharrell Williams production. Stevie Wonder even makes an appearance to deliver some iconic harmonica and vocals.

Blues and haikus / Jack Kerouac featuring Al Cohn and Zoot Sims.
Unlike the bulk of Kerouac’s fiction bibliography (which are kept safe at the fiction enquires desk), this recently re-released album can be found amongst the other items in the AV section. Kerouac waxes poetic on wax over jazz accompaniment.

Masseduction.
Futuristic pop with a digital pulse. St. Vincent delivers mysterious vocals and yet again proves her aptitude for unique melody. Opaque pink vinyl creates the perfect aesthetic for her intriguingly crafted tunes.

Lemonade.
Lemonade’s impressively constructed track list showcases Beyoncé’s virtuosic vocal talent over a tremendously wide range of musical styles. From gospel to county, from trap to reggae tinged R&B: it’s all here on lemon yellow vinyl.

Perfect body. / Mermaidens
The talented Wellington indie trio present their collection of ethereal tunes on satsuma orange vinyl. Pounding basslines, shoe-gazey riffs and passionate vocal performances populate the record.

Images courtesy of Turntable Lab, Fat Beats & Mermaidens. Used with permission.

Neil’s top vinyl picks

Resident music expert Neil has put together his favourites of our vinyl collection, launching this Saturday (see all the event details here). Browse his picks below, and check out our previous blog posts for more staff vinyl picks.

The EpicThe epic.
This beautifully packagedthree-disc album by saxophonist Kamasi Washingtonis indeed Epic. After playing on albums by Kendrick Lamar and Flying Lotus, Washington has gathered a fine ensemble of musicians for his debut, which embraces elements of the past as well as contemporary funk and hip hop and a taste of the future,. Plus, there’s a bass player called Thundercat. What else do you need?

TigermilkTigermilk.
Taking their name from the French children’s televison programme, Stuart Murdoch and his Glasgow chums released this album on vinyl only as a school project in 1996, but by the time it got a general release three years later, it was changing hands for huge sums. Strong tunes and quirky lyrics frame the lush and bittersweet songs, peopled by outsiders, dreamers and misfits. An instant classic.

Brothers and Sisters of the Black LagoonBrothers and sisters of the black lagoon.
Third album by the Wellington psychedelic funsters, this showcases their wide range of styles from funk to Latin to electro to prog to fuzzed-out rock, all in a broad kiwi accent. If New Zealand ever get their space programme together, this album would be the perfect soundtrack, as well as providing a handy packing list.

Songs in the Key of LifeSongs in the key of life.
A sprawling double album, encompassing funk, gospel, love songs and social comment, reflective songs and insanely catchy party music, with liberal doses of his newly-discovered synthesizer, this finds Stevie at the peak of his powers and is probably the greatest soul album of the seventies. Nothing he’s produced in the ensuing 40 years has come anywhere close to this, and it was certainly all downhill from here, but this album contains more classic tracks than most artists manage in their entire career.

Wolf PartyWolf party : New Zealand werewolf sounds from Stink Magnetic / compiled by D. Thomas Herkes.
Subtitled “New Zealand werewolf sounds from Stink Magnetic”, this is a brilliant and warped collection of surf music, primitive fuzzy rock and psychobilly from Boss Christ, The Damned Evangelist, Delaney Davidson, The Chandeliers and many other local talents. The perfect soundtrack to a tripped out full moon costume party, or for just getting the blood flowing on a cold winter’s morning…

We’re launching a vinyl collection!

Exciting news for music lovers – we’re launching a brand new vinyl collection for you to borrow from! In September we’re hosting a launch party with DJs, guest speakers and more! Stay tuned for more updates, and take a sneak peek at some of the titles in our collection in the video below:

Plus, it’s competition time! Name as many of the albums in the teaser video as you can, email us at enquiries@wcl.govt.nz with your answers and you could win some fab music prizes!

Lynda.com