The full Central Library CD collection is now available to borrow!

It has been a huge job to relocate all our Central Library collections to a new home at Te Pātaka, our new collection and Distribution Centre located in Johnsonville. However we are very happy to announce that the Central Library CD collection is available to be borrowed again in its entirety. Items can be reserved via our online catalogues from Te Pātaka to be collected from any of our other Branch Libraries.
We have decided to remove any fees for reserving items from Te Pātaka. However we have introduced a $2 charge per item if people do not pick up their reserved items within 7 working days of being notified they are available for pick up. This is to help keep the items in the collection circulating for everyone to access.

We have also curated a core collection of ‘Essential Listening’ titles from our large Central AV collection, many of which are unavailable on streaming services in New Zealand. All our ‘Essential Listening’ titles are taken from 1001 albums you must hear before you die & Nick Bollinger’s 100 essential New Zealand albums. They are also tagged on our catalogue. Just type in Essential Listening as a search and you can check them out from home, your device, or on our online catalogues in the library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some pictures of just some of the CD shelves out at Te Pātaka to give you an idea of the scope of what’s available. We will be posting some videos of us amongst the collection soon, as we start to highlight some genres and titles for you!

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.

Vinyl now available for lending!

Vinyl, records, LP’s – they’re all the same thing, produce great sound, are once again in high demand and now, Wellington City Libraries is lending them out!

Wellington Vinyl

Vinyl is now available to borrow from the Central library, covering Popular, Soul, Electronica New Zealand, Wellington genres and more at the reasonable price of $1.00 for seven days.

Take your borrowed vinyl home and then return titles to the library in our convenient cardboard satchels.

Satchels

You can reserve vinyl using our catalogue, by searching for titles with call number ’vinyl,’ – click reserve and have them delivered to your local branch.

We’ll be adding new release, re-issues and deluxe titles every week, so keep an eye on our display spaces in the Central library’s Sound and Vision area.

Lynda.com

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