ABCs of My Vinyl Collection (Letter C, Part 22)

A vast majority of my vinyl was purchased between the years 1983 and 1988. Then I switched formats. In other words, most of the artists featured in this series are from the '70s and '80s, but I would like to throw in an occasional artist from this century. That way I don't feel like a dinosaur. I have been buying vinyl and CD in equal measure for about the last dozen years, after all. I have mentioned before I like to keep my records tidy, and that includes buying an artist in only one format. I don't like going to the CD shelves for some of my Cosines and then the vinyl shelves for a stray Cosines. So, as you can see from the photo above, something went wrong. I have the first two 7" singles, but then I bought full-length album 'Oscillations' on CD, and then returned to vinyl this year with the 10" 'Transitions.' There is a simple explanation. When I went to my favorite indie-pop record shop looking for 'Oscillations,' they only had it on the inferior format, and I didn't have the patience to order it. Of course, now I regret it.

The issue of format choice also comes up if the price of the vinyl seems out of whack (which happens a lot!) or if delays at the pressing plant mean I will have to wait months for the vinyl version to come out while the CD is already in the shops. For instance, Drew and others had me champing at the bit to get the new one from the Wedding Present. I went to buy it online the other day, but the vinyl doesn't come out for another month in the UK and, worse yet, two months here in America.** Forget it. Can't wait. It's coming on CD. When David Bowie's 'Blackstar' came out, I made a hasty decision and paid $30 for the vinyl. Not a double album, folks. I should have paid the $9.99 for the CD, but I got caught up in the moment. Thankfully, most of the indie labels I like don't stick it to you like that.

I have lost my way. Let's get back to Cosines. This is the debut single from 2013. The band's sound is closer to Stereolab these days, but this one has a charming analog retro sound. The five-piece string section is a nice touch too. Alice Hubley may be a girl pirate, but all I could think of when I first heard her voice was that she sounded so much like another one of my favorite pop vocalists... Lena Karlsson of the sorely missed Swedish band Komeda. The site for Fika Recordings shows they only have five more copies of this limited edition 7". So, I suggest you grab yours now. Cosines will take over the world next year when the new album comes out. Don't regret you missed this one.

"Hey Sailor Boy"

**Sept. 15 Update: I checked the comments this morning and saw our pal MisterPrime had obtained a vinyl copy of the new album by the Wedding Present. A quick check beyond Amazon and Amazon UK (which is what I checked... sloppy!) revealed there are, indeed, places to obtain 'Going, Going...', including the Weddoes own site. Apologies to all. I'll do better next time.