After years of hearing about him and considering buying a record, I finally picked up (the New Scotland vinyl edition of) Three after hearing “Through and Through and Through” on the CBC. It’s great, and I’m in my usual spot – kicking myself for all the fun I could have had if I’d paid attention sooner, and relishing the idea of another fullish discography to sift through.
Three is a triple album – an admirable endeavour on its own – that really is worth 3 records; all of it’s solidly crafted and tastefully put together. Plaskett’s voice and tone remind me of Tom Petty, if Petty was a little happier and lived in the Maritimes. The backing vocals on a lot of the record put the cherry on the top – a perfect touch. Three’s a great record, and I see myself consuming it slowly over time. And then digging backwards into Joel Plaskett’s catalogue.
Here’s a video, since I don’t have an MP3 to put up:*
Two thoughts about buying records on vinyl: I’ve resolved to only buy vinyl records, as of about a year ago (I download what isn’t available on vinyl). And a lot of the records I’ve been buying have been on these tasty 180 mg vinyl editions, the quality of which forces the band to spread a single LP over two discs. I’m not complaining, just observing, that this means double the amount of flipping. If this record had been put out that way, it’d be six records long. Maybe this trend will bring back the old cardboard collection-holding envelope books or boxes – I love those things.
Thought number 2: A lot of the brand new records I’m buying have nicks and scratches and jagged edges on them. A friend told me there is a shortage of talented record cutters (or whatever they’re called) because the industry was disappearing before it revved back up. I’m trying to be cool about this, acknowledging that ticks and pops are fine, really – back in the day they’d become part of the song, eventually. But I like the newness of things as much as I love the eventual degradation, and I wouldn’t mind if they started off crisp and clean.
*Oh – a last minute thought number 3: Labels, please notice the “free download with purchase” trend (or the free flat-cased CD-inside alternative). If I’m considering 2 records of comparable goodness, I’m buying the one that gives me the files for my iPod. For the rest I go online and get a torrent to steal. You could save me the time.
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