a rockey home companion: Off The Record

13.1.09

Off The Record :: Moondance

pho·no·graph \ˈfō-nə-ˌgraf\ n,: an instrument for reproducing sounds by means of the vibration of a stylus or needle following a spiral groove on a revolving disc or cylinder.

As far back as i can remember, i've found great aural stimulation from the snap crackle and pop of a record needle being slowly pulled through the groove of a dusty piece of vinyl. Not only would a plastic yellow turntable and a colorful stack of lp's and 45's provide a soundtrack for my formative years, but they could also inspire and provide tools of creativity. A record designed for 33 and a third rpms could become an entirely new listening experience when sped up to 45 rpms. Shift those gears into neutral and the turntable would become all loosey goosey allowing a record to move backward and forward as the hand felt so inclined. Hours were spent listening, singing, playing and discovering through the magic of the invention of phonograph.

I remember having a recent conversation about music with a work partner who claimed to be a fellow dylan admirer. However, when asked what his favorite dylan album was, he looked me over as if i had just asked him which hand he preferred to cut lines of coke on a hooker's chest with. When i pressed him further, he defended his lack of education in the album department on something to do with living in the digital itunes pick and choose playlist yakity smakity album question mark era. As a tear softly crawled from the corner of my wistful eye, he gave me a sympathetic squeeze on the shoulder and carried on with his tasks.

It was this not so pivotal moment which led me back to my stack of records. Half of them have been marred and scarred by the great basement flood of 2007. Many of the polychromatic paper sleeves had been destroyed altogether leaving their sonic partners in nothing but a sheer slip or else completely naked. Longing to preserve the majesty of these old friends in this age of digital file sharing, i have been compelled to jumpstart a new era of a rockey home companion (an aural supplement). Under the moniker OFF THE RECORD, we will be sharing our vinyl collection with you our guests. So without further ado we introduce...

It was sometime around my sophomore/second year of a six year tenure at a reputable school located in muncie, indiana that i happened upon today's selection. I recall some sort of vinyl record convention taking place in the student union and took it upon myself to peruse the offerings. Now, by this point i've been collecting records here and there for a few years. Goodwill stores, Half Price Books and independent record stores were my hunting grounds of choice. According to my own guesstimation, i had a fairly sizable collection to my name for a kid with my income (or lack thereof) and thrifty spending habits. I apparently had a particular fondness for records from the sixties and seventies. Dylan, lennon, mccartney, joel, elton, the who, simon, stevie, zeppelin, what have you; these are the names what made varied appearances and multiple rounds upon my turntable. However, I had absolutely no titles in my collection by the man generally known as van.

When i picked up van morrison's 1970 album moondance for a fistful of dollars at this previously mentioned record ordeal, i had absolutely no idea what an incredible listening experience this would be for years to come. Though unfamiliar with over half of the cuts on this record at the time, those pensive glances framed in a well-groomed beard and warm chromatic tones on the album's cover told me that this piece of vinyl would be a timeless addition to my collection.

Following on the heels of his previous melancholy masterpiece, astral weeks, moondance continues morrison's eclectic exploration of musical genres including jazz, r&b, folk, country... to incredibly satisfying ends. For me, the whole tone of the album evokes the feeling of being a child running through mountains of multicolored leaves on a crisp yet sunny autumn morning. It is festive and poetic. It is rebirth. Acoustic guitars, trilling pianos and flutes cradle and propel lyrics about childhood memories, gypsies and crazy love. The musical arrangements stand up perfectly on their own, but it is the soulful irish wail of mister morrison as he dances and plays with those arrangements which strokes my soul and demands that i flip the disc on it's back side to start all over again.

Dig it.