Life is Like A Box Of Records is back and today we have the wonderful Stacey Walton letting us into her wee music life.
Stacey has many talents and works in PR, she is a TYCI member and also she makes the best motherfucking doughnuts at Good Luck Kid that you will ever taste. EVER.
Eurythmics – ‘It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)
My parents were young when they had the three of us and my Mum, especially, was/still is a big music fan. An Uncle taped MTV onto VHS for us along with the late night Channel 4 stuff with Max Headroom and we would often have that on, in amongst multiple viewings of The Wuzzles and Gummy Bears. Out of all of the videos that grabbed me (Thriller equally terrified and made me feel alive), the pulsating synth at the beginning of Baby’s Coming Back is just so engrained in my brain. I recall looking at Annie illuminated with violet light, all blonde and thinking she was from another plant…even though she’s a quine like me. Finding out that we were both from the North East blew my mind.
Travis – Writing To Reach You
I used to be a snob and harbour such secrecy towards my old love for this band, but fuck it. From the age of 15 – 18/19, I could not stop listening to this album or anything they recorded, trying to see them live as often as I could. I’ll still be nostalgic after a few and play it and feel that age again. This was during the heady days of fan forums, chatting innocently about your love for that band, meeting up with message board names at shows and forging a real community. I still keep in touch with several forum lurkers, most of whom work in the same industry as me and one I class as one of my dearest friends.
Joni Mitchell – River
Stemming from the love for said band above, it was their cover of this song that pricked my ears. It’s just so beautiful and the very next day, it was straight on the bus into Aberdeen to buy as much as I could of Joni Mitchell from Fopp. That Summer was spent daydreaming in the garden (between supermarket shifts – hello unplanned gap year), trying to figure “life” out. It has since taken on an additional meaning (the wonder of a good song, eh?) and on playing this for the first time in aaaages today, it’s probably best to leave it a wee bit before the next play.
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Love of All
Even though I wasn’t present, there is a long running anecdote amongst my family about my Dad’s penchant for Whitney (he likes his divas: see also Mary J Blige). He doesn’t really listen to a lot of music in the car and one of the only CDs in there at this time was Whitney’s Greatest Hits. One day, he was in the car with my youngest sister and they belted this out together. The vision of a sometimes stroppy teenage girl (sorry, Soph) singing this in unison with her golf loving, plumber Dad makes me smile every time I hear it.
Bloc Party – Little Thoughts
Final two years of university. Going to Exodus several nights a week, week on week, dancing all night to Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Mr Brightside etc etc. The glory days of indie disco! Walks home with chips, cheese and gravy. Generally being wide to people after drinking too much gin (gin makes me mouthy). Oh man, I miss dancing so much.
Sleeping States – Rain Check
I’m instantly transported back to my tiny bedroom in Bethnal Green. I was totally feeling the first flush of romance of a very short lived fling and the dark days of Winter amped up the cosy, romantic sides of this album (‘There The Open Spaces’) Markland of Sleeping States introduced me to Life Without Buildings via his cover of ‘Liberty Feel Up’ (not on Youtube but please seek it out) to which I will be forever grateful and only adds to how this album makes me feel.
LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
A pavement in Brixton. 3am. I had watched them play for the very last time (for me, anyways) so feeling both heartbroken and buzzy, we left the aftershow James Murphy had DJ’d at, only to be waiting for a taxi right next to him. Bumbling thank you’s for playing Talking Heads, I ran off and thought I was embarrassing (thank you, 20s). I always picture my time in London when I hear this, staying out too late, trying too hard to be liked/to fit in, romanticising it almost but it was fun and I’m glad I did it. A friend once described them as “OUR Talking Heads” and he’s so right.
Wild Nothing – ‘Summer Holiday’
Burned out, exhausted and definitely out of sorts, I left London after three years as a music PR and hibernated at the family home in Aberdeenshire for a year. In that time, unexpectedly, I became freelance. ‘Gemini’ was one of the first records I worked on, all on my lonesome. As soon as I heard that fade into ‘Live In Dreams’ (the first track) my heart actually felt like it was swelling. I knew this was such a special record. Cue instant flashbacks of headphones on, walking around the perimeter of the village, along the river every night, slowly building myself up again and feeling so hopeful.
Group Inerane – anything they ever made
I worked on a festival in Utrecht a few years back. Going abroad on my own, staying with awesome but unknown people (who were all close friends already), I felt pretty out of my depth and retreated quite a bit, aware of being the youngest one and feeling insecure. On the Sunday afternoon, we all headed to an art gallery to watch Group Inerane play. I’d already heard enthusiastic things from my fellow houseguest but nothing prepared me for it. It was such a release to be so caught up in their performance and I genuinely forgot about all my insecurities, they were that joyous. It shook me up and I chilled out a bit, enjoying my last day or two there and it really gave me the boost to be more involved. (This is their show at Kinning Park Complex a week later, hands down best show I’ve ever been to)
Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Unsure of when I first heard this but it has been a daily part of my life for a very long time. What seems as a perfect, sweet love song reveals itself to be a bit unsure, a bit scared at times. Depending on how I feel that day, it can either seem melancholic or euphoric but it always makes me glaze over and reminisce. Sorry to anyone who has had to deal with my enthusiastic reaction (i.e. total over the top fawning) each time this comes on.
No Comments