One Love - Song Around LA - Playing For Change

I think Bob Marley would approve!

There is no such thing as "Free Music"

I was having a Facebook conversation with someone a couple of weeks ago and when reading more about the topic online I realized that a lot of people confuse the issue of internet privacy and music (or other copyright protected material) “piracy”. I use the word "piracy" in inverted commas here simply because it isn't really the right term that is being used. Piracy involves rogue sailors forcibly boarding and robbing someone of their ship or yacht at sea and doesn't really have anything to do with music, videos or the internet, but it has become the common term for the illegal online theft of copyright protected content and so for better or worse we use the word “piracy”. The use of this word was also probably helped along by the now infamous file sharing site “The Pirate Bay”. I think arguing over whether the word used should be “piracy”, or anything else for that matter, borders on the pedantic and is really just to obscure the actual problem.

I think it would be useful at this point to say that I am 100% against anyone, whether they are individual people, organizations or governments being able to read my personal and private emails, listen in on my Facebook chats or Skype communications and gaining access to my banking details. I am entitled to my privacy on a legal and moral basis and I object very strongly to anybody, I don't care who they are or what reason they have, being able to spy on the intimate details of my personal life. I am sure most people would probably agree with me on this point so let’s move on.

Vinyl Feature: Tom Jones - Greatest Hits

On a regular basis I will feature a "new" purchase that I have made in the previous week. Pretty much all of my vinyl purchases over the last few years have been from secondhand shops, charity shops, etc. where it is possible to get great records for a mere pittance! I hope to show you that building up a music collection via vinyl LP's is both fun and affordable!

Here in southern Sweden we have a chain of second hand stores connected to the Svenska Kyrkan, called Erikshjälpen, that use the funds generated from their sales to sponsor education, child protection and health related causes worldwide. So not only can I indulge my constant hunger for music related vinyl based bargains, but I am also supporting a worthwhile cause. Both of these things make me happy and ease my conscience at the same time. What a great deal!

First up is a wonderful copy of Tom Jones Greatest Hits. It has a modest collection of hits that we know and love and would expect to hear from Tom Jones and the quality of the pressing is top notch as well. The copy I got is 100% scratch free and sounds just as good as new. I am always very picky about checking every LP I purchase and if there is even a hint of a scratch on the vinyl playing surface I do not buy it. I am less picky about the state of the cover.

I'll start by showing some photographs of my purchase.

Front Cover

Bought my first brand new vinyl in 24 years... not a great experience!

I first heard First Aid Kit playing on the radio here in Sweden and quite liked what I heard from this folksy sounding Swedish duo. They consist of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg and have been a hit in Sweden since they sent a tape of their home recorded song "Tangerine" to a Swedish radio station back in 2007.

Last year one of the songs from their "The Lion's Roar" album was used in a television advert and it was a really catchy tune! I found myself singing or humming the few lines used in the ad while sitting at my computer, taking a shower or cycling down to the beach. I then looked them up on the internet and found their website here: First Aid Kit, whereupon I was delighted to see that they offered their music on vinyl! Whoohoo! Instantly I was a fan because lets face it, very few bands actually release their stuff on the black medium of musical purity any more.

Why I prefer to listen to music on vinyl.

I can still remember as a youngster growing up in South Africa the thrill of going downtown with my mother and visiting the local record store in Belleville near Cape Town. She would allow me to pick out a single of my own choice and I would agonise over each and every purchase. I recall vividly the drive home, clutching my new treasure tightly in my hand, the anticipation being so strong that I would feel almost giddy with the excitement of it all! Finally we would get home, and the engine of our white Peugeot would hardly stop before I was out and making for the large "all in one" music center my parents had back then. It was a large wooden affair with separate speakers that seemed very big to me as a rather small nine (or thereabouts) year old. My mom would graciously let me listen to my music first, which largely consisted of some kind of pop song that happened to be my current favourite from Springbok Radio's friday evening "Top Twenty" show. (Remember Springbok Radio?) On the "B" side there was normally some much less desirable song that the band or maybe the record label put there simply to fill up the other side without giving anything worthwhile away, damn them!