If you are anything like me, digging in the crates, foraging for rare white labels, first pressings, and picture cover sleeves took up weekends, lunch breaks and any spare moment that presented itself. Record collecting, selecting those cherished platters that mattered, requires a dedication for dusty covers, musty vinyl bins and solo excursions to the far reaches of long corridor second-hand stores. You will be on first name basis at Real Groovy and sport their orange signature bags with the pride of a giddy kid, eager to eliminate the return trip home to take your turn on your ever tempting turntable.
As noted by vinyl vixen Sheila Burgel ““The joy of listening far exceeds my need to have it on record. The song is the cake, the original vinyl record is the cherry on top.”
Vinyl junkies rejoice, if you can find room on your carefully catalogued coffee table, have I got the perfect companion piece to compliment your collection. ‘Dust & Grooves’ signals a sublime sonic souvenir for all purveyors of the plastic persuasion, from the vinyl vaults of passionate people hooked on classical, cult cuts and 12inch circular journeys into sound.
With a foreword from the Wu-Tang;s RZA, a self-confessed album grabbing freak, ‘D & G’ cut and pastes a slide show of masterful mountains of records, lavished with lyrical waxings' on the haunts, hidden display hobby rooms and endless shelves of gems that fellow groove grabbers have created.
Coming in at around 436 pages, this homage to honouring the record, masses more than obsessive odes to musical hoarding, uniquely undressing the tales of taking the time to search, sound-check and select personal pieces of rounded love. From dirty drum’n’bass dub plates to crisp classical pressings, the community of collectors and aural appreciation society that sits in amongst us all, is as varied and vibrant as the undercover characteristics of their dutiful day job. A means to an end, working to be able to play those tunes, takes funds, fans and friends to share treasures with, and this beautifully presented scrapbook of sound peels back all the best examples of extreme adoration. Get collecting.
For this fine record resource, 'Dust & Grooves' and more, dust off a few of these additional referenced reflections from your local library. Girls grabbing vinyl, serious addicts, and the classics essentials.
Dave Tucker
