Charlotte Carpenter On The Pleasures Of Vinyl

Delving through the record racks...

Hearing my music for the first time on vinyl was a big deal.

I could hear details from the studio which are often lost on digital, I was hearing my songs exactly the way I wished everybody could hear them. The bottom end wasn’t lost, the delays felt like they were dancing around my room and the vocals were warm, welcoming.

For me, the magic of vinyl is the moment in which they create and when you hear your favourite song or record in one of it’s purest forms you do wonder why we bother with music in any other way.

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Alabama Shakes – 'Sound And Colour'

I’ve been a fan of this band since their gorgeous debut, and have spent many car journeys screaming the words at my windscreen but this follow up was everything.

The amount of space in this record is stunning, the bottom end hits me and fills my room with so much beast. 'Don’t Wanna Fight' is a belter of a song, Bryony’s vocals are massive and it’s produced by a favourite guitarist of mine, Blake Mills. Get some decent headphones and lose yourself in this. It’ll be worth it.

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Bruce Springsteen – 'Nebraska'

This record was my introduction to Brucey and as soon as I heard 'Atlantic City' my heart crumbled with such a deep sadness that almost comforted me, so now every time I need to hear a sad song to make me feel good, this is my go-to.

It’s stunning start to finish and in my personal opinion his best. I know a lot of people will and usually do disagree.

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Joy – Original Soundtrack

I have a really big emotional connection to this film. What's more inspiring than watching quite an ordinary woman with a great idea and turn it into something extraordinary? I knew I would love it, because I love everything J-Law does, however the soundtrack is unbelievably strong. As soon the film opens with Cream's 'I Feel Free' my heart was racing.

That feeling didn’t die when I took the record home, either (I was like a child at Christmas when I found it in the sale bin at Rough Trade) because the quality of the vinyl itself is stunning, super heavyweight light blue with not one pop to be heard for the entire spin. It carries it’s massive soundtrack so so well.

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Led Zeppelin – 'IV'

This record was the first I’d ever heard of Led Zeppelin, and ‘When The Levee Breaks’ is one of my favourite songs of all time. The drums in this song are huge and hearing these on vinyl really makes all of that space and reverb jump out.

This was gifted to me by a friend of mine, John, who I used to make coffee for in my hometown. It’s a classic, the sort of record I’ll be passing onto my children.

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KT Tunstall – 'Invisible Empire'

Sometimes I feel like the only person who has heard this KT record or I’m always hassling others to go home and listen to it because it’s staggering.

I have loved her from the very start. However, this record really has stayed with me. Perhaps it was a mix of coming into my life just at the right time, but ‘Feel It All’ is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

This record feels personal, tells a story about the hardship of love, loss and life and I think everyone would benefit from taking a listen. You can tell it was recorded to tape too, it has so much warmth and life to it and it always welcomes me back home when I need it.

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Charlotte Carpenter's new EP 'Shelter' is out now. Catch her at the following shows:

October
23 Birmingham The Sunflower Lounge
24 Norwich Open
25 Guildford Star Inn
26 Sheffield Record Junkee
27 Leicester The Cookie
29 Tynemouth Surf Cafe (free entry)

November
1 London St Pancras Old Church

For tickets to the latest Charlotte Carpenter shows click HERE.

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