Our regular Wednesday ‘First Date’ feature? It’s now on Tuesdays. (You’ll get used to it.) And there’s no better way to get used to the change than with one of the best new artists of this year—or any year. —Ed.
“The very first memory I have of vinyl is when I was about 4 or 5 and became obsessed with Peter And The Wolf narrated by Peter Ustinov. We didn’t listen to much popular music as my parents were into Classical/Opera and yes . . . Enya.
I used to demand that be played almost on a daily basis.
We had a small number of records that consisted of the above mentioned, as well as Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, and let’s not forget—Wham.
I was always fascinated with the needle delicately scratching the records. I used to think it was a lazer that shot out songs onto the black thingy. (That’s what I called a record.)
Yeah, sure – we had cassettes, but they were mainly confined to the cars. We listened to a lot of Beatles in the car and mix tapes.
Johanna & The Dusty Floor – Witch Shoes
Then, my father came home with a CD player. He was so proud because he was one of the first in our neighborhood to have one. (Those things were HUGE back in the day.) I was shocked and speechless when our record player was thrown out. It was the end of the world for me. I hated CD’s. I had no real reason to hate them . . . they just weren’t my record player and I couldn’t listen to Peter And The Wolf.
The next time I picked up a record and listened to it, was when I lived in London and someone gave me a Joni Mitchell record. I looked at it and thought “Gee, I better get a record player so I can listen to it.” I bought a cheap one in Kings Cross and then that was the full circle for me. I have listened to records ever since. I mean, MP3’s are great, the convenience of an Ipod is amazing—but nothing beats that crackle and depth you feel and hear from a record. I think the crackles give the music character.
Johanna & The Dusty Floor – Forest Of Sorrows
When I started working in a recording studio in 2004 I had one and only one opportunity to use the tape machines. I spliced that tape and edited like a champion. I am surprisingly good at tape edits. Then, that job was finished—out of my hands until the client came back a few months later with the final product . . . a lovely shiny brand new pressed vinyl record. I was so proud that something I did in 2004 ended up on an actual record. I will never forget that.
My vinyl collection is diverse. I have Alice in Wonderland, Jane Fonda’s Workout (yep, I said it… I have it) and more recently The Beatles Abbey Road which was a housewarming gift.”
—Johanna Cranitch
