Welcome to “The Record Review”, a new monthly segment on The Record Collectors Club Conversations Podcast where I run through vinyl news and reviews of what has been released and what has been announced over the last month or so. 

I will talk new releases, reissues, pre order news and other vinyl related bits so lets kick off with January’s Record Review!

2025 has had some exciting new releases already put out with comebacks from well loved bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Weather Station and Mogwai amongst others, making January a full month of vinyl releases.

There have been some great reissues also from the likes of The Verve, Michael Head and also some Blue Note titles too.

I also talk about big pre order news for the first few months of the year and touch on Record Store Day too which is just around the corner!

 

On this weeks episode of The Record Collectors Club Conversations Podcast, I kick off another new series as I dip into the world of collecting Psych, Prog and Folk records.

My guest this week is a Swedish collector with an incredible collection of the afore mentioned genres, Jonas Samuelsson. Jonas, has been collecting records for around 25 years or so and amassed a collection of first pressings, rare gems and beautiful reissues too. He's also just recently opened an online shop in Sweden, specialising in these genres.

Join us for our chat as we dig into his history with records, where he buys his records and what he has bought into the collection and his shop over the recent months.

On this weeks episode, I am again on my USA trip and in Portland, Oregon visiting the great city, digging for records and meeting up with some friends. One of whom, is this weeks guest on the podcast, Aaron Draplin.

For those that have heard Aaron's name in the design circles, will know how talented he is as a graphic designer but he is also an extremely funny person and very knowledgable about music.

I wanted to get Aaron on the podcast for all the above reasons mentioned but he also has a huge record collection himself and has designed sleeve art for famous artists such as Chris Stapleton and great bands on the Portland music scene too.

Enjoy this 45 (or so) min chat that I had with Aaron about his career in design, his record collection and some hilarious anecdotes from him throughout!

Back in late 2024, I went digging for records (and to see Bruce Springsteen of course) in Canada and the USA for a two weeks trip visiting Vancouver, Seattle and Portland.

Whilst I was in Seattle, I was lucky enough to be invited to visit fellow record collector and Beatles maniac, Norman "Mazzy" Maslov. If you've heard of his name, you will have watched his YouTube videos over on the Vinyl Community on that platform.

We dug through his records, recorded a video for his channel but I also locked down some time with him to chat about his history as a record collector, how he ended up promoting artists and his beloved Beatles.  

Mazzy is a real character and it was amazing to be invited into his home to see his insane record collection and spend time with him. He even took me record shopping in Seattle to the amazing Easy Street Records!

Enjoy this fantastic interview with one of my favourite record collectors in the Vinyl Community!

On the final part of the 2024 Year In Review series, my guests and I reveal our top 5 favourite records we have found during the year of digging in crates, shops and online as collectors. Personally I have found some incredible records in 2024 and it was tough narrowing it down to a Top 5 but I had to do it!

The selections we discuss on this episode are extremely varied across many genres and this was the favourite round table discussion I had personally out of the 3 episodes I recorded with my 3 guests, Kev, Ben and Billy.

So grab some of that leftover Christmas dinner Turkey, Cheese and Chocolate and sit back and enjoy the last part of the 2024 Year in Review!

Happy New Year to everyone and all the best for 2025.

Welcome to the next part of the Year In Review series, dissecting the amazing year in music that was 2024.

Continuing on with the 3 part round table mini series with my guests Kev, Ben and Billy, we discuss our Top 5 favourite vinyl reissues of 2024 across lots of different genres.

It's been an amazing year for reissues in 2024 with some long out of print, or never pressed on vinyl, records released this year, many of which we have added to our own collections. Hopefully, our recommendations will inspire you to buy some new discoveries from this episode.

Welcome to the first in a 3 part mini series as part of the overall 2024 Year in Review series that has been a focus of some of the recent podcast episodes. 

As I had stated on those previous episodes, 2024 has been an amazing year for music and records again and in this mini series I am joined by three record collecting friends from Leeds to discuss the year in music in a round table discussion where they disclose their favourite records, favourite reissues and favourite record finds in 2024. 

This episode focuses on favourite records of the year so lets kick off and welcome along Kev Trotter, Billy Humphries and Ben Leister as we all dive into 2024's amazing new releases on vinyl!

Episode 11 is part 2 of the "2024, A Year in Review" Series where Iain discusses his favourite releases from the second half of the year and the months of July to December.

He discusses releases from lots of bands including Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Wunderhorse, Kasabian, Coldplay, Danny & The Champions of the World, Laura Marling and of course, The Cure!

The second half of 2024 was just as strong as the first half so have a listen and hopefully discover some new artists or records you might have missed from this year!

This week, Iain kicks off his Funk and Soul series on the podcast and welcomes onto it, notorious Funk, Soul and Reggae collector John Downing.

John has collected records all his adult life and whilst he specialises in collecting Funk and Soul stuff, he also digs into other genres too. 

Iain and John chat about the genres he collects, where he buys records, digging across the world for rare Funk and Soul stuff and also dip into the YouTube vinyl community where John shows off his record collection.

This weeks episode has been a long anticipated one for Iain as he talks to Neil Bunn, who tours with many different bands around the world looking after their tour merchandise.

He has toured with countless bands including some huge artists like Radiohead, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Self Esteem and also my favourite band of the last 10 years, Idles! He has some great tales to tell and a fascinating back story of how he got into this job.

Neil is also a keen record collector himself and has been lucky enough to visit Peel Acres, the home of the legendary John Peel and his world famous incredible collection! 

So grab a cuppa or a beer, sit back and listen to this amazing hour or so of conversation!