Put the message in the box

A fun little piece of vinyl

I’ve not been buying much vinyl this year. I’m not sure what has prompted this, but there just hasn’t been a lot that I really want and also a lot of what I want is, unfortunately, expensive. I’ve been trying to be a little more cost conscious this year, a decision that is likely going to result in me not going to any concerts this year because I can’t justify the expense of the show and the inevitable travel that will accompany it. Jessie Ware is playing in Chicago in October and while tickets are only $60, who knows what the price of gas will be then so I’m just calling it now and not going. I think the only person who could tempt me this year is Madonna and honestly, I don’t see her touring this year but stranger things have happened.

But today a little piece of vinyl arrived in the mail that I had almost forgotten about. A couple of months ago, a surprise collaboration between long time favorite Mary Chapin Carpenter and The Mountain Goats dropped. It contained two songs, the first a cover of World Party’s “Put the Message in the Box” with Carpenter on lead vocals. The second was “Migrations” a cover of a song originally written and recorded by Canadian folk-pop singer Christine Fellows, this time with John Darnielle, lead singer of The Mountain Goats, taking lead vocals. Amazingly, I knew neither of these songs and the first time I listened to them, I thought they were originals. I’ve since gone and listened to the original versions of these songs and I can see why each artist picked these songs.

I bought the digital download from Bandcamp because I could and because Bandcamp does such a great job of compensating artists. But there was also an option to buy a vinyl single for $15, either on “windshield clear” vinyl or “highway tar swirl” vinyl. I decided what the heck and went with the latter. And after two months, I found the vinyl sitting on my front porch after work today.

I just think it is the cutest little vinyl and it’s the first 45rpm single I’ve added to the collection in a while. Carpenter’s voice sounds so good - better than it has in a long time. The old shine is back, a shine I thought was lost for good, but she still has it. As a 35 year fan, it’s so fun to watch these artists grow along with you. Carpenter soundtracked a very pivotal year of my college experience, and for that I will be forever grateful.