What are you doing?
Spending several months listening to every record I own. (Luckily, I’m not an insane collector type.) For every album, every day, I write something. You read it. We listen.
I have not yet listened to every record I own. I’m working on it.
Why are you doing this?
To reclaim music, the medium of vinyl, and (largely) independent rock from what some folks might call rock snobs. I think it’s possible to be a fan, and know a lot of facts, and be smart and self-aware, and be critical and feminine, and have profound associations with music–all at the same time.
Also something about experiencing music as a brand-free experience, elevating the album over the “track,” romanticizing my 20s/the 90s, and actually using all of the material objects in my apartment.
Where do I start?
At the beginning. Better yet, click on Index of Artists up top to search for what you want. Or look at the “best of” posts listed down there at the bottom of this page, too.
Who are you?
I’m Manjula Martin, a writer based in San Francisco. When I was 15 years old I got my first day job, at Logos Books and Records in Santa Cruz, California. In my teens and twenties, I also did time behind the counters of Everyday Music in Portland, Oregon; Green Apple Books (and Music Annex) in San Francisco, California; and the (since much relocated) Knitting Factory in New York City. Nowadays my day job is being an editor and writer, mostly for nonprofit organizations and arts folks.
In addition to vinyl, other outmoded forms of technology I enjoy include bicycles, Polaroids, and typewriters.
What’s with the big plastic red light-up heart in all the photos?
Why, do you have something against big plastic red hearts that light up?
