I’ve been bandying about the idea of buying the vinyl copy of my favourite ‘album of the year’ since Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois, but recently I got hooked on the idea of not only buying the year’s best LP, but displaying it as art.

Those ‘frame your old record’ frames have been around awhile now, and they’re affordable, so I figured, hey why not get started?   I was also looking for a project I could do monthly, so this Album Art not-so-secret project was born.  Here’s the scoop:

I compiled a list of my most influential/listened-to or otherwise important or favourite records from the present all the way back to 1963.  This was easier than I thought it would be; though there were several times that multiple albums were competing for the honour, there were also some scary years in the late 80s/early 90s where I really had to do a lot of research to find the album that was perfect for this collection.  As I told m’colleague, it would’ve been a lot easier if I had been a bigger Depeche Mode fan like she is!  Adding in the best album of 2010, which I’ll be able to figure out before the project is over, that’ll make up 47 or so records to be framed.  My current work contract lasts 24 months, so my goal is to buy and frame two records a month from now until then.  When it’s all over, I’ll end up with a nice album of the year collection stretching back quite a ways, and I’ll have a classyish decor that speaks volumes about one of the most important aspects of my life.

The fun part of coming up with this project was getting around the fact that  I didn’t just want to sit down with the big list and start at 1963 and work my way down, so I coded a neat little script in PHP over the weekend.  It took the database of albums, and assigned them each a specific month over the next two years, like May 2010 or March 2011.  It then checked to make sure it hadn’t assigned the same month to more than two albums, so they would be evenly distributed.  I made a quick site which checks the current date and displays only the album(s) I have to buy that month, so it’s always a surprise!  From that site I can update the status of my progress, how much the record cost, and tick whether it has been framed or not.  When it’s all done and my album is in its frame I’ll make a post here with some pics and a write-up about why I chose the album I did.  I’m hoping to hear your favourite album of that year in the comments too!

Since there will only be 47 albums, I made sure this month was the  ‘one album’ month as I’m both still figuring out the process, and locating an inexpensive source for the frames.  The randomizer app did its randomizing, and came up with the year 1971 for me this month.

1971 was a pretty awesome year in music, and if things had gone a little bit differently when I was discovering music from this period, I could’ve just as easily had Zepp’s IV on my list, or Bowie’s Hunky Dory.  Both records are absolutely amazing, with songs that changed the course of musical history. The first time I head Echoes from Floyd’s Meddle album that was released that year, my mind was completely blown.  I was lying in the spare bed at my grandmother’s, and just happened to be listening to the radio on my walkman, and I tuned in just as it began…I was completely and utterly transfixed for the next 23 minutes.  The worst part was that there was no DJ at that time of night, so I had no idea what it was I had just heard until years later.  Other people would probably tell me I’m crazy for not picking John Lennon’s Imagine, or The Who’s Who’s Next.  Hipster bonus if your first thought was Can’s Tago Mago.

Genesis - Nursery Cryme (1971)

My choice, in the face of all that musical greatness, seems pretty understated and maybe it is.  Certainly the whole record isn’t as strong as what would come later, but when Genesis rips into The Return of the Giant Hogweed, I’m willing to forgive some of the album’s weaker moments and grin in anticipation of The Fountain of Salmacis.  When I had a chance to see the  ironically inimitable The Musical Box perform Nursery Cryme, I had been a bit skeptical, having only seen them rock out with the epic tracks from Foxtrot or Selling England by the Pound before.  I was a true believer when the performance ended, and their rendition of  Salmacis remains one of my most memorable Musical Box moments. Very underrated album, and one that I’m more than proud to hang on my wall!

If you can forgive the insane Belgian TV sound and editing, this is a nice performance clip from that era.

I’ll be back to show you some shots of the framed album when it arrives – my copy of Nursery Cryme is a little too well-loved I’m afraid, so I needed another copy suitable for framing which is presently on its way.