Ben’s Vinyl Jams

Ben’s Vinyl Jams #5: 52.5 Records

Welcome back to another vinyl edition of Summer Jams. Today’s Jams are two awesome 7″ singles I picked up at 52.5 Records in Charleston this morning. As we mention on the site before, they’re closing their doors on Nov. 1, so make sure you take some time out to stop by before it’s too late and lend Clay a little support by picking up a few of the gems they have in the store.

R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

First thing I stumbled on was a treasure trove of vintage singles from The Clash and R.E.M., many of which Clay said were from his personal collection. I picked up this single from their 1987 album, Document, which is probably my second favorite single of R.E.M.’s (second to Man On The Moon, and just barely ahead of Imitation Of Life). This is simply a great song off a great album, and saying anything else about is just a distraction from how good it is. We here at SceneSC are head over heels for them, and we can’t wait to hear the new album they just finished recording.

Jenny Lewis - The Next Messiah

While there, I also picked of this 7″ single forJenny Lewis‘ The Next Messiah, from her 2008 album Acid Tongue. This song is nine minutes of indie gold. Reading up on it, it’s actually three different songs combined together and was actually recorded live in the studio, rather than as a number of separate tracks, which makes it all the more impressive. Acid Tongue as a whole is an amazing record, and revisiting this makes me all the more excited for her upcoming Jenny & Johnny album