A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
My record collection
[364] - Dean & Britta & Sonic Boom - A Peace of Us (LP)
So, despite my finest efforts to post all my Christmas releases around Christmas here we have a massive failure on that front getting posted as far from Christmas as it’s possible to be. But… a Dean & Britta album is for life, not just for Christmas.
The “Cherry Eco Mix vinyl” release of A Peace of Us was released for Christmas 2025, a year on from the album’s first release. I had no intention of buying another copy… sometimes even I know when I should draw the line at having multiple copies of the same album. But then in January the Rough Trade shop discounted it, and also had an additional 10% off deal and so it turns out that I don’t know when to draw that line after all.
I haven’t actually taken the record out of its shrinkwrap so as well as having no idea wtf “Cherry Eco Mix vinyl” is I also don’t know what it looks or sounds like.
A bit of (admittedly half-arsed) research revealed that Eco Mix vinyl was developed a couple of years ago by Canadian record pressing company PRP:
In early 2023 we began developing a solution for these problems and as a result, “Eco Mix” was born. Eco Mix is a new effect that uses 100% recycled vinyl, and is split into six distinctive color groups. This allows it to complement the color theme or artwork for your album, in ways not possible before. Additionally the new colors all feature varying levels of an effect we call “marbling”. This gives the mix a dynamic element, blending complementary colors to achieve a subtle, yet stunning look.
Precision Record Pressing continues its push for sustainability
While I’m not that big a fan of “marbling” I am a fan of recycling and it’s a healthy step away from the fad for “virgin vinyl” that there was a few years back.
Of course Eco Mix sounds as good to my ears as the previous release, which I guess wasn’t on Eco Mix.
I must admit that the plastic involved in the music business has been one of my most difficult things to resolve…
I like to own music - it’s not just something to play, it’s a declaration. But the plastic manufacturing industry is an awful polluter, producing pollutants and products that will last for years (or forever) and if that wasn’t enough its obviously heavily tied into the petroleum industry and all the awful things that that entails for our planet.
A few years ago I made the decision to stop buying records and CDs and move to entirely to buying downloads - while my record and CD buying tailed off it didn’t really ever stop completely (hence being on #364 of this series) - and of course with time came the realisation that the downloading and streaming had different but equally awful side effects powering massive data centres and tech made from rare-earth minerals and all the poisoning and polluting that extracting, manufacturing, and disposing of it involves.
I still get pangs of environmental guilt ever record or CD I buy, made all the worse by the utterly pointless shrinkwrap I have to remove before I can play them… but, I’m a hypocrite, because I love music and have no idea how to manage that without contributing to the destruction of the planet. I’m sorry.
- I still buy records and CDs new (although considerably fewer than in the past)
- I subscribe to a streaming platform
- I buy downloads from Bandcamp (and other platforms)
- I buy CDs and records from charity shops
- I have most of my CDs (and downloads) on a server… my own streaming platform - on a fairly low-power PC - but it’s on 24/7 (although it’s more than just a music server).
- I buy second-hand records from local shops (and online)
- I off-loaded hundreds of records to charity shops before we moved
Trying to be good is hard… and I guess all we can do is to be as good as we possibly can.
Anyway… I’ve been listening to A Peace of Us and right now Dean is singing that “Christmas can’t be far away” - what does he know… Christmas literally couldn’t be further away! Here are Dean & Britta performing it in December 2020 during their live stream… when it wasn’t far away.
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 12/013
- Artist: Dean & Britta & Sonic Boom
- Title: A Peace of Us
- Notes: Cherry Eco Mix vinyl
- Format: LP
- Bought from Rough Trade for £16.20
- Buy ‘A Peace of Us’ on Bandcamp
Previously in my record collection: