Elijah Wood, 'Musical Excavator': Curates Vinyl 45 Box Set Full of Obscurities
French 45 with Jacques Dutronc and Nicole Croisille. That was a combo that I was bummed I couldn't do. There was an Electric Prunes song I really wanted on there, too."
Save for a space rock single featuring fairly recent tracks by The Simonsound and The Natural Yogurt Band, the Sounds Of Since Way Back collection is, quite generally, full of songs from way back, boasting tunes that were originally released between 1951 and 1970. According to Wood, that's pretty representative of his personal collection and musical interests these days.
"I spend more time digging into the past and learning about older records and buying used vinyl than I am looking forward, and sometimes I think it's just difficult to find a balance between those things," he says. "I sort of feel like, as a music fan, I've either been like all in one direction or all in another direction. So I spend far less time listening to new records and new bands than I do digging into the past. Because it's kind of an endless process. I sort of feel like a musical excavator. There's a million stones yet to upturn and it's sort of an amazing process."
The fact that the box set would be pressed on vinyl was also important to Wood. Like any music lover worth his salt, he loves the warm sound, the feel and the permanence of records. He was so invested in the idea that he even visited Rainbo Records, the factory where Sounds of Since Way Back was made.
"Vinyl is made in an old kind of craftsman way. The way that vinyl is made is very much the same as it's always been made. I think the medium also forces the listener to pay attention to it," he muses. "The way that we listen to music largely these days is through playlists and Spotify and it's largely not in an entire album format. The thing about vinyl is that
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