Vinyl of the Week #2: Real Estate - In Mind

Real Estate – In Mind

Released March 27, 2017

I was never really into Real Estate until I saw them live at The Majestic Theater in Detroit, Michigan. It was early May 2017, and at the time Real Estate's “Darling” was the only song I had really jammed to. I listened to the guitar and drum intro over and over in an attempt to figure out the time signature. It was both catchy and cool so when my friend Drake asked if I’d go see them in Detroit we both bought our tickets.

The Majestic Theater was about ¾ full, Frankie Cosmos opened (another great artist to check out) and I found myself amused by the passiveness of the crowd. It was the most relaxing laid-back show I've been to. Everyone was just vibing and lightly nodding their heads along to the music. It was something that I did not expect, but it was something I needed. May 2017 was a hectic time of change for me. I had just graduated college, had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do, and most of my friends were moving back to their home towns. The calm of the crowd seeped over onto me, and helped me start that summer off right. Everything was going to sort itself out and be ok. The band put on a great performance, Real Estate’s music makes you just want to stand and listen not dance and crowd surf. Real Estate ended up playing their whole In Mind album and some of the older fan favorites like Talking Backwards.

At the time I found the performance so inspiring that I bought In Mind on vinyl that night. It was a black vinyl, single LP with a track list/lyric sheet. Pretty simple, but it wasn’t a limited edition or anything so I didn’t expect a ton. I really like the gold foil writing on the front, the slight shimmer adds a lot to the album art.This record has wracked up a number of spins because it is such nice background music.