Classic Album Sundays

Ever thought of sitting in a darkened room and immersing yourself in the aural experience of one album? By Kate Prendergast

IN THE COSY basement of the Beauchamp Hotel, a small congregation has gathered. Ice cubes clink and lamplight spills on velvet seating. This is Classic Album Sundays (CAS), where audiophiles gather to experience the unbroken journey of a wellloved record, from the first track to the last. With outposts in New York, Japan, Oslo and Berlin, CAS was founded in London by Colleen Murphy, a protégé of house pioneer and creator of “by invitation only” parties in New York, David Mancuso. “[Colleen] got into taking her Klipsch speakers down to her local pub to play her favourite albums for her friends,” says Jim Poe, one half of the Classic Album Sundays Sydney hosting duo. “Strangers started rocking up and she had to charge entry.” Time Out attended an evening, a special double-album session of Neil Young’s After the

Gold Rush and Harvest. Spinning on a cherry red Rega RP6 Turntable, a rich, multi-textured sound weaves its magic, as Neil and his band croon tales of old men, Alabama and broken hearts. Listeners close their eyes; couples snuggle into each other; some bob their heads. Programming is diverse, from the Cure, Public Enemy or Steely Dan to Alice Coltrane, Lauryn Hill, Kraftwerk and Sade. When they played a tribute to Aretha Franklin, “everyone in the room cried.”

Beauchamp Hotel, 265-267 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 2010. www.facebook. com/ClassicAlbumSundaysSydney/. $15. Monthly on Sundays. 5-8.30pm. Sun Jul 28: Nightmares on Wax, CarbootSoul.