Selena on the Turntable, The Charli Out of the Box, and Something New on the Way
From pop perfection and vinyl collecting to grief, nostalgia, and new discoveries, Ram’s picks reflect a listener who has made music a lasting part of his identity.
Music has become a pretty inseparable part of who Ram (@ramsvinyl) is. There’s the obvious pop obsession, the vinyl collection, and the excitement around new releases, but there’s also something more personal underneath it. Music carries memories for him, gives him something to look forward to, and has been there through both the happiest and hardest parts of his life. Ram’s Vinyl grew out of that relationship, becoming a place where he can share not just the records he owns, but the reasons he cares about them in the first place.
The August 18 to 22 prompts touch on many of those reasons. A record chosen for a weekend away brings him back to childhood and the memories attached to pop music. A question about recognizable voices turns into a look at how an artist can change without losing their identity. Elsewhere, a song becomes part of the excitement around a new album, an album cover becomes inseparable from the story of its era, and a favorite track becomes an example of why some pop songs can feel just as good on the hundredth listen as they did on the first.
Which album would you pack for a weekend away?
If I could only pack one album for a weekend away, I’m bringing Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection by Katy Perry. For me, this album is just pure pop perfection and has pretty much everything I would want for a weekend soundtrack. It’s fun, nostalgic, upbeat, and packed with songs that I can listen to repeatedly without getting tired of them.
One of the biggest reasons I’d choose The Complete Confection specifically is because it takes an already iconic album and gives you even more. You have songs like “Teenage Dream,” “California Gurls,” “Firework,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” and “The One That Got Away,” but then you also get tracks like “Part of Me” and “Wide Awake.” There are so many different moods throughout the album that I feel like there would be a song for every part of the trip.
As I’ve gotten older and become more invested in music and vinyl collecting, I’ve realized how much I appreciate albums that represent an entire era. Teenage Dream is one of those albums for me. It’s not only the music, but it’s the artwork, videos, performances, fashion, and memories surrounding it. It represents a time in pop music that I really love and I mean this album is pop perfection! Hit after hit after hit, insane the run this album had.
This album makes me feel really nostalgic and takes me back to my younger self. Whenever I hear songs from Teenage Dream, it reminds me of a time when everything felt a little simpler and I was just discovering the music and artists that I loved. I remember hearing these songs everywhere growing up on the radio, on TV, and just throughout everyday life. Listening to the album now almost feels like checking in with a younger version of myself. It brings back a lot of good memories and reminds me how much my love for pop music has grown since then.
Whether I’m driving somewhere, getting ready to go out, hanging out with friends, or just relaxing, there’s something on this album that fits. If I only have room for one album for the weekend, this is the one making the trip with me and I will never regret it!
Which artist has a recognizable voice?
When I think of an artist with a voice I could recognize almost immediately, Lady Gaga is one of the first people who comes to mind. She is my overall favorite artist and there might be some bias when it comes to easily recognizable, but her vocal range and skill is insane! There are obviously so many incredible vocalists in pop music, but Gaga has always had something about her voice that makes it distinctly hers.
I think part of what makes her voice so recognizable is how much personality she puts into it. Whether she’s singing a huge pop song like “Bad Romance,” something more emotional like “Million Reasons,” or showing off a completely different side of her voice on a jazz record, you can still tell it’s Gaga. Her voice can be powerful and theatrical, but she can also pull everything back and make a song feel much more intimate. Listening back to The Fame album you can really hear the difference and matureness she has in her voice, and I am so glad that I have been able to be on this roller coaster with her.
I also love how her voice has evolved throughout her career without losing what makes it recognizable. If you go from The Fame to Born This Way, ARTPOP, Joanne, Chromatica, and her more recent music, every era has its own sound and identity. Yet somehow, that signature Gaga quality is always there.
That’s something I really appreciate about an artist. Trends in pop music are constantly changing, and artists naturally experiment with different genres and production styles, but having a voice that immediately makes someone say, “That’s Lady Gaga,” is special. Even if I heard a Gaga song, I’d never listened to before, I feel like it would only take a few seconds before I knew exactly who was singing, but honestly that would never happen because I know every song, haha.
What's the last song you used on a reel?
The last song I used on a reel was “Camera” by Charli xcx. I used it for an unboxing video of her new album, and it felt like the perfect song to use while showing everything off for the first time. Unboxing new records is always one of my favorite types of content to make because I get to share my first reaction to the packaging, artwork, vinyl, and all the little details that make a physical release special.
What I’ve really been loving about this new Charli era is how different it feels compared to her previous albums. I’ve always loved how Charli is willing to experiment and switch things up instead of trying to recreate the same sound or aesthetic repeatedly. After how huge and recognizable the Brat era became, I was curious to see where she would go next, and I love that this feels like a new direction rather than just an extension of what she’s already done.
I also chose “Camera” because I genuinely love the song so much. There’s just something about it that instantly puts me in a good mood whenever I hear it. It’s one of those songs that makes me feel good without even having to think about it, and I always find myself wanting to play it again as soon as it ends. I love when a song can give you that feeling, and “Camera” has become one of those songs for me.
Now that I’ve gotten to experience the album and this new era through music and physical release, I’m even more excited to see how everything translates to a live show. Charli always puts so much personality into her different eras, so I seriously can’t wait to see what she does with this one on tour!
Which album cover with the artist's portrait do you love?
One of my favorite albums covers featuring the artist’s portrait must be Taylor Swift’s reputation. I’ve always loved album artwork, especially as a vinyl collector, because the cover is such a huge part of how I experience an album. reputation is one of those covers that immediately tell you something about the record before you even hear the first song.
The black-and-white portrait of Taylor is simple on its own, but the newspaper-style text covering part of her face completely changes it. It connects perfectly to what the album represents: her reputation, the media, headlines, public perception, and the version of Taylor Swift that people thought they knew at the time.
I think that’s why I like it so much. It isn’t just a nice picture of the artist placed on the front of an album. The portrait contributes to the story of the record.
It also stands out among Taylor’s other album covers. Each of her eras has a recognizable visual identity, but there’s something about reputation that feels completely different. The high-contrast black-and-white photography and typography immediately put you into the world of the album.
And on vinyl, album artwork gets even more appreciation because you’re seeing it at a much larger size than you would on a streaming app. reputation is the type of cover I love displaying because even without the music playing, the artwork represents the entire attitude and story behind that era.
“Look What You Made Me Do,” “I Did Something Bad,” and “Delicate” represent the themes of reputation really well. “Look What You Made Me Do” captures the bold, darker side of the era and Taylor taking control of the way people were talking about her. “I Did Something Bad” continues that confident, unapologetic feeling and really fits the image that was created around the album.
I also think “Delicate” is important because it shows the other side of reputation. Underneath all the headlines, drama, and public perception, there’s a much more vulnerable story about falling in love while worrying about what someone else thinks of you. I love that contrast because the album starts off feeling like it’s all about Taylor’s reputation, but as you listen, you realize there’s a love story underneath it all.
What's a song you never get tired of?
A song I won’t ever get tired of is “Run Away with Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Since the second that opening saxophone starts, I’m already sold. I could have heard the song five minutes ago and somehow still be ready to play it again.
There’s just something about “Run Away with Me” that captures everything I love about pop music. It’s huge, emotional, catchy, and a little nostalgic all at the same time. The production makes the song feel like you’re in the middle of a movie scene where you’re driving somewhere at night with the windows down and, for those few minutes, absolutely nothing else matters.
It’s also one of those songs that reminds me why I love Carly Rae Jepsen beyond just the massive success of “Call Me Maybe.” Her album, Emotion has been severely underrated and I mean that album is pop perfection at its finest, and the only other album I can think of is Teenage Dream, but the opening song on the album, “Run Away with Me” is the perfect introduction to that world. It feels just as exciting to me now as it did the first time I heard it. It is one of those songs that never loses that first listening feeling and when I tell you that is a rare feeling, I am glad that this is that song!
Ram choosing Selena as the musician he would thank says quite a lot about the way he thinks about music. He’s drawn to artists who become bigger than their individual songs, whose work continues to mean something to people years later and whose story becomes part of the music itself. Growing up in Corpus Christi, Selena’s music was already part of his life, but his appreciation for her has only become deeper through collecting and seeing how her music continues to connect people today.
That same kind of attachment shows up throughout the rest of his answers. Ram gets invested in artists and their entire eras, follows the details around new releases, collects different vinyl variants, and can happily disappear into a discography once someone catches his attention. For example, his recent listening has taken him beyond the pop he already knows and loves. As he puts it, “artists like COBRAH and Slayyyter have introduced me to a more experimental and edgy side of pop, while Olivia Dean and Lola Young have brought completely different sounds into what I listen to.” There’s always another artist to discover, another album to revisit, or another sound that pulls him somewhere unexpected.
What started with wanting physical copies of the albums he loved eventually became Ram’s Vinyl, where he could share his collection, unbox new releases, talk about new pressings, and connect with other people who get just as excited about music and vinyl as he does. That community has become one of his favorite parts of collecting, giving him even more reasons to keep discovering records, artists, and music worth sharing.
A pop music lover, vinyl collector, and concert enthusiast who treats every album as its own era, complete with the artwork, variants, performances, and memories that come with it.
