By Glen Herbert

Art teacher Tasha Forster recently took some students from the Grade 11 and 12 media arts classes to a record store in Huntsville to look at album cover art. They talked with Cara, owner of The Record Shoppe about some classic designs. Dark Side of the Moon, Paula Scher's images for the Boston albums, as well as her work with text on Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town. There are some newer albums that have edged their way onto the list of great album art, including Greta Van Fleet's The Battle at Garden's Gate.

It can seem like a nostalgic thing, vinyl records, and in many ways it is. But anyone who had records growing up knows that the covers were kind of special. They were just the right size to give a lot of detail, and were easy to hold and to sit with. And there's an attraction to just putting an album on and letting it go. Which is perhaps one of the reasons that there's been such a resurgence of interest in LPs.

While at the shop, Tasha bought a turntable for the music room. They've decided to set up a listening lounge, and the records they bought in Huntsville will seed the collection. Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. Rumors. Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Love it.  There are some new classics, too, including Taylor Swift's Midnights and Leon Bridges' Coming Home. Their choices can't help but raise the question: What's next? There are some true classics, for sure. Abbey Road. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The video for Hill's "Everything is Everything" is an homage to vinyl, the needle literally dropping on a turning New York City. Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life? Joni Mitchell's Blue?

But, yes, it's a great question. What should we include in the listening lounge? Email your suggestions to me at glen.herbert@rosseaulakecollege.com We'd love the collection to reflect the tastes of the entire RLC community. So, from Sinatra to Santana, Dean Martin to The Darkness, let us know what you think we should pick up next.