Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Vinyl...


So I got into a "discussion" this past weekend about Vinyl. Yes 33 45 78.

I made the statement that I love vinyl. and was told that I was insane, Vinyl sucks. Fine that is your prerogative. I shut my mouth and thought about it and decided to read up a little.

There are several reasons that Vinyl has so much appeal to me

That was the very first way that I heard music. As I have said here before, my very earliest childhood memories are of my Mom putting records on a record player and singing along to the songs for me. And me singing too.  I did happen to see a few 8 track cassettes in my early years, but that was never really prevalent in our home that i remember.

Most of the records that my folks would play were well seasoned. Meaning they had that pop and hiss. Which to me sounds genuine. Lots of people complain about that sound. But many artists add it back into their digital music because of the feel it gives music. And the digitally added scratch does not sound as good as the records that got it honest. Just saying.

I love owning my music. Now while yes one can do that with a cd, it doesnt store as neatly as a crate full of albums, nor is the artwork in a cd jewel case ever really as appreciated as when its wrapped around vinyl.

OK so now had i said those things to the people who were chiding me about my personal choices they would be laughing at me by now. I ripped my cd's long ago, and threw them into binders or in the trash, depending on whether they were worthy of keeping or not. But the thing about the record subscription companies that really burn me up is that while you are paying 10 bucks a month (and sometimes more), You are never really getting anything for it. Most people don't care about that anymore. As I said earlier, I like owning my music. Today's artists will tell you that you don't "own" anything. That you get the privilege of listening to the music but it belongs to them. Intellectual property, etc. and while I get that, there is nothing tangible to listening to music from a service. If you quit that service, all those months of money you paid into it you have gained nothing. Other than the ability to listen for those months. (See my blog post on fighting with Zune Music (now Microsoft something or another.) I would pay them 13 or 14 a month and get 10 downloaded songs for free. Until I wasn't anymore and didn't even realize it.

Does all of that make me old school? That I love owning my music in some form? I'm not saying it would have to be vinyl, or cd, or digital... But something to show for the money that I put into it. And lets not forget that today's music industry has turned into a single market. Meaning, people hear singles but never grasp the larger artistry behind the entire album it was a part of.

Case in point. Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever. This album in its entirety flows from first song to last. There are many albums like that. The Cure, Enigma, too many to name really. They tell a story. Prince was a huge proponent of this message. When he created an album there was always a story and flow to it. Listening to it from beginning to end is listening to a story.

Not many people care about this anymore. The music industry has changed. Some good some not so good. But change, it will come.

I still love vinyl. These days I don't have any. But that Boston album I talked about in a previous post. Even when I listen to it digitally, I still hear the pops and hisses, even though they aren't there. To me there is magic in the needle hitting the record. That sound right before the music comes in.

Space Oddity - David Bowie Recorded from Vinyl:


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