As we go into this new week, I just wanted to start out with several things. The first has to do with the recent surge in vinyl. While I love vinyl of all kinds, and am very happy to see it return to the degree that it has, my focus is not so much on new vinyl so much as it is on acquirable old vinyl.
If you’re my age, then you remember a time when you tried to get your hands on as many album LPs as you could. Not only were they great fun to get a hold of, they were unmatched experiences. Experiences so great, some of us, myself included, spend a entire lifetime trying to find it again.
But here’s the fun thing. I remember not being able to afford everything I WANTED to get my hands on. I had to choose, to think and decide. Often, I walked around a store with 20 LPs trying to create the criteria for narrowing down the pile. It was horrible. And while I ended up doing pretty good collection-wise, I never really acquired all that I really wanted.
Today, with the myriad of used LP stores and shows all over, a visit with $40 will net you one hell of a lot of music. I have a monstrous mental list. There were albums that I have heard on friends’ turntables, or on FM radio, and were unable to afford them for my own collection during my younger years. I get them all now. Not being able to afford new music is not so much the case. I may not be able to get the best quality, but I have the album and I could always look for a better copy (which I do). And I get really free with my purchases.
This is my vinyl obsession. It makes me young again. A little bit of money, a joy of searching, and I’m walking out of any store with a batch of LPs, more than I EVER was able to do when I was younger. Way more!
My collection grows, and I’m richer for it. I do like getting vinyl from newer bands these days, and even a remastered 180g or 200g-weight LPs here and there. And i do this with all of my absolute favorites. Wishbone Ash – Live Dates on 180g vinyl, possibly remastered? I’m getting it. Faces albums? Mine!
So, if you like getting the music that you always wanted to from way back, and you have a tolerance for vinyl, a good turntable, speakers, and amp, I cannot encourage you enough to get out and rebuild that vinyl library with the music you have always loved, and the ones that got away.
That’s my thing.
Oh, the second thing?
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate ALL of you readers and participators in the good old TAP world. Really appreciate!
Have a great week.
Matt,
I’m not getting into the cd vs album deal. If you are willing to buy cds used you can probably get a stack of them for $40 as well now days. Here is what I really want to share, an article from the NY Times regarding the resurgence of vinyl. Pretty interesting stuff….
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/arts/music/vinyl-records-are-making-a-comeback.html?_r=1&
Also, your observation about being limited by economics is noteworthy. I still think this is a major reason why albums from back in the day are more cherished. Due to a limited supply we listened to them more and gave them more of a chance. Now the supply, while not unlimited, is much less of an issue. Most of us 40+ people have more disposable income and even if we don’t, you can download almost anything for free. So the supply is unlimited and therefore we don’t give all the albums we buy a fair chance.
AS always, excellent observations on your part, Bill (you’re my most perfect barometer. I always say, when I bore Bill, it’s time to shut the site down.)
The article is a good read. However, it is slanted to the young buyers, which argue for the virtue (or coolness) of vinyl these days (CDs? My Dad listens to CDs. Why would I do that?).
This isn’t a CD v LP thing. It’s just an observation of getting a ton of old music for a song, really still not something you can do on CDs, yet. At least I can’t tell if that’s so.
But as always, you’re dead on right about the listening aspect. IT was the cost of something that gave us the limited ability to like what we do. We were forced into a choice. These days, downloads are always the alternative, and if you want, you can stockpiler a bunch of free music. For me, that would be a bear to catalog. I would be in constant fear of an HD crash no matter how many storage HDs I had for back-up). I like the ‘take it out, put it on, play, take off, put it back’ simplicity.
You are preaching to the choir Matt. I rarely download anything and when I do it eventually gets burned to disc.
I do have the majority backed up on a hard drive in a lossless format but that’s not how I want to listen to it. I have a very good stereo system that I invested in, the least I can do is use it. And besides, putting a proper album on shows at least a little commitment, you are at least going to listen to the entire album. Music from a hard drive usually results in a lot of cherry picking (not that there is anything wrong with that) and often dubious quality.
One thing I had to laugh at, “However, it is slanted to the young buyers, which argue for the virtue (or coolness) of vinyl these days (CDs? My Dad listens to CDs. Why would I do that?)”. That may be but 20 years ago would you have ever guessed that kids would be embracing vinyl and we’d be reading an article like that.
What I found most interesting in that article is that all vinyl is still being pressed on old machines from the heyday because no one can afford to build a new one .
I think what is turning me back to vinyl, beyond nostalgia, is mastering. A case in point are the recent Deep Purple and Sabbath releases which simply sound so much better on vinyl (the last Ron Sexsmith too). It’s like labels are saying ‘the regular shmoe like their cds as loud as possible, and they don’t care about dynamics, but those audiophile nerds do, so we’ll treat them right with vinyl.’
Ralph, that’s an interesting observation!