Going on record... - Fresh Tendrils's Blog

Fresh Tendrils's Blog

Going on record...

Posted on December 14, 2008 at 04:10 PM.

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Music has been an obsession with me since high-school and it has grown to become a big black hole in my wallet, not that I care. I try my best to get a taste for whatever interests me and give everything a fair chance, so I can maintain a balanced palette so I don't run everything I like into the ground with over-listening.

As a music-obsessive I have dealt with a lot of different formats: cassettes, CDs, and digital ones would be the most obvious. In the back of my mind, however, I've always felt like I was missing something by not having a record player and records. Back in the day, it seemed like people had a deep connection and relationship with their record player and records. I've heard accounts of people literally weeping when they either lost a record or the **** stopped working. There is a firm attachment to the format that I don't think will ever be replicated with future technology - people hold on to this stuff forever, no matter how advance the new formats are.

I can see why - the record player was anything but portable and records seem to be indestructible save for busting them purposely. Nowadays music is so portable and transferable that its hard to connect and become attached with a specific format. The push for newer technology is always there and increases, it seems, with every passing day, however music-purists are making a push back and connecting to the past. Vinyl record sales have actually been increasing the past couple of years, whereas CDs sales have been dropping over the same time-span.

I consider myself a music-purist at heart. When picking up older albums that have been released on CD I try to steer clear of bonus tracks on the same disc as the original album. I try to hear the albums as they were originally released and initially heard. Still, as a music purist there is still something missing: a record player and vinyls.

The other week I decided to go through my Dads records and play a couple. I managed to find The Allman Brothers Band's Beginnings and that was immediately put on first. Now, I have this album on CD and I've listened to it a ton, but listening to the vinyl record is like a completely different experience altogether. The music seems closer to me and more vivid than an mp3 or CD can capture. The atmosphere of the album and its songs are intensitifed. There are untangible aspects to a vinyl record that I haven't experienced with the other formats I've already mentioned.

Sure, there are cracks and misses and all of that, but its these things that act like the DeLorean of the music industry - they simply take you back and let you imagine and connect with music fans back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. Vinyl records is where a real music experience lies and I need to seriously invest in a record player.