I bought something today that for at least 20 years now I thought I'd never buy again . . . a turntable.
I know this is no longer a music blog (or ever was a music blog), but this is more of a passage-of-time post than a discussion of the music that I'll play on the turntable.
I bought my first CD back in 1990, and once I heard how clean and crisp its digital sound was, I figured that I'd never go back to analog again, ever. I wound up completely replacing my very large LP collection with CDs, and eventually sold the remaining LPs (that hadn't been played for a least 5 or more years) at a used book and music store for a ludicrously low price.
This is why we shouldn't hold too tightly to our own opinions - they change. They're not reliable.
Going to concerts, I couldn't help but noticing all the cool bands were selling vinyl LPs of their albums at the merch table, and I heard young audiophiles, who grew up on CDs and MP3s, rapturously carry on about the warmth of the sound from LPs. More and more, I noticed that those who took their music seriously were listening to a lot of it on vinyl.
So I finally broke down and bought a turntable, the first time I've done that since at least the mid 1980s (I can't even remember). The Sony turntable that arrived UPS today was not dissimilar to the turntables of my memory, although it has a USB port in back in case you want to rip your vinyl to MP3 (nothing like profiting from sale of the hardware that supports the very piracy you're fighting, Sony).
So far, my entire LP collection consists of one album, Generals by The Mynabirds, which I bought from lead singer Laura Burhenn following her set at The Earl last week. But unlike the 1960s when my record collection consisted of the one first album I owned, Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter by Herman's Hermits, I don't have to play Generals to death as I can still draw from my formidable collection of CDs.
And my 100 plus gigs of MP3s.
And Spotify. And other streaming music over the 'net.
And live bands. And festivals.
Actually, it's hard to keep up with it all.
1 comment:
I did exactly the same thing with my album collection -- converted it to CDs, and then to MP3s. So don't feel bad! None of my music is even tangible at this point. I don't miss records, though -- they may sound warmer but they scratched and skipped and were hard to carry around. I'm happy with my iPod (backed up, of course).
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