I, for one, am a massive supporter of the vinyl revival and I have been for as long as I can remember. When my parents hooked me up with their old turntables, I felt electric. I can still recall the magical experience of hearing “Because” off of the second side of Abbey Road. It was magical beyond comprehension. Call me old-fashioned or pretentious, but I find there to be something captivating about listening to an entire record through a quality sound system from front to back.
Am I thankful for technological advancements? Yes. Yes I am.
But do I support an industry of streaming, torrenting and digital downloading? No. No I don’t.
The fridge in my apartment broke the other weekend and we had to get a handy man to come in and fix the problem. When he knocked, I was home alone so I had my sound system blasting in my room. I had on side 1 of “Take it From the Man”, the second blues-rock record by “The Brian Jonestown Massacre”. It was almost as if the handy-man waited no time in asking me why the heck I was listening to music in the same primitive way that he did growing up. I had to awkwardly ramble off my prepared ode to analog while he sat there with widening eyes and burrowing eyebrows. To sum it up, it’s analog. It’s natural. I like listening to music in it’s original context, the way it was meant to be listened to.
Despite my love of analog, we DO live in a digital age. Although our minds are often preoccupied with cell phones, laptops, i-Pods and other technological devices, it is apparent that the “Vinyl Revival” is a thing. And 2014 has been a surprisingly great year for record sales.
As an RTA student, all things in relation to math/numbers/graphs gross me out and/or scare me. But these are some statistics that I think are relevant and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
VINYL. SALES. HAVE. SKYROCKETED. Isn’t that exciting? If you’re not excited, you’re probably quite boring and not my type of person. Do you even have a heart?
Ultimately, I think ignoring analog and succumbing to the hype of digital downloading/streaming is valuing the conveience over quality, which is lame on all sorts of levels. Listening to vinyl in a quality sound environment is an experience. When you have crappy quality Apple ear-buds in and you’re listening to music off of your phone, the music is an additive factor to your experience; however, when you physically PUT a record on, the music becomes your experience. It has your undivided attention and even demands so by providing the hassle of switching from Side A to Side B. But it’s a struggle worth enduring.
So toss your phone in the other room, shut that laptop and drop that needle.
biancaudio 