Unboxing and being philosophical

 

So, it came to pass that I eventually after 12 years, boxed in this house and 2 years in the previous that my vinyl has been unboxed and shelved. While going through them, they all brought memories flooding back of my innocent youth when all this music was fresh and important. Maybe that's why I have now gone through all this unboxing, listening and writing this blog. It's just a nostalgia thing. To be honest if I want to actually listen in earnest to music I will go to CD, SACD, DVD or blu-ray as I don't want to go through all that clicking, popping, scratching again. But, it is fun to take the record out of its sleeve, put it on the deck, place the tone arm onto the run-in groove, hear that initial click and watch the record turn as the music emanates from the speakers. It takes me right back! But digital for me is still the way to go, especially now with high resolution and better mastering. I may still buy the odd record and I do have a few new pressings which come as part of box sets.

I am still a but bruised at losing a lot of records through the years. I still think about a record and realise I had that, but it could have been a lot worse. When we all went to CD and replaced our record collection, many got rid of theirs lock, stock and barrel. That I still have many dating back to 1975 is a miracle I suppose and I am sure there are many people rueing ditching their whole collections, being caught up in the fervour of the promise of digital perfection.

It's heartening that vinyl is taking off again. Of course it will never reach the giddy heights of popularity that it did in the 70's. But it's good that people are collecting again and appreciate vinyl for what it is, something that you can physically appreciate and become attached too. It's amazing to think that there are now factories pressing vinyl, printing sleeves and even making record bags the same as before! This all goes against the trend for downloading music, which is supposed to be the future. But the Japanese have never taken to that philosophy, preferring the CD and even SACD. They are always at the forefront of technology, so they have seen that for a true, serious music listener and collector, downloading is not the way forward. For me music is not something that can be downloaded as a computer file and played back on a little black box. It's an experience that takes in the sleeve artwork, the tactile feel of the sleeve, even the smell and the physical process of putting a record or disc on or in a machine. There is and always has been something intrinsically physical about the connection between the recorded disc and the listener. They are inseperable!

 

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