With most music purchases now being in the form of a convenient button click, records are becoming more and more obsolete. If not almost completely obsolete to most people. I have to admit, it's addicting, you press a button and you get sound almost immediately...but what kind of sound? I could get all whiny and write a whole blog post about the sound quality through a digital recording versus the sound quality of a vinyl record, but I'll spare you the rant...for now.
Up until a few months ago, all of my records from when I was a kid were packed away in milk crates. It was an obsession I had as a teen. Growing up in a youth subculture fueled by music, you just had vinyl-and lots of it. I collected everything from early punk, oi!, hardcore, reggae, ska and rocksteady. Bands and musicians big and small made it into my collection, from Sham 69 and Desmond Dekker to local bands like Agnostic Front and Sheer Terror. When I listen to those records now, I remember a time as an angry, snotty kid, sitting in my room with my Doc Marten boots and shaved head, scribbling pictures and drawing show fliers for local punk shows.
Not much has changed sixteen years later *cough, cough*...
Anywhoo-We recently got a new record player-which has not only been a money pit (I have to catch up on all these years I wasn't buying records!), but an absolute joy. Sitting in our living room with no TV, no distractions and just listening to records has been bliss. Being really into Jazz, BeBop, R&B, Garage, Surf, Rockabilly, Blues, Motown, Northern Soul and Latin, this enables me to find TONS of stuff on vinyl that I just can't get anymore on another listening format. The sound is impeccable, the instruments sound clear and alive (esp. w/Jazz records on vinyl!). I really cringe at the thought of buying another itunes song!
Another thing I started to take note of is the album cover art of the 50's and 60's. I've always loved the work of guys like Jim Flora and knew they had contributed a great deal of fantastic art to music fans years ago. But when I really started to dig deeper, I came across some fantastic stuff! The color, illustrations and photos on these record sleeves are just fantastic, from both a design standpoint and an illustrative eye. It's something that's really getting lost with purchasing online music-you don't have that beautiful record sleeve in your hands. I wanted to post some pictures of my favorites so far! Hope you enjoy and GO BUY A RECORD PLAYER, it will change the way you listen to and appreciate music.
5 comments:
I agree! I love the sound of jazz being played on a record player! Well, I prefer live, but what can a girl do when she's stuck in the Midwest? I also enjoy the album cover art. Your post reminded me of a comment I read somewhere, "I remember when everything was in black and white, my life was so colourful then!" Ahh ,what the simpler things in life can do to you!
You guys have heard of LPCoverLover, right? It'll get you salivating, for sure.
Dylan, I can spend way too much time on there! Those covers are awesome! I have to admit...sometimes I will just buy a record for it's cover!!
Jess-Honestly, after listening to Jazz on vinyl, I don't know how I listened to it before! There's such a HUGE difference in sound. When things were recorded over to a digital format, so may sounds got left out.
And I couldn't agree more with that comment!! :)
Is that a Jim Flora cover? If not, it must be someone who really likes his style!
Yeah, that's a Flora cover(Mambo for Cats)-I had to post at least one, his work is the bees knees!
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