When my parent’s vinyl collection was replaced by the digital CD, it began collecting dust in the attic of their house. As a child, stumbling upon these records was like stumbling upon treasure. I remember holding "Ladies of the Canyon" and "Tea for the Tillerman" and thinking, “when my mom heard these songs, she listened to this exact album!”
A few years ago, I was living in Hollywood, California. One of my favorite spots was Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard. I would walk from my West Hollywood studio apartment to Amoeba, enthusiastic to explore the plethora of records and CD’s. One day while I was at Amoeba, I decided to do something a little crazy; I bought two random studio albums on a whim. I only chose these two albums because I liked the artwork. I felt a little like I was gambling after the little rush I got from spending 20 bucks on music I’ve never heard.
The two albums I bought were "Magic Chairs" by Efterklang, and the self-titled album by Fleet Foxes. I listen to a lot of music. I try to listen to everything that seems remotely interested to me. However, these two albums remain on my top 50 favorite albums of all time list, along with "Ladies of the Canyon" and "Tea for the Tillerman." When I was a child, I also remember being ecstatic to spend my own money on an album. I went into a Sam Goody and, again on a whim, bought Pearl Jam’s "Ten." Again, another album that remains on my favorite albums list.
CDs are basically an obsolete technology, even though there are people who still purchase albums on these formats to listen to music. With streaming services, we don’t get that kind of intimacy with our music anymore. Owning an album and sharing it with friends and passing it down with our kids, buying an album because of the artwork, or the excitement of spending your hard earned cash on a new album has gone the way of writing letters and being lost.
The albums we purchase and the albums that are handed down to us are the ones that leave a deeply embedded impression upon our brains. These are the albums that take us away from our bedrooms and from the humdrum of our lives and into a distant memory that comes into clear view. These albums take us somewhere, sometimes somewhere foreign, and sometimes into an inexplicable location only found within a dream. Music has that ability to take us into our subconscious as we delve into our true selves.
This is precisely why we should buy vinyl. The sound quality you say that the new Vampire Weekend album has on your turntable most definitely does not have a better sound quality than the streaming service have to offer. Yes, some vinyl records may be mastered better than its digital counterparts, but new LPs are not the same as when albums were recorded to tape. Back when bands like Talking Heads were doing their thing, they recorded some top-notch studio albums. Buying "Remain in Light" on vinyl for its sound makes perfect sense. However, buying a new studio album on vinyl because of the sound quality is absolutely silly. Very few bands nowadays record to tape. Tape just isn’t what it used to be.
If there is an album that you love, it makes perfect sense to buy a vinyl copy. It also makes sense that there are people who don’t want to buy vinyl because of how expensive it is. However, there is something amazing about owning an album on vinyl. I hope this resurgence of vinyl records isn’t just a trend. Just how that box of vinyl in my parent’s attic was a goldmine for me, music is the light in the darkness. Let me rephrase this: regardless of the sound quality debate, vinyl records are the light in the digital darkness of streaming services.
