Computers surround me and the digital realm is a huge part of my life, but there is so much to love about records. They are analog, old-fashioned and so yesterday, but I am not the only one. During the last few years there has been a resurgence in the sale of records
1. They are Fun to Look At
This summer I visited my friend Joey, and he has a fairly large record collection. My friends were always fascinated with my record players, and especially with the pictures inside the foldout record cover. Every day, they wanted to listen to music, chill and read along, singing the whole time. Sorry, but it is just not as fun to read along with a tiny CD booklet. If you want to get people interested in music, this is the way to do it.
2. They are Fun to Browse Through
I don’t relish browsing through my CD or even my mp3 collection. Admittedly, digital browsing is fun, but it’s still a huge chore to see liner notes (if they even exist), lyrics and so on. There is something both thrilling and relaxing about holding a colorful album cover in your hands and not having to squint. I imagine that aging baby-boomers will start to wish they kept their record collections when they get older.
3. Better Sound
This is probably the most dubious claim: do records really sound better? No one will argue that digital tracks (track—a quietly antiquated term, like splice, or groove) sound much cleaner: no pops, hisses and usually no skipping, unless you have a complete idiot friend who regularly handles your discs with grubby fingers. My theory is that people think records sound better because the noise helps your ears focus, and the fuzzy lack of clarity in the analog realm mellows out the high frequencies, making the sound waves seems less harsh. Call me crazy, but my ears tire more listening to CDs, particularly if I am forced to listen using cheap headphones or speakers.
4. More Music for Less Cash
If money is an issue, you can’t beat records. You can find some real treasures in stores that still sell records. Even trolling flea markets will turn up some great finds, usually for no more than a few Euros
5. Fewer Anti-Piracy Restrictions
If you have the right equipment, it’s very easy to make a mix tape of a record, and a hell of a lot of fun. Time consuming, but so deliciously retro. You can immediately see why piracy is a much bigger deal now: you cannot easily upload a record onto a file sharing service and distribute it to hundreds or thousands of people, and you cannot rip a record in less than five minutes—like you can with a CD—without severely harming the sound quality.
6. They Make You Slow Down
We live in the age of “fast”. Listening to records takes more time than scanning tracks on your iPod, and again, you can not easily load them into your computer. I think it is nice to chill once in a while, and records make you do just that.
8. The Machinery
One detail I miss with CD players, iPods and so on is being able to see what’s happening. I love seeing the needle approach the record, looking at the grooves and actually seeing where a track ends and the next begins. I SOOOOO love this, and I am certain that the mechanics of the record player are part of the reason I love playing records so much.
9. The Concept Album
As much as I love the convenience of only downloading the one track that I like from an album, the idea of a unified album is gradually disappearing, particularly with pop music. Even the idea of putting out a release (antiquated) based on the length of a CD, let alone a record (doubly antiquated) will eventually disappear. If it was not for the limitations of records, we would probably not have concept albums.
10. They Are Just Plain Cool
There is something deliciously retro about playing records;waiting for releases (not downloading tracks before a band releases them—whatever happened to delayed gratification?) and actually going to a record store (will those exist in ten years?)—a real record store,
I do not suppose that an analog renaissance last long. The digital age is too convenient, and as much as I love to slow down and smell of the vinyl, I love having atleast a hundred odd albums on the go when I am travelling between India and Germany . Even so recprds are just plain cool
