Sweet, Sweet Vinyl

After a pair of technological challenges tonight that had me ready to throw my TV off the balcony, there was one shining light that illuminated the path to happiness on this summer evening.

Vinyl.

At long last, I bought a turntable on Saturday at the local Guitar Center. And yes, I returned that one and got a different one on Monday. But nonetheless, I finally had a turntable to play all the old vinyl I had brought home from one of my most recent visits to my Mom's house as well as a batch of newer stuff the Missus and I have slowly been gathering on trips to Amoeba.

Tonight, the turntable was hooked up to the new sound system and nirvana was achieved [ooh, make note to buy Nevermind and Unplugged on vinyl.]

The test record was something old and damaged that I didn't care if I fucked up. There was sound! Audible sound! This was immediately better than the one I bought Saturday that didn't have a pre-amp like the guy told me [or at least, I think he told me.]

We moved on to another. Another old one but this one was something I knew at least - "Soul & Inspiration" by the Righteous Brothers. Ahh, the long-lost pop and crack and hiss of vinyl was alive once more. The record was in pretty bad shape and although it was just fun to hear music off of vinyl again, I started digging for some newer stuff that might sound better.

A Black Kids EP I picked up at Amoeba after Record Store Day was next... just so we could hear "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You." It was fantastic to hear on vinyl although it sounded pretty much like I'd expect it to on CD or MP3.

Vampire Weekend was next - a full-length I'd bought months ago since it also contained digital copies of the album.

One word: GLORIOUS!

The sound was alive and was beautiful. I could hear subtle things that I had never picked up on digital copies before. The pop and hiss was just enough to make me smile while the music itself took flight. We listened to the entire album - a rarity in these times of 99 cent singles and artists who couldn't make a full album worth buying if their lives depended on it. It's an era where the single is king but for one record, I was back in a time when I knew songs by their name and not by a track number... where I knew the next song coming up and the one after that and the one after that... and even if I needed to wait 10 minutes at the end of the album for a hidden song. An entire album in one sitting? Like I said... glorious.

The Missus took over DJ duties at that point, putting on a copy of the Go-Go's "Beauty And The Beach" that we had picked up at Amoeba a few months ago. The second song that came up sparked a, "I've never heard this before - what is it?" from me - a sure sign that we may be embarking on a new era of DEEP CUTS!

We called it a night after that but immediately started making a list of vinyl to buy in the near future - perhaps as soon as Monday as my eyes are looking west towards Amoeba and a first-time trip to Origami. The pile of vinyl on the floor that we need to work through is staggering but just as much as I can't wait to hear albums I've heard time and time again, I'm equally as excited to dust off my Grandma's old Johnny Cash albums [mostly gospel but fuck it, it's Cash] for the very first time.