I searched for a thread on this but could not find one.
![[Image: il_570xN.903302368_k6pi.jpg]](https://img0.etsystatic.com/125/0/12352843/il_570xN.903302368_k6pi.jpg)
Three years ago my girlfriend (now wife) bought me a record player for my birthday. She knows music is my favourite form of entertainment, that I am mostly interested in 20+ year old music and that I enjoy reading the liner notes on albums and reading about the composers, musicians, bands, etc. So she thought this would be a good gift for me, along with a starter blues record (Howlin' Wolf's 'Rocking Chair' - great album btw).
At the time I thought 'what a big waste of money', since I had collected hundreds of CDs along the years (that I have now mostly sold, gave or threw away). It took me a while to warm up to it but now, at the risk of sounding too hipster, I have grown to appreciate it and have a, admitedly short, collection that I treasure much more than I ever did CDs.
Not only do you get the artwork in decent size, plenty of space for notes, lyrics, etc, it's also a much sturdier medium. Once I found that I didn't have to buy newly pressed stuff (duh), which is not only more expensive but also lacks the 'old feel' that I have grown to appreciate, and found the second-hand market, I was sold. It's a lot of fun checking the notes preivous owners made, imagining the people who heard it, which situations they were in, etc. Other than a handful of newly pressed LPs I bought or was gifted at the beginning, all the albums I own are second hand. The oldest one I have is a recording of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica) from 1950 (!) that cost me 5€ at a flea market. My latest buy was a 3-record live album by Emerson, Lake and Palmer for 8€. The cover and sleeves are heavily handled, but the sound is still good. What a buy!
In an age of fast-paced everything, I grew to appreciate the ritual, the dedication, the non-immediate nature of it. It's true the sound quality is very rarely above or even matching what you get on CD (at least initially) or digital, but it's not a deal breaker given the other pros.
There's nothing like getting home from work, putting a record on and checking the notes or looking at the artwork while smoking a cigarette.
I can't be the only non-soyfag to enjoy this. So out yourselves.
***
Here's a video of side one of Donald Fagen's 'The Nightly' playing, which I also own, and that to my surprise cost only 10€:
Three years ago my girlfriend (now wife) bought me a record player for my birthday. She knows music is my favourite form of entertainment, that I am mostly interested in 20+ year old music and that I enjoy reading the liner notes on albums and reading about the composers, musicians, bands, etc. So she thought this would be a good gift for me, along with a starter blues record (Howlin' Wolf's 'Rocking Chair' - great album btw).
At the time I thought 'what a big waste of money', since I had collected hundreds of CDs along the years (that I have now mostly sold, gave or threw away). It took me a while to warm up to it but now, at the risk of sounding too hipster, I have grown to appreciate it and have a, admitedly short, collection that I treasure much more than I ever did CDs.
Not only do you get the artwork in decent size, plenty of space for notes, lyrics, etc, it's also a much sturdier medium. Once I found that I didn't have to buy newly pressed stuff (duh), which is not only more expensive but also lacks the 'old feel' that I have grown to appreciate, and found the second-hand market, I was sold. It's a lot of fun checking the notes preivous owners made, imagining the people who heard it, which situations they were in, etc. Other than a handful of newly pressed LPs I bought or was gifted at the beginning, all the albums I own are second hand. The oldest one I have is a recording of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica) from 1950 (!) that cost me 5€ at a flea market. My latest buy was a 3-record live album by Emerson, Lake and Palmer for 8€. The cover and sleeves are heavily handled, but the sound is still good. What a buy!
In an age of fast-paced everything, I grew to appreciate the ritual, the dedication, the non-immediate nature of it. It's true the sound quality is very rarely above or even matching what you get on CD (at least initially) or digital, but it's not a deal breaker given the other pros.
There's nothing like getting home from work, putting a record on and checking the notes or looking at the artwork while smoking a cigarette.
I can't be the only non-soyfag to enjoy this. So out yourselves.
***
Here's a video of side one of Donald Fagen's 'The Nightly' playing, which I also own, and that to my surprise cost only 10€: