Vinyl Time!!

Vinyl oh vinyl
Where did you go
Replaced by shiny round things
Made of what
I just don’t know

Vinyl oh vinyl
The joyous wonderful sound
Of crackling and scratching
As the needle drops down
And you slowly spin around

Vinyl oh vinyl
My beautiful childhood dream
Looking for words
Etched into the black
Really was a scream

Vinyl oh vinyl
A nostalgic thing of the past
I need to hear you
Play a song
For minutes first till last

Andrew James Shepherd, 2019

What is it about vinyl what we always get so lyrical about? Because let us be honest, turning a record every 20 minutes, the scratching sound (yeah exactly that one where everyone gets their frenzy about), and how big the outside cases are which isn't always convenient, aren't all upsides. But putting on some vinyl is more of something, I don't know...a ritual

Recently in my process of moving I threw out 5 boxes of CDs, about 400 pieces, which kind of hurted, but on the other hand it didn't. These were all CDs from the CD times, you know...pre minidisk or MP3 and all from shady metal bands of the past. A lot of the stuff was good and you can still find it online now if you look good. But a lot of stuff was also from trying out new bands (which doesn't always end good), and supporting friends from buying their stuff so they could make a buck out of it. But overal and realistically...I dont have a CD player anymore hahahah. So it was time to go threw them, have some good time on memories of when and where I bought all of these albums, and toss them out. Ouch.

Here we are also users of Spotify, Tidal and other music streaming services. Not because I am a cheap bastard, but more for the convenience of it. To discover more, which sometimes is also difficult because the AI makes a nice music bubble in your own style of it, and for always having everything with you.

But when you really dig something, and you really want a souvenir of it, it is vinyl time. Because having the box, the booklet, the scratching, the dust, cleaning the record and yes...getting up the whole time to change sides. It is like a ritual. A ritual that really needs your attention of listening to it instead of having on music in the background. This is like active listening. And you only want to active listen to stuff that you really enjoy and find worth it. That is why you buy the vinyl edition of something.

The album in the front is from Burial called 'Untrue', a 2007 record which really deserves your attention of listening to it. A super dark vibe over it, British samples which were taken over the phone, and just an overal sad glow really sucks you right in. Critics call this one of the best garage/ dub albums of 2007 but honestly, I have no idea in what kind of style I would define this album.

It is one of these albums you sit and take your drink with you, you play it loud, and there is no room for anything else. You just sit and listen. And yeah, get up to turn the record...because vinyl