The player arrived before the records, however, so after I got home from work, I went down the block to the (very) nearby antique store. The records were located in the back of the store in big boxes. I quickly picked out two, then spent some time looking through some of the other boxes.
The old Hispanic man who runs the shop did kind of give me a hard time about my selections. I believe his words were, "Do you LIKE this kind of music?"
I got Red Rose Speedway and Living in the Material World (which I haven't listened to yet). It took me all of one minute to get the player out of the box, plugged in and working. It wasn't hard to learn how to use and in no time I was listening to the end of "My Love" (having not been sure enough about where to drop the needle to start with the first song). It was pretty cool. However, I did learn that the awesome B-side medley (I say things like b-side now, because I am a vinyl person) is can be pleasantly sleep inducing.
One thing I have learned: Playing records + warm weather = sleepy me.
While the needle on my record player does seem to need to be dropped manually, so far I haven't had to experience the horrible scratching sound from the end of the record. I suspect this has more to do with the record than the player, though.
The charm of the whole thing, however, lies in its very manualness. If I wanted to listen to 500 songs in a row, shuffled, I could turn on my computer - I could even use the "remote" app on my iPhone to skip a song from across the room. If I wanted to listen to a particular song while sipping my iced latte in a cafe, I could plug the headphones into my ipod. To listen to records, however, I must be at home. After five or six songs I must get up, walk over to the player, and flip the record over myself - an actual piece of vinyl in my hands. If it's too quiet, I have to get up and turn it up. If it's too loud, my neighbors just have to put up with "this kind of music."
After all, it's only for five or so more songs.
While the needle on my record player does seem to need to be dropped manually, so far I haven't had to experience the horrible scratching sound from the end of the record. I suspect this has more to do with the record than the player, though.
The charm of the whole thing, however, lies in its very manualness. If I wanted to listen to 500 songs in a row, shuffled, I could turn on my computer - I could even use the "remote" app on my iPhone to skip a song from across the room. If I wanted to listen to a particular song while sipping my iced latte in a cafe, I could plug the headphones into my ipod. To listen to records, however, I must be at home. After five or six songs I must get up, walk over to the player, and flip the record over myself - an actual piece of vinyl in my hands. If it's too quiet, I have to get up and turn it up. If it's too loud, my neighbors just have to put up with "this kind of music."
After all, it's only for five or so more songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment