There’s a lot of reporting in the media today about the resurgence of vinyl. Record sales are on the rise, so that must mean this format is back–but it never left my house! I’ve been collecting records for over 25 years. My love affair with vinyl is based on a desire for good sound. I must also add it appeals to my attraction to anachronistic objects. But I’m not against digital either–I’m a modernist, I swear! I mean, depending on the format, digital can also provide great sound.
“As soon as I get it running, I’m going to install a bad-ass cassette deck!”
Krist Novoselic’s column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what he’s been listening to.
A vinyl disc offers music in an analog format. It’s a completely different way of reproducing music than a digital CD or mp3. Vinyl can give the ears more frequencies than these two digital standards. Therefore the sound is richer.
As in any relationship, with vinyl, some moments grip you–times when you stop to realize where you are and why you love what you’re doing. This happened to me the other night while listening to a pressing of Bjork’s The Music From Matthew Barney’s Drawing Restraint 9. Bjork is a compelling singer, and on the tune “Cetacea,” her vocals blend with chimes. It’s haunting and beautiful, and what really grabbed me was the depth of the sound offered on that record.
I got pulled into a Neil Young audio DVD in a similar way. If you’re into electric guitars, you know that tube amplifiers can give the guitar an audio glow. Young has done this for a long time. His recent release Fork in the Road is rocking Crazy Horse Neil–the kind with the growling Fender amplifiers. The tunes are great, with the guitar sound a key element. If you buy the digital version of the release, there’s a CD and DVD. The audio DVD has more information, and this reproduction has more details that let tube amps chime with beauty.
Another pro-vinyl argument: the act of pulling an album off the shelf to enjoy the large artwork. Many records come with gatefolds and booklets, so I absolutely agree about the value in this. The cover of Fork in the Road, for example, has a fuzzy and random image of Young that’s snapped off a computer monitor’s camera. I guess it’s a statement about the low quality of popular digital sound standards. Young even sings that mp3’s “sound like shit.” While I agree with his mp3 statement, I also get the point of the cover – even though it’s palm-sized.
As technology develops, new formats will accommodate larger files more easily. The vinyl record will pass. The DVD gave me satisfaction, and it goes to show that it’s not about the format, it’s about the depth of the sound the format offers the listener. Regardless, I will collect vinyl as long as I can. I also continue to drive old air-cooled VWs. Don’t ask me why.
