On the Record

[vovat]

Both the tmbg and ladypilot communities have mentioned upcoming vinyl releases. I wouldn't think there would be that much of a market for that kind of thing nowadays, but apparently there's enough of one, because I've seen other recent albums on vinyl as well. I know a lot of people say vinyl records sound better, and that might be true if they're in pristine condition (I've never done a comparison myself, but I assume the audiophiles know what they're talking about), but the fact that you can't listen to them without running a needle over them means they're not going to remain in that condition for very long. And when I think about it, it's kind of weird when you have some people predicting the end of physical recording media, yet there's still a significant number of consumers who are clamoring to buy new albums in a basically obsolete physical format. Personally, I haven't had a record player in years. I used to have one as a kid, but I pretty much stopped using it once we got a cassette player. I think it no longer works, or my mom gave it away, or both. I wouldn't mind getting a new one someday, but I doubt I'll be buying The Else on vinyl.

Recently, I've been going back and tagging old entries. I'd already done that when LiveJournal first introduced tags, but I later thought of a few more I wanted to use, so I started going back and applying them. That was about a year ago, and I think I've finally finished. I don't intend to do it again, though, so you'll have to be content with the current tags on my old posts. While going through, I occasionally fixed typos or links. More often than not, however, the links were totally dead, which sucks for archiving purposes. I doubt anyone is looking at those old posts anyway, though. When I add a new person as a friend on LJ, I'll usually read all of the posts that are currently on their front page, but no more, barring exceptional circumstances (e.g., a tag that I find particularly intriguing, or a link in a new post to an old one). I would imagine that a lot of other people don't even do that. I guess the newer tags were more for my own benefit than anyone else's.

Well, now that I'm done cleaning up my old journal entries, I should probably start cleaning up my actual room. Really, it's not that bad, but I still need to go through the stuff my mom brought over on her last visit.

Comments

[revme.livejournal.com]

Actually, records hold up pretty well if you take care of them. THe degradation isn't all that bad, assuming you don't, know, grab 'em in the middle and slap 'em around and stuff. But yeah -- I don't know about the current wave of vinyl releases. That seems more like either for DJs who want to do mixing and such with them, or, well, for folks who are kinda silly. (Or folks who just like big album art. That is totally understandable.) Most new records are recording DDD (which means that all stages have been digital, recorded, mixed/mastered, pressed) -- and are INTENDED to be played on digital devices. Older albums, however -- unless they're remastered, actually DO sound better on vinyl. If you've got a friend with a turntable, pick up a copy of XTC's _English Settlement_ and compare it to the Geffen CD -- it's a HUGE difference in quality. (The recent remaster is pretty good -- not QUITE 100%, but like, I dunno, 90%? 95%? The Geffen CD sounds like someone just kinda waved the original mastertapes at a blank CD and called it good.)

But yeah. The Audiophiles are right, but it's mostly in old album cases, and less so now, as most folks _realize_ this now and are actually remastering older albums. So... yeah. It's one of those things, where in my experience, with a remastered album, the vinyl version will either be the same or a skosh better, but not really enough to be "OH NOES!!!" about. New stuff -- I dunno. I've got the Sgt. Major record on both CD and Vinyl, though:
a) Kurt actually did record/master that one on Analog
and
b) The CD sounds real good anwyay and the main reason I got the LP is for the bonus 7", anyway.

I <3 vinyl!

[jenhime.livejournal.com]

For me it's both an aural and a tactile thing. Analog music (recording with analog means) sounds much better on vinyl because it's analog. Just like purely (mostly) digital music (recorded digitally) sounds better in a digital format. When you record analog music to a digital format, it loses some of the timbre of the music. Probably to a lot of people it sounds the same, but like a Jpeg it's lossy. As for the tactile issue, I love coverart and I love having something to hold and look at -- especially when I'm shopping for music. Itunes is convenient, but it's not the same experience as shopping at a music store. And even shopping for CDs isn't the same tactile experience as shopping for vinyl records, for me.

I've heard several theories on why vinyl releases are becoming more popular. the most intriguing one is that it's because they have no DRM. You can hook your computer up to your sound system and, with a little bit of software, rip high-quality recording that are completely DRM-free.

Plus, a some of the new vinyl releases also come with free codes to download a digital copy of the album. So, you're not losing out on portability. The new Polyphonic Spree vinyl is going to be released like that. I know that Camera Obsucura did it too.

Hopefully, bands will continue the trend of vinyl releases because I love them! The last time I went to the record store downtown, the clerk (I think he's the manager because he's always there) was telling me that they sell a ton of new vinyl releases. Apparently, there are a lot more people buying them than a few years ago. the store has always had a good selection of vinyl, but they've been beefing it up to compensate for the demand.

[zimbra1006.livejournal.com]

I do like the way vinyl sounds, I just think it's impractical in this day and age. But the hipsters all love it. I do think it's cool that labels like Sub Pop include download codes for digital copies of the album with the vinyl, but otherwise there wouldn't be much point for me -- if I can't bring it with me to listen at work or put it on my iPod, I will never hear it.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

To me the appeal of vinyl is what jenhime said about it being a "tactile" experience. Putting on an album is more of a total sensory experience, and it also seems to be more like you're listening to this album On Purpose instead of just putting on background noise-- like it's an Event, all your focus is on Experiencing the Album. But maybe this is because most of my vinyl is psychedelic rock.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I pretty much figured that it was a case of an album sounding better in the format in which it was originally intended. It's probably similar in terms of the cover art, with people who make it nowadays being more used to creating things that will look decent in the smaller format of a CD cover. I guess the only major difference in the art between record and CD formats is the size, though, and it's pretty common for bands to enlarge the CD cover art for T-shirts and posters anyway. The cover art on cassettes, on the other hand, was often quite awkwardly adjusted to fit the different shape.

Re: I <3 vinyl!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

When you record analog music to a digital format, it loses some of the timbre of the music. Probably to a lot of people it sounds the same, but like a Jpeg it's lossy.

That makes sense. I'm probably one of those people who wouldn't really be able to tell too much difference; but then, as I said, I haven't actually done a comparison. I know that, when people complain that music doesn't sound as good when compressed into MP3 format, I don't notice the difference. (It's true that music usually doesn't sound as good when I'm listening to it on my computer when compared to other sound-playing devices, but I think that's more because the computer speakers aren't as good.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

But the hipsters all love it.

I figured it was largely a neo-bohemian kind of thing. Not to mention that vinyl now has retro appeal.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Or maybe your record player has a better sound system?

[revme.livejournal.com]

I do like the way Misc. T had a completely different cover. Or at least, a thematically-similar-but-different-cover. I actually like the cassette cover better than the Real Cover. It's too bad that that's sort of ignored. About the only benefit of a cassette I could think of, though.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

If you wanna get really "old school", I for one would love to hear music on a phonograph. And if it were played on Vic the Victrola, then it would be portable music too!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

At one of the Munchkin Conventions in the nineties, Eric Shanower and David Maxine brought in a victrola and used it to play a song from one of Baum's stage musicals.

Incidentally as old-fashioned as Victor Columbia Edison is by today's standards, he appears to be the only mechanical music-playing device in Oz. I have to wonder if there's some untold story as to how Dr. Pipt came by the phonograph. Maybe they're actually more common in Oz than we think, though.