A Personal Account of Discovering Vinyl in the Age of Digital Music
I’ve been around long enough to remember what it was like when vinyl was king. But there are millions of people who grew up knowing just CDs or digital files. The Globe and Mail had this Facts and Arguments article yesterday that documents a personal story about rediscovering music through vinyl. Any of this sound familiar?
They call it the “vinyl revival.” “It sounds so much better,” say those who insist on listening exclusively to vinyl, but does it really? As someone who is very passionate about music, I felt like I might be missing out.
So, about a month ago, I purchased my first turntable, essentially to see what this whole vinyl revival thing is about. I did some research and bought a half decent one, not one of those cheap ones that all of the audiophiles warn against. I spent some money.
Call me a hipster, band wagoner, disciple or whatever else you can think of. I’ll be honest, I have thought of these labels myself; can vinyl really sound that much better, or is it just a fad?
I’ve come to the conclusion that this isn’t entirely a fad for me, considering the small collection of records I already possessed thanks to my father.
The collection isn’t very extensive, about 15 of my dad’s favourites, which he passed on to me a few years back – mostly U2, the Police and a few others. Some of these albums were the soundtrack of my childhood, only at the time I listened to them in tape or CD format, and are still very important albums to me today.
I like to think that my dad brought me up on good music. Mostly, these records have just sat on my wall for show, collecting dust.
