on vinyl
as some of you may know, vinyl is currently experiencing a renaissance. a counter movement of sorts, collecting an analog representation may seem contradictory when streaming services such as spotify and apple music exist. i shall admit that most of the vinyl that i own has come within the past three or so years. but i contend that it is mostly due to a lack of funds back when i was a college student.
music is omnipresent in my life. its universal nature appears in every facet: when im working out, there’s a hip hop album; when im reading on the couch, there’s some background classical album. i find solace in music. as a child i was never a good sleeper, always toss and turning, never really achieving the proper sleep. i use to steal my mother’s ipod shuffle and listen to her favorite tracks. even with those earbuds, i had the best sleep of my life. i’ve had so many great memories attached to music that i took two classes in college on it despite being a computer science major as to better understand music’s impact on my life. jamming out to backstreet boys and nsync in the car with my dad, sharing owl city on itunes with an elementary school friend whom i haven’t seen since, these are just instances that have been part of my identity for as long as i can remember. and what do i have to show for it?
don’t get me wrong i love spotify. it’s ease of use and expansive catalog has introduced me into genres i’ve since fell in love with. shared playlists, recommendations, discover weekly, all of these serve to introduce me to more and more. sometimes it’s beautiful. sometimes it’s excessive.
i profess that the physical of nature of vinyl is part of what drew me towards it to begin with. much how my parents and millennials were obsessed with cd’s, the equivalent is true with me and vinyl. initially my vinyl collection was limited due to space, money. everything felt more intentional. i would mull over decisions for days even months. my college mindset would over analyze the opportunity cost. i would drag my friends from store to store, spend hours sifting through crates only to leave empty handed (much like my ex shopping for jeans ._.) as a byproduct, every decision had gravitas. my slimmed down collection was the top of top of my favorites.
now with over 30 records, i find myself having dilemmas. what started out as an innocent beginning quickly divulged into a rapid exponential growth. 6 years ago, i must have only owned two records. as hinted before, money was a big factor behind this. i remembered that i had a list of records that i would get once i had money. now i have space issues. now i have purchasing issues. clearly some records mean more to me than others. i admit that i have impulsively purchased records just because. as with everything the internet seems to be a double edge sword. it provides the opportunity to complete the list of albums that really meant alot to me. it provides the opportunity to go beyond and add frivolous records.
in my mind, i have a split personality when it comes to vinyl collecting. on the one hand i adore the mom and pop collection mindset that dominates the east village. to this day i still contemplate every decision from which random gatekeeping rules appear: e.g. i refuse to buy a record in person if i have not listened to that album/piece for less than a year. even though i don’t recognize more than 90% of the albums in a store, i enjoy the raw nature of discovering new music. on the other hand subreddit’s like r/vinylreleases drive the idea of scarcity into my mind. before an album even gets released, a limited edition disc gets announced. i need to buy it. a friend tells me about a pre order going on for signed copies. i need to cop it. and so my collection now contains carefully curated albums with specific memories mixed in with some aesthetic disks. as with most collection based hobbies, when is enough? where does the line get drawn? how do i stop?
be good,
simple