The beauty of vinyl

I was born in the late 80's. So my memory of listening to vinyl is usually limited to being a secondary listener. I never got to choose the album i wanted to hear, now was i allowed to handle any. My father's audio system was kept out of my grubby hands. Only in the 2000's did I start hanging out with DJs, of whom swore by turntables, over CD-J's (CD-jockeys).

Of course, now everything is digital. Even turntables are tuned to play the songs selected on a computer while still rotating a generic vinyl for effects. But there were moments, where I looked at the vinyl records they had in their studio, curious to the sounds that came out of this physical artifacts of musical history. Seeing my curiosity, the DJ would place them carefully on the spare turntable, look at me and said, "Go ahead."

You have to understand how different vinyl sounds different. Not just because of how different the music was recorded, or the songs back then, but also comes with the wear on the physical records themselves. Like the bits you see on screen in an old movie, instruments on old vinyl sound louder, voices raspier, rhythms feel... real. (And I'm not just talking about the bass. Give me clarity over bass anytime.)

Of course, I do enjoy modern music. It's faster, more thematic, powerful even. But you have to appreciate the yester years, when music had soul, lyrics carried meaning, and artistes could sing, with voices that will never fade. Closing my eyes listening to the beauty of vinyl just takes me back to the same days, lying on the faux fur carpet on the living room floor listening to my father's albums on rainy afternoons.