I got a record player yesterday!
And a few old 45's as well.
Found it for 15 yoyo in a second hand store, and have been smiling like a fool ever since.
I think the truly cool thing about vinyl is how much they were loved. I mean, a cassette is a medium through which to play music, but people don't really give a shit about tapes, throw them anywhere, lose them easily, record Mariah carey albums on them...
Something about records just says "Mind me, you inferior layer of smegma just below the cock of life." And Im pretty sure everyone to fuck hates CD's. I hate the shit right out of CD's. Cos they're just that smidgen too fidgety.
Of course you need CD's for CD quality sound, but they scratch, and skip, and tend to suck, and be small. And in terms of music they were a step backward. Remember when you couldnt copy CD's? Yeah, that whole 15 years there. My first CD player didn't even have a fast forward button. How is that an advance in technology, for fuck sake? You can record from tape to tape immediately at your own HiFi, and yet everyone assumes they are inferior, right? And the speakers sucked, and the radio broke, and the twin tape decks never worked properly in the first place. And have you ever burned a really cool CD-r and then when you wanted to listen to it it just didn't work, for no apparent reason. When did a tape not ever work for no apparent reason? When your brother accidentally ingested it, and when it worked it's way around, he did his business into a flamey pit and then ran over it 17 times with a steam roller, and it would probably still play.
Of course, the things I hate about CD's I love about records now. If you drop one, it will more than likely shatter, along with many of my dreams. Just holding a record seems to imply that you are doing it damage. And I love having a musical outlet that just seems to exist to smugly frighten me. They get scratched through repeated playing, and where the fuck does anyone even get LP's anymore? But just holding a record feels right. Wobbly, scary, and unearthly, but right. When Led Zeppelin recorded 4 they did it on vinyl for vinyl. With a big huge picture, and a record to flip over, with that amazing vinyl sound, a fuzzy roar. My speakers sound a little like there's a fucking lion in the next room with a particular interest in wearing my nuts as earrings. But, at the same time, in the grand scheme of the world, and life, and evolution, time and space, I suppose the difference between CD's tapes and LP's doesnt really matter. Im just hip happy cos I got a record player for 15 euro.
You know how to fast forward a record? You nudge the arm forward.