Excuses & A Story

So Sam and I had great intentions for actually starting this thing. I promise very soon we'll start posting pictures/write ups of bbq places and vinyl. But for now i wanted to share this essay about why I feel vinyl is superior to all other mediums of music listening.

Music is cool again. Not that it ever wasn't inherently "cool" to people who genuinely love it. But, its hard to walk anywhere that people gather (mall, campus, downtown, etc) without seeing people with tiny earbuds in. Granted, there were always tape decks, walkmen, even boomboxes. But the iPod has changed the way everyone listens to music. It's a genius device. Almost everyone I know has some sort of portable music player. Most of my friends have pretty extensive libraries so they have thousands upon thousands of songs. I'm no different. I remember the first mp3 player I ever bought. iPods were still relatively expensive and so I went with a "Nomad Jukebox". I don't know if they still make them... but it was about the size of a gameboy. Not a gameboy advance or color... but the original ones. Still, it was so awesome to make playlists and just have hours of music in one (at the time) device. The allure of an mp3 player is that you can have all your music in one place. Most new cars have an auxilary jack so that you can plug them up and listen to songs are you go. But I started out with a 1998 Jeep Cherokee that only had a tape deck and a radio. So I bought one of those tape converters that people used to plug portable CD players into their cars. It was awesome.

When I was younger I was always a collector. Probably one of the first things I got "into" collecting was Beanie Babies. I know, I know. Snicker all you want. But it was something that my grandma and I did together. She still has hundreds of them in this display case hahahaha. But I always loved the thrill of getting something that as "limited". As I got older I got into collecting Pokemon cards. I was never really that good at playing with the cards, but the gameboy game I was pretty boss at. Still I had what I thought to be an awesome collection (it included a holographic, no shadow Charizard). After that came Dragonball Z cards. Then throughout high school all that kind of faded away. I always loved music throughout these times, but CDs were never hard to find or limited... they always just seemed buying a soda or something. Nothing wrong with it, but you could find them pretty much anywhere.

As I got older I started getting more and more into less mainstream music. I hope that didn't sound like... i don't know.... hahahaha. But the thing that kind of got me into vinyl was reading about how The Number 12 Looks Like You was putting out a 7" on alien green vinyl limited to 1,000 copies. Seeing the words "alien green" next to "limited to 1,000 copies" sparked my interest in vinyl. I went to my local Hot Topic and purchased it. Now, I realize buying records from Hot Topic might be going with "the man" or whatever. But, the Asheville Hot Topic still has good records most of the time. Even if Walmart sold records that I wanted, I wouldn't hesitate the buy there. So I purchased that 7" without having a record player or really even knowing anything about vinyl. It was just cool to look at.

Pretty soon I had collected a few 12"s and 7"s. I remember getting the first press of Every Time I Die's The Big Dirty on half yellow/half brown vinyl. I realized that I needed a record player. I'd never look down on someone who just collects records to collect them. But, I would urge them to look into getting a record player... (more on that later)

For my birthday that year my parents got me a Crosley record player from Target. I was ecstatic. I rushed home to my apartment and plugged it up. I remember the first thing I played on it was Radiohead's OK Computer. I was really nervous after dropping the needle on the side and waiting for the overdriven beginning to "Airbag". Sure enough, it came through. I sat and listened to that entire album and all my other vinyl for the rest of the night. Just watching the record spin and hearing the crackly warmth of the sound coming out gave me such an intrinsic high.

After that I developed a theory as to why I love vinyl so much.... I like that it de-mystifies music. When you have a CD you place it in a box and a hidden laser reads it and spits the music out of the speakers... with an iPod it's basically like a tiny box full of songs... But with vinyl you have to take the record out put it on the turntable, decide what speed it needs to spin at, and place the needle on the edge (or where ever you want it to begin). You can see the stylus move along the grooves and understand that THAT is what is making the sound come out. It's kind of like having a clock that has all of its guts showing.... and I like that.

Since then I've been enamored with vinyl. Things like "hand numbered", "limited to 500", "screen printed sleeves", "tour only" have become synonymous with my heart beating faster and a general elation that comes from getting a piece of vinyl that is limited. Besides the artwork being bigger (and sometimes different), colored vinyl is beautiful. From transparent and opaque solid colors, to splattery colored madness, to swirls... even people who kind of detest vinyl have to admit that there are some pretty colors these discs can be placed on. Vinyl collecting is more than a hobby for me. It's become an extension on my love for music and my rampant collector spirit... hahaha

Since then I've collected tons and tons of records. It's a borderline obsession and I don't think it will ever go away.

I hope this didn't come across as negative. I champion anyone who enjoys music through whatever medium they desire. I just wanted to share why I love vinyl so much.

Fun stuff coming soon. We promise.

Cheers,

Logan

Hello!

Hello friends!

This is a blog that will be run by Samantha Jones and me (Logan Vess). We've been kicking around this idea for a very long time now. We both wanted a place where we could nerd out about vinyl and bbq restaurants. We even took an inaugural trip to Nashville, TN in March and ate nothing but BBQ. But basically, this blog will be used to upload pictures and reviews about everything from vinyl and bbq (obviously), to movies and books. We're going to start posting very soon. Thanks for stopping in.

Happy Holidays,

Logan