Joy in Record Form

For Christmas my folks gave SB a gift card for a local record shop. Last weekend he bought a handful of records, including Sindey Bechet and Fats Waller records that completely blew me away. The Waller record was released in 1953 - it is fun to listen and imagine the previous owner(s) enjoying it just as much as we are today. The Bechet record is printed in Italian, which gives it some added character.  :)

At first I thought the whole record collecting hobby was so needless. I mean, we have SO MUCH music already - so why buy more (and God forbid anything we already own digitally) on vinyl? And maybe it IS needless, but that is sort of how hobbies are by nature and what makes them pleasurable. Regardless, I've come to really appreciate listening to records for a few reasons:

1) I love music! And at a time when most music is downloaded into a large digital library, it is easy to purchase it and forget about it or at least underutilize it - it just isn't tangible. While I didn't mourn the loss of CD cases, liner notes, etc., I must admit that I like physical records - it is owning the music + the experience of all that album art.

2) I love old music, and listening to old music on an old medium is something that I treasure. Some sense of "authenticity" is derived from it (I know, I know - whatever that means). It is truly a connection to the past to own old records.

3) Most importantly, listening to records removes you from your computer. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer as much as the next person, but at the end of the work day I need a break. I find nothing more regrettable than an evening sitting mindlessly on the computer rather than being present in my home with my family. Records require your attention every 20 to 30 minutes, to be flipped, and in that sense, they keep you present.

While it may not be the vinyl listening experience - here are a few great tracks from these incredibly awesome musicians.