Black on Black

So it's time for the Friday Shuffle, then I'll tell you what I really think!
1.Go!-Tones on Tail
2.Jetstream-New Order
3.Birds Fly-Icicle Works
4.Lust For Life-Iggy Pop
5.Walk, Idiot, Walk-The Hives
6.Whenever You're On My Mind-Marshall Crenshaw
7.Romeo and Juliet-Dire Straits
8.Interstate Love Song-Stone Temple Pilots
9.Heart of Glass-Blondie
10.Bohemian Like You-The Dandy Warhols

While I love my iPod, it is cute and small and black and great to take on walks and to the gym and I can plug it in in my car, I love vinyl more than anything. I have never sold any of my albums. I still have really embarassing stuff from when I was in fifth grade.

I love everything about vinyl. The smell of the album as you pull it from its sleeve. The static spark that flies as you clean it. The sound of the needle dropping into the groove. The crackle and hiss in the moments of silence. The feel of the edge of the record as I cued it up on the turntable. But most of all, I miss the rich, full sound that is lacking in digital media. Vinyl is a riot to my senses.

The artwork for albums is a whole subject unto itself. It was bad enough when the artwork was shrunk to CD size, but now I am expected to go without it completely when I buy mp3's. I can remember laying for hours on the couch in my living room looking at the covers of albums, flipping through the pages in a gatefold, reading the lyrics in print big enough to see with the naked eye. The artwork always seemed to convey something important about the band. You could see who they were, or at least some sort of representation of who they were. I felt like I could connect with the band. Now they are faceless entities. I really don't like it.

So, call me a dinosaur. I'm sure this is how every generation feels as they see things that they were fond of in their youth slip into the history books. As for me, I'm saving my vinyl and will always have a working turntable. And my most prized possession in this collection? My autographed copy of 'All Rise' by Naked Raygun, signed in a parking lot in Greenville, South Carolina after doing an interview with crickets chirping in the background. Did you think I'd let you go a day without mentioning them?