I'm personally a huge fan of the vinyl medium. My parents have a pretty decent collection, mostly inherited from my grandparents. When I was in high school, I started to get into the stacks upon stacks that were hiding in our closet upstairs and decided I wanted a collection of my own.
If I'm not mistaken, my first vinyl purchases were made at my local flea market. For $20 I got a cardboard box of the moth-balliest smelling records my nose had had has the misfortune of sniffing.
Despite the stench, and much to my mother's dismay, I dug through the box and brought in the ones with interesting cover art. (Because that's the most appropriate way to choose new music, of course.)
Among my first stack was the soundtrack to The Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery, Diana Ross' Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, Chicago's IX: Greatest Hits '69-'74, and the ever-popular Teach Your Parakeet to Talk.
I rubbed each of the album covers down in a flowery scented dryer sheet and pored over all of the fine print. Who were the artists, who produced the album, who were the guest musicians? I don't remember an of this information now, but at the time it was refreshing to get away from my iPod and still infant collection of mp3s.
Getting back to earlier forms of music can be a real treat, and a great way to connect with the artist. Learn about who you're listening to!
Unfortunately, I didn't have any extra money to spend on records this year, but rest assured, I will be heading back to my local shop next pay day.
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