SnowGhost Music

I recently found myself in an Urban Outfitters store. I was there merely as an accomplice, but I couldn’t help but be blown away by the complete lack of anything worth buying, much less overpaying for. It should be stated that I am no fashion maven. And it could be said (and probably has) that I may not actually possess any style because I’m so busy perfecting the art of comfort, which often falls outside the lines of style. But even someone as detached from apparel as I couldn’t help but notice the crapulence hanging from racks, folded on shelves, and unflatteringly modeled by mannequins and store employees, who all looked like extras for the hipster Olympics.

But before I go completely off tangent and question the sanity of tapered pants, I must control myself with my blog reigns and make a point. The overall theme of said clothing store seemed to be that of retro. Retro Nike hi-tops, t-shirts, striped things, and even the music was grounded in Devo. Because comebacks are always happening, whether it’s clothes, phrases (I can’t wait until everyone says rad again- I never stopped), mistakes, or crazes, people love falling in love all over again. All that fashion nonsense in Urban Outfitters had me thinking about musical comebacks, and for some reason I was thinking about records. LPs. Vinyl.

Wouldn’t you know, I hear that vinyl is making a comeback, and just in time to help seal the fate of old nemesis compact disc. It’s not just a sudden outcry amongst audiophiles demanding a return to the flawed but sonically superior medium of the past. It’s not just DJs demanding a new catalog to cull their mash ups and beats from. Music fans young and old are pushing the demand for the classic grooved needle poppers so much that presses are having trouble keeping up.

And for good reason. Vinyl is rad, especially when compared to a CD. I used to think that CDs were digital and smaller, and thus infinitely better. While CDs are in fact smaller and digital, I was too busy cranking up Soundgarden on my original Discman to notice the loss of warmth and space that I had been taking for granted whenever my dad spun his turntable with the lights off. Just listen to an LP and it’s no wonder that some artists have actually tried to enhance their recordings with fake hissing and popping. I do not actually have a turntable to compare with, so I can’t argue which is better head to head. But I can safely say that anything on vinyl is going to sound better than anything on iPod.

In my frequent ranting about the physical attributes that CDs flaunt over iPod and MP3 formats, I took for granted that its actually vinyl that holds the most physical appeal. I don’t even keep my CD cases anymore. Sure, I’ll keep the liner notes, but I rarely visit them. But you’d never catch me throwing away a record. My collection consists of the White album and the Wall, both of which I may have purloined from the shelves of my father’s expansive library of sound. But I still check them out every now and then. I slide the disc out of its sleeve. I flip it over. I think how cool it is to have two sides. I marvel at the perfection of the size of the album cover, and by comparison how silly it makes CDs and tapes look. I wonder why it has been forgotten for so long. I hope that it will not just be a fad, and unlike stripes and tapered pants, I hope its style will always be timeless.