We’re back again with another feature about our vinyl collections with Kate who has something special in her collection.
My brother bought me my first vinyl. It was a vintage copy of an old Monkees album that I got for Christmas; super cheesy and a little tattered but I was absolutely over the moon with it. This was about 2 years or so before vinyl really made its huge comeback and to me, this outdated form of a CD was endearingly quirky.
I find it so hard to get my head around how, just a couple of years ago, the only places you could go to get your hands on these funny plastic discs were car-boot sales or the most obscure ends of Camden Market, but now you could even pick one up in Sainsbury’s along with your food shopping. I got my first two LP’s before I even owned a turntable, but I think that’s part of the reason vinyl had such a whirlwind revival; nothing compares to having your favourite album pressed into the format that recorded music originated from.
I’d love to be one of those people who has a spotless high-end record player, silky smooth sounding speakers, a diamond tipped needle and a record collection packed with rare copies in mint condition… In reality, I’m just a skint student with a bog standard Crosley that seems to attract more dust than an antique shop. I’m with anyone who just enjoys collecting vinyl for the hell of it – sure, it might not sound as great as some of the really serious equipment out there, but it does the job.
Sundara Karma’s EP II
My collection is nothing overly special; it varies from some classic Bowie and Mott the Hoople that my dad pulled out of the attic, to newly released albums from emerging bands. I really love buying a band’s 10″ or 7″ from the merch stand after a gig, especially if it’s the support act’s or music I haven’t heard much of before. I have a decent amount of signed records as a result of this – my favourite’s being Sundara Karma’s EP II, and The Sherlocks’ Last Night//Emily.
I’m the sort of person who’ll be too lazy to change over the record and will listen to the same album on repeat for a week, so buying new vinyl from bands I don’t know so well gives me an excuse to really get to know some new tracks. I get so used to hearing an LP play out that whenever I hear a song from Arctic Monkey’s Favourite Worst Nightmare , or Foals’ What Did You Expect, I automatically expect to hear the next track on the album – it feels alien to hear it in any other order.
I picked up a couple singles by the Rolling Stones and T-Rex for absolute peanuts from an old vinyl shop in Weymouth the other day. The shop was a little muddled and wildly eccentric, but It made me remember just how nice the sound of old records is. The soft crackling in the background of each song gives vinyl that nostalgic charm that is lost with the studio worked finish of digital music.
The vinyl revival came out of the blue, but I’m glad that the music industry has taken it back to the 50’s with its record sales. It brought the charm back to recorded music and there’s no denying that collecting vinyl is one of the best ways to waste your money.
