Spin the Black Circle!

I remember reading once that the paper clip we use is far inferior to many other paper clips that have been developed… or that the way a keyboard or typewriter is laid out is not the easiest or most convenient form.. but its what we use…

People sometimes find it ridiculous when I sing the praises of LPs as compares to the newer medium of CDs..there’s a feeling that only a curmudgeonly hermit who refuses to adapt to evolving technology would feel this way.. but in my case I purchased over 1500 compact dics before beginning collect vinyl…. I discovered records after CDs…believe me if CDs were better it would have been in my interest to accept it!.. but I have come to realize that vinyl is largely superior due to aesthetics, sound quality and what I call intangibles.. first of all, in the days of records the LP cover was in it of itself a piece of art… the people that designed the Pink Floyd LP covers, for example, were every bit artists.. things like gatefold or even trifold covers, pop ups (check out the picture of Jethro Tull’s “Stand Up” if you don’t believe me) inner sleeves (with lyrics that are actually in a readable font!), the record’s labels themselves, and double LP packages are greatly diminished by the CD (some would point to this as the CDs greatest attribute as it allow for portability but..at what cost sez moi)…. Sound-wise I find the digital compact disc “cold”… analog sound is constant and to my ears generally provides a warmer fuller sound than the laser beam… It is also nice to see the record spinning on a turntable as opposed to a CD which you stick in a player and have no idea what is going on in there…and as far as the intangibles, for me, the feeling derived from playing a 1951 original Billie Holiday 10 inch LP or the original “Kind of Blue” record simply cannot be matched by a CD…I find it interesting that the CD will perish soon, replaced by MP3s and IPODs while the LP will live on forever.. QED

I would recommend anyone who enjoys music purchase a turntable.. you would be surprised how easy it is to find records at inexpensive prices..when CDs first came out people bought into the idea that LP were poor sounding and parted with their LP collections almost instantly relegating their records to the landfill and replacing them with inferior CDs (yes, inferior.. the first pressings of record company back catalog were made in a haphazard manner and ended up sounding worse!.. only now a few remastered issues later and with the advent of SACD and hybrids are CDs beginning to approach the original LP issues in terms of sound quality)..sometimes I wonder how many of the 30 million copies sold of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” at least half on vinyl, still exist…

Washington DC is not a great town for crate diggers…that rare breed that gets his kicks hunting for records…the best town I’ve seen for vinyl has to be Seattle…. But DC like every town does have its places/moments for the crate digger…I hope to write about these soon…

"see this needle...a see my hand...drop, drop, dropping it down...oh, so gently...well here it comes...i touch the plane...turn me up...won't turn you away...spin, spin...spin the black circlespin, spin...spin the black, spin the black...spin, spin...spin the black circlespin, spin...whoa...pull it out...a paper sleeve...oh, my joy...only you deserve conceit...i'm so big...a-my whole world...i'd rather you...rather you...than her...spin, spin...spin the black circlespin, spin...spin the black, spin the black...spin, spin...spin the black circlespin, spin...whoa...oh...you're so warm...oh, the ritual...when i lay down your crooked arm...spin, spin...spin the black circlespin, spin...spin the black, spin the black...spin, spin...spin the black circlespin, spin...spin the black circlespin the black circle...spin, spin...spin, spin..."- Pearl Jam