What $110 Buys

Monday January 20, 2014

Happy Martin Luther King day or whatever. 

With this bonus day to the weekend I decided today is the day I'm going to the record store with the gift certificates I got for Christmas. Today though unlike the previous times there would be no wife and baby waiting in the car for me and I would also have the oldest with me but pacified due to a trip to the comic book store beforehand. Although doing this visit by myself would be optimal and far more efficient, it's worth it to have my oldest with so as to expose him to the days when we had to search for our music and records in bins and not simply look them up on iTunes. 

Today's visit worked out pretty well though and I was able to pick up 8 new records for my collection including, or as you may have guessed some pretty choice selections. 

As you can probably guess here are my two most expensive records. The Beatles Yellow Submarine, ($25) and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band ($50). The gatefolds could be in better shape but the records themselves are in very good shape and cleaned by the record store. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is the album that has impressed me the most and I can see why it was such and influential album, it's music is fun and peppy and had a sound that was ahead of its time. As for Yellow Submarine the music is also great and whimsical, but I didn't expect the movie orchestrations on the B-side. 

Jouneys Evolution ($4.50) and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon ($8). Evolution as is usually the case for Journey, has a great beat from beginning to end. Dark Side of the Moon on the other hand is Pink Floyd at their best, but the album is more chill than the rocking sound of Evolution, but is rightfully a classic. Pink Floyd helped push music to its limits with this album. The Journey album is still in great shape shrink wrap and all, Dark Side of the Moon on the other hand is in good shape on vinyl  but the gatefold is in pretty bad shape.

Yep, Fleetwood Macs Rumors ($3), and more Beatles with Introducing The Beatles ($15). Those first few Beatles albums really help you see why they caught on so fast in the US, with that clear, crisp, optimistic, and upbeat sound the US needed to help us get past the painful loss of President Kennedy only a few months before. Rumors on the other hand is a classic in its own right and really made Fleetwood Mac a legendary band. Filled from end to end with classics, this album would influence other artist for years after it's release. Both albums vinyl is in excellent shape and gatefolds are in pretty good shape too. 

Lastly are the local Buckinghams with Time & Changes ($3), and The Platters The Golden Hits of the Platters ($3.50). The latter is a nice collection of The Platters hits, but for the most part theysound rerecords rather then the original versions, but they have a nice gentle music that helps calm things down around the house. Time & Changes is a great album and has a lot of The Buckinghams classics on it, including Mercy, Mercy, Mercy which is a favorite around my house. Both vinyls and gatefolds are in great shape.

Overall, 8 great albums isn't too bad. Of course if your counting you realize I actually went over $110 but not by much. To say the least I'm pretty happy with my selections and I will get deeper into some in these albums later since the article is more about the purchase then the albums. 

Going Retro in More Then One Way

Do you have more then one hobby? I do, I have several, and sometimes I wish I didn't so I could just be really awesome at one in particular. But, sometimes I'm glad I do have more then one, because sometimes your hobbies teach you something about yourself especially when you have a few of them. 

What I find most interesting though is that two of my hobbies interconnect in a way I never thought they could. In a way dabbling in both of them is about reaching the same end, and appreciating what once was. And what are these two hobbies that can do this? Vinyl record collecting and retro gaming.

 

I know its odd to connect the two but you will see what I mean in a bit. See I got into vinyl record collecting back in late spring, but I had an interest in it for a long time. For me Vinyl record collecting is about really listening to the music. It's about the analog sound, the sound that represents analog music made by musicians going to my analog ears. Not perfect and corrected by clear digitalization, but true and imperfect with a real sound. 

You see that's what the vinyl movement is all about. I mean sure in theory digital sounds better and is clear and crisp, but it lacks that connection of the artist at work. Even the record itself seems so much truer and realer then a CD, and that tangibility is definitely much more satisfying then electronically downloaded music. A record and it's cover just seem to be so much more. There is this whole unexplainable experience and nostalgia about it that you have to go through to truly understand and appreciate it. 

In a way though that same thinking isn't all that different from that of the retro video gaming movement. As matter of fact there are many parallels between the two. For retro gaming its about experiencing games as they once where, about the nostalgia, and about the feeling. The cartridge or disc, and the feel of the controller of whatever type it is, all produce an experience new games can't give you. Retro games like vinyl are about the experience, and what memories those experiences can produce. 

There are even those times when the annoying things bring you joy. Like when a record skips, or a needle gets stuck, or when you have to blow into an NES cartridge to get a game to work the right way, or keep taking out and putting back in an Atari cartridge. 

That is the thing about these two hobbies the memories, the nostalgia, and the wholeness that the real deal of the sights and/or sounds can put before you. The sensation of the controller in your hands or the vibration of those imperfect analog beats hitting you body, produce a sense of reality that is almost like a time machine. 

In a way that's what a record player or an old video game console are, time machines. Mechanical devices that have the ability to transport you back to someplace you use to be, even if it is just figuratively and for a moment or two. 

That's the other thing, for me it's not just about collecting, it's about actually playing and enjoying both games and records. I couldn't just gaze at a video game in its original box, or a record in its cover sealed up. I believe those things need to be enjoyed, and there would be no way I could just leave them alone on a shelf. 

I'm posting this on both my vinyl record collecting, and Retro video gaming blog and I would encourage you to visit this blogs counterpart. 

Diary of an Amateur Vinyl Record Collector

http://amateurvinylrecordcollector.blogspot.com/?m=1

The Retro Video Gaming Blog for the Mid-Core Gamer 

http://retrovideogamingblog.blogspot.com/?m=1