Entertainment For Lively Minds
My Sweet, Black and Round Angels
I am in heaven. And I'm excited. Very excited.
The reason for this unusual good humour on my part is that I've bought a turntable. And two vinyl records. The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. and The Dark Side of the Moon by Laughin' Rog and the Architects.
I went into HMV in Oxford a couple of days ago and they had one vinyl record for sale, which was the Laughin' Rog one. So I bought it, as it was always good for testing Hi-Fi equipment. As I left the shop I was filled with a sense of this having been a bit of an event, something I'd long remember. The bag I was carrying felt heavy, substantial. And I felt like I was 10-years-old.
Exile is on the turntable as I type. It sounds great and above all, warm. Already I am starting to think that all that business about the amazing sound of CDs was a royal con. Maybe that's a bit strong, but there is something about big, fuck off records that can't be beat.
I can't remember the last time I was this excited about music. I've already convinced the guy in the shop I bought the turntable from to let me upgrade it to a better one in a couple of months time.
Excited.
- More from Patrick Crowther.
- Login or register to post comments
-
I Concur
Started pulling out my old vinyl a few weeks back! Big and Black like you say! And the most amazing thing was the sound! Better, warmer and fuller! You couldn't mistake it! Bloody marvellous it was! Even I might add my Born Slippy Underworld 12"! And Sticky Fingers! I forgot how good!
I thought the same as you! We were victims of a big undeniable con!
Welcome back sir
we've been expecting you. Enjoy!
Don't know your supplier but Richer Sounds in Oxford have moved
Have you seen their new shop in the old pub at the end of the Botley Road?
Not been in yet myself but looks interesting.
That sounds like a visit might be in order.
Is that somewhere close to PC World? If so I could drop in on my way back from the wastelands of Northampton. I used to drive down to the Botley road at lunchtime to pick up bits'n'bobs at PC World when I was working in Kidlington.
Yes it is
It is opposite the Mazda garage just after you turn onto the Botley Road after coming off the A34.
Thanks for the Can CD as well...much appreciated.
An upgrade
I've been playing my old vinyl for quite a few years now. I haven't bought any new stuff, although I've bought a few second hand albums through our very good Oxfam shop.
However I'm thinking I need to upgrade my ancient turntable. Maybe I should do it tomorrow?
probably nothing wrong
with your ancient turntable, provided it was a good one to begin with. Better to invest the money in a top-notch stylus
and Patrick, that's great news. I've been on the vinyl kick since the start of the year and it has completely revitalised my listening experience. I am slowly rebuilding my collection and I'd say that most of the time, listening to a familiar album on vinyl has been a revelation, truly.
Anyway, get a copy of 'Hissing...' next and you'll see what I mean
and The Yes Album and...oh, don't get me started
or a new cartridge
rather than just a new stylus
That Exile cover
Where do the LPs go, Patrick?
I seem to recall in the original, both were slipped into a single inner pouch, (with the front cover being a single piece of cardboard) rather than one into each of the two 'flaps' like most double albums.
I fear your copy is one of the second, rather than a facsimile of the original...
These things matter, they really do...
It's the reissue from last year...
It might not be exactly like the original, but I'm not bothered.
Looks great...
... and I'm jealous - what's next on your vinyl shopping list?
I don't know...
I mainly intend to buy old, old blues and jazz records.
would it be too obvious to suggest
crime of the century
vinyl still sounds good
Am currently
bidding on GH's All Things Must Pass on vinyl. Yum, yum, and thrice yum...
In an earlier thread, I posted something
about finding a note in my aunts house. I also liberated a record player from there, and it's in my attic. It's old as the hills and just has two speakers (no amp or 'owt fancy) with connection plugs the like of which I've never seen before.
I don't have much vinyl - a Kaiser Chiefs single that I "won" in a competition, and the Liberty of Norton Folgate (which came as part of a box-set I bought).
Oh, I've heaps of James Last and Mantovani (my cousin said 'if you're taking the record player, you're taking that shite as well...') if anybody's in the market.
Anyway - yeah - the sound, although not brilliant, still has something that you definitely don't get from a CD. Patrick says 'warmth' and it's as good a term as any. I'm not sure if I've got the space to bring the record player downstairs, nor can I afford to 'do up' the attic to make it sittable in, but there's definitely something in vinyl.
'Presence' is another word
I use to describe the vinyl experience
yeah - that's good, Nick...
If you were listening to a band playing in your attic, or whatever, the sound wouldn't be clinical, sterile and perfect. Vinyl...maybe it removes the ultra clean spick'n'span sound you get with CD.
It's the difference between a brand new pair of designer jeans, (which is all well and good), but they can't hold a candle to a battered-to-fuck pair of 501's that have a tale or two to tell, can they?
Nice one Patrick
I'm jealous but I'm guessing you might have more room than I do! I'm thinking about dumping my cds! I do still have my vinyl stashed away but that's precious space.
I've never been a vinyl man
because as I got my first player CD's were the up and coming thing so the quality of the turntable on my probably relatively cheap midi system was awful so I jumped from tapes to CD's. However as someone who has recently rediscovered his passion for music I can really empathise with the warm glow and the excitement. Enjoy yourself :)
My vynyl
has been in my loft for nearly 20 years untouched and unloved, suffering wild variations in temperature depending in the season, I'm almost scared to look at it. I should open it it up and see how it's fared, singles in alphabetical order and listed on my old typrewriter, albums in plastic sleeves to protect the covers. Maybe I'll have a look this weekend.
Patrick
when you start getting your wallet emptied dont overlook this cracker..good decision to but a turntable by the way!
oops
buy
great example
of a record that sounds great on vinyl. It just doesn't sound the same on other formats.
I started to rediscover vinyl after someone gave me a turntable they were getting rid of. It was just a bush thing that I was running through the Onkyo surround system I have. However, my 11 month old has recently wrecked it. Ah Bless.
Anyone got any recommendations to replace it? I hear the Rega units are good.
for value
i fond the project turntables made in czechoslovakia pretty good
make sure you get a decent cartridge
That was actually on my wish list...
One of my all time favourite records and one of the best sounding LPs I've ever heard.
Exile On Main St.
Always, always, a cause for celebration
You enthusiasm is infectious, Patrick..
sounds like you never had records before, can this be?
You'll do well to pick up some Impulse albums (say, Oliver Nelson's The Blues And The Abstract Truth), some ECM stuff (like John Abercrombie's Timeless), maybe some classical (like Stravinski's Firebird Suite) and classic rock (say, XTC's English Settlement). Obviously whatever takes your fancy.
But hifi test discs? Long slippery slope ahead! Look, if it sounds like music and makes you want to hear more, your equipment's doing its job just fine. QED.
Good hunting and let us know how you're getting along.
I did have a small vinyl collection in the 1980s...
when I'd just started buying records. But then CDs came along and I switched. 20 years later and I was missing the buggers.
Which turntable
did you buy? I'm thinking of buying one in the near future, having not played vinyl for some years. Trouble is I want it easy. Not sure I can face all the "setting up" that good turntables used to take.
I originally bought a Project Essential turntable...
but I started getting so much pleasure out of listening to vinyl again that I decided to upgrade it almost immediately. The very nice chap in the shop recommended I go for a Rega RP3, which is what I ended up buying. It's wonderful.
The Rega is really simple to set up too, much more so than the Project which was a real fiddle.
I love the smell of vinyl in
I love the smell of vinyl in the morning.