Listening to records
Five years back I had to put my record player away. The then one year old kid just found it too interesting.
Today I had a conversation with both kids, who agreed that they are old enough to leave it alone. We'll see about that. But it's back, and I'm spending the evening listening to records.
I really don't have a good explanation for why it's such a unique listening experience. It sounds mostly the same, I suppose, as when I play the same record through the same speakers from Spotify. Yet it's completely different. The word texture comes to mind. Maybe the sound has texture, I don't know. To my ears it sounds absolutely silky smooth, creamy almost, compared to the jagged digital counterpart.
But physically taking out and placing the record, cleaning it with an antistatic brush, placing the needle, turning the record when it's done? That certainly adds texture to the listening experience. It also reinforces the album as the only correct unit for consuming music, which I like.
First album up? Elliott Smith's XO, one of my all time favourites.