The days of the LP where more then just a piece of vinyl

[do_androids_dream]

Vinyl nostalgia is a weird one. It can't have much to do with sound because to press something to vinyl is to make sometimes huge compromises to your art. I can only assume it's something to do with 'holding it in your hand' which you can also do with a cd or cassette.. Or, something to do with the collecting instinct - to see your identity in a rack on the wall.

[BERFAB]

I think the OP has it about right. It was a different culture. The physical size of an LP and the sleeve meant that there was room to stretch out for actual art, liner notes (remember those?) and other gimmicks (Mick's pants had a real working zipper on Sticky Fingers). I remember spending time actually reading the newspaper that was the Thick as a Brick cover. I now have about 20 framed LP covers lining the walls of my basement room. I think they're great.

But what I really don't miss is the actual vinyl. I never understood the reasoning of those that miss its "warmth." Everyone here knows that this is really a noise. An imperfection of the sound that can now actually be added at will if desired. But what people seem to forget is that this "warmth" also came with pops and crackles that could not be controlled, even on the best turntables. Even the music you heard on radio stations would have errant pops and crackles. And if you taped the record to a cassette, that cassette would forever embed those noises. On repeat listenings, the pops and crackles actually became part of the song.

Another reason for the culture of that time is that only those with the means of production (i.e. access to very expensive recording equipment) really could get their vision heard. So the public's collective musical experience was really very limited to a finite group of artists, for better or worse. Radio, for example, had very broad appeal because of the limited outlets available. In the 1970's, a typical pop AM station would play rock, disco, soul, R&B and country back to back without breaking format. Today, we are hyper-segmented: any kid with a phone can (and does) cut a track and post it online. And often, that post will find an audience, albeit a narrow one. So, good news/bad news: everyone who wants one has an artistic voice--but--there is absolutely no quality control. You've got to wade through an awful lot of stuff these days to find the true nuggets of brilliance. But all things considered, I do appreciate that the arts are more egalitarian as a result. Why shouldn't the talented kid without means be heard?

Cheers
-B

[Aloysius]

Keep your old CDs. Every remastered CD I've heard is totally slammed to the wall (and beyond in some cases). Instead of the sound improving, it's all just getting worse. It's hard to believe that people actually get paid for destroying art.

You can't generalise like that. There's bad remasters and good remasters. It depends upon the intention of the remaster. Is it to correct something for diehard fans? Is it make improvements for diehard fans? Is it to revive interest (so, not for existing fans)?

I can and I did based on hard evidence. I buy CDs on a regular basis.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

It can't have much to do with sound

It wasn't, because in those days we hadn't experienced pristine digital audio yet.

As for the comparison to cassette? Just the fact that it was so much bigger was a draw for me. It was much more weighty, substantial etc., which to a kid spending all his pocket money (Woolworths...1970's) was no small thing. It was also much more hands on - Carefully sliding the disc from the plastic covering, placing on the deck. Then, out came the various brushes for all the dust and fluff. Then, all the arm/lever operation...It was to cassette-listening what gourmet cooking is to microwaves

[xoxos]

...the culture of that time is that only those with the means of production (i.e. access to very expensive recording equipment) really could get their vision heard.

Why shouldn't the talented kid without means be heard?

post is kind of like one of those mad magazine foldouts where you join the ends to make a new, informative picture it's amazing that in years of membership you've failed to retain any awareness of memetics despite my truly enthusiastic exuberance.

hmm, toughie.. "why don't we want people listening to ideas from just anyone instead of rich people..." geez i'd have to think about that one a while, i'd even have to incarnate and make vsts for a whole while as well and decades would go by and i'd be xoxos and lots of people would say i am an insensate person of disrepute.

"..why don't we want people not getting their thoughts from the pecuniously corroborated..." all money belongs to the emperor.

big thing lacking from digital media - deterioration.

once upon a time some older guy berated a bunch of kids because they didn't want to become plumber's apprentices. then he went into his plumber place and played "private dancer" but the tape got all warbly and snapped.

a dancer for money
i'll do what you want me to do
i'm your private dancer
a dancer for money
i'll spend my life with your poo

he could have noticed from the moment that the tape was sort of like his worn out ideas about what people should do. "back in the day" people were said to sound like "a broken record" except records don't break anymore, nobody can tell when their intellect has reached its demise and they are purely playbaabaa, baa, baaaabaaaack.

a digital recording never tells you when you've played it enough times to wear it out, you have to pay attention and figure out when too much is too much yourself.

the message of so much "intellectual music" is that we are simply, too dependent on recordings for meaning and substance in our lives, that's why the pops are there, to tell you what is a live and what is memorex. now those safeguards were removed years ago.

and i'm still lecturing people about memetics and epistemology. i can't tell you if i'm talented or not, but i can tell you, if you want reason, don't follow the money, follow the memetics.

[Numanoid]

With a laser turntable vinyl will not get worn out. It is expensive though



http://elpj.com/

[harryupbabble]

iTunes has a Play column indicating exactly how many times each song has been played. Deterioration everywhere but not with 1010101010?

[Numanoid]

iTunes has a Play column indicating exactly how many times each song has been played. Deterioration everywhere but not with 1010101010?

Everything will eventually get worn out according to thermodynamics, but humans are like fireflies in the night compared to the longevity of the digital media, so we will never notice it

[stonestreet]

Hi I can relate to this.

I bought The Raven by The Stranglers and it had that old faux 3D look. Great at the time.

With vinyl, cassettes and CDs in addition to audio you get visual, tactile, smell/taste cues. I think that we are correlating more senses than in the mp3 and beyond digital formats. I think that can create a rich experience. However watching You Tube videos can be pretty immersive some of the visuals are outstanding.

I prefered to vinyl to cassette tape but the quality of CD for me trumped all that came before in consistency of sound quality. I tend to buy CDs instead of or in addition to digital downloads.

Have fun

I think the OP has it about right. It was a different culture. The physical size of an LP and the sleeve meant that there was room to stretch out for actual art, liner notes (remember those?) and other gimmicks (Mick's pants had a real working zipper on Sticky Fingers). I remember spending time actually reading the newspaper that was the Thick as a Brick cover. I now have about 20 framed LP covers lining the walls of my basement room. I think they're great.

But what I really don't miss is the actual vinyl. I never understood the reasoning of those that miss its "warmth." Everyone here knows that this is really a noise. An imperfection of the sound that can now actually be added at will if desired. But what people seem to forget is that this "warmth" also came with pops and crackles that could not be controlled, even on the best turntables. Even the music you heard on radio stations would have errant pops and crackles. And if you taped the record to a cassette, that cassette would forever embed those noises. On repeat listenings, the pops and crackles actually became part of the song.

Another reason for the culture of that time is that only those with the means of production (i.e. access to very expensive recording equipment) really could get their vision heard. So the public's collective musical experience was really very limited to a finite group of artists, for better or worse. Radio, for example, had very broad appeal because of the limited outlets available. In the 1970's, a typical pop AM station would play rock, disco, soul, R&B and country back to back without breaking format. Today, we are hyper-segmented: any kid with a phone can (and does) cut a track and post it online. And often, that post will find an audience, albeit a narrow one. So, good news/bad news: everyone who wants one has an artistic voice--but--there is absolutely no quality control. You've got to wade through an awful lot of stuff these days to find the true nuggets of brilliance. But all things considered, I do appreciate that the arts are more egalitarian as a result. Why shouldn't the talented kid without means be heard?

Cheers
-B

[Numanoid]

I bought The Raven by The Stranglers and it had that old faux 3D look. Great at the time.

I haven't got the 3D cover, but it is still an album just bubbling under my all time top ten

[stonestreet]

I don't have it anymore. It disappeared after I hastily flew from the parents nest, with all my other stuff. I found that with time keep flowing on I could not buy back all that got lost. Same when my CDs did a disappearing act years later. It's good to be able to hear some of your history now through the net.

I bought The Raven by The Stranglers and it had that old faux 3D look. Great at the time.

I haven't got the 3D cover, but it is still an album just bubbling under my all time top ten