" I’ve never stopped listening to vinyl… Beyond sound, there’s the touch experience, the art, the liner notes you can read without using a magnifying glass, and the act of putting on an album. It’s a lovely little ritual that I never get tired of.."
~ Jimmy Page
Do your records get equal listening time? Or do some get most of the play while the rest sit patiently in the background? How does your state of mind affect your listening habits?
I recall a funny conversation I had a while back with a good friend‘s husband. We were at their house, standing in front of her wall of records, with me more or less to blame for getting her into the vinyl habit.
He rolled his eyes and said “Sure she’s got 1000 records, but she only plays three or four of them.”
I chuckled because I know exactly what he was talking about. You might have a room full of records, yet come dinner time only a handful are in heavy rotation.
It got me thinking about moods and music and the different motivations for different types of listening. If you’re like me, you might approach your record collection from a number of different angles. It’s as if that wall of vinyl can take you straight through the looking glass.
For example, my sweetheart and I have a cozy morning routine. I put on a record while the water is boiling, and we do a bit of stretching and loosening up before breakfast.
It’s a short list of artists who make the cut. The moment calls for instrumentals that go well with caffeine, without much mental effort. Tito Puente, Jimmy Smith, Charlie Byrd and lately Pérez Prado are all good early morning textures.
Generally both sides of an LP is what it takes to get breakfast on the table. Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell’s Canto de Ossanha as done by Cal Tjader on the 1967 release Hip Vibrations is our peak breakfast vibe in a nutshell.
The dinner hour calls for something different. Lately we’ve been digging into the sounds of Africa or the former French colonies; music from Réunion, Martinique, or Haiti, bargain bin records here in France.
We’re big on La Compagnie Créole — Coupé Cloué or Hugh Masekela also come in handy. Some nights we’re more in the mood for Blues artists like Muddy Waters, Dr. John, or Mose Allison.
When music is meant to be part of the environment it explains how just a few records can get an outsized amount of exposure because they’re such a good fit. Some moments call for a mood.
But what about when a mood calls for music? It’s like I come to all those other artists that fill up my stacks from the other direction.
When I’m feeling the need for something like Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, or Richie Hawtin, it’s not about the ambience at all. It’s more like I’m craving a dose of a drug. One does not casually approach the music of Miles Davis.
These are artists to be pulled out on occasion and played loud with total focus. This is not background music.
Sometimes I need to cleanse my pallet and clear the pipes so to speak. There’s no way I could listen to these folks every day, but they’re there for me when I need them.
Nobody knows you as well as your records. Only you can approach them inside out and backwards. Your stacks are a magic mirror to your moods and moments. The beauty of vinyl is that you’re an algorithm of one…
Keep ’em spinning… and I’ll see you on the New Moon.
M+
Mark Metz
Analog Press
Lunar Note #6
Lunar Notes Mailing List
Have you got yours yet?
Who do you know that needs a copy of this?
Plan ahead for the holidays and
put this book under that
certain someone’s tree.
Jimmy Page made rock and roll so big he needed a guitar with two necks. I’m glad he has stuck with vinyl all these years, I hope he’s dropping the needle on an old favorite right now.
Chapter nine of Vinyl Vitality is entitled “It’s a Practice”. I wrote about how there’s more to it than just buying a turntable and a few records. The analog lifestyle works best with a whole set of interlocking habits.
There’s more to it than pushing a button. That collection sitting on your shelves is more than just a pile of consumer products, so approach it more like a living entity that thrives on attention and care.
It’s about weaving the wonder of analog into your world. You’re in it for the long haul so take it slow and steady. Like any good practice, you get better at it as time goes on. Jimmy nails it, it’s a lovely little ritual that never gets old.
M+