dead letter office

I listened to my vinyl (record) copy of Dead Letter Office the other day. I hadn't put a record on in quite a while, and it was a good experience. Taking the album out of the plastic bag, taking the record out of the dust jacket, dusting off the record, dropping the needle into the groove and hearing the opening strains of "Crazy" coming out of the speakers. And the cover -- its huge compared to the tiny CD cover. I guess a CD cover is better than what you get with a MP3, which is nothing.

There's something special about playing a record versus playing a CD. Besides all of the extra steps to actually play the record, you aren't skipping ahead to your favorite tracks, and for me at least, I listen closer because I know that everytime I play the record it gets a tiny bit more worn, a tiny bit closer to being all used up.

I don't have much music on vinyl, just a handful of albums and a small box of singles/45s. But I'm going to get them out more often now. The only downside is that it's harder to put on a record than a CD while holding a baby...