Nice vinyl finds

 Maybe half a year ago I joined the vinyl craze:  i don't actually think vinyl sounds better than CDs -- but I like the meditative, intentional aspect:  it takes a bit of handling, and (because I don't have speakers for my turntable, just a headphone amplifier), I have to just sit and listen to music -- not putter around doing tasks.

Because of that, though, I usually only listen to one side per session:  the typical side of an LP is 23 minutes (or less).

There's a new and used record store downtown, near where I work, which I visit about once a week -- and another record shop in the mall.  "Normal" LP prices are $15, $20, or $25 for the "good" (i.e. popular) used vinyl, and $10 for the "cheesy used" (a lot of Neil Diamond, plus various bands I've never heard of).  When I stop in to a record store, I'm a little disappointed if I walk away without finding something good.  Luckily, I'm a child of the '80s -- and LPs were still in abundance (apparently) until 1989 -- so there's a lot of bands from my youth that are available on LP.

Usually I have a mental list of favorite bands that I'm on the lookout for -- but I also stumble across some unexpected finds:  Saturday (a week ago) I visited a record store I'd only been in once before (about a year ago), and stumbled across two Petra (a Christian rock band from the '80s) albums -- plus the (good) Georgia Satellite album (the one with "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and "Battleship Chains"). 

And on Friday morning (a few days ago; took the morning off from work to attend a funeral), at the record shop in the mall I found a Talking Heads album for $15, and a semi-obscure band (The Shirts), of which I have one of their albums -- which I like -- in the ten dollar bin:  wooo!!!!

 

I have a bit of a backlog, in that I'm buying albums more quickly than I'm listening to them.  But I'm okay with that.

I've stopped buying guitars, amps, and woodworking tools -- and LPs take up less space -- so maybe that's an okay trade?

--GG