Sigh. The day finally came, I had to let it go. Part function, part cleansing, part therapy the vinyl is gone. Found a local guy who will take these and maybe discover new music or release them to the world through the local flea market(s) and will hopefully better himself just a little because of it. Call it good karma.
They were mostly common albums from younger days along with standard thrift store staples.
Here is what that spot looks like now. Dug out some cases of mixtapes, some old floppy disks and my old Roadstar amp from my first car.
Don't get me wrong, I thinned it out before letting it all go (notice the vintage 1980s Fisher cabinet). Kept the ones that are valuable, yes, but mostly these are the ones that are meaningful in some way. After all, why else would I keep 14 sealed copies of the Miami Vice Soundtrack?
Then there is this little section. What bounty lies within? There is this one and these and a host of other goodies. I always have moments of 'Oh, yea, forgot about that one' when I browse them.
Perhaps I'm not quite ready to completely let go.
Thinking of doing exact same thing myself
ReplyDeleteWhat's that thick plastic tubing tacked onto the side of the shelf unit there? Intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThere is something liberating about removing 'stuff' but it is therapeutic, surgical even, removing those appendages from our past.
ReplyDeleteThe plastic tubing is metal pipe connected to the water meter. It isn't actually attached but sure looks that way.
ReplyDeleteOk, yeah there's a meter there. Can totally relate to doing a purge whether it's clothes, books or whatever.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm here I'm wondering how you feel about the slew of Variant product over the past year or so. I'm feeling it's a bit played out with the Vortexual Series. Thoughts?
Falling Stars from Variant was a game changer for me. Remains one of my all-time favorites in the catalogue. Started collecting the Variant releases when they came out but could not afford to keep up!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that there are so many and I simply do not have those long stretches of time where I can be fully immersed. I have a feeling that these will sit around for quite some time and, as often happens with me, once the 'buzz' and the hype fades I will find myself listening to them.
Sometimes when I have read/heard too much the experience risks being tainted so I cleanse myself of influence. Would, however, love to catch these in a live setting.
Steve remains cutting edge when it comes to making electronic music and is one of the few visionaries who is actually pushing the boundaries rather than capitalizing off of formula.
Yeah, it's a lot to absorb, but I've found myself reaching for the spaciest, beatless productions the most often. I'll definitely keep following what echospace put out finances permitting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments on this and your blog.
I had to let go of my vinyl collection and boy was it tough to do. Kind of like closing out a big life chapter in a way although I'm still in an avid listener just like before. Nevertheless, there's definitely something a little different about playing the physical object versus digital files. Unfortunately, records simply take up too much space so there wasn't much to do but bite the bullet. I don't regret it now but it was definitely something I labored over quite a bit last year. But hey, these are different times and you just have to go with it.
ReplyDeleteWell said. A few pangs of regret the next morning - they were something of a security blanket, great comfort in just browing through them as the memories flooded back with each sleeve opened. Intended, however, you are right, just had to bite the bullet.
ReplyDeleteDigital is cool and convenient but it is often ethereal and lacking the 'earthy' presence that grounds the listener. With digital it is much easier to push into the background; with a physical medium, especially vinyl, it was part of a larger whole.