My Record Player

Today I thought I'd talk about my record player.  Sort of random but hey, it's something I love and I basically talk about things I love on here so why not?

On my 17th birthday my friends surprised me by getting me a record player.  I had mentioned it maybe once or twice to one of my friends but I never really thought I would buy one.  Well low and behold I dug into a large gift bag to find a beautiful Crosley record player along with a few albums to go with it.  I may or may not have teared up - I mean come on record players are just so special and beautiful and the fact that my friends got me one like that's just so heartwarming.

Being a HUGE Mumford & Sons fan, I received both Sigh No More and Babel on vinyl along with my record player as well as For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver and of course, Abbey Road from The Beatles.  My collection was already off to a kick ass start let me tell you.  I'm actually listening to Bon Iver right now ugh it's such a great album.  Anywho...it turns out that my dad had a huge box of old records from when he had a record player.  By huge box I mean like around 20-30 records straight chilling in our basement.  My vinyl collection quickly increased greatly and I couldn't be happier.  From Cheap Trick to The Beatles to Pink Floyd to the Beach Boys, to some bands I had never heard of, it was there in that box.

It's such a cool thing to be able to have and share and collect.  It's obviously not the most convenient way to listen to music but there's something about it that's so special.  On my dad's older records, hearing those little scratches here and there adds a bit.  It's like a little piece of history in your hands.  I mean my dad's records have to be at least 30 years old.  To think that he sat around with friends listening to these same albums is kind of cool and again, really special.  But also finding new albums like Mumford and Bon Iver is so cool.  One of my favorite albums is actually an EP from Lewis Watson.  I saw on his website he was selling signed vinyls so I now am a proud owner of the 199th signed vinyl of about 300 I believe it was.


I was never really a believer in the idea that the music sounded different, at least I wasn't really that sure but I can assure you, some albums truly sound so much better on vinyl.  My friend has Torches by Foster the People on vinyl, not an album I would think to be super great on vinyl, but let me tell you the second that needle dropped, so did my jaw.  There's just something more raw and authentic about it.  Sure it's easy to just press shuffle on an iPod but so often I find myself skipping songs.  With a record player, I'll listen to an album in its entirety and listen to the lyrics and memorize the order of the songs.  I understand music better.  I see the cohesiveness of an album and understand the ordering of the songs.  It's just really awesome ok.


 So if you're someone who is really into music and has ever thought about getting a record player.  DO IT!  It's not necessarily the cheapest thing but it does make for a great birthday gift or Christmas or graduation or anything.  And it's always awesome receiving vinyls as gifts too.  For Christmas I received Ed Sheeran's + and it is absolutely beautiful on vinyl.  The record itself is orange like tell me that's not amazing.

If you have any music suggestions or even if you are thinking about getting a record player, let me know!

Merci beaucoup!

Kate