Thursday, January 26, 2006
So Buendia got me a turntable for Christmas, and I’m having much fun converting my vinyl to MP3 format. The records seem to have survived 18 months in the garage without too much trouble.
I’m struck by the way technology has influenced the creative process. Albums used to have sides, and artists would use the limitations of the medium to their advantage. So you’d have an up side and a more reflective side, or you’d have to make sure you started side 2 with a killer track.
Often, when I’d first buy an album I’d spend a couple of weeks just listening to the first side, to allow myself to really get it before turning it over.
And now all this analogue mechanical stuff is being filtered through my trusty PowerBook at home, and ending up on my iPod and the Mac Mini in the office. When we tell Finn that music used to come as an object, not just a data file to be accessed whenever and however we like, she’ll just laugh. But then I’ll show her the vinyl.