venta

Well, I haven't done that in years.

I just listened to a record. You know, records ? Flat plastic things with holes in the middle ? Little grooves all over them ?

It was something of an effort, actually. Our house owns a record player, but I've never seen it used. Andy had stacked it neatly in with the other stereo stuff, but negelected to realise that ideally one needs to be able to open the lid. So, having moved some CD shelving and the telly, I removed the Electric Light Orchestra disc that was lurking in there, and got out my nice new single.

Bloc Party - who I've occasionally muttered about (and who were formerly known as Union) - have released their first single, She's Hearing Voices.

According to Steve Lamacq, they sound like "The Strokes and Fugazi having a fight". I'd go for the rather less picturesque "sound a little like a sparse Joy Division".
If you actually want to know, go and listen to some mp3s from their website.

Something funny is going on with the wiring-up of our stereo, and the sound from "phono" doesn't appear to be going through the amp properly. I listened to the song to the accompaniment of a very loud hum, which was disappointing. Flipping the single over, I got mildly confused by the record player - it's rather cleverer than I'm used to, and won't turn its turntable while the arm is at rest. However, overcoming that, I set it going. Something was horribly wrong. The first of the B-side tracks, The Marshals Are Dead, I know reasonably well and it is not meant to sound like that. Closer examination of the label revealed that it was meant to be played at 33, not 45. But... had I just listened to the A-side on the wrong speed and not noticed ? Turn over again. No, the A-side was intended to be played at 45. But the B-side at 33.

Awkward buggers.

However, it has reminded me of something I'd forgotten. I like records. Yes, they're nowhere near as convenient as CDs, or even tapes, but there's something deeply appealing about them. They require care and attention, rather than just slamming shut a drawer and pushing a button. They want to be wiped before playing, and treated carefully, as if your music is special. It requires investment of effort to play them; it's more of an experience than popping on a CD or dragging another .mp3 into Winamp.

And of course, as I was sliding the single out the sleeve, without realising it I was expecting something black. It wasn't black! It was whitish, translucent plastic! Since pictures on CDs are de rigeur these days, it may be that actually records are rarely black any more. But in my world unusual colours, or, even better, pictures, are still a thing to marvel at.

It's probably over ten years since I handled a record, and I'd forgotten how pleasingly solid they are or the sense of anticipation you get as you flip them over for the other side. And I can remember the excitment of being allowed to put records on when I was little - initially only 45s, as LPs were too big for me to handle without dropping. And even now, I find myself carefully holding and turning the disc the way my Dad directed me then.

Would I swop my CDs ? Of course not, vinyl is far too much faff for every day. But I'm pleased that records still exist, and people are still releasing them. And when I'm in my declining years, and everyone is toting their 5096Gb, credit card-sized mp4 players, I shall occasionally totter into my attic, and play records to myself. "There goes that mad old bat with the Bloc Party single," the neighbours will say. And I shall smile, smugly.