So I just inherited my parents’ old turntable and some records. I never quite understood the reason for listening to vinyl in these modren times. I’m much a child of the digital age. I grew up with robots and computers. So why listen to something so antiquated when better alternatives are out there? I have access to 30gb of songs I can stream to my stereo system and can control with an iPad. So why vinyl? I didn’t understand the appeal.

And then I listened to Off The Wall on vinyl.

Now I get it. I’m hooked.

The sound is richer, fuller, and more real. The crackling and popping only adds to the ambiance. There’s just something about that analogue sound that gets lost in an mp3. I also like the “event” of putting on a record. There’s no shuffle mode with records. You don’t put on a song you like, you put on an album. And you flip it over halfway. Sometimes the B-Side has a whole different feel than the A-Side, which was an actual choice by the artist. Now, I’m not knocking CD’s or mp3’s at all. I love being able to carry around my entire music library in my pocket, but vinyl just holds something special we’ve forgotten in this digital age. A certain je ne sais quoi.

Plus, LP’s are just so much cooler than a digital booklet.