“The difference between digital and vinyl is like the difference between a MIDI piano and a real one, there really is no competition. It’s not even close. Digital music is handy, there’s no question about that, and on the move about town it gives you access to a lot of stuff, and that is ace. But, sitting down in a darkened room, and putting the needle on the record, that’s ritualistic.”
“I grew up listening to vinyl with my Dad, and heard a lot of old records as a result. Although I was definitely of the minidisk/CD generation, I never lost my love of the physical magic of vinyl. It is definitely true that it sounds better, it’s warmer, the analog signal is more musical.
But it’s more than that, it’s the ritual of connecting with the music. Carefully taking the wax disc out of the sleeve, the crackle of the needle going on, taking the time to study the sleeve. Actually concentrating on the music, and actually engaging with the process of listening to music, rather than the digital machine constantly churning it out while we’re busy writing our emails or doing something else.
It’s a shame that nowadays people generally don’t just sit around the record player listening to music as an actual thing to do.
It’s my mission in the future to carve out more time to do exactly that. It’s like pre-television, people would sit round in the evening singing songs together for entertainment. People don’t really do that anymore and that’s kinda sad. Yeah, there are a lot of amazing TV series at the moment, and that’s cool, but enjoying listening to music with friends/ family as a thing to do, at home, is getting lost.
I think vinyl has the focus point to keep that dream alive. The way it spins, the physicality of it, it’s mesmerizing and gives you a chance to really concentrate on the music.
Also, the fact you have to get up and change it every 20 minutes, rather than some Spotify playlist rolling out tunes in an endless cycle, this means you actually have to think about what you put on, and that’s important.”
—Chris James
Chris James’ new EP, “Space In The Clouds” arrives in stores on 9th December 2016 via AWAL.
