“I confess. I haven’t been listening to any music lately, like nothing. For a while now.”
“My days of disconnect started when MP3s became the currency. When iTunes stepped into the room and became the musical monster it is today. I’ve never owned an iPod and I hate earbuds…what’s a nineties kid supposed to do?
I need my music to be something I can hold on to. Something to put on my bookshelf and admire as a reminder of who I am. I want something to open.
My record collection is small and if nothing, diverse…the only place you’ll find Voodoo Glow Skulls and Neil Young at the same table…and the only thing I held onto through every shitty apartment I ever had.
I’m more record ‘bin’ than record ‘store’. My vinyl is pretty gnarly.
Something chewed the corner cover of Nebraska and Revolver has someone else’s name written across the front. Pink Floyd’s Animals still has the $1 sticker attached and Licensed to Ill, well, nothing is wrong with that one. “Fan Club, 298 Elizabeth St., New York NY, Send for t-shirts and bullshit” it says inside… (my heart breaks a little.)
The day my dad played me the White Album as a kid, my life changed course. Like right at that moment. Yes, the album is epic. But I remember the way it cracked and hissed on the turntable. The ebb and flow of vinyl frequencies.
Of course records are not just a thing of the past. They are still gold for artists and fans alike. I just wish they could reclaim their rightful place at the front of the line… maybe then I would stop being so musically anti-social, not to mention we could all start making a little more money.”
—Jeen O’Brien
JEEN’s brand new release, Tourist lands on store shelves tomorrow, July 8.
