So, I got my preamp tonight for my turntable, and OH. MY. GOD. I started off by listening to "Looking Out," the forst track off of Brandi Carlile's Giving Up The Ghost. Immediately I noticed that, not only is the sound on vinyl a brighter, deeper sound, the vocals are also pushed higher in the mix. It sounded like she was singing in my living room. I just don't get that with CD, and I definitely don't get that with digital. Immediately following that, I put on Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons. I've listened to that record three different ways (ipod/itunes, CD, work speakers) before tonight's experience with the LP, and I'm not kidding when I say that, hearing that record on vinyl has been the single most amazing listening experience I've had all year. There is so, so much going on in the background on that album. So many layers, so many harmonies, that don't get heard on other formats. The instrument lines are crisp, the vocals are clean, the finger slides are audible on the acoustic guitars. I'm not normally one for pompous music statements, but I'll make one here: if you haven't heard Sigh No More on vinyl, then you haven't actually heard that record. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to listen to it on any other format from here on out. It was just too spectacular. Find it on LP, love it on LP, treasure it forever. Your ears will thank you.
So, the new Springsteen disc is amazing. There's enough of a mixture of his upbeat rockers, his ballads, and his message songs to make this his best record since The Rising . And speaking of that record... Buying The Boss the day it comes out always takes me back to a specific moment in life. It was July 30th, 2002, the year after 9/11, the year after someone on the streets of New York told Springsteen "we need you now." I had driven to Oshkosh, WI to visit some friends, when I remembered that Springsteen's disc was scheduled to come out that day. I drove downtown to The Exclusive Company, but had to park a few blocks back. At the time, there wasn't much going on downtown, but when I got out of the car, I could hear this music coming from up the block somewhere. The closer I got to Exclusive, the more it began to dawn on me, they had set up a giant set of speakers in their upstairs windows, and were blasting the new album out into the streets....
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