TVD's Four Way | Bellflur

Our Four Way conversation continues...

My roommates and I recently moved into a new house and we decided to get a record player, as we all had small stacks of vinyl lying around. It did not take long at all for us to become much more enraptured with records. Tom, in particular has gone into overdrive on his quest to build a fantastic collection. In addition to that, he purchased two turntables and a mixer for both.

While I used to be the type who became happier each time technology fixed aspects of life, from not having to fast forward tapes anymore (thank you CD’s), not having to fast forward VHS tapes (thank you DVD’s) and so on up to Mp3’s and my Ipod, I have now gone just the opposite way. I enjoy sitting down and listening to albums, one side at a time, without the ADHD necessity of having to have my entire music catalogue randomized for my listening pleasure.

Records make this possible. I choose what I want to hear, and with the knowledge that I will have to get up in about 25 minutes or so and flip sides or change albums, it makes the listening much more important. I guess that is the biggest difference between the medium of record players and everything else. Small windows of finite music listening are created, and each becomes more intimate, important, and in doing so creates more atmosphere for the music being played. Each side you decide to listen to becomes a small commitment you are entering into with yourself and the artist. This has the tendency to bring the world to a slower pace and wilts time’s overbearing pressure.

I wish more artists would commit to a return to the vinyl format. Both for my enjoyment and for a return to putting together well constructed series of songs. Where the tracks themselves would undulate and melodies would move from one to the next gracefully as they naturally would, rather than pack as many changes into one song as possible so that the pushed single can have as many fans as possible.

There is nothing like putting an album on a turntable and lowering the needle and hearing the slight scratches begin as the first track is approaching. Those few seconds of limbo. They make you excited every time you head back to put on another album.
—Carlos Gonzalez-Fernandez

Bellflur - Insect Politics (Mp3)
Authorized for download!