Today I took to a few local charity shops in the search for some good records and CDs.  I just have to implore everyone to please invest in or hunt out your old players and give them a listen!  I’m a firm believer in all things retro but seriously there is no better way to listen to music than vinyl, and if you don’t have access, always opt for a CD over an iPod!  Don’t get me wrong I adore my iPod and am heartbroken over its current rate of functionality, mainly because the don’t manufacture that model any more which would mean I would have to upgrade (disgusting), and it is of course much more compact on the road than a personal CD player, but it’s not the same.

There’s something more unique, nostalgic and personal about having to physically lift a record or CD and actually use it, watch it spin, physically seeing it play, than pressing a button.  Maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me, but it’s so much more enjoyable to listen to music when you have to actually do something physical to hear it play.  I got my record player for Christmas this year after dreaming about one for a long time and I love it so much more than I thought I could!

My parents found it hilarious that I didn’t know how to work one (i’m 20) and had to actually teach me the ways of vinyl.  But my Uncle was a DJ in the 80’s (when they actually used vinyl) and kindly donated me a few hundred singles from his collection, including a majority of my favourite artist.  Since then i’ve been trawling shops and the internet alike to locate the best songs and albums I can.  Everything I love from the 80’s and beyond.  It’s the nicest thing to hear the songs and singers you love in the way in which they were heard in the height of their fame.  The sound crackles and snaps because it’s real, its a much more personal experience because you can sit and watch the record spinning on the turntable and you have to swap disc, turn sides and move to listen to it, you gotta work for it and it is so worth it!

So, basically, i want to encourage everyone to give vinyl a go if you can, or at least locate an old CD and CD player if you can! Hunt through those old CDs and give your old favourites a listen! You won’t look back!!