[Dynagroove] Tables for sale (Long response)

[BadIYE at aol.com]

There are very good arguments for going fully digital and everyone knows  
them.  The decline in vinyl sales is testament to that.   However, preferring 
vinyl doesn't mean, as you suggest, that we're  tyring to artificially push our 
"street cred", whatever that is in my case  (what is my street cred?  pimp? ho? 
  both?).   
 
The reasons i personally like vinyl are: 
 
 1.  analog sounds better/warmer to my ears.  Digital  sounds if very close 
now but still missing that warmth, at least to my  ears.  Other CDJ djs have 
agreed with me but went with economics; 
 
2.  There is an aestetic value to vinyl that is missing in CDs.   Vinyl is 
better looking, but more importantly, iconic.  It evokes emotions  just to look 
at it.  It's a much bigger canvas for album covers, which over  time become 
artwork (there are numerous Art shows on vinyl).  There are  photo books about 
different djs studios comparing how they design their  studios/bedrooms/living 
rooms with shelves full of vinyl.  it also evokes a  "retro" lifestyle, and 
resurrects in the mind past eras full of  promise.  CDs can't compete.
 
3.  Playing Vinyl at a club is a fascinating ritual or  even sub-cultural 
phenomena married to the dance  underground:  the sight of the DJ coming into the 
party with  a big bag of vinyl (like Santa Claus at X-mas time);  The DJ  
digging fast and furiously into the bag to come up with just the right  record.  
Maybe put it up towards the light to check the  label and proper side 
(exposing it to the clubs beaming lights  which reflect beautifully off of it), 
placing it down, the physical process  of placing the precious needle from the 
Technics (itself a thing of beauty  and art which spawned its own artistic 
tangents).  The needle catches the  groove.  The records is exposed for all of us to 
see, turning round and  round in the light..(not possible in cd 
format)....There are numerous  additional indelible images that anyone of us who's been in 
this scene long  enough can recall fondly which relate in some way to a DJ 
playing  Vinyl.
 
4.  The delicacy of the whole thing is what makes it  precious.  Who said 
things must be made easy for the DJ? How  one deals with the drunken DJ skanks is 
part of the  experience.  DJs are more likely to value the music on a piece 
of  vinyl instead of one on CD which can be re-burnt if  damaged.  Valuing 
music is the frame of mind you want for  someone we trust to mold our collective 
taste.
 
5.  the cheapness of digital tracks have caused, in my very humble  opinion, 
a large number of DJs to start sounding the same.  They  are more forgiving 
about otherwise mediocre tracks because they  are so cheap.  If you're buying 
vinyl, the expense of it forces you to  be choosy.  You concentrate on the music 
that truly touched you the  most because you can't afford to buy as many 
items.  Sets  from CDJ only DJs are often too functional, predictable and  
uninspired.  That's what happens when you try out every single one of the  ten tracks 
you just downloaded from whatever website.  A Vinyl set is  usually a lot 
more thoughful and interesting, and more likely to create  magic.  Having to be 
choosy makes each DJ develop a unique sound.   That's not what we have now, 
where I can't tell the difference between many DJs,  even famous ones.
 
With the possible exception of No. 1 & 5, all of the things I  mentioned are 
certainly secondary to what is  happening on the dance  floor.  Clearly, by 
now, there must have been hundreds of magical  moments or superb sets played 
entirely or largely on CDJs.  I don't doubt  that for a minute.  The dance floor 
and how it is doing on any given  night is paramount.  But the visuals, 
rituals  and details of our events also count.  Playing  only CDJs makes sense:  it 
is functional, it is high  performing, more secure and cheaper.  But it is 
also devoid of  good aesthetics or any character precisely because it is all 
those  things.   
 
In my mind there is a greater issue.  CDs vs. Vinyl is simply an  example of 
what's happening in our country (and globally) on a greater  level.  We 
substitute things that have intrinsic values beyond their  functions, values that 
enrich our personalities, character and daily lives,  for things that simply 
make our lives a little easier but add no value beyond  function.  Walmart takes 
out your friendly and caring neighborhood  stores.  Starbucks streamlines your 
coffee drinking  experience, eliminating the bohemian coffee stores, with 
their  interesting characters and new original art every week on the  walls; 
Gorgeous victorian/landmark buildings are destroyed to make way for  cookie cutter 
boxy apartment buildings or strip malls....etc...etc...
 
This "progress" certainly makes our lives much easier.  We get  our items for 
cheap and conveniently in one place.  We get our coffee  fix exactly the same 
way, in the same setting,  and it's never more then 10 minutes away.  We live 
in super  modern apartments pre-constructed with ready for cable  
installation....
 
But beyond the economics, are our lives enriched by cheap items in  humongous 
hanger like stores with no need for human contact?  Are  we better off 
"streamlined" in our taste for coffee (or any other  food item really)? Is it good 
or bad for the soul to  have to lay your eyes on  a non-descript, design 
challenged strip mall instead of an  architectural marvel, on the way to and from 
work? 
 
CDs represent the mainstream:  Cold, Robotic, Unmoving,  Unattractive, 
Efficient, Inexpensive and Functional.   Vinyl  represents History, Culture, 
Rebellion, Alternatives, Story  telling, Inefficiency, Difficulty, Character.    They 
both  can do the job, one more efficiently then the other.  I  personally 
choose the one that enriches my life, not the one that  turns everything 
into....beige. 
     
This just MY humble take on this.  Please NO ONE,  especially those who've 
gone completely digital, take offense to it.   It's a very personal view of life 
that I'm sharing with you under the banner of  this topic, that's all, not an 
attack on anyone.  With that, back to the  grind.
 
Imad.
housesaladla.com
The Return of Werkit
 
In a message dated 10/11/2007 9:56:05 AM Pacific Daylight Time,  
aaron at tohzt.com writes:

I guess  I have been in a different frame of mind, having it in my head
that it was  somewhat more respectable for a dj to play vinyl.  It wasnt
until this  week that I actually heard someone voice a valuable perspective
on the  issue of vinyl vs. cds.

Physically, it is  more dangerous to the  quality of the sound for a dj to
play vinyl.  Vibrations, earthquakes,  and drunk dj skanks all are a
potential threat to your dancing experience  if your dj is playing vinyl. 
If you know the physics of records, then you  understand.  If not, then you
should make a date with Wiki and get  your head out of your ass.

The thing that kept me hanging with the idea  of vinyl is the physical
skill that is required to be a master.   Skills will always be required,
but cdjs can do the same thing without the  potential damage to the sound,
experience....and more.

Dance music  is like newspaper.  It isnt every day that the headline is
worth  saving and the issue becomes a collectors item.  Sometimes we  can't
get enough of reading about Britney Spears' pussy, and  sometimes
Presidents are impeached.  It's relative, but digitalism is  the future no
matter how much you try to hate.  The hot Crookers,  Switch, Nonfiction,
and Hijack remixes are not available on vinyl yet,  folks.  Just like
anything, anything worth saving gets preserved and  will push forward
through time.

I think it's future to mix the old  and the new, but djs, PLEASE think
about your constituents before you hold  on to a vibrating piece of plastic
just because you want some cred that you  probably don't deserve in the
first place.

love,

_A (female  pleasuring device)


 



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