AT A GLANCE
It’s the warm fuzzy feeling one gets when listening to vinyl records.
Vinyl record aficionados are a passionate lot. How else can one explain those lunatics who are so deep into this dated, cumbersome music format? These circular plastics take up so much space when gathered in one place, and for what? So, one can manually browse piles of records to find one song that currently tickles one’s fancy? Have you not heard of Alexa? Just ask, ‘Hey Alexa, play..’ And don’t get me started with the actual hardware needed to play these vinyl records. A Marantz audio receiver goes from the lowest 10k (used and, if you're lucky) to highs of 70k upwards for brand new. And that’s just one of several pieces of equipment needed to play those damned vinyls. You do know there’s a smartphone device and an app called Spotify, right?
And yet, it is for these exact reasons that a significant lot remains enamored with vinyl. Ask any music curator if he’d cede to Alexa the joy of searching for a particular album or single amidst boxes of records, and the former would tell that bitch AI to get lost. Ditto for those audiophiles who waited years to complete the perfect stereo setup and would laugh at your face (or at least in their minds, they will) if you told them all you need is your smartphone to get your music fixed. Nope, that won’t fly with this lot.
Those who love records are a special breed. I saw one enthusiast explain, “Why vinyl?” And went on to say it’s “the intentionality of choosing a record. And listening to the album in the order the artist intended. And the tangibility of holding the vinyl and admiring the cover, the insert, and the pressing. It’s all about the experience."
And I concur. Aside from being an aural experience, listening to vinyl is also tactile, involving other senses such as sight, smell, and taste. There’s something about pulling a record from its sleeve, placing it on the platter of a turntable, and twiddling with stereo controls that’s almost ceremonial-like. Light a candle (or a joint where it's legal) or have a cold beer as you gloss over the album cover, and you get the other senses part checked out. Could one do that with streaming? Not the same.
It’s the warm fuzzy feeling one gets when listening to vinyl records. If you have your stereo set-up just right, and I had mine using my 1989 Sony turntable, pre-loved Pioneer A-125 receiver, and Bose 101 monitors-a configuration 30 years in the making—matched with the correct record. I swear, the sound feels like Bob Dylan’s beside you, singing just for you.
Here’s a new record worth checking out: For the first time, “The Music Of Cecile Azarcon” collects the hits of the storied songwriter-pianist. Fans of OPM know that Azarcon penned some of the most memorable hits of the 80’s and 90’s. Martin Nievera’s “Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin,” Raymond Lauchengco’s “So It’s You,” “Even If” by Jam Morales, “Reaching Out” by Gary V., and “How Did You Know” by Chiqui Pineda are just some of the gems that Azarcon wrote and composed for these marquee acts. Also included here is the first ever song Cecile Azarcon wrote, which was “Lift Up Your Hands” for the great Sir Basil Valdez.
Also, Wolfgang and their self-titled debut were recently released on vinyl by Ivory Records. Stereo heads would appreciate “Halik Ni Hudas,” “Arise,” “As Oceans,” and “Darkness Fell” on vinyl because they sound better now than they did on cassette way back in ’95.
