music discussion! - reviews, opinions, etc. [new rule!]

[orion.]

i'm also considering asking for a record player for xmas and getting into collecting but i'm worried it's gonna be pretty expensive, how has your guys' experience been w record collecting? is it a total money sink lol or (and does it sound better than digital?)

I bought a turntable for myself last Christmas, mainly because I wanted to have a "reason" to buy
all the albums from my favourite band on vinyl (since I already owned all the CDs, how was I supposed
to support them now? haha)

I've now spent a total of 500 USD on records.

It's definitely expensive, especially when you like so much different music like I do. I have like 100
albums I still want. If you start collecting, I will also recommend that you buy poly-lined (or fully
polyethylene like the ones from Mobile Fidelity, even thought these are a bit more expensive)
inner sleeves for your records. A lot of records, even expensive ones, often come in these terrible
paper inner sleeves. They do nothing good for your records, other than leave paper particles in the
grooves and some even have big holes around the middle of the record, allowing the record to
collect dust and static. Polyethylene sleeves are a lot better, they're anti static and will protect your
records. And don't forget the outer sleeves. If you want to protect the artwork on the cover, buy
any kind of plastic outer sleeve. I didn't do this at first, and I got ugly scratches on the cover of my
first records, along with ugly and bent corners.

And: if you choose to buy a record player, don't settle on a very cheap one. Read some reviews online
before buying it, preferably buy a known brand. A bad record player may hurt your records, if the
tonearm is just a little bit crooked and the stylus is of poor quality it will leave your records scratched.
Pay a few extra bucks for the record player itself to avoid having to buy multiple of the same record
just because your record player is of bad quality.

But even if it's expensive, it's definitely worth it! I love collecting records, there is just something so
special about the feeling of sliding a record out of the sleeve and carefully placing it on the turntable.
You have to handle it gently, and it makes you appreciate the experience of sitting down to listen to an
album. It's almost religious. Like the music is a living thing. The sound of a vinyl record is slightly "warmer"
than that of a CD (which is digital), it's hard to explain any other way. You'll have to hear it to understand.

I like to compare records to books, and CDs/digital music to an eBook/kindle.

A book on kindle is technically better quality, but I prefer sitting down with a physical book in my hands
where the quality is limited to what is printed on the paper rather than an ebook where I can zoom and enhance
and all that kind of stuff.

The quality of sound also has a lot to do with how you listen, and the album itself. A CD can be terrible quality
if the mastering was poorly done, the compression was loss-full etc. A vinyl record can also suffer from bad
mastering, or if your speakers are bad, that will also subtract from the experience. CD will for the most part
be the best way to listen to Digital music in my opinion. Spotify for example have very poor sound quality,
even iTunes have a somewhat loss-full compression of their digital music. I don't know about Amazon or Google
Play music, but unless you buy the music, most streaming services cut the sound quality of the music for the
purpose of a smoother streaming experience.

All that being said, I think record collecting is wonderful. Like books, it's a format that have existed for decades
without much change (If it ain't broke, don't fix it?). In many cases, a record will be the closest to what the artist
wants you to hear (if they record their music on tapes, that is. This is more common in rock than in pop, but some
pop artist also do it). After I started collecting records, it feels so weird to hold a CD - it's so small! And the album
cover is so small! My hands feel gigantic! - and I don't regret starting my collection and I hope that one day I'll be
one of those people who have multiple shelves full of records.

And one more thing: Most records nowadays come with either a digital download code or a CD, so in most cases,
buying a vinyl is a win-win - you get the album both as the beautiful analog format and as a digital album ;)

[IHaveNoFandoms]

Does anyone else listen to a song...
At first its like, OH MY GOSH THIS IS MY JAM
but later just not care for it?
It happens to me sometimes.

[MeltiTheDragon]

Does anyone else listen to a song...
At first its like, OH MY GOSH THIS IS MY JAM
but later just not care for it?
It happens to me sometimes.

I think everyone's had that happen. :3 The opposite is more common with me though ; song goes from totally meh to totally AWESOME within three listens.

[snakeman]

Does anyone else listen to a song...
At first its like, OH MY GOSH THIS IS MY JAM
but later just not care for it?
It happens to me sometimes.

I think everyone's had that happen. :3 The opposite is more common with me though ; song goes from totally meh to totally AWESOME within three listens.

Aye, I've had the latter happen more. I used to hate QOTSA and Soundgarden and now I can't get enough of them!

That being said though I have gone off songs before.
q:

[horchata]

@Superunknown & orion. thank you guys sm for your input!! i'm a little money (and space??) tight rn so i think i'll hold off till later but it definitely sounds like something that could be fun eventually haha

also spotify wrapped stats finally came out woooo

i listened to 59,816 minutes of music to 1,360 diff songs and 423 different artists (what the heck that's so many artists compared to different songs lool), i skipped 2828 songs this year (which doesn't really sound right but ohwell) and my top genre was modern rock followed by pop punk/classic rock nicee

top artists in order: the strokes, cage the elephant, arctic monkeys, vampire weekend, gorillaz - none of which surprised me except for the last bc i thought maybe the jungle giants would be before that? but i did listen to humanz a heckload so

top songs in order: throw shade by cruisr, homenzinho by troco em bala, jenny don't be hasty by paolo nutini, anxiéte by naive thieves and san francisco by the mowgli's - first one wasn't surprising but literally all of the others were (and none are in my top genres) bc i stopped listening to them a while ago haha (mightve listened w/o realising or something)

have any of you guy tried out the wrapped thing?? it's def not as good as spotify's a year in music (rip) but it's something : /

also in tragic news: i feel like my gen 2 ipod nano is gonna kick it soon :( going to be really sad when it dies bc it's literally a summary of what i listened to during my childhood years (a lotttt of old rock and system of a down) and is also the only platform on which i have my favourite childhood band (which is no longer on itunes or spotify aaggghh)

[killer romance.]

favorite artist? why?: The Killers. I think all of their music is just so brilliant and as people they're kind and respectful and live they were absolutely amazing.
all-time favorite song? why?: Somebody Told Me - By the Killers. It's the first song by them I heard. I had it on for repeat like 16 times in a row every day and even to this day I absolutely adore it.
least favorite artist? why?: I don't really have one? Honestly if I hear songs I don't like I won't even bother to learn the name of the artist.
current favorite song? why?: The Man - the Killers. Such a fantastic new song. Amazing. Full of character and really catchy.
favorite album?: Hot Fuss by (guess who) the Killers. Full of brilliant songs and I love the way he sings this album in particular.
favorite music news source?: I just follow artists on social media platforms like Twitter.
favorite music platform?: I don't really use any. I like to buy music on cds and then download them onto my iPod nano from there. If I can't, then YouTube.
who have you seen live?: The Killers is the only one really.

[Cacti.]

favorite artist? why?: I've been listening to musicals a lot lately RN Dear Evan Hansen or Hamilton are my favorites but I guess Twenty One Pilots would be my favorite band
all-time favorite song? why?: Holding On To You, Twenty One Pilots, I absolutely love every aspect of the song
least favorite artist? why?: There's no specific artist that I utterly hate so
current favorite song? why?: HOLD ME TIGHT OR DONT by FOB I relate a lot and the lyrics and instruments are amazing and when people ask my favorite song atm I can just violently say HOLD ME TIGHT! OR DONT!!!!!
favorite album?: Vessel By Twenty One Pilots
favorite music news source?: Twitter
favorite music platform?: My phone lol, Apple Music
who have you seen live?: TOP and Panic!

[saturnalia]

favorite artist? why?: vacations! i don't really know why i like them, but they're really laid back and they remind me of summer. im also really into youth lagoon and cemeteries right now
all-time favorite song? why?: that's really hard, i don't think i could pick one. if i had to choose it would either be space song by beach house, or worms by youth lagoon.
least favorite artist? why?: i don't really have one
current favorite song? why?: summer smoke and in the trees by cemeteries, they're both very relaxing
favorite album?: the space project! it's really interesting to me. the songs are based off of the electromagnetic signals that the planets emit.
favorite music news source?: dont have one
favorite music platform?: dont have one
who have you seen live?: nobody im lame lol

[sneeeeek]

---

[.inactive.]

favorite artist? why?: Twenty One Pilots, definitely. Their songs are so catchy and meaningful and have helped me through a lot with the stuff I've been dealing with for about a year now. Also Tyler and Josh are just amazing human beings and I love everything about them and the band.
all-time favorite song? why?: Oh god, I have no idea, there are way too many. My favorite TOP song is Forest, though, so I suppose I would say that. It's a sad song but it's awesome and I connected to it immediately during my first listen. I also believe it's one of the songs that made me fall in love with them.
least favorite artist? why?: Uh, I don't really have one... But probably any artist that just puts mindless lyrics and messages in their songs.
current favorite song? why?: Hmm I have a few, but I'mma say 11 Blocks by Wrabel. It's s o good, the sound is great and you can tell how much emotion he put into that song, being about his first love. When I heard the song at first I thought it was a happy love song but then I paid more attention to the lyrics and it's actually really sad, you can tell how heartbroken he was when writing it. I really enjoy it though, very good song.
favorite album?: Vessel by Twenty One Pilots. That whole album is a bop.
favorite music news source?: Don't really have one. Alternative Press, I suppose? They're pretty good and write articles about quite a few artists in the alternative/alternative-related genre.
favorite music platform?: Either Spotify or iTunes, they both have a lot of songs. Spotify is nice because it's free, even though not paying has it's disadvantages, and iTunes is cool because they have a lot of extra stuff that other music platforms don't have.
who have you seen live?: No one, unfortunately. :c Gotta wait for someone I like to come to my area.