that ol' CD smell.
My music collection, in it's present form, began on Christmas Day 1989. My first CD: Forever Your Girl.
I can remember the wonderment of being able to skip to any track on the album with the press of a button (think of how this helped when listing to Rhythm Nation:1814); I can remember being able play "Cold-Hearted" on loop for hours on end; And I can remember the smell of freshly pressed plastic when I opened Paula's masterpiece for the very firt time. It's been a love affair ever since.
Not just a love affair with Ms. Estevez, but the beginning of a lifelong tryste with music in the form of compact disc.
The day following Chistmas, I made the first anual Black Friday trip to the local record store. It was here that I made the first CD purchase of my life: "Like a Prayer". Let me tell you, the scent from the Abdul disc had nothing on Madonna!
I felt as if the music gods had collected all of the finest scents available in the world, added a touch of honey, and stirred lightly with some of the cheapest plastice in all of Indonesia before sprinkling in a bit of the material girl to create the scent with which I was rewarded upon opening "Prayer". It was well worth the $19.99 in hard earned Christmas cash.
As if the aroma wasn't enough, the accompanying booklet was an apt partner for both the package and the music contain therin. In that 133mm x 124.5mm x 5.2mm jewel case was an entire experience.
I was instantly an addict. To this day, when I open a new CD I am hoping for that high. And the search has been relentless; as my CD collection closes in on 1000, I can count on one hand the number of times that I have been brought back to my "Prayer" experience. But I will never stop trying.
For me, CDs are nostalgia. They create a physical, redolent, aural, and visual connection to a specific [emotional] place. How can you argue that that isn't a lot of bang for your buck?
So this is my plea to all music downloaders:
Please, don't rob yourself of the global experience of buying an album on CD [or vinyl]. By downloading music, you are cheapening your ideals and becoming a bed buddy of the huge conglomerates hell bent on consumerizing every last human emotion.
Please. Buy cds.
One day your kids will find them in your attic and figure out how cool you once were.
I can remember the wonderment of being able to skip to any track on the album with the press of a button (think of how this helped when listing to Rhythm Nation:1814); I can remember being able play "Cold-Hearted" on loop for hours on end; And I can remember the smell of freshly pressed plastic when I opened Paula's masterpiece for the very firt time. It's been a love affair ever since.
Not just a love affair with Ms. Estevez, but the beginning of a lifelong tryste with music in the form of compact disc.
The day following Chistmas, I made the first anual Black Friday trip to the local record store. It was here that I made the first CD purchase of my life: "Like a Prayer". Let me tell you, the scent from the Abdul disc had nothing on Madonna!
I felt as if the music gods had collected all of the finest scents available in the world, added a touch of honey, and stirred lightly with some of the cheapest plastice in all of Indonesia before sprinkling in a bit of the material girl to create the scent with which I was rewarded upon opening "Prayer". It was well worth the $19.99 in hard earned Christmas cash.
As if the aroma wasn't enough, the accompanying booklet was an apt partner for both the package and the music contain therin. In that 133mm x 124.5mm x 5.2mm jewel case was an entire experience.
I was instantly an addict. To this day, when I open a new CD I am hoping for that high. And the search has been relentless; as my CD collection closes in on 1000, I can count on one hand the number of times that I have been brought back to my "Prayer" experience. But I will never stop trying.
For me, CDs are nostalgia. They create a physical, redolent, aural, and visual connection to a specific [emotional] place. How can you argue that that isn't a lot of bang for your buck?
So this is my plea to all music downloaders:
Please, don't rob yourself of the global experience of buying an album on CD [or vinyl]. By downloading music, you are cheapening your ideals and becoming a bed buddy of the huge conglomerates hell bent on consumerizing every last human emotion.
Please. Buy cds.
One day your kids will find them in your attic and figure out how cool you once were.
posted by brian. at 11:09 AM
