Buying vinyl is infinitely a better experience than downloading something from itunes or listening to Spotify. There's something tactile about it - the flick flick flick from A to Z or genre to genre, the warm crackle sound of a record playing, the album art. There's a sense of discovery as well, and wonder. It's social too, as albums get passed from hand to hand - have you heard this one? Have you got this one? I used to listen to this when... oh, it has the drummer from.... how's the cover on this one...nah mate, but it might be in next week...

Vinyl is awesome because...

1. The audio quality is far better, richer and sexier than mp3.
2. It's a nostalgic experience, like looking through a photo album.
3. They're far pretty objects d'art than CD's - album art is a THING
4. They're collectable and re-saleable
5. It brings our family together.
6. It makes us dance around the loungeroom til 5 am
7. It is just generally fucking cool.

“Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don’t have any surface noise. I said, “Listen, mate, life has surface noise.” -John Peel

I remember when CD's came out and we all got excited about them - now I won't even play them. J. has a heap of our old ones in his shed for listening to whilst he does his projects but I just wish we'd bought them on vinyl and skipped the whole CD thing. Mind you, they do take up a lot of room. But a lot of sexy room - a shelf of vinyl looks far better than a shelf of plastic covered CD's. Oh yeah, plus all that plastic. AND they weren't as indestructible as people claimed. Vinyl lasts longer - unless you have super wild parties and wake up on New Year's Day and find them all in the mud outside/covered in footprints and wine on the loungeroom rug/in all the wrong covers. But I wouldn't know that, would I? Hm.....

“Sitting in a room, alone, listening to a CD is to be lonely. Sitting in a room alone with an LP crackling away, or sitting next to the turntable listening to a song at a time via 7-inch single is enjoying the sublime state of solitude.” - Henry Rollins

Oh, by now I need to tell you that I'm shifting my #musicmonday post to #sundaysounds, because I really want to do #mindfulmonday and it clashes. I'm not sure I can do one every week (I have missed the last couple) but I love doing them because I love listening to tunes and connecting to others on Steem who also love their music. I dont suppose it matters when I do it, just that I haven't abandoned something I really enjoy. In fact, I'll probably still use the #musicmonday tag as well, coz - well, wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. And I want you to find me - please, please do drop a tune below, coz music makes my heart sing, makes the world go round, and so on.

It's our lad's 22nd birthday next week and it's been a traditional these last five years or so to take him vinyl shopping. Coicidentally, it was also Record Store Day in Melbourne, where all the record stores in Melbourne (and in Australia) have special offers, DJ's, bands, bars and a general vibe of happiness as music lovers loiter and fondle vinyl like lovers. Although we only managed three stores until we blew our budget, we had an awesome time. Best store? Around and Around on Sydney Road, Brunswick - they have a great mix of genres from hip hop to psych to indie to spiritual jazz and everything in between.

Jarrah's house mate has been getting him into funk and soul (something that was never really on my playlists growing up, but my man does like Motown as he grew up with it too). He already had a couple of Parliament and Curtis Mayfield and I promised him my Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone records, so he kept going trying to narrow it down to the ones he wanted the most. On his stack went The Tempations, Miles Davis 'Kind of Blue' (one I particularly love) and Al Green.

One of the things I really love about Around and Around is the descriptive labels they put on their records - detailed and humourous. I had to remind my man about a hundred times that it wasn't his birthday and he wasn't allowed to buy any for himself, but that didn't stop him drooling or trying - he would have liked a Hawkwind or Autechre.

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Gotta admit I was tempted by some rocksteady, dub or reggae, but that would have made me a hypocrite as I had already said J. wasn't allowed to buy anything. There was a Joe Gibbs and Alton Ellis I wanted. And a King Tubby. Sigh. Steem, will ya hurry up and moon already?

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Thought of you, @perceptualflaws, as we were perusing a particular section in the store. You'll know why, of course...Oh, and @likedeeler, there was a sizeable ska section just for you..

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Anyway, my lad ended up with the following albums, so he's a pretty happy chappy. We've decided we are going to make Record Store Day his birthday before his birthday day (he is a May Day child) because it was just a fun, vibrant day and nice to hang out together and buy tunes.

We did have a giggle about the Temptations dudes - Jarrah reckons the one on the left hadn't spoken for four hours and the one on the far right had forgotten what he name was and where exactly he left his darts. The one with the glasses didn't even know he wore glasses until they got all psychedelic last night.

He also got two t-shirts, one from one of his favourite record companies, Geelong based Anti Fade which produced one of his mates bands, Vintage Crop.

We also had a superb lunch at the Veggie Bar, a Brunswick institution that serves the best vegie/vegan food in Melbourne. I had some insanely delish jackfruit tacos, hubby had the laksa which had tempura eggplant on top which he gave to me as he saw me drooling, and Jarrah had a very green, very delish pizza, which he drizzled with srirarcha, of course, because he has it running through his veins as it is.

So what's my Music Monday tune? Well, they were playing The Modern Lovers in one of the record shops, and it's still in my head, so Road Runner it is. This song always cheers me up.

What tunes have you been listening to this week?

Did you buy any vinyl on Record Store Day?

Would you spend your hard earned steem on any of the records pictured?

“Do yourself a tremendous favour and go to a record store today. The relatively mild exertion of getting off your fat, computer-shackled ass and venturing out to find the object of your desire, the thrill of moving through actual space and time, through row upon row of records, and the tactile ecstasy of fondling the quested treasure—all this will augment and enrich the mental associations the music invokes in you for the rest of your life.” Grinderman (Australian-British alternative rock band)

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