99 Problems But Vinyl Ain’t One

The year of our Lord 2023 started out with me feeling like I’d run the course in regards to vinyl buying. I don’t know if I was burnt out, going through a rough record patch, or maybe it was just the idea that prices were going to just keep going up and up. Regardless, I thought with the exception of jazz records and the occasional splurge through stacks of crusty old used albums, my days of buying new vinyl were coming to an end.

But then a funny thing happened, I rediscovered the box set. It started with the Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot deluxe edition. I’d come to the decision that it was something I didn’t need. I had this amazing sounding German pressing from well over a decade ago and that album was perfect in every way, shape, and form. I didn’t need all the alternate versions, live tracks, and unreleased songs. I’d heard most of them anyways years ago when there was a bootleg copy floating around the interweb. I wanted YHF to remain this pristine, shining 50 minutes of wondrous songwriting and experimental production.

Well, I ended up caving and ordering the vinyl box set. Not the massive 11-LP set, but the slightly less massive 7-LP set. Where I had thought, “Nah, I don’t need those alternate versions”, I’d turned a corner and fell in love with hearing those alternate versions of the songs. The sort of “what if” scenario of what could have been. I definitely walked away from those alternate versions of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot feeling that the album that came out is THE definitive version of it. But before that album came out, those other takes on the songs I’d grown to love were what my Summerteeth-obsessed brain wanted. So listening to them it was like veering off into some other timeline where the Jay Bennett Wilco kept on. I’m glad things panned out the way they did, but I can embrace the vibes of that version as well.

Once I’d become fully obsessed with that box set I made the crazy decision to buy the 8-CD set with ALL of the extras. I also treated myself to a brand new Onkyo 6-disc CD changer. This then led me down the Miles Davis CD box set path, grabbing the Complete In A Silent Way Sessions, and a 40th anniversary box set edition of Bitches Brew, complete with a DVD of a live concert from that era. There was also the Pye Corner Audio The Black Mills Tapes vinyl box set, as well as a Yardbirds’ Roger The Engineer set as well.

Whatever ‘meh’ vibes I was feeling about buying vinyl and music in general had passed. I was back.

I’d say that I’m still not buying new records like I had in the past. I did two big purges this year, taking two different loads of vinyl to Ignition Music in Goshen, IN. First load I traded in for cash, but the last one I took store credit. I’ve already got a couple albums picked out, that is if they’re there when I get a chance to head north next time.

I had a passing interest in Bill Evans for years, buying Live At The Village Vanguard and On Green Dolphin Street at a Half Price Books over a decade ago. They were reissues and only cost like $14 a piece, but they were pristine sounding. The label said pressed on “Virgin Vinyl”, whatever that meant. Well they sounded amazing, but that was as far as I got with Evans. I never kept digging. But then last year on RSD there were two releases; Morning Glory live from 1973 and Inner Spirit live from 1979. These are stellar live albums. Maybe even two of the best sounding live albums I own, and Bill Evans and his band sound so good. Despite his drug problems, when that man was playing he was undeniable.

Ignition Music has another one his live releases and I’m hoping to snag it with my store credit. They’ve got a pretty decent jazz selection there, and I’ve found some pretty good used records there over the years. Some OG Dokken, Cinderella, Van Halen, and even Walter Carlos’ Switched-On Bach II. As any record collector will tell you, finding those little surprises in the wild is the real thrill. Was I looking for Dokken’s Back For The Attack or Van Halen’s Women and Children First? Nah, but as soon as I saw them I knew I was taking them home.

Recently I picked up the 3-LP deluxe edition of Little Feat’s Sailin’ Shoes, and the remastered version of High On Fire’s The Art Of Self Defense. Friday Mondo Tees exclusive picture disc of Tim Hecker’s Infinity Pool S/T arrived, so there’s plenty of spins for the weekend. And another thrill of the vinyl collector is snagging a copy of something that’s limited and sold out after just a few minutes. That was the case with that Infinity Pool score.

I go through phases where I’m like “What’s the endgame here? Am I just leaving a massive mess for my family to contend with when I’m outta here permanently?” Is this record collection going to be a massive burden that nobody knows what to do with after I’m gone? But then my son goes downstairs and 10 minutes later brings up my entire Protomartyr collection because he just discovered them. So we’re listening to Relatives In Descent while I’m preparing dinner, and we’re talking about how good the record is. Or for Father’s Day a couple years ago my oldest buys me a Lucy Dacus record. Not because I’m a fan, but because she is and thought I’d like it. She was right, I thought it was great.

I then realize that for better or worse my kids grew up with vinyl around all the time. They’ve come to appreciate the process, the ritual, and the experience of putting a record on the turntable and dropping the needle. It’s as much part of their upbringing as Spongebob, horror movies, and Friday night chicken tacos. I know that once I’m gone the vinyl isn’t going to be my problem anymore, but I also know I have three kids and a wife that will take good care of them. And they won’t be a burden to them. They’ll be a time machine back to their childhood.

So you know what? Vinyl records are in my blood. I’ll probably never stop collecting. Maybe slow down a bit, but I’ll always be on the hunt. And I’m good with that.