Black Licorice: The Musings of Alex Ross

It’s been well documented for several years now that the vinyl record is coming back into style as a viable format for music. After all, in a world of downloads where albums are sliced and diced and sold song by song, all music costs the same and is therefore created equal, and everything exists in cyberspace, it’s only natural that music lovers would take refuge in the idea that they still have an actual artifact whereby they can foster a greater sense of connection to the sounds that bubble forth from their speakers. The art on the dust jacket is huge, a masterpiece unto itself, and when that beautiful and glossy black licorice disc is placed gingerly on the turntable and the tone arm is slowly lowered, making contact with a snap crackle and pop, there is a sense of ritual. There’s also no real skipping of tracks, so albums must be listened to all the way through, as cohesive works of art. Yes, it is high time that vinyl had a renaissance.