Old is the New...New

For my birthday, last March, my parents gave me a record player. It was a really meaningful gift because I grew up listening to vinyl with my dad. He has an entire bookcase full of records, so it was really cool to finally have my own record player.

 Since then, I have been collecting records and enjoying listening to high quality music. One of my favorite things about my record player is that it is multi-function. When I don’t want to listen to my records over and over again, I can switch it to the radio function and listen to AM and FM stations. I also have an auxiliary port, where I can plug my iPhone in and listen to my iTunes, Pandora, or Spotify.

One of the cooler things about record players is that records go back for decades. So when I go to Manifest Discs on South Boulevard or Lunchbox Records on Central Ave or any thrift store I can find old records for cheap. I have greatly expanded my music tastes because of that. I have picked up several records from the ‘70s and the ‘80s for cheap, just $3 or $4 a piece.

Newer records are more expensive, so I buy those few and far between. I am much more selective about picking up new albums than I am about older ones. New albums run for about $20. This sounds kind of expensive and that’s because it is expensive. The one benefit to new albums is that they come with a digital copy that I can add to my iTunes at no extra cost.

My record player has been a great addition to my belongings. It is a great social device, when I have friends over; they always want to listen to a record. I can listen to old and new music, as well as music from my iPod. I know as I get older, and at some point have more money than I do now, that I can continue to grow my album collection and listen to high quality authentic sounding music.


-Calvin Lescault