Retrolife talks to some vinyl lovers, in fact, vinyl is not as difficult as you think, the world of music welcomes all interested people ~

• Himeros/Student

Himeros is a new student in college, she looks very young, only 18 years old, and she is a super entry level vinyl lover. She is a newcomer to the vinyl scene, and she is very fond of "colored vinyl", yes you read it right, who said vinyl is all black, many artists will release special colored vinyl, even transparent. The color of this value, don't you want to get one? ~

R: When did you first fall in love with vinyl records?

H: I'm just a beginner, I guess. I liked vinyl because I saw someone in my circle of friends showing his precious vinyl from time to time, so I got the idea to collect vinyl of my favorite artists. When I got the vinyl in my hands, I was immediately attracted by its value and texture, so I got into it properly.

R: What was the first vinyl record you owned? How did you acquire it?

H: The first ...... I remember was Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" I think, a jazz album. Although it was bought along with many other vinyl, I seem to remember that this album was the first one I added to my shopping cart.

R: What type of vinyl do you prefer to collect?

H: Colored vinyl, of course! But colored vinyl is usually more expensive and hard to find, most of them are only released in recent years.

Never thought vinyl could look so good!

R: What is the one vinyl record you want to get the most?

H: I think the one I want to get the most is the limited edition pink vinyl of Lady Gaga's new album "Joanne". I have no resistance to pink stuff, especially pink vinyl, especially Gaga's! Then there is always want to buy a vinyl machine, because currently living in the dormitory is not very convenient, but the future will definitely have!

R: What do you think is the biggest appeal of vinyl?

H: I think it's still a sense of ritual. This era is so fast that everything lacks a sense of ritual. Nowadays, most people listen to songs on their cell phones and just go directly to the listening software to search for their favorite songs. In the process of listening to vinyl records, you carefully pick out the one you want to listen to today from a row of collections, then slowly take it out of the bag, carefully wipe it, and then put it on the record player, gently hitch the needle up, when the music starts that moment, it really feels very satisfied. The process of listening to vinyl feels very ritualistic and feels like a respect for life.

 

• Edwen/ Sales

Edwen is getting into the game. But to really get into it, we have to start from his other hobby - movies. In addition to his favorite singers, as a movie buff, he actually loves to collect vinyl records of movie soundtracks, from "Lowlife" to "Beloved Van Gogh".

R: When did you first come into contact with vinyl?

E: I listened to music on cassette tapes, CDs and MP3s, but my ancestors were not broad or my family was not engaged in literature and art, so I never saw "vinyl" in person. I was really interested in getting one when I was studying in the UK and shopping at the video store, after all, there was no turntable to buy at that time. Then my girlfriend gave me a birthday present - Retrolife's most classic entry model R612, so it started my vinyl road.

 

R: What was the first vinyl record you ever owned?

E: The first one was the soundtrack of "Pulp fiction", I've watched the movie about 20 times, and the soundtrack of the movie is wonderful, it starts with a small dialogue of a rookie "male and female bandits" and the song "Misirlou", and it was the big hit of the year. Video Rain Crow's "Pump♂it", the original song of the Black Eyed Peas "pump it" la, the impermeable guitar and the stormy rhythm and drums also mixed with some Latin style on the whistling.

R: What do you think is the biggest appeal of vinyl?

E: Some people say that vinyl has better sound quality and a better live feel, but I think it's actually okay (maybe my turntable is not that advanced). The charm of vinyl is more a sense of ritual, or the ability to watch the turntable turn from head to tail in a specific situation and mood, and be able to devote myself to the music, which is probably more qualitative than opening my phone playlist and clicking random play.

 

• City / Designer

City, who is a graphic designer, is a girl who loves beautiful things and is passionate about literature, and her relationship with vinyl is said to be "God's will". For her, she likes vinyl not only because of the design of the cover, the presence of the volume, but also the sense of ritual when playing.

R: What's the one vinyl record you'd most like to earn?

C: Many of my favorite records are not out on vinyl, I would rather buy Mariah Carey's 1'SOnes, Mint.

R: When did you start to get in touch with vinyl?

C: At the age of 17, I started to collect a lot of CDs, and at the same time, there were a lot of vinyl sold in those markets, but most of them were in wholesale form, so the price was very cheap. Then I came across Turntablism, which was a natural process, mainly because I liked the music.

R: For people who want to get started with vinyl, can you explain how to choose vinyl?

C: First of all you have to listen to music and understand some knowledge about it (musicians, albums, labels), if you just look for song lists every day or wait for algorithm recommendations, it is recommended not to buy vinyl. If you want to get started, you can start with the musicians and albums you are familiar with and like, and feel the difference between picking a record and finding digital music to listen to, and I believe people who are interested will slowly figure out how to find more interesting music.

Some of you will say that vinyl is a difficult and niche thing to get into, and it's true, if you want to be a veteran player, it does have a lot of doorways that you need to study. But for many vinyl lovers nowadays, having an entry-level turntable and a vinyl of your favorite singer is enough to enter and perceive this wonderful world of music. The greatest charm of music does not lie in how expensive or rare it is, but in listening and sharing. You don't have to buy the most expensive and niche vinyl, it's important that you like it.