The following article was written by The Smoking Jackets:

The fantasy of having a vinyl record collection always seemed out of reach to me because my Dad didn’t have a cardboard box of his old ones in the garage. For some reason, I have this mental image that all record collections in history were started by inheriting a bunch of 33s from your father. There was no conceivable way to accumulate vinyl unless you first had a huge stack that was, until gifted to you, sitting in the garage in a few cardboard boxes labeled “Christmas Decorations”. And because the Christmas boxes in my garage held tangles of lights and tinsel, I was forever blocked from ever having a vinyl collection of my own.

But, turns out the universe proved me wrong and just months ago I landed some free LPs from a friend’s uncle who had only known me for about twenty minutes before he handed over two boxes of records.

I owned these for about a full year before I actually acquired a turntable. I had even begun buying a few of my recent favorite albums on vinyl just to have it ready when I finally did get one. Everything I had, old and new, waited patiently until just a month ago when I bought a Pioneer turntable and two speakers from a friend who was moving to San Francisco and needed to pack light.

Now, with all the tools I needed, I set into sifting through the boxes of vinyl to see what I had actually acquired. Beatles. Lots and lots of Beatles. Live albums and some of the original EMI releases. Lots of other classics: Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Bozz Scaggs, Elvis Costello. And a few I hadn’t heard of but am now obsessing over: Dave Mason, Aztec Two Step, and a four disc comedy record from the Marx Brothers. There was also a lot of weird ones. TV Show Theme Songs from the 50s and 60s? Yup. Cats: The Original Cast Recording? Two copies. Double yes. Who even wanted the first one anyway? I guess it could be a good place for stoners to keep their weed.

But all kitting (zing) aside, I’m starting to fall in love with the sound of vinyl. I can’t deny that having big wood-frame speakers that I can use to blast “Mystery Dance” enhances the experience, but there is another something there. I think some of it comes from actually seeing the record spinning and seeing the turntable working. The songs are carved right into the wax instead of just being a string of code and with music that predates the digital age, you get to hear it exactly the same way as when it was released. So vinyl geeks can rejoice that they have converted another over to the tribe.

Pictures of the new best friends and the cover of the Dave Mason album. One word comes to mind: noble.