vinyl

rule number three

dear friends,

one of my favorite things to do is listen to an album from beginning to end. (besides pizza-ing, this is another form of sabbath as resistance for me.)

i happily do this with fast media (eg spotify), but am particularly drawn to slower mediums (eg vinyl). after decades of waiting until i would be settled enough with housing, i gave up last year and treated myself to a portable record player with mini hi-fi stereo speakers 🤓 it is retro bright yellow and suits small spaces perfectly. i love it so much.

it’s adorably (and aptly) named Sound Burger nom nom 🍔

and in classic reb fashion, i gave myself three rules (or more like a philosophy, i suppose) for this hobby that has stuck to this day:

one. i may spend full price for any no-skip album. (the heart behind the rule: i want my library of lps to be mostly made of albums where i love every track 🫶)

two. i may purchase any other album for $15 or less. (the heart behind the rule: it’s less about the dollar amount, and more of do not treat this hobby as too precious. no rare editions. vinyl is for playing, not collecting.)

three. always purchase if you happen to be browsing with a friend in a record shop and stumble upon one of their personal favorite albums. (the heart behind the rule: life is too short not to experience what makes your friends sparkle.)

💽

months ago, i was in penang with Becky & Kit, in which ^Rule Number Three played out in real life. i held up Amy Grant’s Unguarded in a record shop too cool for three nerds, about to say that i’ve never listened to her, when Kit lights up, declaring THAT is one of my favorite albums 🤩. i bought it immediately.

fast-forward to this past weekend, where i had to choose to sabbath, to fight the compulsive hamster-wheel urgency to do more. i lined up two vinyls i hadn’t listened to yet, awaiting such a day as this: the aforementioned amy grant from 1985 and Bennett & Basie Strike Up the Band from 1959.

i think one of my favorite parts was knowing this was exactly how Kit experienced it when he first bought the album, reading the artist notes along with each track, soaking in the very 80s vibes and profound lyrics. i love that his parting wish was i’m so excited that you get to listen to it for the first time, an experience i won’t have again. (that’s literally how i feel about friends who read my favorite books or finally play hollow knight hehe)

i listened to the whole album twice in a row. it’s a no-skip album for me, buuuut if i had to pick top songs: two got me dancing 🪩 and two got me misting 🥹

• love of another kind (what a jam. somehow modulations just WORK for 80s songs)

• wise up (like if the book of james was a pop-rock / funk song)

• sharaya :’)

• prodigal </3

very 80s. very gud. 10/10.

sparkle well, friends ✨

love,
reb

proof that i sometimes use color 🌈

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