A few days ago, I used to the song of the day feature to highlight the Crystal Method’s Trip Like I Do. And in that post, I mentioned that Trip Like I Do makes me drive too fast. Well, there’s another song off of the Crystal Method’s Vegas CD that I always make it a point to listen to while driving and that is High Roller. If Trip Like I Do makes me slam down on the accelerator, High Roller makes me slow down and watch the world collapse around me.
(Clicking on the video below will redirect you to YouTube and the acual song. I apologize for that — usually, I hate elitist, communistic bullshit like that but I really like this song.)
Through the Shattered Lens 
When I first glanced at the post heading, I immediately thought of this little tune instead. (What can I say? I’m old school.) I don’t think you should listen to this one while driving, either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAKvT2-bq3M
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OMG, is that what a vinyl looks like? 🙂
Nice song, btw.
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You’ve never seen vinyl? I’m afraid to ask if you’ve even seen 8 track or cassette tapes. 🙂
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lol, no, I’ve seen old vinyl records in various antique stores and places like that. I have to admit, I’ve never actually listened to one outside of Youtube videos like the one that KO posted. To be honest, I’ve always been a little bit scared to be anywhere near them because they just look so fragile.
I know about casette tapes as well but again, everytime I look at them, I just imagine one of those cases splitting in half and tape just going everywhere.
However, I do have to admit that, though I’ve heard the term and I know it was some old way of listening to music, I’m not really sure what an 8-track is (though I assume it only had room for 8 songs) and I’m really not sure that I’d be able to identify it if I ever did happen to see one.
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I always like to think of 8-track tapes as the grindhouse of music recording. 🙂
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Vinyl was/is a comparatively fragile medium, and the sound quality was susceptible to repeated friction with needle/groove concept. But a record in good condition played on a high-quality turntable sounded great, in a way that digital-format recording never could. Analogue recordings have a warmth and ambience that I prefer to the sterile crispness of digital. But, alas, only dinosaurs such as me can appreciate such things.
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I think that’s the thing about vinyl. If you owned vinyl waaay back one probably didn’t take good care of them or even had high-end turntables to play them on. I think vinyls nowadays really get that unique analog sound because people who buy them now use tables so high in quality with all the necessary accessories that they do sound good.
Now 8-tracks…those are a different animal altogether. 🙂
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Interesting observation. I bought a used Bang & Olufsen turntable after years of playing records on cheap -to-mediocre ones. It was an entirely different sonic experience. I would soon learn that the all-important component is the cartridge.
As for 8-tracks, well, like you said. A friend still has a functional player, and a few tapes. I guess they were stable, and at the time, were the only format that didn’t require a turnover to the second side (until auto-reverse cassette decks).
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8-Tracks definitely had great sound and those things where sturdy.
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So, were 8-track like early CDs?
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Not hardly. They were intended to less expensive and convenient. While you could play an entire tape without flipping it over for “Side 2”, the playback had a strange function wherein it would be interrupted four times. The music would fade out, the player head would shift to a different track (you could hear the player click and pop), and then the previous few seconds of music that had faded out would reply as a fade in back to full volume. They were also incapable of rewinding the tape.
They were good for cars, because of the no-flip playback, and because sound quality wasn’t generally an issue. (In the 70’s, hi-fi car stereos weren’t as common as they are now.) But they wouldn’t be the format of choice for listening with headphones in your easy chair, or impressing your guests with your great home stereo. One would have played a (high-end) turntable or reel-to-reel tape player.
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