“With vinyl, one is forced to slow down and take in an album as a whole piece of work as the artist intended,” he said.
That's from a 22-year-old member of the digital generation on the joys of LPs and 45s, which are enjoying a resurgence. He likes new music on vinyl like White Stripes and Radiohead but the "old" stuff, too, like George Clinton and the Beatles. Makes me feel a little decrepit.
There's something to the idea that the whole analog experience makes us slow down. Looking at a clock face makes us consider the whole sweep of a day instead of just the current time. And watching TV, commercial interruptions and all, gives us more a sense of things in context than just calling up what we want when we want it from the cloud. Reading a real book is sometimes more satisfying that reading the digital version -- we have a clear grasp of how far into the book we are and how far we have to go.
Since we're on the cultural beat, it's being reported that Charlie Sheen slowed down and took stock. After bombing in Detroit, he was a hit in Chicago:
Sheen sang a different Motown tune after Sunday's show. "It was a gift," he told USA Today of his failed opening set in Detroit on Saturday. He added that during the bus ride to Chicago following the show he pared down the production into a simple question-and-answer interview format. "That's how this whole thing got started," Sheen said.
Gone were the videos and rappers included in the Detroit show. The changes played well with fans and critics.
Of course, the main way he won over the Chicago crowd was to trash the Detroit audience:
Blaming the Detroit "trolls" -- err, audience -- for Saturday's flop at the Fox helped get the Chicago audience on his side quickly. Early and often, the attendees chanted, "Detroit sucks."
Classy guy. Hard to believe Fort Wayne isn't going to be blessed with one of his shows.
