We're finally going to settle into a house in a few weeks, having been on the move for a few years, now. That means a lot has been un-boxed. And for me a significant portion of the personal effects are CD's. And I'm really looking forward to getting back with them.
I also have maybe 30 vinyl albums that I started picking up at used-stuff places here and there in response to my wife getting me one of those mini portable record players with built-in speakers. No, it's not audiophile grade. But neither are the albums. But neither do I fucking care.
Right now that fucker's set up in the garage, which has been perfect because that's where I've been spending most of my un-boxing/un-bin-ing and cardboard-breaking-down-for-recycle time.
So fucking glorious! I've some Moody Blues, some Beatles, a couple Zep's. Yesterday I had Linda Ronstadt's "Greatest Hits" going (the album cover alone is sufficient joy and/or satisfaction, if ya know what I mean..).
In a way, the CDs will be disappointing by comparison. I've so many that I eventually had to trash the casings in favor of relegating the actual discs to spindles, which of course blows convenience out the window unless I painstakingly order them alphabetically.
But what I want to do instead is find sheets of pouches right-sized for CDs, and cover walls with those so that all the CDs are "in sight, in mind", so to speak. That would be so fucking cool.
I suppose dust will wreck that plan unless I'm taking a leaf blower to them on a regular basis. Always something in this motherfucking world....
But what I'm describing sounds like a huge dose of musical freedom compared to being perpetually at the mercy of the for-profit crowd running streaming situations.
I dunno. I guess I'm somewhat addicted to having Alexa play things, and it seems pretty good at it, and I think my wife is a "Prime" member, so there doesn't seem to be extra cost or advertising overhead. But I still feel somewhat a dupe/slave in that arrangement.
Another really cool thing about albums/CDs is there were a lot of bands back when I was a kid whose albums I couldn't afford, and so all I heard was their "hits" on terrestrial radio, meaning I've still not heard 90%+ of what they created. So if/when I can find an album for three bucks or whatever, I'm suddenly unlocking and accessing a world that was there all along, but that a fucking paper route couldn't afford.
It's a rather exciting prospect!