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Honestly vinyl records, and I say this as a collector with joy
I think it's kinda surprising when you think that most people who enjoy music in 2026 have access to a good percentage of all music ever recorded as part of their music streaming subscription.
It warms my heart that there's enough people out there who don't give a shit about the level of convenience provided by streaming that ultimately erodes the work of an artist, and they choose to buy an expensive plastic circle instead
Tracks on an album are intended to be listened to in the context of that album. To normalise pulling pieces out and ignoring the rest is kinda destructive to the artists' intent.
Vinyl records are kinda the antithesis to that mindset. You're kinda forced to engage with the album as an atomic piece of art
So for me it's not just surprising, but a thing of beauty
The album thing has bothered me for a long time. There are now tons of “internet artists” that all seem to release one or two singles every six months and that’s just how they release music.
Albums aren’t just about a limitation of the medium. It’s about putting a concept together that’s bigger than a 3-5 minute idea you had one day. It’s about capturing a time of that artist’s or group’s life and progress. It gives you the chance to bind all of those tracks together and organize them in a way that you think will help guide your audience.
With single-only releases, you may never really get to know the artist or what emotion they may be trying to convey in a greater sense. Or worse, all of their singles just sound like “them” and never evolve beyond that.
Albums are a great statement from artists but in the history of recorded music the LP phonograph or album is relatively new, introduced in 1948. Before then artists basically only released singles. In a way the album was originally a value purchase; instead of buying 7 different singles you could buy one LP for a lower price. It’s almost more like the modern “greatest hits” albums successful musicians release.
I don’t think it’s fair to outright dismiss someone who’s only releasing singles; it’s not actually a new phenomenon. Maybe they’re not saying as much as people releasing albums, but not all albums are really carrying a concept or bigger thought, either. Not everything needs to be a novel; there’s a place for short articles or random comments online.
I suppose my tone was a little off. I shouldn’t imply that it’s wrong to not pursue an album or that it’s a more correct approach to do so.
Except that it is.
And I will die on this hill.
For NOW they do. I suspect enshittification is forcing more capital investment in response.
If only the prices were not so 2026y.
New records are ridiculously priced! There are jewels hidden in thrift store bins or in some of the more "messy" looking record stores for very reasonable prices. Digging through the pictures and the names you may or may not know, to select albums based on their title and cover: there's an incredible charm to that. I visit a lot of record stores, the ones that look too neatly organised and every single record is in a sealed shrink wrap, are the ones I leave rather quickly. I want my record store to look and feel like an old attic :)
I love them making a come back. If only the more enviormental friendly material would be used more widespread :(