Confessions of a record store addict

Despite appearances, I am not a vinyl snob. To my ear, CDs sound just as good if they are tastefully mastered. Blu-ray audio is even better!

I’ve been checking in at my local music retailer every day since Thursday to see if they had Paul McCartney’s new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane in. On Friday, they told me they had two copies on the way. On Saturday it was there. 

But they only had it on vinyl. 

Something you need to know for context is that I live in a regional town which until JB Hifi opened in town six months ago, hadn’t had a record store for 15 years. When New came out, I drove an hour each way to buy it on release day. (Actually, two days earlier because the store didn’t respect release day embargoes and would put stock in the racks as soon as it arrived.)

As an aside, it’s interesting to note the difference between the CD and the vinyl racks. The vinyl racks say, “You’re a serious music fan who knows their stuff.” The CD racks say, “You’re a basic bitch for whom progress stopped with the 20th century, iPhone or not.”

If they’d had it on CD, I would have happily bought it but now I was faced with a dilemma. Do I wait for the CD to come in, or do I spend 3 times as much on the LP just for the joy of buying it out of the rack in my home town as close as possible to release day?

Well, you know the answer. And yes, I’ve checked my privilege and I’m grateful for it. 

But this led me to wonder if I’m going to buy it on CD too for the convenience, and I probably am. 

Then I remembered that if recent history is anything to go by, there will be a special expanded edition released in six months or so and I can have the best of both worlds.

Some people complain about being expected to buy the album twice for the extra material but having thought about it, I really don’t have a problem with it. 

You see, 20 odd years ago, there were physical singles. 

Any album would have three or four singles released off it. Each of these singles would have at least two, possibly three or four, additional tracks not on the album. 

And we hardcore fans would buy them all because we wanted everything. All together, these singles would cost as much as another copy of the album. 

So what’s the difference? Only less getting up to change the record or CD. 

The one where I agree with Mike Johnson

The speaker of the US House of Representatives has copped some flak recently for suggesting the current salary for members of Congress is not enough for them to support their families, and they should perhaps be allowed to supplement their income by trading stocks.

Stay with me here, but I think he makes a fair point.

If Speaker Johnson is saying that people who work long hours in high pressure jobs deserve to be remunerated in a way that covers their expenses, then I agree wholeheartedly. 

In fact, I’ve been saying that for 25 years. Seventeen years is far too long to go without a cost-of-living pay rise, even for federal representatives.

What I don’t understand is why Speaker Johnson, as a conservative MAGA Republican, does not apply established conservative principles to the problem he has identified.

American conservative economic theory assumes that every individual is wholly and solely responsible for their own circumstances. It is not the government’s place to help them out, be it through education, health care, mandatory minimum wages, or bending the laws in insider trading.

We all know the Republican answer for people who struggle to make ends meet. Say them along with me:

• Get a second job. Or a third one*. Sleep is for the weak and, as we have already established, everyone deserves their lot in life. So if you’re weak, stop being weak. There you go. Fixed!

• Educate yourself so as to get a better paying job. If you don’t have time for that with the three jobs you’re now working, you just have to organise your life better.

• Bring a flask of coffee to work instead of stopping in at Starbucks every morning. You’ll have that house deposit saved in no time**.

• Stop buying the fancy soda.

• Give up the avocado toast brunches.

• Cancel your streaming services and watch free-to-air TV or YouTube instead.

• Take the bus.

There you go, Mike! All fixed. You’re welcome.

…unless you want to tell me that those are all meaningless platitudes which have no basis in the real world.

* As if Congresspeople don’t already have second and third jobs.

** A bit over 19 years at $30 a week for a 10% deposit on a $300,000 home at today’s prices.