Every Friday, I get a much-anticipated email from AllMusic. AllMusic is an online music database that notes all new music releases from the previous week and emails those new entries. Music is by genre, so I can dive into whatever mood suits me at the time. Since it is set to show every new release, I do not miss anything. AllMusic was recommended to me by a music-loving friend who tired of me complaining about the lack of any good new music. My thirty-something kids were supposed to be doing that but are busy rediscovering my music. This friend is also a techie whose music delivery, drug of choice, is streaming. Hearing his impressive stereo system made a strong argument for it too. With his balanced system and Bang & Olufsen speakers, it sounds pretty damn good! What I could debate though, or make a case for at least, was the soul of that music. I stream too, but my preference is vinyl. Sliding the record out of the sleeve and placing it on the turntable is….hypnotic. Then you sit back and study the album, the sleeve, and the liner notes. Streaming for me is non-committal listening. I can sample for as little or long as I choose without distraction. While listening in my office, it often is just background noise that I am not invested in. Vinyl is different. It takes time and effort to choose something. It is rarely random; it was a conscious decision for a reason. He agreed but still preferred his way. The change started innocently enough. He had a few old albums in storage, so he ordered a turntable. His journey began just before the pandemic, and by the time of the first booster, he had amassed a collection of upwards of 300 albums, not bad for a guy who said he would stop at 50. Soon, it was 100. He finally stopped admitting a total. It doesn’t matter since we are also friends on Discogs and I know his album total! 

When I open the AllMusic email, I start at the top and scan to see what new music looks interesting. It might be Alt/Pop, Indie, Jazz, Rock, or whatever suits my mood. Then I open Apple Music and enter a choice into search. Doing this gives me the best of both worlds. I find new stuff and then plug it into my Mac and listen. For $10 a month, I get new music in a format as close to Hi-Res as my system will provide. Occasionally I find a keeper and get a copy on vinyl.

Every email offers other features. It might be reviewing a particular release, discussing a recent discovery, or, in this case, revisiting an artist and their body of work. This time it was the Kinks. I have always considered myself blessed for many reasons, one of which was growing up during The British Invasion. To have experienced this music in real-time can be difficult for me to explain properly. Music up to that point was my moms music. It was Mitch Miller and Lawrence Welk. It was boring. The article on the Kinks took me back. It was 1965 and I was 10-years old again. Walking to school, I had a transistor radio glued to my hand and a single earphone permanently inserted in my ear. I remember cranking up “You really got me” to a level that would have deafened an adult. I loved the Kinks and thought their music perfect! I also loved The Beatles and The Who of course, and to a lesser degree the Dave Clark Five, The Animals, The Yardbirds, Spencer Davis etc. The British Invasion offered me needed relief from ”Sing along with Mitch”. ( Not sure why, but I was never a huge Stones fan…) Thanks AllMusic, and thank you Ray Davies.