I've held out for over twenty years but I'm thinking that it might be time to lift my ban on compact discs. While I do have a few CDs, either left over from the days when I had a spouse with a CD player or purchased because Bruce Dickinson does not release his solo albums on LP, I generally avoid buying compact discs. I think they are sterile and unfriendly and the liner notes are too small, which I hate because I'm a compulsive liner note reader.
However, two things are making me think that I should add compact discs to my diet. I recently heard a rumor that MP3 sales are about to overtake CD sales. In fact, MP3 sales may have already overtaken CD sales. I wasn't paying such close attention to this new development. And then it hit me: if people are not buying CDs, CD stores will close and that is a problem because that is where I buy LPs.
Most of the stores that I frequent seem to carry LPs to humor people like me and not necessarily to make money. They make their money from the CDs. What happens if my stores do not make money from CDs? They close and I have no place to buy LPs or any future Bruce Dickinson solo CDs. I still prefer a CD over an MP3 any day, even if I did have the chance to download an entire album. Even if I could also download the art, I'd still have to burn a CD and create my own crappy label.
Crappy labels are one of the reasons I hate burned CDs. I see two basic choices for labeling burned CDs and I don't much care for either of them. Choice one is to scrawl the album title across the disc, which I don't wish to do because my handwriting isn't that decorative. Choice two is to labor over a computer making a label that "fits the mood" of the CD. Or just make a track listing, but either way I think it looks shoddy. Just because I can design a label doesn't mean I want to. I would rather just purchase a proper manufactured compact disc. That decreases the odds of typos in the track listing.
The other reason I'm thinking of buying some compact discs is that there are some current releases that I would like to hear and I am having no luck finding them on LP. My new favorite band is We Are Scientists and I would really like to hear their entire record. I've only heard one song so right now they are my new favorite band because of the album cover. Have you seen the album cover? They are holding kittens! They are holding kittens at arm's length so instead of seeing the faces of the band members you see kittens! Any band that uses that as cover art is a-ok in my book.
I saw a used copy the other day and the booklet is full of photos that they didn't use since the kitties were being naughty! Hooray! What a great band. I didn't buy it but I probably should have. I know I like at least one of their tunes because I saw them several weeks ago on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. When I got wind they were on I taped it all special so I could check it out and I thought they sounded promising. They had a current kind of sound without being too Fall Out Boy-ish. I really don't understand the popularity of Fall Out Boy. I saw them on Saturday Night Live and was not impressed, but they must be doing something right because they recently sold out the local hockey arena.
Anyway, We Are Scientists played one tune on Conan's show and when Conan wandered over to shake hands he mentioned the odd time signature and you could just feel the geekish delight wafting off the band. Not only did Conan like them, he noticed their time signature! And I think he actually called it tricky and not odd, which made me appreciate Conan's ear. I wasn't paying attention that closely myself. I was merely trying to decide whether or not they sucked.
They didn't suck and I would like to hear their album and I haven't seen it on LP yet. And another thing, while I do like used LPs for value, new LPs are not always my best value. I scored the Cheap Trick album from 2003 for only $9.99 but that was a lucky find. New LPs are about the same price as new CDs, sometimes higher if the LP is an import, while I could get a used We Are Scientists CD for under nine bucks.
Also, I know a couple of people who occasionally toss promos of new releases my way and say, "Lemme know what you think." I toss them back because I don't have a CD player. Yeah, the computer still plays CDs but I still don't look at my computer as an entertainment dispenser. This is especially true now that I spend eight hours a week (minimum) doing graphic design work. When I am done cutting and pasting and filling and then finish working on the site I want the damn thing off. No more computing! It's time to play some Logic Puzzle books instead!
Because of this, I'm thinking of getting a DVD player. I used to watch DVDs on the computer but now I'd rather have a separate player that actually faces a comfortable chair and gives me elbow room to play puzzles. Plus, you know. Bruce Dickinson DVD Anthology on June 20. Also, there are some episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on DVD that I do now have on VHS and MST3K is best viewed from a comfy chair. And don't DVD players also play CDs? (Seriously. I don't know.) If they do that would give me access to something that plays CDs and I could still go through life claiming that I don't own a CD player. It's technically correct, and according to Futurama that is the best kind of correct.
Anyway, there is some new music I'd like to hear and right now I can't because of my CD ban. It's not just We Are Scientists either. I saw the Scissor Sisters a year and a half ago (approximately) and I've been looking for that record ever since. I still haven't found it but I'm sure that by now I can get it used on CD in pretty much any store I visit. And most of all, I'm trying to avoid seeing AFI. LCG wants to send me to see AFI because he thinks I should check up on what the kids are listening to. I said, excuse me, the kids who read my site listen to Queen. According to LCG that isn't what most of the kids are listening to so I should go to AFI. If my choices are compact discs or an AFI concert, I think I'd rather go with compact discs.