A new club in Akron wants music lovers to gather around a turntable and listen to their favorite albums from start to finish. For this week’s Shuffle, The Devil Strip Magazine’s music editor Brittany Nader says the group wants to make listening to music a social activity again:
"It's like a book club for vinyl," Nader says.
A group is starting to meet twice a month at Akron's Firestone Park library branch. They want people to bring some albums along with copies of the cover art, liner notes and lyrics. And they'll listen to the album as a group from start to finish.
Nader says in the digital music era, people have stopped listening to complete albums and talking about them. "Anybody can listen to a clip of a song or watch a YouTube video and post a comment about it online and then they’re done," Nader says.
Bridging generations
The vinyl club says so far, it's been mostly an older crowd attending the events. But, it's opportunity for generations to connect.
“They’re the people who grew up listening to these records who never stopped listening or there’s the people who maybe stopped but then picked it up again for nostalgic purposes. But then there’s millennials who think vinyl is cool and hip and a lot of artists are releasing their music on vinyl."
What album should you bring to a vinyl listening club?
Nader says the group's founder, Mike Bianchi, advises to stick with a classic, like Neil Young’s Harvest.
“It’s an album that a lot of people have heard. But when was the last time these people have heard every single track one after another and really listened to it as a whole?”
Nader says the vinyl clubs can bring music lovers together.
“There’s a lot of people who love music and there’s a ton of people who collect vinyl. So why not get out of your house, get together and meet these other like-minded individuals? It’s a good community-oriented group."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdFsr7I6rz4
