Very well then, I contradict myself.

In a recent post, I waxed positive over my increasingly playlist-based music-listening habits and didn't feel regrets for the slow passing of the CD.

And then this weekend, I bought five LPs, one a two-fer: Songs of Kristofferson, The Troublemaker (Willie Nelson), Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack), The Best of Rod Stewart vol. 2, and 1975: The Duets (Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond). So which version of me is right? Which era am I in now?

Friday, I read a really persuasive article in a local music rag that made a strong case for vinyl and against music for convenience. It asserted, in fact, that there's no question that sound quality is superior on LPs. I'm not an audiophile, but I would add the sound is definitely warmer. It's just a different listening experience. So even though I can get all the above titles on CD and/or download, I got the vinyl.

But storage and transport are big issues, no question. I have about 150-175 LPs stored in this media cabinet to my left, and apart from this weekend, I've busted out an LP for listening maybe five times in the past 12 months. Since we bought our house, I've gotten rid of so much--books especially. But not my LPs. And I have to be realistic and ask what I'm saving them for. It's true that the listening experience is different and arguably more pleasurable than listening on a computer or CD player, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I don't listen to music overall as much as I used to. I definitely have far fewer occasions to just listen and do nothing else--and that's regrettable.

The old saw is true, though: there's still a boatload of music out there that was never reproduced for CD and likely never will be. I wouldn't know, for example, that Ronnie Milsap was once a Ray Charles-ish soulster before he became a country superstar. The two LPs of his I have from that era (collections on some fly-by-night label called Buckboard) are the only evidence. I wouldn't have known, had I not been browsing today, that Columbia released a Willie Nelson gospel record in '76 after Red Headed Stranger tore the roof off; it had been recorded a few years earlier (clue: Larry Gatlin played guitar and sang backup, and Arif Mardin produced) but shelved. And it's really great--it's of a piece with Stardust and his more tuneful excursions.

Holding an LP is like holding a little bit of music history--it feels like there were hands behind its making. CDs and downloads feel corporate and efficient. I had 45s and LPs early in my life, and I remember more than once kneeling on the floor to watch them spin, like I was waiting for gold to bubble up from the grooves.

So every time I buy an LP now, do I secretly wish to be in first grade again? Do I just wish, perhaps, to preserve something which would otherwise be lost? Is there still something worthwhile in listening to Dave Brubeck on vinyl vs. listening to him on CD or in cyberspace?

More to come, perhaps.