Back To Basics (Sorta)

On Sunday I did something I had not done in well over a year: I bought an actual CD for myself. I have definitely been in the boat where you get all your music via download, or through sharing with friends, etc. instead of buying a CD or other physical music media. Not only are CDs often overpriced, but even the cheaper ones are still something I can’t really afford to buy when there are other things I need, so I would rather get it for free or pay less to get the files and miss out on the extra cost that packaging creates.

If I had money to dispose of on buying albums physically (CD, vinyl) then I would; I so would. I used to spend almost all of the pocket money I got when I was younger on CDs. It was one of my favourite things to do, because I loved the whole process of going to the store, taking my time to look through all the albums, find one or two I wanted, pay, go home, open it up, put the disc into my stereo and lie on my bed to listen to the whole thing from start to finish. I spent a lot of time from the age of 10 doing that (granted, my earlier musical taste was definitely on the dodgy side, but I saw the light eventually).

The last time I bought a CD for myself was in 2007 — I don’t remember what it was though. On Sunday I went for a browse through The Warehouse’s music department and found Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV album, which is a 36 song instrumental extravaganza. Obviously an instrumental NIN record is something that would interest me and my revived love for anything Trent Reznor touches.

So, I bought it and did what I did when I fifteen. I put it in my stereo and listened while lying on my bed doing nothing else. Nearly two hours of beautiful, gorgeous sounds that really blew me away. After days of listening (including while studying as it’s good for that I’m finding) I can go from start to finish without skipping any tracks because they all flow so well together and none are mediocre or boring to me. I would love to see Trent do a piano album, with or without lyrics, or something just very, very stripped back and raw, because I think it would be wonderful.

P.S., I will try not to post too much after this about my revived Nine Inch Nails/Trent Reznor obsession. I really will. I’m just so excited by going back over all these songs that I loved so much when I was younger, this music that saw me through some pretty rough experiences, and then there is discovering what has been done in the last four years, of which there is a lot. So, you know, I’m excited!

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