Life As A Rehearsal

And so the great vinyl purge begins. So now what?

I’ve made a decision.

In light of the devastation wrought by the Eaton and Palisades Fires, I’m going to sell off the bulk of my record collection.

I know. I’ve been saying this for years. A couple weeks ago I wrote about my struggle trying to prioritize what to save when the time came to pack our valuables and potentially evacuate our home, and in the ensuing days and weeks those thoughts continue to haunt me. I did not like having to agonize over things to such an intense degree. I should have been focused on documents, irreplaceable heirlooms, and mementos. It turns out the easiest way to relieve the stress over losing things is to rid myself of them so I don’t have to stress!

It seems so obvious, no?

And yet, I keep struggling with this very notion, over and over again. I’ve struggled with it for years. In 2020 on the old blog I firsts gave it some thought. Then I started listening through my collection and debating whether I could stand to part with certain records. I only made it as far as the end of the letter ‘A,’ and that was the last time I thought about it until recently. Now I’m proposing to do the exact same thing, again. I’m going to start (again) with the letter ‘A’ and see if I can really, genuinely commit to culling the majority of my collection.

I’d like to think this is a long time coming, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I really ever considered parting with a sizable portion of my collection. I guess I just thought downsizing would be a retirement project some day in the distant future. After all, buying records is something I feel like I’ve done since childhood. It’s a huge part of my life. Even my career has revolved around it.

Working with vinyl helped kill the thrill of tracking down rarities or my most-desired LPs. When your most favorite hobby no longer has the same draw it once had, it’s only natural to start thinking about an exit strategy.

In the past couple weeks I’ve re-stocked my Discogs store with (and photographed for Instagram) records that are either easy-to-part-with, or titles I own doubles or triples of. Collecting is a disease. I say this all the time as part of my job but it is true. Only a sick individual pays for every copy of The Cure’s Disintegration they see in the hopes of finding a perfect condition example — or worse, because they forgot they already own a copy or two. Will I keep my near-mint, still-in-the-shrink copy of Songs About Fucking forever? I don’t know. But I know I don’t need two. So, I put the best condition disc with the best cover, and voila! I can sell the other copy. The same goes for Galaxie 500’s On Fire. And I’m sure as I scour my shelves I’ll find dozens more examples. I’ll definitely find examples of owning multiple different pressings, as well. I already know I own original UK and Germany pressings of Ege Bamyasi. I’ll probably just listen to them both and sell the one that sounds worse. Or I’ll break down and ask my friend Andy which one sounds, better because I have ape ears and can’t hear a difference. Or maybe I’ll just sell both because they’re available to stream. Who knows?

I could use all the help I can get to see myself through this process. Whether here, or by email, or text message, or Bluesky, ask me if I’m making any progress. Ask me to post an update. If you also suffer from the disease, send me your wantlist. Make an offer on something you see me post on Instagram or Discogs. Honestly, I’d be happiest if friends or followers wound up with what were once considered my most prized possessions. As long as you’re not a dealer who is going to turn around and re-sell them for triple the price, I’ll be as fair as possible on pricing. After all, records are just things, right?

…Right?