Comment of the Moment: Physical Neil Young

 "The Physical Neil Young"

WDITRB: Deluxe Box Set Edition (DVD, 4 LPs, 2 CDs)

Pre-Order Now: WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" by Neil Young w/  Crazy Horse 

(Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link . Thank you!!!)

This past weekend, we featured a Comment of the Moment: Watching Out For The Greedy Hand by the ever intrepid Alan in Seattle. 

Basically,  Alan in Seattle stated that he had "transcended the physical Neil Young" and would no longer be purchasing hard copy, tangible product of Neil Young's every release. (See comment @ Comment of the Moment: Watching Out For The Greedy Hand)

Which brings us to today's Comment of the Moment on Alan in Seattle's comment on Pre-Order Now: WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" by Neil Young w/  Crazy Horse  by Dan S.:

My wife and I recently watched two documentary’s about minimalist who have chosen to live with less stuff. To travel light through their lives and limit what they own, and how they live. Not only for their own personal lives but for the planet as well. 

They recommend going through all your possessions one item at a time and eliminate everything that doesn’t bring you joy and let go. Sell it, donate it or just discard it. During one of the interviews one of the young men was asked about a person’s collection of books. He asked the person, “do the books bring them joy, and the person said “yes, they bring me great joy”, and the answer was, “then by all means, keep the books”.

My collection of physical music brings me great joy. Yes, it takes up a lot of space in my home, but the joy I get just walking into my music room brings me real joy. I don’t need a computer or iPhone to access a wonderful and eclectic collection of music, I simply walk in and choose the music that meets my needs at that moment.

Like Dionys, I sit for hours admiring the cover art and reading liner notes that enhance my understanding of the creation process of the music by the artist and the people who helped facilitate the creation of the brilliant music I admire. I grew up with vinyl records and the album covers have always been an art form I have admired. The creative process of a visual representation, or expression of the music found within.

I completely understand and agree with the concept of minimizing our possessions as we have become such a consumer based society and I’m working through all the stuff I own that I either don’t use or don’t need so as to live with less stuff. But as the man said “if it brings you joy, by all means, keep it”.

Unfortunately I am in the minority when it comes to music. The vast majority of people are more than happy to stream their music and don’t care about the physical product anymore. For many people music is simply wallpaper to fill the background of their lives, and that’s okay. For me, music brings with it a much more powerful presence and genuinely feeds my soul. And the artwork and information that I can physically hold in my hands enhances the listening experience for me.

This may be the reason Neil and other artists are selling the rights to their music as streaming only provides extremely small financial returns. I don’t blame them, as they have to make a living just like everyone else. But as Thrashers said, there may come a time when the “cloud” will simply evaporate, and all those zeros and ones will vanish in thin air and be replaced with the next new and improved version of technology and everyone will be forced to upgrade yet again, and again, and again.

I’m probably overreacting, and the world will simply move forward and I will be left behind. So be it, as long as I can listen to my music on a nice turntable and amplifier through a set of nice speakers, then that’s what I’ll do. If it all becomes obsolete, then so be it. As for now, I will continue to purchase my music when I can afford it in a physical format until they drag my mortal remains to the crematorium.

Peace 🙏

Thanks so much as always for contributions here Dan. Your care and consideration in comments here at TW are a most welcome respite from some of the more pressing matters of our Times.

As you mention we share your paranoia that someday we'll wake up and "The Cloud" will be down and the music will stop. Like you, in such an inevitable event, we will need that music more than ever.  So like you retain analog backups and playback equipment for such a day, God forbid.

That said, off to the Greedy Hand to order our WDITRB Deluxe Box Set Edition! Let's get physical ...

More on  Pre-Order Now: WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" by Neil Young w/  Crazy Horse (Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link . Thank you!!!)

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