Sean Äaberg

THE GOBLIN NEWSLETTER 16

Added 2024-07-07 18:15:37 +0000 UTC

I started collecting vinyl records when I was eleven or so. My parents had a big collection & I can remember looking through them before I could read & identifying albums by their spine colors & typefaces used. Looking for Beatles, Beach Boys & the Hobbit cartoon soundtrack records. I amassed a huge collection over the years which I used to spin for the public on my multiple DJ nights here in Portland. I was already thinking about not DJing anymore & then the stroke put an end to that in multiple ways. I heard an interview with DJ Fuze (From Digital Underground, I learned how to DJ on his gear, my brother Michael was his roommate), where he said that record collecting was a “vinyl fetish” & that the medium didn’t really matter for the music. This reinforced something that I already knew, as someone who listened to most music on YouTube, I was free of the need to collect records. Unhindered by chains I didn’t realize I had. I sold my record collection to Tom at Crossroads Music, which is one of the best record stores around. I did this to make room for my teenage & increasingly territorial kids. I had detached the idea of my record collection being me, even if I had felt that way for ages. I was excited to let go of things because I could. I have become detached from most of the trappings that I used to define myself with & present myself to other people. I had this opportunity because I experienced ego death with the stroke.