What we lose

In the August issue's As We See It, Tom Fine and I encouraged readers to hold on to their physical media-those black and silver discs-even if they're stashed away in a closet or attic, replaced by hi-rez streaming. An important reason we gave is that with physical media (in contrast to streaming), you know exactly what you're listening toor at least you can know, with a little work.

- JIM AUSTIN

Also if you want to, you can do a lot of work, since there is much to know and to learn, especially about vinyl records (and shellacs), and learning about them-about the labels and those arcane codes in the runout groove area-is a big part of the music-collecting hobby. Serious record collectors are likely to have several pressings of favorite albums and to know the provenance of each one. With streaming, you're limited to whichever version they end up with, and usually they don't bother to tell you which version it is. An example is Rock for Light by Bad Brains, which is considered by Robert Baird in this month's Aural Robert.

Punk has never been synonymous with high fidelity-on the contrary. Punks rebelled against a lot of things, including what they considered soulless sterility in mainstream early-'70s music and an obsession with pristine sound. In recording and playing, punk promoted a "DIY" aesthetic. Many punk rockers could hardly play their instruments. Bad Brains could. As for the sonic quality of their recordings, it improved over time.

Bad Brains started out as a jazz-fusion band-think Return to Forever-so it's no surprise that they had chops. Even after they named themselves after a song by The Ramones, they still couldn't quite decide if they were punk, reggae, hardcore, or metal. Eventually these elements blended to make a unique sound that I find approachable; think hardcore reggae with virtuosic guitar. As for the recording quality, it got better over time.