Perhaps you’ll want to purchase Big Big Train’s magnificent new album, Grimspound, in a vinyl version:

There are two vinyl versions of the album. There is a limited edition frosted clear vinyl version alongside the standard black vinyl version. Both vinyl versions are gatefold releases featuring double heavy weight 180g vinyl and a 4 page booklet insert including the lyrics and the stories behind the songs. A complimentary code for a high-resolution download version of the album is provided with each vinyl order. Orders of the limited edition frosted clear vinyl will also include a postcard signed by all band members. A limited edition blue vinyl version of 2016’s Folklore album is also available at Burning Shed and includes a complimentary hi-resolution download code.

What is it that people are seeking when they deliberately and consciously go against the digital grain and cultivate an analog experience? Don’t worry, it’s not merely indulging in nostalgia. If you want to obtain a truly insightful perspective on the human need for the analog (a connection that the music of Big Big Train excels in establishing), then you’ll want to check out David Sax’s new book, The Revenge of the Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter.

Douglas Rushkoff has a terrific podcast interview with Sax. Go ahead and fast-forward to 25:28 and listen, for the next twenty minutes or so, to hear a fascinating discussion about the vinyl revival versus today’s perfect streaming technology. Vinyl isn’t a rejection of digital; it’s a complementary experience, and we will want to have both.

Sax calls something like hanging out in a record store on Record Store Day a “Kirk experience” rather than a “Spock experience.” It’s definitely a kind of “romantic” experience.

Listening to Rushkoff and Sax, you’ll feel really good about your Big Big Train vinyl experiences, because you will recognize why you do it. Further, while some analog experiences are more expensive than others, the great thing about your (relatively more expensive) BBT vinyl experience is that it gives inspiration and impetus to you for seeking out those simple, inexpensive, most glorious analog experiences — like going outdoors into the meadows and hedgerows. Hey man, look at that crow… what’s it doing on that statue? Who is that dude?

Revenge of the Analog, Real Things and Why They Matter explores the resurgence of the tactile, human-to-human, brick-and-mortar encounters that characterize the analog experience. How might our rekindled love of vinyl LPs, local book stores, and face-to-face interaction help reground society to the physical realities of land, labor, and our fellow humans? Sax and Rushkoff explore the real world experiences and “flesh and blood consequences” that lie just beyond the glow of our screens and mediated environments.