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Entry bubble Perfect Sound Forever

By: Jake | October 01, 2007 | Category: Fun

On Saturday I saw Thurston Moore perform his new solo album in Washington, D.C. Moore is better known for being the leader of Sonic Youth and I saw Sonic Youth perform their 1988 album “Daydream Nation” in July.

A 33 album playing on a record player

“Daydream Nation” is one of 225 recordings in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. The National Recording Registry was created by the National Recording Preservation Act in 2000 “to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The National Recording Preservation Board chooses which recordings are to be submitted every year. They have chosen things you’d expect to see (or hear) such as the “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. and President Roosevelt’s address to Congress after Pearl Harbor and things you wouldn’t expect such as recordings of Asian Elephants by Katharine B. Payne and various popular rock, rap and country albums.

The coolest thing about this registry is that the board accepts recording nominations from the public year round. A recording has to be 10 years old and can’t be a video recording to be nominated. I looked over the list to see if there is anything “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” that I would nominate and found they really do have a lot covered. Most major historical events I thought of I witnessed on television so they’re not eligible.

Of course one major historical event they don’t have is the first Federal Citizen Information Center campaign “Happy Facts” from 1973, but I'm not too certain it would make the review board's cut. The government still uses radio and television campaigns, but has expanded to use podcasts and blogs to distribute information these days.

While historical event sound recordings were a challenge for me, I had no problem thinking of three albums to put on the list. Suggest your own sound recordings in the comment section so we can discuss them.

“Remain in Light”-Talking Heads (1980)
“Ride the Lightning”-Metallica (1984)
“Slanted and Enchanted”- Pavement (1992)

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: congress   government   historical   history   information   library   music   preservation  

Comments (2):

blue comment bubble Posted by Centerfield on October 03, 2007 at 10:59 AM EDT

After a long dry spell, I got my old turntable working again and installed a $15 Grado XTE+1 cartridge. What a great sound. I played Chick Corea's "La Fiesta" from his Return to Forever album, sat back, and enjoyed the experience. I've been listening to the turntable frequently ever since. What I once considered annoyances (manual operation, record ticks and pops) are now part of the enjoyment. Go figure.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Jake on October 03, 2007 at 11:21 AM EDT

Centerfield,

That sounds really cool! There are times where I go to a friend with a turntable's house, throw on some jazz, sit back and enjoy the ticks and pops. Thanks for sharing!

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