January 04, 2008

Vinyl Making a Comeback

I like technology, but sometimes I get a little too much of it. In the day and age when you are bombarded with cell phones, instant messages, and music downloads, sometimes you are too connected.

I noted earlier on my love for my typewriters. I haven't written as much lately as I would have liked, but I still enjoy them.

For Christmas I received a Crosley 4-1 record player. It sounds great for it's size and most importantly it plays the old LPs. There is something tactile a about pulling a piece of vinyl out of it's sleeve, placing it on the turntable and gently placing the needle to it.

Now it seems vinyl is making a comeback.

As counterintuitive as it may seem in this age of iPods and digital downloads, vinyl -- the favorite physical format of indie music collectors and audiophiles -- is poised to re-enter the mainstream, or at least become a major tributary. Talk to almost anyone in the music business' vital indie and DJ scenes and you'll encounter a uniformly optimistic picture of the vinyl market. "I'm hearing from labels and distributors that vinyl is way up," said Ian Connelly, client relations manager of independent distributor alliance IODA, in an e-mail interview. "And not just the boutique, limited-edition colored vinyl that Jesu/Isis-style fans are hot for right now."

And you can still buy vinyl now too. Of course there is Ebay, but also Amazon.com. They recently launched their own vinyl store

It's not just old copies of Foreigner albums either. There also new pressings from bands like the White Stripes and U2.

So fire up the turntable, sit back and listen to the warmth and detached attitude of an old technology.

Posted by psugrad98 at January 4, 2008 08:30 AM | TrackBack
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