Vinyl records make a return
^^^interesting, apparently it's not just for your grandparents anymore
― omar little, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
brown is the new white
― ice crӕm, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
They've been running stories like this for a couple of years now. I don't doubt the numbers but at a time when I'm trying to get *rid* of things in bulk seeing the rush for this is a bit head-shaking.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
What about the seldom mentioned cassette revival?
― Z S, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
what's the vegas over/under on how many more years we'll keep reading this same story over and over: 4? 5?
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
ORG Records?
― CharlieNo4, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
Olson's doorbell is chiming more frequently these days. Since starting vinyl-only label ORG in December 2006 in Olson's kitchen, the label is bursting at the seams. "By the end of the year, we will have gone from making zero money to projecting that we will gross over $1 million," said Olson, who nevertheless has kept his day job as senior vice president of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group.
The label, which primarily licenses material from Universal Music Group, ....
yeah, funny that!
― Mark G, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
(A traditional LP is pressed on 120-gram weight vinyl, whereas many labels produce special packages using 180-gram vinyl, which gives a fuller, richer sound.)
I was talking to some guys the other day and posed the question: which would you rather have, heavier vinyl or deeper grooves? Everyone seemed to agree that weight of vinyl by itself doesn't guarantee better sound, quite a bit can be dependent on mastering etc. Let's blah blah blah blahlhhh
― ian, Monday, 18 August 2008 15:58 (4 years ago) Permalink
This summer, ORG will release a four-vinyl-LP, 10th-anniversary edition of Beck's "Odelay." The original CD booklet will be re-created for the 180-gram special package, which will carry a suggested retail list price of $60.
Any takers?
― ian, Monday, 18 August 2008 16:00 (4 years ago) Permalink
I wouldn't even steal it
― Edward III, Monday, 18 August 2008 16:03 (4 years ago) Permalink
I was talking to some guys the other day and posed the question: which would you rather have, heavier vinyl or deeper grooves? Everyone seemed to agree that weight of vinyl by itself doesn't guarantee better sound, quite a bit can be dependent on mastering etc
it depends how much music is on there. the shorter the tracks, the deeper the grooves, the higher the fidelity. heavier vinyl allows for deeper grooves, but everything depends on how much actual music you're trying to cram on a given side of vinyl.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 18 August 2008 16:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
Didn't Odelay come out 12 years ago?
― DJ Mencap, Monday, 18 August 2008 16:11 (4 years ago) Permalink
i <3 deep grooves hav u guys ever heard jamiroquai
― ice crӕm, Monday, 18 August 2008 16:11 (4 years ago) Permalink
re: Odelay, forget the date, why on earth is it four LPs?
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 18 August 2008 17:00 (4 years ago) Permalink
in order to accomodate the grooves
― contenderizer, Monday, 18 August 2008 17:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
The resurgence is having a snowball effect. At Record Technology Inc., a once-beleaguered pressing plant in Camarillo, owner Don MacInnis said that "business is the best it's been in 20 years."
When vinyl started its rebirth, RTI operated on banker's hours -- five days a week, eight hours a day. Now, "we're running 16 hours a day, six days a week," MacInnis said. And he's turning away clients. RTI's average pressing per title over the last few years has doubled to 3,000 units, with orders frequently topping 10,000 copies.
this is good news no matter how many crappy major label records get the vinyl reissue treatment.
― sleeve, Monday, 18 August 2008 17:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
^this
― Edward III, Monday, 18 August 2008 17:03 (4 years ago) Permalink
RTI does that matador HQ vinyl stuff right? they press GREAT vinyl.
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 18 August 2008 17:11 (4 years ago) Permalink
Don't worry, Vinyl Surplus, us ugglos still come in too.
― I eat cannibals, Monday, 18 August 2008 17:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
Amoeba Music in Hollywood sells about 2,000 vinyl LPs a day
I wonder how many of those are used. 50% or more, I'd bet.
― Romeo Jones, Monday, 18 August 2008 18:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
probably more like 75 i bet
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 18 August 2008 18:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
also yeah ugly ppl have kept vinyl in business. don't diss your core audience.
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 18 August 2008 18:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
amoeba records makes way more $$$ on used than new vinyl so they're probably very ok with that.
― Steve Shasta, Monday, 18 August 2008 18:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
<S>amoeba records</S>most record stores makes way more $$$ on used than new vinyl so they're probably very ok with that.
-- Steve Shasta, Monday, 18 August 2008 18:30 (4 hours ago) Link
^^^ fixed. it's a simple matter of mark-up; newbury comics makes way more money on used CDs than they do on new CDs, by the same token.
― ian, Monday, 18 August 2008 23:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
The very real possibility that vinyl will outlive CD - T or F?
― xhuxk, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 00:39 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, the author here seems a bit clueless re: the real economics behind record stores ... but so do the Major Labels:
Next month, Capitol/EMI will launch "From the Capitol Vaults," with the release of 13 titles on vinyl, including Radiohead's "OK Computer" and Steve Miller Band's "Greatest Hits 1974-1978."
― Romeo Jones, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 01:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I wonder how long it will take major labels to realize that the way to exploit the vinyl market is NOT with high priced "collectors items" but with desirable catalog titles that command high prices in the aftermarket.
― ian, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 01:38 (4 years ago) Permalink
They would respond but they are two busy with the burnt orange colored vinyl for the Gavin Rossdale solo album.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 01:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
Daily Swarm today:
Best Buy 'considering devoting eight square feet of merchandising space in all of its 1,020 stores solely to vinyl'...http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272009/business/best_buy_turning_the_tables_with_vinyl_166384.htm
Three New Vinyl Shops Open in Los Angeles...http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-et-vinyl26-2009apr26,0,1957135,full.story
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
As a CD-buyer for 18 years, I'm having a collector nerd crisis whether I should jump on this trend or not
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
ditto what Whiney said
― just being playful and friendly (some dude), Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
i don't buy too many records and haven't bought a new record in a long while. it's mainly old jazz/blues comps that I end up purchasing. But if every new record came with a download coupon and I invested in a decent turntable (mine is kinda crappy) I can see buying the record instead of the CD.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
eventually, i want to sell some new vinyl at my soon-to-open store. i'm scared of the money involved though. i'll start small. i was thinking of being genre specific. JUST selling psych reissues or something...
i'll have to see what people are into around here. lotsa freekfolkers in western mass though. and not a lot of competition for new vinyl. so the psych thing might work.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:29 (4 years ago) Permalink
every record does have a download coupon, it's called "(artist name) + (album name) + mediafire or megaupload or sharebee etc"
― ~*GAME 2 SNYPA*~ (omar little), Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
Especially since record companies are sending less physical copies of records in the mail every year. I've been going to the record store and picking up CDs I really like (I didn't get physical promos for Springsteen, Bat For Lashes or Doom)...
--But should I be getting vinyl copies of these albums instead?--Is the ease of 320k or 192k rips ANY TIME I NEED THEM for all eternity better or worse than having something that looks better and (hypothetically) sounds better?--Should I take into consideration how easy it it to scratch/warp/fuck up a piece of vinyl, ruining it forever, as opposed to a CD that pretty much will play as long as you don't put them in your backpack without a case like a see kids do on the subway?--What about my CD shelves when I have four spines of a group, but then have to go to my record collection for the fifth record?
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:31 (4 years ago) Permalink
omar, living on downloads alone is essentially saying "I don't care about data backup"
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
from that l.a. link, origami records is "okay". they just have run of the mill mainstream indie vinyl right now, i hope they expand into used lps and other genres. vacation is pretty dope, lots of metal, experimental, and psych.
more interested in this astonishing-sounding place, tbh:
http://www.foodgps.com/more-info-on-territory-bbq-and-records/
― ~*GAME 2 SNYPA*~ (omar little), Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
oh i never live on downloads, i usually DL just to see if i want to get something in a physical copy. or if it's something that is long out of print.
― ~*GAME 2 SNYPA*~ (omar little), Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:33 (4 years ago) Permalink
CDs are the new vinyl. Scored 10 amazing CDs for $5.This sealed Chris Gaines CD will pay for the whole lot in five years I reckon, so it's like I got them for free.Haven't seen vinyl go for such firesale prices since a few years back getting the Rush back catalog for 10cents an album.
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:35 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I've been getting crazy CDs off Amazon. You can pretty much have any Madonna record released after 1988 for a penny.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 18:39 (4 years ago) Permalink
CDs are the new vinyl. Scored 10 amazing CDs for $5
So been having fun with this at Amoeba's clearance section as well.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
dollar dvds at thrift stores too. i love that. you can't give the stuff away.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
i think my favorite thing about the whole vinyl market right now is that it makes my goal of someday releasing an album and actually pressing it on vinyl seem like way less of an unfeasible pipedream
― just being playful and friendly (some dude), Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:07 (4 years ago) Permalink
any Madonna record released after 1988 for a penny.
Well, a penny plus postage, right? Which always seems to nullify the deal for me, but maybe I'll come around. Do need to start hunting around for used CDs in stores more, though.
― xhuxk, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:10 (4 years ago) Permalink
yeah, so like $3. Which is still cheaper than the $7.99 at a used CD store.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:15 (4 years ago) Permalink
scott ur in western MA right? where is your store?
― mark cl, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Haven't seen vinyl go for such firesale prices since a few years back getting the Rush back catalog for 10cents an album.
― Philip Nunez"
you got ripped off.
― pipecock, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
my store will be located on main street in greenfield. right next to tofu a go go.
we had problems with the original space we rented (um, pee pee water dripping down onto our space from the aprtmenent above.) otherwise, we would have been open by now. but i've been having fun making money on ebay and drinking and hanging out with my kids.
x-post
― scott seward, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:29 (4 years ago) Permalink
im still interested in hearing about which records you guys got from john storm roberts's collection!
― 69, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 19:34 (4 years ago) Permalink
yeah i def buy a lot of vinyl but always have, but i echo other sentiments about CDs! great deals now all over the place...
seriously you can get like every great jazz record ever made on some fancy pants new great sounding remastered CD issue for like peanuts!
― Domm P))) (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, 28 April 2009 20:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
That article is mostly OTM, but this bit seems far-fetched to me:
The vinyl marketplace is probably permanently contracted, but rather than over-serving the superfan, it should pivot toward super-serving the casual fan. Anyone should be able to walk into any record store in the world and buy a standard vinyl copy of Nevermind for a reasonable price, rather than confronting the 180 gram pressing or the deluxe quadruple LP that fishes for their cash from a lofty wall display.
Vinyl players cost extra money, vinyls are a hassle to use compared to digital formats, plus they require more storage room... I'd say the vinyl market hasn't had chance of attracting casual fans ever since CDs became popular. Why would someone who's not a music geek buy vinyl, when he can get the same music in in a more convenient and easy-to-use format? The supposed idea that "vinyl sounds better" is not something casual fans notice or care about either.
― Tuomas, Friday, 14 June 2013 10:51 (6 days ago) Permalink
The Daft Punk album, after all the audiophile hype, doesn't sound that much better on LP than on CD.
― StillAdvance, Friday, 14 June 2013 10:55 (6 days ago) Permalink
Thinking that vinyl objectively “sounds better” is wrong anyway, different? yes, and I love it for that, but lossless digital formats will usually technically be better - probably 90% of the albums you buy have been digital at some point before the pressing stage.
― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 14 June 2013 13:21 (6 days ago) Permalink
(To pick a figure out of thin air)
Jonesy has dropped science on other threads (one about minidisc for instance) in the past about how digital objectively sounds better than vinyl. Some people just prefer vinyl sound.
― they all are afflicted with a sickness of existence (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 14 June 2013 13:45 (6 days ago) Permalink
i guess vinyl could sound better, but i'm betting the entry-level price for a record player that would make vinyl sound better would be much higher than a similarly serviceable CD player or ipod dock etc. personally, i'm no audiophile, i just love the ritual of putting it on and the big sleeve and the smell and all that.
― data halls and oate (stevie), Friday, 14 June 2013 19:12 (6 days ago) Permalink
you can get a nice older turntable for 200+ that will make records sound very nice.
here's one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-506-Vintage-Turntable-with-Ortofon-TKS-55E-Cartridge-/330939973368?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item4d0d8f3ef8
― scott seward, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:17 (6 days ago) Permalink
nice too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-ELECTRONIC-212-TURNTABLE-Belt-Drive-/221240112432?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3382f03530
― scott seward, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:20 (6 days ago) Permalink
oh there are loads of nice turntables for sale that won't kill your wallet. most people are lazy though. and don't want to be bothered. there's no actual law that says you have to care about good or great sound reproduction though. or care about analog sound. but for people who are into it its not a big deal. i've been listening to records for 44 years and its never been a big deal or a hassle. its one of the easier hobbies to have. there are records everywhere. and the more you learn and know the more fun it can be.
― scott seward, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:24 (6 days ago) Permalink
the profit margins aren't high enough to produce any further pressing machines - the tools to build these pressing machines themselves no longer exist.
― data halls and oate (stevie), Friday, June 14, 2013 3:15 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
They're called "machinists". Look into them, record companies.
― Lee626, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:37 (6 days ago) Permalink
Duals are the shit. My dad replaced his speakers and amplifier a few years ago, but kept his Dual turntable which is approaching 40 years old and still sounding amazing. Never had to have it repaired, either.
There's also this guy in Iowa: http://fixmydual.com
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:39 (6 days ago) Permalink
most people are lazy though. and don't want to be bothered.
I'll cop to this. But for me it's less about getting up and flipping the record over, or cleaning the record, or cleaning the needle; and more about worrying about shit like weight and tracking force and whatever the fuck is causing the inner-groove distortion on my Iris DeMent record.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:42 (6 days ago) Permalink
xp - My first turntable was a Dual 1229. That illuminated strobe dial thing looked mad cool.
― Lee626, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:44 (6 days ago) Permalink
probably just a crappy new pressing! i listened to my iris dement tape for years. never had a problem. must have played My Life 500 times.
― scott seward, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:46 (6 days ago) Permalink
for me it's less about getting up and flipping the record over, or cleaning the record, or cleaning the needle; and more about worrying about shit like weight and tracking force and whatever the fuck is causing the inner-groove distortion on my Iris DeMent record.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, June 14, 2013 3:42 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
get an '80s Technics with a P-mount cartridge and you won't have to deal with either.
― Lee626, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:47 (6 days ago) Permalink
Thanks for the suggestion; I may look into that.
And I think you're right, Scott, as I don't have that problem on any other record. Fortunately, it came with a download card, but I didn't buy the vinyl to listen to a download.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, 14 June 2013 19:53 (6 days ago) Permalink
P-mounts really easy to install too - no need to adjust alignment or anything. Apparently some other manufacturers besides Technics adopted them too. The SL-1200 doesn't use it, but their cheaper mainstream turntables did.
― Lee626, Friday, 14 June 2013 20:04 (6 days ago) Permalink
i love records. have i ever mentioned that on here?
― scott seward, Friday, 14 June 2013 20:07 (6 days ago) Permalink
don't think you have. Ever thought about owning your own record store? would be v cool
― Lee626, Friday, 14 June 2013 20:10 (6 days ago) Permalink
Tuomas is 100% otm though, for the casual music fan vinyl is more trouble than it's worth.
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 14 June 2013 20:14 (6 days ago) Permalink
I think I said this before once, but since I loooove my stereo, one of my great pleasures now is helping friends pick up nice gear. AR and Pioneer tables, Klipsch speakers, Pioneer and Marantz receivers, etc.love this guy: https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynVintageAudio?fref=ts
― chinavision!, Friday, 14 June 2013 20:17 (6 days ago) Permalink
Fortunately, it came with a download card, but I didn't buy the vinyl to listen to a download.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, June 14, 2013 3:53 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Many people do essentially, so they feel like their money went towards something tangible and hip.
― Evan, Friday, 14 June 2013 20:20 (6 days ago) Permalink
i'm being so enlightened about consumption rn
― well-composed selfie (Matt P), Friday, 14 June 2013 20:28 (6 days ago) Permalink
I wonder how many people download illegally or listen on spotify and then buy the vinyl and never redeem the download code or listen to the record?
― wk, Friday, 14 June 2013 21:04 (6 days ago) Permalink
my technics sl-q300 is p-mount
― The Reverend, Saturday, 15 June 2013 01:50 (5 days ago) Permalink
― Evan, Friday, June 14, 2013 3:20 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
my SO's former roommate had a few cartons on vinyl records that she never listened to. she had one of those incredibly shitty USB record players and I'm not sure she even opened the box when she moved in. she just downloaded everything on iTunes and bought the vinyl for... i dunno actually. i guess it supports the artists so good on her.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Saturday, 15 June 2013 05:47 (5 days ago) Permalink
cartons OF vinyl records
should say crates instead of cartons though
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Saturday, 15 June 2013 05:48 (5 days ago) Permalink
It's no fun to buy downloads especially when most people have the wrong mindset that everything downloadable should be free. The fact that there is no sense of ownership when it comes to files. And similarly many people consider buying CDs a thing only their parents would do. So what's left to not feel guilty about doing? Buying hip vinyl to mine free downloads.
― Evan, Saturday, 15 June 2013 14:13 (5 days ago) Permalink
Q: Vinyl sales are steadily increasing in the past few years. Why in your opinion people are going back to vinyl?
A: Well, my vinyl sales aren’t increasing, they’re decreasing – and markedly. People who buy vinyl because they just bought some crappy portable turntable in Urban Outfitters and want to have some 180 gram deluxe reissue of the Velvet Underground and Nico’s album sitting on their coffee table because it looks cool might be temporarily driving some portion of the market up, but I can safely say, from vantage point, that it’s harder and harder to sell the same amount of records, year after year. And most of my peers are in the same boat.
Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt interview.http://www.dustandgrooves.com/eothen-egon-alapatt-los-angeles-ca/
― chromecassettes, Saturday, 15 June 2013 15:10 (5 days ago) Permalink
People who buy vinyl because they just bought some crappy portable turntable in Urban Outfitters and want to have some 180 gram deluxe reissue of the Velvet Underground and Nico’s album sitting on their coffee table because it looks cool
amazing to think lester bangs made this exact same grumble about posers about 40 years ago
― da croupier, Saturday, 15 June 2013 15:40 (5 days ago) Permalink
well minus the UO and reissue bits
People who buy vinyl because they just bought some crappy portable turntable in Urban Outfitters and want to have some 180 gram deluxe reissue of the Velvet Underground and Nico’s album
Kids don't know how good they have it. My first VU was this, which was the only thing I could find by them on CD at Best Buy in the mid-90s:
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 15 June 2013 18:05 (5 days ago) Permalink
I don't know ... I think it would be kind of awesome to own only one record and have it be a 180 gram edition of Velvet Underground and Nico and only listen to it on a shitty portable with built-in speakers.
― Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Saturday, 15 June 2013 18:29 (5 days ago) Permalink
damn, that guy has some awesome records. I guess he probably paid serious money for all of that though. funny because I sort of snobbily don't consider that serious cratedigging, but whatever.
― wk, Saturday, 15 June 2013 18:58 (5 days ago) Permalink
i don't really think there's a way in which Egon can't be considered a serious crate-digger. read the notes to stones throw's sixteen corners compilation, for starters.
― data halls and oate (stevie), Saturday, 15 June 2013 19:15 (5 days ago) Permalink
yeah, I didn't read the whole thing. at first it sounded like dealers just bring him records they know he'll like but now I see I misread.
― wk, Saturday, 15 June 2013 19:20 (5 days ago) Permalink
Nostalgia-->audiophilia--->received nostalgia.
― MV, Saturday, 15 June 2013 19:58 (5 days ago) Permalink
its hard to avoid SOME level of nostalgia if you are looking at and using something that is 50 or 60 years old. or even 40 or 30 years old. but for me, the thrill is playing that old thing and hearing new sounds in the present. its very much a now thing for me. some people definitely try and evoke the past and that's their primary relationship with old things. or they want to be reminded of the past. their own or an earlier past. there are always going to be people who prize things based on age. and who will insist, sometimes ignorantly, that the old or the new is the best. we should just avoid those people altogether. my own bias toward analog and tape and records and older recording techniques, older microphones(!), older studios, and older mixing boards is based on the variety of religious experience i have witnessed over the years. i can play 50 records (or a hundred or a thousand) and they can all sound wildly different! how they were recorded, how they were pressed, when and where they were recorded, what the room was like, what gear was used, what mics, etc, etc, and on and on forever all play a part in why they sound so different. granted, i've got history on my side. over a hundred years of recordings. but out of every 100 CDs i play, i might hear one or two that are genuinely striking. sound-wise. and they are usually the ones that were worked on endlessly and hundreds of hours of time and effort went in to making them. whereas some of the greatest records i've ever heard, again sonically, were made in a couple of hours on the cheap. there is a digital uniformity that my chaotic brain rebels against. actual noises that you hear in real life are not free of distortion or separated from other ambient noises/sounds. you don't hear things in a vacuum. and i guess i've never really understood people who wanted to divorce musical sounds from the ambient hum that is all around us. one of the great joys of listening to old records for me is actually hearing the room that the music is being played in. the reverberations. the echo. 78s and 50's-era records are good for this. old jazz. it increases my feeling of intimacy with the music and makes me feel closer to the people playing it. and its a different feeling completely than the feeling i get listening to the clear reallyreallyclose fidelity of a digital recording. which can often be lysergic in its closeness. you can hear someone's uvula flapping in the breeze. i can see why people dig that though. tech-wise. geek-wise. that ultrahuman clearness. like HD or blu-ray. i appreciate it more when i'm listening to sound artists or electro-acoustic music. very trippy. can be a little jarring if its just some acoustic folk record and i'm sitting inside someone's guitar or throat. i appreciate a little distancing. and that's what i think people mean by warmness when they talk about records. voices have more glow on tape? i dunno. its certainly possible to make a pretty accurate recording of the human voice on tape. maybe its like the difference between old tube televisions and new flat screens. when everyone had tubes, you would walk down the street at night and little electric fireplaces beamed out of windows. the windows would actually glow. you could see what people were watching. you could hear the sound outside a window loud and clear. with flatscreens the flatness is supreme. you don't get the glow. you can walk by a hundred of them and never have your eye drawn to the picture. they are easy to ignore and hide. same with digital muzak and radio. very easy to tune out. the uniform levels don't engage the ear. nothing leaps out. having said all that, i absolutely LOVE the possibilities within the world of electronic/dance/rap and digital sound. and that, to me, is the greatest stuff to listen to on cd. that tooclose and ultra-clear vocal sound you can get with a computer is stunning when applied to rap. talk about hard to ignore and jarring and visceral. when i take off a record and put on a rap cd its like a bomb has gone off. and that's a good thing. and i've already talked a lot about my undying love for those Kompakt CDs that ILM made me buy years ago. they IMMEDIATELY draw you in. they are definitely a gold standard for me. no doubt anyone here could name a dozen other labels who have achieved similar results and created amazing sound over the last 20 years. warp, mego, etc. whoever. i've also mentioned that when i put a kompakt cd on in the store almost everyone without exception who walks in the store asks me what i'm playing. they quickly become addicted. because it sounds so undeniably good! and cool! and it IS sound that leaps out at you and is 3D in an amazing textural way. so the uses (and sci-fi potential) for digi sound are endless. and i'm gonna guess that in 20 years we won't know what hit us. binaural blu-ray friggin' death ray ridiculousness, i'm guessing. but whatever comes will always be - it can't help but be - DIFFERENT from magnetic tape and all manner of electrical recordings of the distant past. there's something for everyone. my own nostalgic defense is this: bad digital recordings are often just that, bad. and sometimes, to me, unlistenable. bad analog recordings, or cheap or amateurish recordings, often have SOME sort of charming or idiosyncratic quality that can make them either endearing in their badness (muffed use of fx or just dementedly poor placement of microphones) or even addictively listenable from a sound collector/lover perspective (nasty guitar distortion, epic echo abuse, etc.). and when analog recordings on vinyl are great - and arguably they reached their height all the way back in the 1950's - i think they rival any art or art form that the 20th century had to offer.
― scott seward, Saturday, 15 June 2013 21:36 (5 days ago) Permalink
blood hell.thats a lot of words.
― mark e, Saturday, 15 June 2013 22:49 (5 days ago) Permalink
I'm looking forward to reading that post
― chinavision!, Sunday, 16 June 2013 00:24 (4 days ago) Permalink
Speaking Of Old Vinyl Records, Here's My Father's Day Playlist For Tomorrow
― scott seward, Sunday, 16 June 2013 00:25 (4 days ago) Permalink
Right on, Scott. My theory about why I can't listen to the Magic Transistor site for more than an hour at a time: it's all direct from vinyl. Yes, I'm a vinyl wuss. Such rich, aromatic, twilight tides So far I'm hooked on the far left channel: early 60s-to-early 70s, European and American r&b and related (incl Northern Soul and garageness) with some rock (Love's or Arthur Lee's "Everybody's Gotta Live"["because everybody's gotta die"]). Anyway that's the orientation when I've approached. Elsewhere on there, we get Krautrock, UK L.Cohen rivals, lots more from them days.
― dow, Monday, 17 June 2013 14:06 (3 days ago) Permalink
i'm not saying you can't go too far though...
― scott seward, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 16:32 (2 days ago) Permalink
i don't have a link to the article, but a friend mentioned that the queens album that hit #1 last week had something like 20% of its sales through vinyl, which seems like a large portion.
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 16:44 (2 days ago) Permalink
Yeah, but these days you only need to sell like 75 records to hit #1.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 16:45 (2 days ago) Permalink
i was working at their label for two weeks when the queens of the stone age record shipped and can verify shipping TONS of vinyl. also note, however, that there are THREE DIFFERENT VINYL FORMATS, and many people bought at least two of them. i don't have any numbers in front of me. but if there had been only one format and no reason to buy two or three copies, i imagine the percentage would be, i dunno, more like 15%?
― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 17:39 (2 days ago) Permalink
(ballpark estimate there.)
yeah, was gonna say, they went some lengths to make the vinyl for that desirable.
― data halls and oate (stevie), Tuesday, 18 June 2013 19:13 (2 days ago) Permalink
lolIs It Ok to Buy Records at Urban Outfitters?
― wk, Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:55 (Yesterday) Permalink
an Instagram contest where users submitted pictures of Sub Pop-themed temporary tattoos.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Wednesday, 19 June 2013 20:17 (Yesterday) Permalink