Friday, February 8, 2008

Groovy -- Is Vinyl Making a Comeback?

It has sort of been a cliche for years: "Vinyl sounds sooo much better than CD" "You lose the feeling with digital media" and so on. Usually it's accompanied by a sniff of the nose, or a comment about "real" audiophiles.

I had the worst luck with vinyl when I started out -- but then my family had a brutal stereo. I latched onto cassettes quickly -- cheap, portable, worked well with my ever-present walkman -- and onto CDs just as quickly. Oh, I spent years in my favorite used record stores as a teen, flipping through bargain bin records, picture discs, and the odd not-yet-released-on-CD gem, but the majority of my purchases were of the small shiny disc variety.

But recently I've realized: I miss vinyl.

I miss the artwork, I miss the sleeves and the liner notes. I miss the importance of the record label sticker in the middle of the record. I miss checking which song closes out side 1 and which song opens side 2.

It might have to do with my attempts to pick up the entire Bruce Cockburn catalog. It might have something to do with the fact I'm reading the story of Yorkville in Ontario in the late 60s, and the roots of Neil Young, the Band, Joni Mitchell, and so many other amazing, unknown bands that might lurk somewhere at a used record store or collector's shop.

Or maybe I'm getting old. But I get it now. I still love CDs and will continue to buy them at an alarming rate, but some of the best stuff can only be bought on vinyl.

I'm not the only one. As the record industry implodes, geeks like me are turning to collectibles and classic vinyl.

Just leave the Cockburn stuff for me.

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