Wednesday 20 September 2006
Crave Talk: All hail the analogue revolution


It sounds like an unlikely revival, but vinyl is scratching and crackling its way back to the top. Seven-inch vinyl records are once again a popular format for some indie singles' sales in the UK. Sales of 7-inch singles have risen to well over one million this year. The last time things looked this good for vinyl was 1998.

It doesn't stop there -- the NME's Alex Needham is championing the format to supersede CD. "I think it's very possible that the CD might become obsolete in an age of download music but the vinyl record will survive," he said.

The latest White Stripes' single, The Denial Twist, was helped into the Top 10 by 7-inch vinyl sales -- the band sold 5,500 singles in the format. Stuart Green, head of sales for the Stripe's label told Crave, "We're seeing more interest in 7-inch. We're now more likely to put out two 7-inch records and one CD whereas in the past the opposite was true." Not bad going in an age where iPods are as integral to the proper functioning of a teenage human body as lungs.

Lily Allen saw fit to initally release her new single, LDN, exclusively on 7-inch. It's arguable that the dying singles chart has been defibrillated by vinyl sales.

So why are thousands of people turning back to vinyl when tapes, and then CDs and MP3s, wiped out the vinyl singles market two decades ago? It's likely that the tactile joy of owning a physical object that represents your attachment to a band is infinitely more enjoyable than entering a credit card number into iTunes. Not to mention the fun of manipulating turntable technology to play vinyl, that sense of physical control of the medium. Sales of record decks appear to bear this out -- turntables had disappeared from high street stores but now we're beginning to see major retailers stocking these antique wonders.

What pleasure is there to be had in clicking a virtual button with a mouse? Very little, really. Whereas the slightly precarious operation of placing a record on a platter and dropping the needle seems like a surgical procedure of a kind that most modern automation has tried to completely erase.

There's a wonderful sense of anticipation when you hear that nervous crackle of needle on fresh groove during that brief moment before the music kicks in. How delightful that a new generation is discovering the joy of 7-inch. -Chris Stevens

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Something tells me that dance music, whether it's House/Trance/Drum And Bass/Breakbeat/etc have more to do with strong vinyl sales than 1 or 2 pop groups releasing a few singles on vinyl.
Skelbagz | Wed 20 September, 2006 3:45pm

I have collected vinyl for years. I always buy things from GEMM (gemm.com), since they are great for finding vinyl. I'm glad to read it's coming back into fashion!
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 4:08pm


There is no way vinyl will out last the CD. Sure it will boost music sales and turntables but to say it will out last the CD by saying "owning an object" then you can say the same exact thing about the CD. Yet the sales of CDs have been slumping due to downloadable music. This is just a vinyl craze just like in 1998. Once the novelty of pulling out one of the discs, carefully taking it out of it's sleeve, placing it on the turntable, using surgeon like hands to place the needle down on the edge of the album if you don't have an automatic turntable, carefully removing it from the turntable, placing it back in the sleeve, and putting it away runs out they will be back to the ipods or mp3 players. The CD will last longer than the vinyl but in another ten years (give or take) vinyl will make another seemingly strong comback as long as people remain nostogic or curious. This is the only way I can see vinyl outlasting the CD but I strongly feel that these so called vinyl craz...
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 4:24pm


There is no way vinyl will out last the CD. Sure it will boost music sales and turntables but to say it will out last the CD by saying "owning an object" then you can say the same exact thing about the CD. Yet the sales of CDs have been slumping due to downloadable music. This is just a vinyl craze just like in 1998. Once the novelty of pulling out one of the discs, carefully taking it out of it's sleeve, placing it on the turntable, using surgeon like hands to place the needle down on the edge of the album if you don't have an automatic turntable, carefully removing it from the turntable, placing it back in the sleeve, and putting it away runs out they will be back to the ipods or mp3 players. The CD will last longer than the vinyl but in another ten years (give or take) vinyl will make another seemingly strong comback as long as people remain nostogic or curious. This is the only way I can see vinyl outlasting the CD but I strongly feel that these so called vinyl craz...
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 4:24pm


"likely that the tactile joy of owning a physical object that represents your attachment to a band is infinitely more enjoyable than entering a credit card number into iTunes" - that's funny, I was under the impression that just like vinyl, CDs are physical objects which you can own...
jaybravo | Wed 20 September, 2006 5:04pm


5500 discs sold doesn't sound like much for a band like White Stripes. What's the deal?
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 5:06pm


Because of the sorry state of singles sales in general, 5,500 7-inch single sales is more significant than you'd think. To give this a sense of context, the same White Stripes single sold around 14,000 CDs (UK). As for jaybravo's suggestion that CDs can also be physically owned, this is true, but there's a unique appeal to the packaging of a vinyl single -- there's more room for artwork, for starters. These kids are drawn to the mysterious and ancient feel of vinyl. Also, CDs don't smell of anything, and who in their right mind trusts a music format that doesn't smell?
Chris Stevens | Wed 20 September, 2006 5:21pm


I always thought CDs were superior to vinyl......until I actually bought an underground Beastie Boys vinyl record. From then on I was hooked. You cant beat the sound of a vinyl record and any music enthusiast will agree. There is nothing better than digging through crates to buy a used full record for only $1.99!!!!!! I still will purchase a CD every once in a while to put into my car, but when I am at home the vinyl is what my ears listen to. The only people who I have EVER heard complain about vinyl don't listen to vinyl. To top if off I hate these new DJs that dont even spin wax. Get off your lazy butt and work out if you cant pick up a crate of records to bring to a show.
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 6:00pm

__________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=F_GPnnajafQ

to the anonymous poster above that claims CDs will outlast vinyl, better think again. vinyl came out in 1930. 1930! that's 76 years of existence. and today there's a lot a people that still have them, and modern turntables are still produced. most CDs don't make it past 10 years because they oxidise, rust and decay, while the PVC stays like that for ages. basic idea is: if you don't scratch it it will last forever, which can't be said for CDs or magnetic support such as tapes. if you were to put in a time capsule a cd, a tape and a cd and open that again in 100 years, guess which you'll be able to play better (if at all in the case of the cd and mag tape). moreover, the vinyl disc will be exactly like the day you put it in.
radu popescu | Wed 20 September, 2006 7:49pm


CD's are promiscuous. You can play them virtually anywhere, rip them off, do what ever you want to. CD sound is flat also. In the other hand, you can only play a vinyl record on a turntable. Not in your car, not while jogging, not on your computer.The whole ritual of sitting confortably to listen to one song provides you that 'attachment' to a particular song, band, or music that you really enjoy. The sound out of vinyl record is as real as hearing the breathing out of a trumpetist. And of course this will kick a butt against piracy, since it takes a little more effort to digitize a vinyl record and listen to it on the mp3 player of your choice.
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 7:53pm


CDs suck.
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 8:09pm


It is simply false to say that most CDs won't work after 10 years. The oxidization issue was an early manufacturing flaw and does not affect discs made after the first tentative releases TWO DECADES ago. A modern CD will easily last as long as vinyl and remain playable. It is also false to say that a CD sound flat. It's all in the mastering and just like vinyl some releases will be done well and others not. Enthusiasts often claim to prefer vinyl and yet every person I have seen take the blind "taste test" fails to discriminate between the two formats for unfamiliar albums.
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 8:21pm


This is great to read about. I just got hooked on vinyl a couple weeks ago. Yeah vinyl! I'll say this much. CDs are a superior technology, but they are an inferior implementation. Today's CDs are so compressed for loudness that they have been made flat at the same time. Almost like listening to the music through a loud telephone. Whereas on vinyl, you can't compress the signal so much, because if you did, the needle would skip. So the music is left in its natural state, which happens to sound amazing... in case you forgot. Technical details the CD disaster are here: http://www.cdmasteringservices.com/dynamicrange.htm And obviously the same problem applies to mp3. The only technology I've heard sound consistently as good as vinyl are FLAC-compressed bootlegs of live concerts. But me, I prefer studio albums so vinyl is the sweet spot. As far as flipping over the albums, I don't mind it so much, in fact I like to participate in the music playing that way. Although on 2-album sets...
Anonymous | Wed 20 September, 2006 9:37pm


problems with cd manufacturing processes have come up a number of times in the media. one other problem is the quality of cd and dvd players. i own a medium quality dvd player that started exhibiting problems with reading disks after 8 months of light usage; the Tesla turntable from the mid 70s works excellent to this day. eventually I went out and a got myself a mid-fi (as in below hi-fi) cd player from marantz (cd5400) which is far more expensive than most dvd players (two-three times more expensive). now I _trust_ that my brand-name cds will still play in 10-15 years from now, but i _know_ that the vinyls I have from my father, most of which are already some 25-30 years old will still be enjoyed by my grandchildren, just like I _know_ that most of my mp3 backup cds, dating 6 years back, are now unreadable on most cd units (and that's not due to scratching).
radu popescu | Wed 20 September, 2006 10:34pm



http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic...9283730,00.htm




I personally miss it being widely available in America. The last vinyl I bought, asi froma 7" at a show was in England. I miss the big artwork, fold out packaging, and lyrics I can read without squinting. And that crackle when the needle hits the rainbow groove.

__________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=F_GPnnajafQ

indie vinyls are so mixable. i think thats why theyre having a revival.. with all the brit garage rock or whatever you call it, those flat beats and choppy guitars are always getting the rework treatment and mashed up with breaks and house.
ive bought a lot of indie vinyl this year for that reason. i think the artwork argument comes in as well - id say the opportunity to be additionally creative on vinyl sleeves interests the said audience.

The one thing I truly miss about LP's is the album cover art. CD's can't match it.
I own about 800 LP's and 12 inch singles and art work on the covers of many of them are just as important as the music.

I have too many CDs for them to go "out", so I hope that doesn't happen. I hope that all my CDs aren't unlistenable in 20 years time, because it'd cost a fortune to replace them all...I'd never really thought about the deterioration of the material, scratches etc. I love vinyl but I like to listen to music in the car or on headphones, so it's obviously no good for that. But the ritual, as people have said, of putting a record on the turntables is really great...there's no thrill about putting on a CD really...even tapes are more fun, as I found out making a mixtape on request the other day. Tapes & vinyl both have a lovely fuller sound - I like a little background hiss - though this could be just a mental thing, I'm probably not enough of a connoiseur to be able to tell the difference blindfolded. Obviously record sleeves have more space and potential for artwork, which has been neglected a bit recently.

I think a record revival would be kind of cool, though for now I only buy them very occasionally and listen to my inherited collection...CDs are the most practical music format for me right now, with all my moving around.