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Posted by: Scott Bragg on March 30, 2009 at 11:28 pm

In the age of mp3s and unstoppable bit torrent file sharing that allows anyone with the tech know-how to pull just about any album off the interwebs for free, some may find it a bit surprising that vinyl records are making a major comeback. Or not surprising at all. Sales of big, black, floppy vinyl records are rising,  its sad, expendable, once-promising grand kid, the compact disc, is becoming obsolete.

To find out what is fueling vinyl’s resurgent popularity, Detour asked Detroiters of different musical persuasions–the record store owner, the musician, the record label proprietor, the connoiseur, the DJ–why vinyl is an important part of their musical pursuits and enjoyment.

Chris Flanagan, owner of Street Corner Records in Beverly Hills, MI, in business selling vinyl for 16 years

Do you sense that vinyl is making a comeback from your perspective?
Vinyl “comes back in style” every few years, it seems, but this time around it’s different. There are some people buying USB turntables now so they can record vinyl onto their computers [...] but interestingly people are coming in buying Top 40 records lately as much as the really rare stuff. Those Top 40 records used to sit in the dollar bin but now people are coming in asking for Cat Stevens. And when we don’t have it and people leave thinking “They don’t have Tea for the Tillerman!? What kind of record store is this?”

Record v CD, is the sound on vinyl really better, do you think?
Well, it’s not a very scientific thing to say vinyl is better. Any given record could be pressed on re-ground vinyl or badly made or mastered. But under the right circumstances a vinyl record could sound much better–if you had really old analog super-mint sealed record nicely made, you might be able to prove that vinyl is better but overall it’s not something you can say absolutely.

Why do you think vinyl is so wanted by collectors and music lovers?
Records are just more fun to collect. I think they didn’t make it very attractive when they made the standards for packaging CDs. I don’t know what they would’ve done differently. But right now, it’s kind of split down the middle. Half the people who come in here want a CD, the other half want to buy a record. There are people who come here who wouldn’t dream of buying vinyl. But a lot of younger kids I see in here are buying vinyl. Record sales seem really brisk. Lots of people people buy them. Some for production work, to create something new from them. Some collect records and want a hard copy of their music. And then there are these old jazz guys who just want to replace something…or foreign dealers who’ll come through and wipe us out. Ultimately, I can’t buy enough. They’re always in demand.

Shayne O’Keefe of local Detroit record label Woodbridge Records and drummer of Detroit band Noman

Do you listen to more vinyl than mp3s?
I listen to strictly vinyl. I don’t own an mp3 player and my CDs are all in boxes in the basement. Mp3s sound like shit to me–I can’t take it. They’re just so disposable. I don’t like them. A record seems so much more legit. They seem indestructible–they last forever.

Do you think the sound of vinyl really is better than an mp3?
The sound quality is undeniably better. There’s always been that debate: “Does it sound better? Can you really tell?” But when I hear my own music that I created I can tell you that vinyl sounds better. When we recorded to analog tape, we listened to it on CD and on our friends’ stereos and we thought it sounded great. And then you get the test press back from the factory and it sounds way better. And I know, because I know what every second of that album is supposed to sound like, and on vinyl it sounds markedly better.

You guys put your new LP, Broadcast, out on white vinyl. What does the color vinyl add?
White vinyl is the coolest looking of all vinyl…although black vinyl is the sexiest of all vinyl. It just makes the product really special.

Jasper of the Detroit music blog Eat This City and Five Three Dial Tone Records, which will be releasing Deastro ’s Spritle 7″ at the Pike Room on April 4.

When did you start collecting vinyl?
You know, I don’t really know when it started. I remember buying some stuff really young because my family didn’t have a CD player in the living room–just an old turntable. So believe it or not, when i went to buy music it would be on vinyl. But we’re talking when I was a little kid. Like, I have Bon Jovi’s “Bad Medicine” 7-inch. But then we made the switch and it was straight to CDs  and i stopped buying vinyl altogether. CDs were sweet! Skip right to the track, repeat, program, all that shit was amazing.

Then why did you start buying vinyl again?
Initially I think it was when I got into local and Indie music. These were artists who didn’t have CDs at Best Buy, but they had songs that were only available on 7″ when you saw them live.

Do you still go digging through stacks?
I don’t do much digging, really. I mostly listen to new stuff, and the new stuff is usually cheaper and independently released. I’d rather buy something that I know is supporting a current label or artist than something that’s traded hands a million times. And I’m a sucker for colored vinyl and all the cool stuff a lot of small labels are doing now.

What is it about new vinyl that draws you?
It shows that someone cares about the product. I mean, yeah, you can argue that all someone did was tick the Green Vinyl check box on the pressing order form. But still, all those extras cost money and time and thought and it makes the product about the whole product, not just the songs. When you get a CD these days, you rip the tracks into whatever digital music player you use. I don’t think many people have a relationship with the physical disc or the jewel case or the inserts. They just set it aside and play the music from their computer or mp3 players. But every time you put a record on, you have to look at it.

Adam Davis, Vicious Cycles drummer and avid vinyl collector

Do you buy new vinyl?
That’s not what I’m into it for. I’m into finding stuff that’s really hard to come by. The new pure vinylists around are searching out a lot of rare limited press albums from the 70s and 60s. That’s the fun of it. At two clicks of a button you can have any album in mp3 form. Or you can spend hours and hours looking for a vinyl record and then when you find it, it’s really rewarding. It really breathes life into what it means to be a collector of music.

Where do you go to buy vinyl?
Of the three main stores I’ve been hitting recently, Street Corner Music is probably the best help around. The attention they give you is great and the people there are really knowledgable…Another one is Record Graveyard in Hamtramck. Phenomenal selection. Lots of world music and jazz, and Hamtramck is such a diverse neighborhood that lots of people drop off really rare records. If some guy brings in a whole box of Slavic records that’s a whole other kind of music at your disposal. Of course, People’s Records on Woodward is excellent too.

What is the experience of “digging” like for you?
When you’re digging, you don’t even know what you’re putting on the turntable sometimes–you’re attracted to the artwork or had heard the name before, or you like the style of music. It’s a great hobby and for me it’s starting to become a vital part of my life. I probably go digging four days a week, a few hours at a time.

What’s really fun about record shopping is that you can find a record for x amount of dollars and can go to the next store and find that album $10-$15 cheaper. I found a record I’ve been looking for for 6 months the other day that was online for $80 but I found it here in a record store for $15. It was in a crate and looked like it had been played 3 times. That experience is ridiculous–that you can find some treasures that mean a lot to you in the future. There’s so much to discover–there are tons of jazz records out there for a quarter. You can find a ton of cool material paying $5 and come out with some great finds.

Grand Dad Crunk, Detroit-based DJ

What is it about vinyl that makes it more collectible than CDs?
It’s not disposable. A CD you can buy and copy immediately. You can’t copy vinyl unless you have the equipment to do so and no one really does. It’s such a large piece that there’s so much more opportunity for design on the sleeves. It’s more of an asset than just media.

Do you think a lot of people collect vinyl for the nostalgia?
It’s not so much nostalgia. Vinyl honestly has a better sound. Whether your equipment can stand up to it or not is a different story. I picked up a Jackson Five album [recently], and with a high-quality needle and my mixer into a set of studio monitors, I can hear echoes and nuances of the studio that were so vital then but aren’t captured anymore. Plus, the mastering process was much different then. A lot of the ambiance on vinyl isn’t possible on mp3s.

How does the DJ use vinyl as an instrument and does DJing make you a different listener of vinyl?
I’ll be the first to admit that a DJ is not a musician, but what we do is create a different experience of the music we’re using. What we’re doing is arranging the music. It’s not so much creating as arranging.

As far as listening goes, I know what I like to hear from a track. So if I’m shopping for vinyl and listening before purchasing, I’ll skip around to see if there are different elements I want to use. There are DJs out there who will use only 20 seconds out of a song, as opposed to someone listening for enjoyment. I doubt that most listeners will buy an entire album for a 20 second snippet. There’s a different way of listening to a track as a DJ. But of the tracks in my crate, I would never think of setting the needle on one and letting it play all the way through.

Any thoughts about the future of vinyl?
I’d like to quote the great Steve Albini by saying that “the future belongs to analog loyalists. Fuck digital.”

Tags: Eat This City, Five Three Dial Tone Records, Grand Dad Crunk, Jasper, Noman, records, Salvation Army, Street Corner Records, Vicious Cycles, Vinyl, Woodbridge Records

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