Just For The Record

The vinyl revival is not only in the US and the UK. Read this great story about the vinyl comeback from 'down under.'


Just for the record

written by Bernard Zuel


THEY will never compete with compact discs when it comes to pristine sound, or MP3s when it comes to convenience. They don't hold photographs or feature films, and the bargain bins in Asian street markets are not exactly bulging with knock-offs illegally reproduced in secret sweatshops.

But figures released in the US last week showed that vinyl albums sales nearly doubled last year, with 1.88 million sold - up from just under 1 million in 2007. In Australia, unofficial figures show an increase of more than 50 per cent over the same period.

When U2 release their new album, No Line On The Horizon, next month they will do so on vinyl, as well as CD.

Last year Elvis Costello released his new album on vinyl alone for its first few weeks on sale, before releasing a CD version, and Radiohead offered a $100 vinyl option of its album In Rainbows - which fans could otherwise download for whatever price they chose. It sold more than 100,000 copies.

At the other end of the age market, the White Stripes sold 12,000 copies of its 2007 album Icky Thump in the US, and Metallica sold all 5000 of the $150 vinyl boxed set of 2008's Death Magnetic album.

At the even more cost-conscious level - the local independent scene - Sydney band Cog plan to release two albums on vinyl. The Drones, previous winners of the Australian Music Prize, recently did well with a picture sleeve, 12-inch vinyl mini-album, and teen favourites the Grates are one of scores of Australian bands to make their albums simultaneously available on CD and vinyl.

Still, the clearest indication that there is money to be made from vinyl is that the world's largest record company, Universal Music, has embarked on a massive vinyl album release.

While rival EMI has released vinyl versions of 15 to 20 major acts, such as Jimi Hendrix, the Beach Boys and Coldplay, and Sony Music has a program of about 30 back-catalogue vinyl releases for artists such as Bruce Springsteen (all only available through imported copies in Australia), Universal, using the little-discussed 60th anniversary of the long-playing vinyl record as its hook, is releasing 76 remastered-for-vinyl albums for worldwide distribution.

The so-called Back to Black program has classic albums from the 1960s and '70s (from James Brown, Velvet Underground - with peelable banana sticker - and John Coltrane to Thin Lizzy, Stevie Wonder and Abba), big-selling '80s albums (by the likes of U2, Def Leppard and the Police) and some contemporary albums by artists with many fans who were born after the emergence of the compact disc (Amy Winehouse, Bjork and Ryan Adams).

What you get are the albums in their original sleeves, often including gatefold covers, the record made of 180-gram vinyl (new, rather than recycled plastic and considerably thicker than standard), so the sound is improved, and an access code to download all those tracks as MP3 files.

Liam Dennis, Universal's back catalogue product manager, says vinyl is not only being bought by ageing collectors or audiophiles who have argued for 25 years that only vinyl sounds right.

"Three distinct people buy these records," Dennis says. "Firstly, an older generation who may have purchased the album in the era of its original release, wanting to revisit the album in the warmth of vinyl, who may also be new to digital downloads.

"Secondly, a younger generation for whom CD or even digital downloads are the norm. Their childhood experience of vinyl may have been limited to their parents' copy of Hot August Night - my personal experience - but they are now wanting the retro cool factor of vinyl. It's not just the music but also the touchy-feely physical product.

"Thirdly, completist fans who want everything released by a particular artist."

Buoyed by the sales of these vinyl re-issues, Universal, like many of the big companies, has increased the volume of vinyl offered in conjunction with new CD albums by acts such as Guns N' Roses, the Presets, the Cure and Snow Patrol.

Two years ago vinyl was 10 per cent of sales for Neville Sergent, owner of Mojo Music in York Street, which specialises in music from the 1940s to the 1970s. These days that is up to 20 per cent. Of his customers, about one in four is under 30 and has grown up with CDs and now downloads.

Why are they buying vinyl?

"There's not one answer," Sergent says. "The obvious one is it has a hip factor, whatever that means. It's bigger, it engages you, it does have a warmer sound [but also] it's a retro thing, like people riding scooters or wearing Levi's.

"Then there's a lot that are either in bands or hang out with people in bands or their fathers are into that music. And the compressed sound of phones and iPods [see box below], it makes vinyl stand out more."

What Sergent describes as the way vinyl engages music fans is a crucial element in the experience for John Encarnacao, a lecturer in music at the University of Western Sydney, as well as a musician and voracious vinyl buyer, both of new and old music. Playing vinyl is about more than just putting some music on.

"I like the ritual of playing records and I guess the ritual is really about dedicating oneself to listening to music," Encarnacao says. "The convenience of CDs has been talked about since they came out and MP3s are even more convenient but to me they allow people to do something else while they're listening. Generally speaking, people don't pay as much attention to music now.

"I use the word ritual and that may sound fetishistic but vinyl seems more respectful of the music as a medium in every way. The presentation of it is more respectful, in terms of being bigger, and in terms of the way you play it."

Cog's Flynn Gower couldn't agree more as he anticipates the response to his band's coming vinyl releases. "Album artwork played a massive part in the romanticism of rock'n'roll. When someone talks about a great album you immediately conjure up images of the cover art. There is just something warm and reassuring about vinyl. When someone picks up an old record they do so with respect, kindness and reverence. Like it's a work of art or an ancient treasure from an archaeological dig."

SOURCE: http://www.smh.com.au