This piece was originally posted at the MTV Music Blog

For those who only buy their music on iTunes, Amazon.com, or other online digital music services and retailers, the idea of walking into a “brick-and-mortar” record store and plunking down cash for a physical, mechanical reproduction of a recording (also known, for you youngsters, as a “CD” or “LP record”) might seem like a royal pain in the ass. Or perhaps the record shop simply seems like a relic from a bygone era of original Star Trek episodes and 8-track tapes, the province of nerdy, still-goateed Dads who huff and puff that “there are no good bands anymore” (um, not true) and insist that a McIntosh tube amplifier is way better than anything solid-state (um, basically true).

Still, in respect to this month’s Third Annual Record Store Day (April 17, 2010), before you dismiss the independent vinyl and CD shop as hopelessly outmoded, ask yourself when was the last time you had an stimulating chat about rare ’60s garage-psych bands or the hippest new British electro with one of the sellers at iTunes or Amazon. Right: trick question–they don’t have actual people selling records at those sites, of course. Instead, you get the “Genius Sidebar” and “Recommendations,” non-humanoid taste-bots that spit out preferences based on your buying habits, all lovingly thought through by a giant server somewhere. Is that really how you want to be turned on to cutting-edge new music and under-the-radar classics? (“Yeah, dude, I got hipped to the awesome new MGMT record by a Hewlett-Packard BladeSystem Matrix.”) Sweet.

Okay; those taste-bots are a handy part of the home computer mix, I’ll confess, but they’re no replacement for wandering the aisles and bins of a proper record shop, checking out the featured albums that the store displays to pique your interest, talking turkey with the guys and gals at the counter, and knowing that the money you spend not only buys you a superior product sonically (vinyl and CD quality, of course, literally crushes the tinny sound of MP3s) but helps to support a small business that genuinely cares about putting great music into the world. Do we really want our music consumption controlled entirely by corporate fat-cats who themselves listen mainly to mid-Nineties Phil Collins? Thought not. And while the dudes and dudesses at your local indie record store may not always answer your questions without a certain whiff of hipster snobbery, it’s a good bet that your journey of discovery will take turns that you’d never have traveled while surfing the web.

What’s more, a good record store acts as a kind of brain trust and cultural meeting place for the music scene that surrounds it. “Hanging out in record shops” is a time-honored way to connect with like-minded (and like-eared) enthusiasts, find out what cool gigs are happening in town, and even meet other musicians who may also be looking for a band influenced by “My Bloody Valentine, Kid Creole, and the Fugs.” Getting to know the people behind the indie record racks is a great way to stay plugged-in to the local music scene; without them, you’re arguably just another isolated post-modern punter trolling the internet in your Crocs. Whether you’re picking up “rare groove” sides by Donald Byrd and Mongo Santamaria and sampling them into Ableton Live, or buffing out your collection of Dick Dale and Ventures singles to brag about in the pages of Goldmine, you’re likely to bump into someone who shares your passion.

As vinyl records continue their remarkable comeback as a viable, even premium form of music enjoyment, the indie record store becomes even more indispensable, a place of vinyl worship where devotees of the LP congregate to buy, sell and celebrate the sheer pleasure of the polyvinyl chloride-based spiral platter. While the wonderfully visceral thrill of watching the needle on a turntable make contact with the grooves of an LP–and hearing those first comforting crackles and snaps–is easy to rave about, so is the visual force of pulling a full-size LP jacket out of a bin and absorbing the cover art in the open air. Those postage stamp-sized JPEGs on the internet will simply never replace the optic bong-hit of a great jazz, psychedelic or new wave LP album cover (or a luscious prog-rock double-album gatefold!), and there’s only one place to have that experience in a way that helps you bring home both the LP and the righteous memory of the first time you held it in your hands: the independent record store, to which we can only say, in the words Mr. Spock used on those original Star Trek episodes: “Live long and prosper.”

Read even more, including a list of rock band The Cringe‘s favorite record stores, at the MTV Music Blog. The author wishes to thank the folks at Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA.

Follow James Rotondi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JamesRotondi

Wax.fm Catalogs Current and Historical Vinyl Record Offerings

If you’re a fan of keeping your music old school and vinyl, you’ll want to check out wax.fm, a site focused on cataloging vinyl records old and new and helping you find places to buy them.

At wax.fm you’ll find indexes of vinyl records by artist, the most popular current releases, and an index of record stores to help you find local places to buy new and old vinyl. The “Vinyl Is Back!” section is a running list of current news articles about the resurgence of vinyl and quite an interesting read if you’re unfamiliar with the renewed interest in vinyl records.

Visit the link below to start browsing records or share your favorite vinyl-centric site in the comments.

wax.fm [via MakeUseOf]

Send an email to Jason Fitzpatrick, the author of this post, at jason@lifehacker.com.

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notMordecai 04/30/10

There is already a site that does this: [www.discogs.com]

but hey, the more, the merrier. Reply

rockhopper 04/30/10

why is it not vinyl.fm instead of wax?

This year while doing my taxes I put on a vinyl recording of Mahler’s fifth. I forgot how good vinyl sounds after listening to mp3s for so long Reply

See 4 replies Hide 4 replies

Prairie Moon 04/30/10

Well I guess this won’t win me many friends. Imo, what was or is good about the vinyl album, are the things that came with it, the art, the liner notes, the pictures. What’s bad, is the disk itself. I think there were good sound reasons for the CD taking over when it did.

I don’t think anything ever really comes back. You can have revivals, renaissances, whatever you want to call them. But if vinyl somehow became big or de facto again, people would once more get tired of the rice crispy sound, especially after the third play or so.

Like I said, there were good reasons for vinyl being replaced by CDs. If there weren’t, we’d still have vinyl as the mainstay format. I still think digital is the way to keep going. It needn’t be mp3 or even CD or Flac for that matter. I just don’t think we should revert to something that had its day and then was replaced.

Also, I question the motives for any talk of a vinyl comeback. Because they sound a bit like romanticism and the yearnings of aging yuppies and middle-aged gen-x’ers. Lots of time and lots of revision can soften up memories so that most anything from the past can have more charm than it did when it was current.

Older people want their youth to come back. And the young are charmed in a different way, the novalty and coolness factor.

I think what I mean is that I want my music to stay quiet, no matter how many times I play it. Reply

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Despite the fact that nearly the entirety of the recording industry is crumbling in the face of illegal downloading, at least one aspect of the biz is not only holding its own, but continues to thrive in the face of sagging numbers—vinyl record sales, according to Pitchfork.  April 17^th of this year marked the annual Record Store Day, in which independent record stores are celebrated with various artists releasing rare/ unreleased material on vinyl.  And according to Neilson Soundscan, 2010’s Record Store Day marked the single biggest day for vinyl sales in the history of Soundscan, which began recording music sales in 1991.

Further, Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz (also of the Music Monitor Network), reports that NYC’s Other Music, Seattle’s Sonic Boom and New Jersey’s Vintage Vinyl all had their most financially successful days ever.  Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope out there for the music biz after all (at least until the inevitable Fall Out Boy reunion).

So what did you score for Record Store Day?  I nabbed a pristine original copy of Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen.  Why, you ask?  Because it’s one of the greatest Boss records of all time, that’s why.

What did you buy for Record Store Day?

Check out LP Revival! We sell cool vinyl stuffs.

Thanks @atane.

Coachella Friday: Jay-Z, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, Fever Ray

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Also Passion Pit, She & Him, Yeasayer, Sleigh Bells, Gil-Scott Heron, Specials, more

Kicking off day one of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were Jay-Z, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, Grizzly Bear, She & Him, Fever Ray, Yeasayer, Gil Scott-Heron, the Specials, Them Crooked Vultures, Sleigh Bells, Baroness, and many more.

Check out a selection of shots by Natalie Kardos and Chris Tuite after the jump, then head over to our photo book for a complete set of full-size photos.

Jay-Z

Vampire Weekend

LCD Soundsystem

Grizzly Bear

Passion Pit

She & Him

CHECK OUT MORE FULL-SIZE PHOTOS IN OUR PHOTO BOOK

Posted by Pitchfork on April 17, 2010 at 1:55 p.m.

Tags: Baroness, Coachella, Fever Ray, Gil Scott-Heron, Grizzly Bear, Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Photos, She & Him, Sleigh Bells, the Specials, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer

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Vintage Vinyl hosts Record Store Day 2010

25 days, 10 hours, 57 minutes, 48 seconds

Instore Performances 

Artist: Peter Bradley Adams
Time: TBA

Artist: Care Bears On Fire
Time: TBA

More performances listed as artists confirm.
 

Exclusive Products 

Record Store Day Exclusive items will be available in the store only beginning on Saturday, April 17th. Any product that remains will be available for online purchase on Monday, April 19th. Orders will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. We reserve the right to limit quantities to one copy per title per customer, so please do not order multiple copies of the same title.

Roky Erickson & Okkervil River – True Love Cast Out All Evil

Joe Strummer – Global A Go-Go LP

Joe Strummer – Streetcore LP

Neko Case – Middle Cyclone (limited edition clear vinyl)

Tom Waits – Mule Variations 11th Anniversary (limited edition vinyl)

Wilco – Kicking Television (4-LP 180 gram vinyl)

Various Artists – On The Radar

Ramones – Ramones Mania (2-LP blue/green split colored vinyl)

Paolo Nutini – Live At Preservation Hall

Joy Division – Vinyl Box (4-LP 180 gram vinyl)

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait 7″ single

Doors – People Are Strange / Crystal Ship 7″

Deftones – Rocket Skates 7″

Built To Spill – Water Sleepers / Linus And Lucy Live

Against Me – I Was A Teenage Anarchist

RSD exclusive — only 2500 copies of this vinyl pressing worldwide!

Black Keys – Tighten Up (45 RPM 12″ vinyl)

Jeff Beck – Emotion & Commotion (180 gram vinyl)

Velvet Underground – Live 1969 Vol. 2 With Lou Reed (180 gram vinyl)

Velvet Underground – Live 1969 Vol. 1 With Lou Reed (180 gram vinyl)

Sonic Youth – Evol (pink vinyl 180 gram)

Sonic Youth – Confusion Is Sex (white vinyl 180 gram)

Pantera – Vulgar Display Of Power (2-LP 180 gram vinyl)

Pantera – Far Beyond Driven (2-LP 180 gram vinyl)

Pantera – Cowboys From Hell (2-LP 180 gram vinyl)

Mastadon – Blood Mountain

Mastadon – Blood Mountain (Deluxe 2-LP)

Devo – Duty Now For The Future

RSD CD re-issue!

Devo – Duty Now For The Future

RSD 12″ vinyl re-issue!

Passion Pit – Little Secrets

Limited edition 7″ release for Record Store Day!

MGMT – Siberian Breaks

New 12″ vinyl release exlusively for Record Store Day!

Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension / Long Island Blues

New 7″ from a founding member of The Strokes!

Jimi Hendrix – Live At Clark University 3/15/1968

12″ colored vinyl release for Record Store Day!

Great Lake Swimmers – Legion Sessions

Previously unreleased live version of their 2009 album!

Gogol Bordello – We’re Comin’ Rougher / Trans-Continental Hustle

7″ vinyl release for Record Store Day 2010!

fun. – Aim And Ignite

12″ vinyl release of the album for RSD 2010!

Elvis Presley – That’s All Right / Blue Moon Of Kentucky

New 7″ reproduction of the original 45!

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Squirm / Lying In The Hands Of God

Record Store Day 7″ of intimate live sessions never before released on vinyl!

Court Yard Hounds / Jakob Dylan – See You In The Spring / Everybody’s Hurting

New split 7″ for Record Store Day!

Coheed And Cambria – Guns Of Summer 7″ Picture Disc

New 7″ record with custom on-vinyl artwork!

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball / Ghost of Tom Joad

New 10″ release for RSD!

Steel Train – Turnpike Ghost / Bulletproof

Extremely limited pressing for this RSD 7″!

Weezer – Raditude ….Happy Record Store Day

New CD released exclusively for Record Store Day!

Yeasayer – O.N.E.

New 12″ available on Record Store Day!

Bon Iver / Peter Gabriel – Come Talk To Me / Flume

New split 7″ for Record Store Day!

Beastie Boys – UNLABELED 12″

Surprise 12″ for Record Store Day!

Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever

New album early-release LP for Record Store Day!

Black Label Society – Skullage

New double-vinyl for Record Store Day!

Hole – Nobody’s Daughter

New LP – first Hole release in over a decade!

Sex Pistols – Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle (limited edition)

180g double LP release for Record Store Day 2010!

John Lennon – Singles Bag

3 x 45 RPM vinyl singles + custom envelope + 3 postcards + 24″x36″ poster!

Rolling Stones – Plundered My Soul

Exclusive, NUMBERED 7″ Includes PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED music!

Dios – We Are Dios

New CD release for Record Store Day!

Rodriguez – Inner City Blues

New 7″ released just for Record Store Day 2010!

Ani DiFranco – Live at Bull Moose 4-17-2009

Exclusive RSD release of an exclusive RSD performance!

Royce Da 5’9″ – Street Hop

12″ vinyl release of “Street Hop” – RSD 2010 exclusve release!

Get Up Kids – Simple Science

New 4-sign CD EP!

Mason Jennings – Fingerprints

Special Record Store Day release!

Soundgarden – Hunted Down

New 7″ re-issue on translucent orange vinyl!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Skeletons

7″ vinyl single includes exclusive track for Record Store Day 2010!

White Lies – Remix EP

All-exclusive track EP for Record Store Day 2010!

Weezer – Raditude [Record Store Day 2010]

Album re-released for RSD 2010!

TV On The Radio – Dear Science (Vinyl Reissue + Bonus MP3)

This record store day 12″ includes a limited-release MP3 download!

Them Crooked Vultures – Mind Eraser, No Chaser 10″

This 10″ record includes an unreleased track and an exlusive interview!

Grace Potter And The Nocturnals – Live In Skowhegan

First release of their sold-out 6-8-2008 show — includes previously unreleased “Big White Gate”!

Owl City – Owl City Record Store Day 7″

Exclusive Record Store Day 7″!

La Roux – Bulletproof (Live And Remixed)

Includes a never-before-released track for RSD 2010!

Godsmack – Cryin’ Like A Bitch!

Exclusive Record Store Day 7″!

Peter Bradley Adams – Traces

Instore performer for Record Store Day 2010!

Nonpoint – Miracle

Exclusive Record Store Day-only DVD of their hit single!

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey – The Sensation Of Seeing Light

Record Store Day early release!

Infected Mushroom – Killing Time Remix

Remix 12″ exclusive to Record Store Day!

Fela Kuti – Fela Kuti 10″ EP

The first in a series by the Fela Project! RSD early-release exclusive

Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Fruit

RSD early-release vinyl!

White Rabbits & Antlers – Live from Daytrotter

From Daytrotter Sessions and never released commercially!

Shooter Jennings – Don’t Feed The Animals

Less than 1000 created — includes fan mixes

Cage The Elephant – Live At Grimey’s

5 songs Live at Grimey’s in Nashville, TN including a cover of one of the more obscure Pavement songs “False Skorpion”

Drive By Truckers – Your Woman Is A Living Thing

Extremely limited 7″ vinyl

Phoenix – Fences

Limited pink vinyl 12″!

 
Record Store Day Exclusive items will be available in the store only beginning on Saturday, April 17th. Any product that remains will be available for online purchase on Monday, April 19th. Orders will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. We reserve the right to limit quantities to one copy per title per customer, so please do not order multiple copies of the same title.
 
 

Record giant Universal Music Group is cutting prices on the CD, as analysts clamor for still-lower prices. But as for actual records – the kind made of vinyl – odder and odder innovations flourish. If the CD is dying, the vinyl record is an undead, sexually-alluring vampire.

Two recent releases not only treat the record as “delivery mechanism,” but also tools for playing the record.

The late hip hop great J Dilla (aka Jay Dee) gets a well-deserved tribute from his label Stones Throw, complete with some fantastic, unreleased instrumentals (“Safety Dance”, “Sycamore”, “Bars & Twists,” and remastered cuts for Mos Def, Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes). But, working in collaboration with Serato, this release also takes note of the people actually buying records these days: DJs. There are beautiful, donut-themed slipmats. (As far as I’m concerned, anything featuring donuts earns automatic bonus points. Mmmmm… donuts.) The records themselves, meanwhile, are dual-sided. When you want to hear the record, play it face up. When you want to use DJ software, flip it for Serato control tone. (Officially, that works with Serato Scratch Live DJ, but it’ll also work with the open-source Mixxx and Deckadance apps, too.)

It’s a fascinating idea: make the record itself friendly to vinyl and digital turntablists. Of course, if you’re a digital DJ, I imagine you already have the control records you need, but — you still get those tasty donut slipmats. And it is a reminder (as if you needed one) that DJs are keeping the record format alive. Massive CD sales may have been the domain of the m