Almost 30 years after compact discs were supposed to have killed the format altogether, vinyl continues to be the medium of choice for serious audiophiles.
Around the world, pressing plants are being reactivated. New vinyl releases continue to appear on a regular basis for a ravenous niche audience. In the UK, sales of vinyl were up over 40 per cent in 2011, while in the US, around 2.8 million vinyl records were sold in 2010 — the most since record keeping began in 1991.
Meanwhile, demand for older, out of print recordings is stronger than it has been in years. With that in mind, record collectors of all stripes are expected to turn out for tomorrow's Brisbane Record Fair at the West End Club. The semiannual event will see up to 60 different dealers opening up their crates (filled mostly with vinyl, but also some CDs) to roughly 500 punters.
"I guess it's been bubbling for the last few years," Egg Records owner and Record Fair convenor Ric Trevaskis says of the renewed interest in vinyl. "I think when people buy music they are interested in owning it rather than just borrowing it, which is what happens when you’re buying something on your iPod or downloading from the internet.
"If you're interested in Bob Dylan, owning the Dylan albums as they came out and hearing them as they were meant to be heard, that's a massive thing when you're listening to something new."
Egg Records is relatively unique in that vinyl has always been their main business, even during the post-CD, pre-digital era. Even so, Ric has noticed the shift back towards the classic format.
"[We went] through the bad years of CD sales plummeting," he says, "but now things are turning around and people are starting to buy a product again — a physical product.
"Also, records that have previously been unavailable on vinyl are starting to come out. Bands like Fountains Of Wayne are starting to release all their records on vinyl and apart from their first album, they've never had albums on vinyl — they've only been available on CD.
"I'm waiting for the day when Gillian Welch releases things on vinyl. I've never owned a record of hers!"
Brass tacks, then: Why is vinyl better?
"It’s a very interactive thing," Ric says. "You put the needle on the record, you make it happen and it’s not push-a-button technology. Certainly vinyl is also flawed, but it’s got a unique sound that up until now CDs haven’t been able to copy well.
"The sound waves are almost infinite that can be pressed into vinyl, and although your ear can’t hear everything that’s on a record, the sound waves that you can hear on a record interact with the sound waves you can’t hear and that changes the sound.
"CDs that have sound waves clipped at the top and clipped at the bottom … don’t have those inaudible sound waves and therefore don’t have the same impact when it hits your ear."
Or, in less scientific terms: "It’s like sitting in front of a picture of a wood fire in a nice warm room as opposed to sitting in front of a real wood fire. It’s a very different experience playing records."
Brisbane Record Fair, sponsored by Rocking Horse and Egg Records, takes over the West End Club (2 Vulture St) this Saturday October 13 from 9am to 4pm.
