The Vinyl Anachronist
by Marc Phillips
Part XCVIII: An Ode to Record Store Day
(June 2014)
"So what did you do for Record Store Day?"
I'm asked this question several times each April. So far the answer every year has been "Nothing…nothing at all," but I've made relatively snobby and cynical statements as well such as "I don't need a special day to buy records," or "the last thing I want to do is go down to a record store on its busiest day of the year." I'm not really into Hallmark holidays, the ones that have been created by marketing teams to stimulate sales during normally slow periods. On the other hand, I usually support vinyl sales in any way I can--even if it reeks of commercialism and is topped off with a "me too" hipster attitude.
By the way, do you know what's really cool and really hip? Some people never stopped buying records in the first place. Imagine that.
On the other hand, Record Store Day has definitely gained some traction in the music industry since its first official celebration in 2008 (the premiere event, held in 2007, was actually quite small but it captured the imagination of vinyl lovers everywhere and expanded quickly after that). It's quite the spectacle now, with bands playing at record stores all over the world and all sorts of limited edition vinyl releases being made available in time for the celebration.
This year, Record Store Day participants were able to snatch up special releases such as a 180 gram vinyl reissue of Aerosmith's Rocks, Echo and the Bunnymen's "Ocean Rain" on 12" blue vinyl, and even Jimi Hendrix's Live at Monterey in a 200-gram numbered edition. In past years, we've seen special releases from such bands as The Beatles, The White Stripes, Willie Nelson, Elliott Smith, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, T. Rex, the Sex Pistols, Fleetwood Mac... you name it (as you can see, Record Store Day seems to favor classic rock). The vast majority of these special releases are 7' singles that feature a lot of music you probably already own, but if you're a collector, you know that these special offerings, offered in limited numbered editions, will probably be worth a lot of money one day.
This year's event, held on April 19 (Record Store Day is held on the third Saturday of that month) was by all calculations a success. Many record stores reported their best single day sales ever, according to Spin. The most popular item was a 7" single of Nirvana's "Pennyroyal Tea," followed by limited editions of full-length albums from Tame Impala, Grateful Dead and Joy Division--how's that for variety? Of the 20 best-selling LPs for that week, the only one that wasn't tied into Record Store Day was the new Afghan Whigs album Do to the Beast--which had already been experiencing strong sales since it's the band's first album in 16 years.
In the grand scheme of things, Record Store Day may be an absolute good in many ways. The Record Store Day organization, founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner, is a class act--even they say that "everyday should be Record Store Day." They even got Chuck D., one of the earliest supporters of the event, to act as official ambassador for this year's festivities. They've all worked hard to promote and build this event into something special, and they deserve a lot of credit. But I'm reminded of what a curmudgeon I am when I just can't get excited about this event. Twenty years ago, I would have been all over it. Now, I could sort of care less.
Why is this? For one, I don't see a lot of people talking about the reasons why vinyl is preferable to all of the digital formats. Record Store Day isn't really about choosing the format that sounds superior to all the others. It's about being cool and riding this ephemeral wave until it crashes on the beach. I'm constantly reminded of musician Daniel Louis White's illuminating comment to me that "all the cool kids listen to vinyl." I loved hearing that at the time, but now I'm wondering if it's the right reason to listen. Take one self-proclaimed teenage vinyl lover and ask him why he prefers the sound of vinyl. Is he going to mention that he carefully compared digital formats and analog formats and found that analog had a warmer, more natural presence and that the air around the instruments is more pronounced, or is he going to mention that all of his buddies listen to vinyl so he does too? It's one thing to listen to Neil Young wax eloquently about the reasons he prefers vinyl--well, at least before Pono was released--but it's quite another thing to find out the real reasons, whatever they are, for buying vinyl on Record Store Day, 2014.
Perhaps the real reason I'm grumpy about all of this is because I've spent the last year re-examining my love for vinyl. As you've probably noticed, I've been championing some of the newer digital formats over the last few months--I'm really impressed with the Blu-ray audio discs I've received from 2L Recordings in Norway, the SACD/CD hybrid discs from Analogue Productions and FIM's redbook CD's mastered from high-resolution masters. I can no longer say, without reservation, that analog is better than digital. The vast majority of my music purchases over the last year have been in digital formats.
I don't feel guilty about this one bit, but I do have a strange feeling of unease--I think it's time to revisit my love for vinyl. I started by getting a wonderful new record cleaning machine from my friends at SOTA, who I interviewed a few months ago. It's so much easier to use than my previous machines, which of course has prompted me to pull out dozens of old LP's to spruce them up. I think it's probably time to buy a new cartridge as well--I'm thinking about one of Soundsmith's ambitious rebuilds of the legendary Denon DL-103, a cart that still retails for just $229 in its stock form. Maybe that will tip the scales back in vinyl's favor--for me, at least.
Whatever I wind up doing in regards to my analog playback rig and my record collection, my commitment to vinyl remains strong. My buying habits won't get influenced by re-packaged singles by everyone's favorite bands. Record Store Day is a noble effort, but let's not forget the reason why our love for vinyl endures--because it still sounds awesome.