I try not to talk about my vinyl collection much. One, collecting vinyl has taken on an indie-snob edge over the last few years, and I try my best to curb that kind of attitude. Two, my collection pretty much sucks anyway. Dollar bins and thrift stores can only produce so many scratched Genesis concept albums…
I remember when The Make-Up came and played our local community theatre back in 2000 or so, and on a lark I decided to buy their then-current album Save Yourself on vinyl instead of CD, as I had just received a turntable. Their merch person (maybe it was their guitarist?) was stoked that I asked for the vinyl instead of the CD. It made me feel extra cool, for no apparent reason. I still more often buy CDs than vinyl when given the chance for a number of reasons, but the idea of vinyl records is still quite romantic. Perhaps that romance is the main reason why vinyl has undergone a serious resurgence over the last few years, re-entering the market place and targeting folks who will actually sit down and listen to two sides of a record as the sole function of that hour instead of using music just as a background to fold laundry to.

From Boston.com:

Mike Dreese, cofounder and chief executive of the New England music store chain Newbury Comics, says his company’s vinyl sales, which had been increasing at an annual rate of about 20 percent over the past five years, are 80 percent higher than they were at this time last year.

“Right now, we’re selling about $100,000 a month worth of vinyl,” Dreese says.

But why vinyl and why now, especially when even CD sales have plummeted 40 percent since 2005? Dreese blames the sterility of technology. “I think there are a lot of people who are looking for some kind of a throwback to something that’s tangible,” he says. “The CD was a tremendous sonic package, but from a graphic standpoint, it was a disaster. People still want a connection to an artist, and vinyl connects them in a way that an erasable file doesn’t.”

Or maybe it’s just to accumulate on scene points. “Oh, you have the Dukes of Stratosphear comp I see. Yeah, that’s cool I guess. I got Psonic Psunspot on vinyl…”

No, I didn’t actually see At The Drive In live when I had the chance. All my friends raved about them, but I was too busy being a hippy to take much notice. Hell, I was still figuring out the Dismemberment Plan, and all ATDI’s wiry guitars confused and scared me just a little bit. My brain wasn’t ready for their epic assault until a month before they broke up and splintered into Sparta (yay!) and Mars Volta (blech). Then did I actually sit down and check out what all the fuss was about. Man, I must have missed some great 60-person crowd shows. Any case, all the Mars Volta fans who aren’t hip to At The Drive In better be prepared to get their faces ripped off by ATDI with the release of Guitar Hero IV.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2008 — Huntington Beach, CA

Pick up your guitar and shred along to “One Armed Scissor” by At the Drive-In this summer on Guitar Hero IV. The game will be released this June on all major platforms including Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, PC, Mac and Nintendo DS. At The Drive-In will have their track included along with rock giants such as Aerosmith and Def Leppard.

The track “One Armed Scissor” originally released on Relationship and Command still continues to stand the test of time. It has been recognized by Spin Magazine as one of the “Top 100 albums between 1985 and 2005″ and by Time Magazine as an album that, “deftly combines punk ferocity with artful though sometimes inscrutable lyrics.”