-Crack Records

C. 1982 - Polly Wog Stew

C. 1986 - License to Ill

C. 1987 - Fall Out of The Def Jam Era

C. 1989 - Paul’s Boutique

C. 1990 - LA

C. 1992 - Check Your Head

C. 1994 - Ill Communications

C. 1998 - Hello Nasty

C. 2004 - To the 5 Boroughs

C. 2007 - The Mix Up

C. 2011 - The Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

I own 8 cats since Cats Rule Everything Around Me (C.R.E.A.M.).
Their names are:

This is their stompin’ ground:

Word up - two for fives,

-Nic Adeanu (Crack Records)

Vinyl, you know, the clunky circles that play sound that you see lying around in Good Will and your grandmother’s storage room. That old technology is coming back. It’s not only coming back, but it’s coming back with vengeance. I’m sure you are asking yourself, “Who, besides DJ’s and pure music snobs, would actually pay for old technology?” That’s a solid point; however, there is one thing about vinyl that makes it sexier than ever: free digital downloads.

Almost any new album that is released on vinyl comes with a free digital copy of each song. This past year when Portugal. The Man first released “In The Mountains” you had three options to buy the album: $9.99 for the MP3 version, $12.99 for the CD, or $14.99 for the vinyl. Which one of these options came with an additional option? Yup, the vinyl. Yeah, like every new release, as soon as the deals ended the vinyl and CD both shot up a couple bucks.

When that happens, is it still worth it? Well, when you buy just a digital download, what are you actually holding when you buy it?

Illegal downloading is what it is, but I know when you get that special feeling from a musician that you want to support, nothing beats the satisfaction of peeling the plastic packaging from an actual product. When you buy a digital download, you get a JPEG of the cover art that you could find on Google images in 15 seconds. When you open a CD it fits snug into your hands and you can actually start to see the art design behind the album. Vinyl however, overtakes your hands, giving you an overwhelming feeling that beats the process of opening a CD by far. The smell of the cardboard and paper sleeve are an overpowering orgasm in your nostrils. You can actually feel the music when you run your fingers over the grooves of the records. And the sound of that small hiss while placing the needle on the turntable: priceless. If that’s not enough to prove a successful return of the wax bandit, then quality should.
 

Not all of you may know this (which is slightly terrifying) but the difference between the quality you hear on a vinyl vs. MP3, or even worse, Apple’s M4P, is a giant difference. I try my best not to be a snob, but when iTunes is telling their customers that their audio is “high quality,” then something is wrong. There is no need for me to go in depth about how vinyl’s 320 BPS (bits per second) is miles beyond MP3 and M4P’s 128 BPS. But it’s pretty clear that uncompressed music will always, always sound better than compressed. This is a concept that I hope is quickly realized by my generation sooner than later. But something that I know that they can comprehend is scratches.
 

What is the number one fear for using the format of Compact Disc? The same fear with DVDs: scratches. I’m not saying that vinyl records can’t be scratched because anyone who tried to be DJ on their dad or grandad’s turntable has learned that just as fast when they were smacked over the head for doing it. Vinyl records can be scratched, but they will take about 10 times the beating of what a CD will. If you scratch a CD the entire album could easily be ruined. You scratch a vinyl, it’s going to take a monster scratch (more like pumpkin carving) for that album to be laid to rest. And even if it is, you at least have another side to make the situation a little less painful.

But with the way our “make it easier” society works, do I actually think people will start to catch back on to vinyl records? Yes. Do I think it will overthrow the easy access of the digital format? No. Our culture wants music and they want it at their fingertips. But does that mean vinyl records won’t jump the CD and make a comeback? Of course not. The CD is dying because it’s a middle man for music. If somebody actually buys a CD they put it in their Macbook, rip it, and then it becomes either a piece of small art or gathers dust. Even people’s cars don’t have CD’s since everyone and their mom owns an iPod or iPhone. The vinyl record is not a middle man; it’s the best of both worlds. It allows its owner to have an uncompressed, high quality, long lasting version of the album along with the digital download for easy on the go listening. It’s also a nice piece of artwork that could easily stand out in any room.

The next time you are at Good Will or at your grandparents’ house and you see that stack of old Long Play vinyl records stashed away, rethink how you perceive them. Yeah, vinyl records might have been around longer than you, your dad, or even your grandma. But they have stuck around this long and they are proving themselves enough to stay put. I also can get my music faster online and on iTunes than pulling out a record stored in the plastic egg carton lying on my floor. But it’s not about that for me, nor is it for the other vinyl spinning junkies. It’s what separates the good from the great: quality over quantity. 

-Nic Adenau (Crack Records)