As of the last few months, I almost never buy CDs anymore---- I'm lucky enough to have a great record store (Amoeba) that sells lots of new vinyl, and now I only buy records that include a download of the album. Recent LP+MP3 purchases include:
The last two records I bought on vinyl (the new records by Of Montreal and M. Ward) came with a coupon for one-time download of DRM-free MP3 versions of the album tracks from the label's Web sites. So I get the big cover art and the intangible experience (they're both double albums on vinyl) but I can still play 'em on the computer without sweating over the process of digitizing vinyl.
Fact is, the vinyl version of the Of Montreal record (which is awesome) has a scratch that makes track 3 repeat the same crazy groove over and over, and it sounds intentional and much, much better than the digital version, which now seems weirdly short. And it comes with four bonus tracks, which are included in the download too but not on the CD version. Obviously some small record labels are betting big on vinyl as a way to keep people buying records, and I'm all for it.
Slashdot Mirror
As of the last few months, I almost never buy CDs anymore---- I'm lucky enough to have a great record store (Amoeba) that sells lots of new vinyl, and now I only buy records that include a download of the album. Recent LP+MP3 purchases include:
Ted Leo: Living with the Living
Low: Drums and Guns
Coco Rosie: The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn (sorry, Flash, but pretty)
Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Blonde Redhead: 23
M. Ward: Post-War
I totally cannot tell you how much better it feels to spend my $12.99 on an LP than a cheap, disposable CD that becomes garbage after I import it.
And the best part is I'm selling Amoeba all my CDs to pay for it all!
The last two records I bought on vinyl (the new records by Of Montreal and M. Ward) came with a coupon for one-time download of DRM-free MP3 versions of the album tracks from the label's Web sites. So I get the big cover art and the intangible experience (they're both double albums on vinyl) but I can still play 'em on the computer without sweating over the process of digitizing vinyl.
Fact is, the vinyl version of the Of Montreal record (which is awesome) has a scratch that makes track 3 repeat the same crazy groove over and over, and it sounds intentional and much, much better than the digital version, which now seems weirdly short. And it comes with four bonus tracks, which are included in the download too but not on the CD version. Obviously some small record labels are betting big on vinyl as a way to keep people buying records, and I'm all for it.