We all know that vinyl was supposed to be long dead by now. But it ain't; far from it in fact. Neither CDs nor MP3s managed to kill off records like we were told that they would. Rather demand for, and sales of, vinyl has grown increasingly in recent years. The Nielsen Company reports that in 2010 US vinyl sales reached 2.8 million units while in 2006 they were only at 900,000 units - a significant increase that is continually growing. 

Just recently Nielsen reported that vinyl sales for 2011 are already up nearly 40% over the same time period for last year. Not surprising then Amoeba Music has been expanding its vinyl sections accordingly to accommodate this increasing demand for records. Recently the vinyl section at the Hollywood Amoeba store grew by about 20% to make room for both used collectible albums (a hot commodity) and the influx of new LP pressings and re-issues of older music.

Similarly to the misguided pronouncement of vinyl's demise, the more recent premature talk of how physical books are fast becoming an obsolete medium - replaced by Kindles and iPads and other digital devices to read E-Books on - is also proving to be an incorrect prediction. Yes it's true that, like with music before it, digital downloads of books are the preferred format for the masses. But, as with music in a physical format vs a digital one, the rapid growth of E-Books is actually helping create a new demand for books and a new smaller, specialized niche market for them; especially certain types of books like reference books, art books, music history books etc. - the sort of book that one likes to pore over its pages. Again Amoeba Music is responding to this new growing niche by slowly but steadily increasing its book sections. At the Hollywood Amoeba the book section (new and used) is gradually expanding and deepening its genres (art, culture, politics as well as music related books) and Amoeba is encouraging more of its customers to bring their cool music and art and film books to sell or trade for this growing new wave of book appreciators.

As proven by the runaway success of the recent Record Store Day, the demand for, and the overall appreciation of, vinyl records is growing at a most impressive rate. It's clear that records ain't going away anytime soon. Both longtime record collectors and new younger vinyl appreciators weened on MP3's, who seek a warmer, fuller sounding & more tactile alternative, are keeping vinyl alive. As I like to say, you can't put your arms around an MP3. So considering the healthy renaissance that vinyl is currently enjoying, the timing for the forthcoming Jony Lyle directed homage to vinyl records, To Have & To Hold, could not be better.

Vinyl records carry a very deep & profound meaning for those who collect them, as you can see from the above six minute-clip of excerpts from this forthcoming ninety minute documentary that includes interviews with such vinyl aficionados as Questlove, Danny Krivit, DJ Amir, Chuck D, Bobbito Garcia, Christian Marclay, Bruce Lundvall, and Paul Mawhinney,

To Have & To Hold director Jony Lyle, who has opened record shops in Edinburgh and Barcelona and  is co-founder of Scratch club in London, Edinburgh and Gothenburg, describes his film as “a musicmentory to celebrate the age of vinyl records.” Featuring a nice mix of all things vinyl, including the aforementioned interviews (all conducted amidst the respective aficionado's record collection), archive footage, record pressing plant footage, and such eye candy for vinyl fiends like myself as the segment filmed at PS1 Contemporary Arts Center in Queens, NY of the 12" records as floor tiles exhibit.

While recently checking out the video below by the Audio Bullys (the UK duo whose third album Higher Than The Eiffel arrives in Amoeba tomorrow) for their great 2008 single-only release "Gimme That Punk" in which they display countless classic album covers (including The Clash, The Doors, The Kinks, The Sex Pistols) it further reminded me of why I love (and miss) LPs and their glorious 12" by 12" cover art work so much. This is why I always look forward to checking out new (and always themed) LP cover art posts here by The Gone World Amoeblogger Mr Chadwick and any record or LP cover art gallery shows like the ones at very top and lower points of this blog, courtesy of Siemon Allen Records, whose current exhibit Records (South African Edition) just ended yesterday at the Johannesburg Art Fair. 

The Audio Bullys' video reminded me of another UK musical duo's video from recent years, dan le sac VS scroobius pip's 2007 video for their hit single "Thou Shalt always Kill," in which they also flip through various classic album covers as they dismiss their respective makers as being "just a band." This music video style, utilized by both this pair and the Audio Bullys, of displaying and then tossing on the ground the LP covers that are referenced in their lyrics is directly derived from the film footage of Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home album track "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in which Dylan is filmed tossing large cue cards with key words from the song's lyrics.