The Tables are Turning

The MP3 generation is coming back round to vinyl – you should be, too

For all the promise of the digital revolution, we’re still stuck in a quandary: the ideal musical format doesn’t exist. MP3s sound like microwaved lasagne and vinyl you can’t carry with you. CDs are... dead to us. But big indie labels such as Matador and Sub Pop are bringing back vinyl, with its cool outsize packaging and warm sound, with a unique plan: buy the record and you can download the digital version for free. It’s an ideal solution at a time when no medium is perfect. There’s another reason to haul your turntable out of the attic: used–music shops are packed with the LPs we grew up on, often for R50 or less. Our kids will probably never associate music with a physical product and that’s fine, but whether you were born in 1950 or 1980, Houses of the Holy can’t be separated from the psychedelic sleeve with the naked blond nymphs ascending that stoned, volcanic temple. – Will Welch

Check out GQ's sound advice on choosing your vinyl equipment in the September issue of GQ. On sale now.

Photographs by Pamela Hanson/Art and Commerce, Mitchell Feinberg