
27.06.2012 / Arts & Culture
Retromania (pt. 2)
Speaking of unusual phonographic supports, Fort Atlantic, a rock band from Alabama, decided to release their new album on 8 bit NES (Nintendo) cartridges, with a flash drive that contains the full album as well as a bonus EP and videos.
Such an idea cannot be put down to a mere trend or marketing strategy; on the contrary, it betrays a sort of fetishism for the past: the enchantment for vintage objects is so strong that it bends the support (i.e. NES cartridges) to an unprecedented use.
The late revival of audio cassettes is yet another remarkable phenomenon in the music industry. As an analog support, cassettes have a much worse sound quality than vinyl records, not to mention their short life expectancy.
Yet, quite a lot of netlabels have started to release albums on audio cassettes, paying hommage to glorious record labels with unusual and original hand-made covers. The retro charm of good old audio cassettes also charmed some popular bands like Animal Collective, whose fans had the chance to win an original audio casette by purchasing shoes. Coming to vinyl, the figures are clear: in 2011, sales grew by 39%, following a trend that started back in 2005.
Such a success is not simply due to the charm of retro – it’s the expression of a veritable fight for the survival of a different way of experiencing music, where the “warm” and relaxed act of listening to a vinyl record opposes to the absent-minded and detached act of listening to lower-sound-quality CDs or mp3s.
Quite a few indie labels are taking part to the battle by releasing their new albums on vinyl and adding a free downloading code for the mp3 version.
Not to mention the fact that, compared with mp3s and CDs, vinyl records have a plus: who could resist the temptation to hang a cool vintage LP cover on the wall like a work of art?
Links
http://www.facebook.com/fortatlantic
http://www.sanitymuffin.com/category/2-releases
http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/09/hear-new-animal-collective-music-when-you-buy-their-shoe/




