The retail stats prove it: vinyl records are coming back (although some might say that they never actually went anywhere). But why lug around big, heavy crates of vinyl when you can fit 10,000 songs in your pocket with an iPod? What’s the appeal of a dusty, deteriorating record when you can have the clean crispness of the digital sound?
First the film revisits DJ Disco Phantom, this time while he’s warming up the crowd live at a local club. He talks about records are instruments to DJs like him, and why he spins records and uses his laptop together at his DJ gigs.
The film also explores the appeal of vinyl to listeners: the warm sound, the physical presence, and the action a record calls a listener to do to lower the needle, flip the record, and generally pay more attention to the music. It becomes very clear that vinyl records are thriving because it’s a very different experience than listening on an iPod–each medium offers its own unique traits, and that’s okay.