I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I’m starting to see more and more positive articles about the return of vinyl records. NPR gave their spin on it last April. Wired Magazine waxed eloquent about its resurgence last October. Amazon.com has banded together all its vinyl product into one section of its online store. Bloggers are even turning their attention to it. Maybe all the press about vinyl is right; maybe it is making a comeback.

There are evidently a couple of interesting things helping people get back in the groove of buying record albums. One is a new type of turntable that is equipped with a USB cable, thus allowing you to easily convert the songs to mp3 format for portability — without any DRM hassles. Another is the even easier option given by some bands — buy the LP and you get a coupon that allows you to download the songs in mp3 format for free. Thus, you can have the easy portability of the music when you’re on the go, and the warmer sonic quality of the LP for home listening. Not a bad strategy.

I personally like LPs, both for nostalgic and auditory reasons. A well-crafted album is really something to experience. Growing up, I always loved to listen to a new album straight through from beginning to end (loudly, of course) while reading the liner notes, evaluating the artwork, and figuring out the lyrics (some albums even printed the lyrics out for you). I think they sound better, by and large, than digital music, too. Even with its imperfections, vinyl just sounds more — authentic.

Well, I’m not holding my breath, but I’ll be happy if vinyl grows in popularity and more album titles become available. That would be just… nah, I’m not going to say it; enough with the puns.