The return of vinyl, that faithful and round pleasure
Vinyl became a kind of cult object for fans, because it is an expensive collectible, due to the cost of each album, whose prices are different depending on the company that publishes them, but which have a floor of two thousand pesos. “Dodging puddles”, by La Renga, can be obtained at that price. Although it is an exception: it is difficult to find one for less than four thousand pesos.
Enjoying music in these formats has other needs. First you have to have a turntable, another high-cost object. The cheapest ones can be obtained for 20,000 pesos, although the appearance of laptops reduced the possibility by almost half. Of course, the use of the built-in speakers makes the sound not the best. And precisely the great attraction of vinyl is the way it is heard.
Another possibility for the most skilled is the restoration of the old ones that were left as an inheritance in the grandparents' house and that, like all ancient artifacts, if well cared for, can be eternal. Both those and laptops, the incorporation of extra speakers or a home theater gives them a resolution that will be up to the demanding.
Music is heard on vinyl, but not all of it. Vinyl has better sound fidelity than cassette, CD or any other format, but it's not for everyone. Being an analog device, the best-sounding discs are recorded that way. For example, the works of Ramones, Attaque 77 or the first ones of La Renga sound powerful due to the simplicity of the instrumentation, based on bass and drums.
It is true that vinyl was losing life over time due to the appearance of other more transportable formats and due to industry impositions, but now the demand of those who prefer it is related to something that could be defined as good taste. There are no vinyls from L-Ghent.
For San Luis, buying a vinyl is not easy and the acquisition is almost exclusively subject to online orders. The last stronghold was Musimundo, which had some in stock (reduced, admittedly), but once the company decided to stop selling music, fans were left without a point of sale.
Then there is no other option than to cling to the internet, either in online stores or in Mercado Libre. When buying, you have to look for prices, because there is always some availability, either because it does not have the updated price or for some other reason. Like all deluxe elements, there are no offers. The price is what it is.
In the catalogs there are many national records from the '70s and '80s. There are also more modern bands, like La Renga or Attaque 77. Sony vinyls are the most expensive and now they cost about 8 lucas. Searching in the nets, you can catch some with an old price. The company published works by Charly García, Soda Stereo, some by Virus and Lali Espósito.
Today, an album by Los Piojos costs almost 8 thousand pesos and one by Blink 182 (“Enema of the state”) costs 6. And the first No Doubt, the one with a red cover, costs the same as Los Piojos. . In other words, in the first quarter it is convenient to buy a couple of international bands before the national ones. Those of The Beatles are always expensive. Some of his records are not available for less than 7 thousand pesos and can reach up to 12 thousand.
One of the good news that the return of vinyl brought was the possibility of finding some jewels that had sold out or had been left out of sales. One of them, for example, is the self-titled album by La Cofradía de la Flor Solar, in an edition of 2018, precisely the year that can be considered the resurgence of this vice called vinyl.
