MANUAL
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I can't imagine not having an iPod. I can listen to Courtney Love wail like a banshee on my 7:30 a.m. walks to class. I can turn my "Sleep" playlist on for those times when I decide to shirk academic responsibility and take a nap instead. And I can hook Amy Winehouse up to the speakers when I'm in the shower, getting ready to go out for a rousing night on Massachusetts St.
Having said all of this, after getting a turntable as a Christmas present, vinyl is slowly becoming an indispensable part of my life. Putting the record on the turntable, pressing start and hearing the crackle and pop as the needle fits into the groove is unfathomably satisfying.
I'm not the only person who feels this way. Nielsen SoundScan reports show that vinyl sales in the United States are increasing (2.5 million sold in 2009 to 2.8 million sold in 2010), and LPs are no longer the exclusive domain of used record stores, as a trip to Urban Outfitters will confirm.
So if you're considering venturing into the land of LPs, here are a few places in Lawrence to get you started.
Fire won Best Record over Lady Gaga, and you'd like to hear their new album on vinyl. Or maybe you're looking for a long-forgotten, obscure Aretha Franklin record. Either way, you're bound to find some collectible goodies at Love Garden, 822 Massachusetts St. Although Love Garden sells both records and CDs, Kelly Corcoran, manager of the store, says that around 2008, sales tilted in favor of records, and demand for classic albums of the 1960s and 1970s attracted people who were starting their collections. "In a world that seems so artificial and fleeting, this seems tangible and valid," Corcoran says. "Vinyl manifests a tangible feeling for what music lovers want."
through the classic rock section looking for new LPs to add to his collection. He thinks records have an authenticity that you might not get from CDs. "That's how the band and artist wanted you to hear the music," Haas says. "It's not remastered. That takes away from the sound."
Most of Brett Haas' records are his father's, but the Overland Park senior was flipping
You might not find Arcade Fire at Kief's Audio, 2429 Iowa St., but in its corridors you'll find many other bizarre, delicious treasures. What else can you expect when a store selling records has been open since 1959? A recent trip revealed Bette Midler's 1972 debut, Laura Nyro's magnum opus, New York Tendaberry and Neil Young records so gloriously used and
KIEF'S
Photo Illustration | Jessica Janasz
Old-fashioned sound: Nielson SoundScan reports show a boom in vinyl sales. Local record stores see many younger customers looking for LPs.
LOVE GARDEN
Perhaps you're confused as to why Arcade
old that they just had to be snatched up.
Kief's takes pride in their collectible and classic items, Steve Wilson, Kief's manager, says. The boom in vinyl sales has only added depth to their collection. Wilson says Kief's employees sometimes go to peoples' homes to pick through extensive collections. Finding treasures in this way certainly pays off for customers at Kief's, many of whom are indeed younger. "To cultivate an interest in something analog and tangible fulfills a certain psychological need," Wilson says. "It's an individuation and separation experience."
Seeing people in their 20s buying records amuses Kelly Cline, an employee at Half Price Books, 1519 W 23rd St. St. Cline grew up on vinyl, so for her it's nothing special, she says. But she understands the desire younger people feel for LPs. "I thought CDs sounded better," Cline says. "Records have that pop. There's some nostalgic aspect of the sound. It's the purity that people like."
HALF PRICE BOOKS
The crackle and pop is one thing Lindin Scott, a fellow employee, loves about records. He started his collection with the Beatles and has never looked back. At Half Price Books, collectible jazz records and classic rock are the two big sellers, and younger people are always buying them, says Scott.
Of course, like with any used record store, Half Price Books is full of obscurities and oddities, and a recent trip Kelly Miller took unearthed such artifacts. Miller, Waterloo, Ill. senior, was particularly taken by the "80s soundtracks, she says. "If I ever find a place that has a stack of records, I always find myself going through them," Miller says. "I could sit on the floor and go through records all day."
Taking Care of Your Records
Vinyl records are not quite as durable as CDs. Here are a few tips every new collector should know.
Cartridge Condition
Storing LPs
If you're going to listen to LPs frequently, invest in a nice turntable, says Kelly Corcoran, manager of Love Garden. A cheap turntable can burn through records quickly.
Store your LPs upright, not lying down. Stacking them on top of each other could lead to scratching or warping.Wilson says.
If you want to get a vintage turntable, make sure the cartridge — the part with the needle that goes into the groove — is in good condition. If it's not, it could harm the album, says Steve Wilson, manager of Kief's.
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N PAGE 3A
BY ALEX GARRISON agarrison@kansan.com
The Student Senate finance committee proposed cutting all funding From the required campus fees to four community health services - the Douglas County AIDS Project,
Matthew Blankers, a graduate student in social work from Clearmont,
Headquarters, GaDuGi SafeCenter and Willow Domestic Violence Center — on Tuesday.
By Thursday, dozens of students had expressed their disapproval of the measure.
Calif., and a former senator, printed and distributed 250 fliers promoting students to contact senators. The budget would remove all funding from the Willow Center starting next year and all funding for the
SEE FUNDING ON PAGE 3A
Proposed reallocation of student fees
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n arch
- They say they don't want these services to lose funding but believe they should not be funded through the Student Senate activity fund
ARGUMENTS IN BRIEF:
Wants to cut all funding for the Douglas County AIDS Project, Headquarters, GaDuGi SafeCenter and Willow Domestic Violence Center from the student activity fee by fiscal year 2012; funding for these services is currently $2.11 of $11.41 (18 percent of total).
Plan to set up a taskforce to find ways to fund these services outside the activity fee
Sources: David Cohen, treasurer; Aaron Dollinger, chief of staff
Student Senate finance committee:
Funding cuts are coming from federal and state levels — even if student contributions are relatively small, every little bit helps, especially in preparation for Gov. Brownback's proposed budget, which cuts state funding to community mental health centers completely
The Douglas County AIDS Project, Headquarters, GaDuGi SafeCenter and Willow Domestic Violence
Irah Terwelp, executive director of the Willow Center; Olivia Burchett, outreach coordinator of DCAP
Center:
The self-destruction of the balloon will release the parachute, as it returns to earth. GeoHawk team member Ryan Callihan, a graduate student from Lenexa, said the team would track the vehicle's entire flight, but could not predict the landing exactly.
"We have no idea where it's going to land," he said. "It could land 300 miles downwind or in
- Wants funding to remain at $2.11 per student, per semester
The entire apparatus will be about 23 feet long, with the balloon measuring four feet wide and six feet tall, pulling a tail strung with a parachute, radar reflectors and two boxes of electronic equipment. The equipment, which includes GPS trackers, will measure internal and external temperatures, air pressure and the orientation of the contraption. A camera will dangle from the end, pointed downward,
The balloon will expand in response to the decreasing air pressure as it rises, and the team expects it to pop at about 100,000 feet.
Take a look at the sky on April 8 and you just might see a balloon flying over Lawrence. They call it Project GeoHawk, an assignment in Geography 726, Remote Sensing II.
BY IAN CUMMINGS
Weather permitting, the balloon will lift off from one of several possible launch sites on public land around the city. As the balloon rises, the camera will take hundreds of pictures of Lawrence and Douglas County. The students will use the balloon's flight data for several research projects on remote sensing, mapping, image processing and the effects of high-altitude on photography. Because the mission depends on obtaining good photographs,
A team of 18 geography students is preparing to build and launch a weather balloon 20 miles into the sky.
some team members boarded an airplane on Thursday for a test flight, removing one of the aircraft's windows to experiment with a variety of camera settings and lenses.
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
"The cameras worked great," said Kelly Miller, a senior from Waterloo, Ill. "If we can get that quality from the flight it will be amazing."
SEE GEOHAWKS ON PAGE 3A
Miller said that the vehicle, along with its data, could be destroyed if it lands in Clinton Lake or on Interstate 70. She said Olympus, the camera manufacturer that lent the students two Flagship E-5 cameras, also accepts that possibility and had been promised copyright of any images taken with their equipment.
Group hopes to end use of fake IDs in Lawrence
ALCOHOL | 3A
Kansas Citv."
The New Traditions Coalition works to promote awareness of alcoholism through new initiatives to stop underage drinking.
TECHNOLOGY | 3A The future of cars is here
INDEX
A guest speaker discusses the prospects of new electric cars.
Classifieds . 11A
Crossword. 4A
Cryptoquips. 4A
Opinion . 5A
Sports . 12A
Sudoku . 4A
WEATHER TODAY
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All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
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