Sometime around 1990, I walked into the now-departed Tower Records on Sunset, circled the interior and then — unnerved — asked a clerk where the records — as in Tower Records — were. "We stopped selling 'em," he said. "Customers don't buy 'em — only cassettes and CDs." Bullshit, I thought, me and most of my friends still bought vinyl. I suspected, and still do, that planned obsolescence by evil capitalists was at fault, and yet 20-plus years later, people blessed with that other obsolescence — good taste — still buy vinyl. In 2011, U.S. sales topped 3.6 million units, 37 percent more than the year before. Record collector Jeff... More >>>