Off the record: David Smyth

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Trendsetters: The White Stripes are giving away 120,000 red vinyl records of their song Rag and Bone

Poster boy: Hugely collected

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THE WHITE STRIPES JOIN THE VINYL REVOLUTION

A free vinyl record with the NME? What year is this? Old-fashioned they may be, but the White Stripes, who are using this week's rock magazine to give away 120,000 red vinyl copies of their song Rag and Bone, are a canny pair. They know that the seven-inch is hipper than it has been in years, thanks to new bands and their fans realising that a download just doesn't have the same cool cachet.

Recently both Asda and Tesco stopped selling CD singles. Downloads are huge, as we know, but an increasing number of bands are now accompanying their digital releases with limited-edition vinyl versions (usually 500 copies). They are creating a new generation of record collectors.

"The seven-inch now accounts for up to 15 per cent of physical single sales," says Nick Levine, who started a new website, Index7. co.uk, to help fans keep up with new releases.

"We've definitely seen a real resurgence in kids buying vinyl in the past couple of years," says Nigel House, co-owner of the Rough Trade independent record shops, who is so confident in the continuing popularity of music you can touch and hold, that his company is about to open a 5,000sq ft store off Brick Lane.

"You've got to make," he adds, "a product that people want, and that's not just about the music. It's about how it looks and feels." Nigel Teague, who stocks some 40,000 records in his Collectors Records Centres in Kingston and Guildford, agrees that seven-inch vinyl, or 45s, will continue to be in demand no matter how futuristic the music industry becomes.

He says: "It was the first rock 'n' roll format. The big artists that are still selling today, like Elvis and the Beatles, first appeared on 45s, so there's all that history and nostalgia tied up in the product."

With its all-over red print and gatefold-sleeve (with room for their Icky Thump single, out on Monday), the White Stripes' record is unquestionably a very beautiful thing. You could bung it straight on eBay, as 30 or so people have done already, or blow the dust off Mum and Dad's old player and set about building a collection that looks much more pleasing than an iPod playlist.

THERE'S MORE TO REGGAE THAN BOB MARLEY

Bob Marley's Exodus, on everyone's greatest album list and named the best of the last century by Time magazine, is getting the 30th anniversary treatment in a big way. There's been a BBC Arena documentary, glossy hardback book, concert DVD and album re-issues in various formats including a USB stick.

Trouble is, don't most people already own it? In fact, though it's a close run thing with Marley's greatest hits, Legend, Exodus is probably the only reggae album in thousands of collections, a sad state of affairs. Perhaps you just don't know any better. But never fear, I'm here to help.

I asked some people in the know how the novice should proceed beyond Bob's best. Head of Soul Jazz Records Stuart Baker, who compiles collections from Jamaica's Studio One, recommends Three Piece Suit by Trinity, also from 1977 ("a rollercoaster ride into the spiritual, rhythmical and intellectual pleasures of Reggae") and 1980 masterpiece Truth and Rights by Johnny Osbourne.

Laurence Cane-Honeysett, who oversees the endless stream of re-issues from the British reggae label Trojan, suggests the spooky Heart of the Congos by the Congos, also 1977 ("arguably the greatest roots album ever") and the decade older Rock Steady compilations of influential producer Duke Reid.

Kiss DJ David Rodigan's choices include Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey ("His greatest achievement") and Blackheart Man by Bob's former bandmate Bunny Wailer. Multi-volume series such as Tighten Up and 100% Dynamite also provide perfect launchpads into a world that offers much more than Marley. Listen and learn.

AN EARLY LISTEN TO...
Crowded House
Time on Earth (Parlophone)

The first Crowded House album in 14 years, out 2 July, is about as low-key a comeback as could be mustered by such a big band. Yes, they play a huge show in Hyde Park on on 23 June, but otherwise their reformation seems merely to stem from frontman Neil Finn happening to employ nearly every original member on what was supposed to be his next solo album.

The 14 songs here are mainly acoustic, mature compositions. Finn emanates a quiet gravity on tracks such as the string-laden You Are the One to Make Me Cry. Even a Child, co-written with Johnny Marr, is more lively, but mostly Time on Earth reveals its considerable charms slowly.

NEW ON THE NET

When he's not roaring around on a motorbike or squiring Hollywood starlets, Razorlight's Johnny Borrell can be found doing good deeds such as giving away a free new song recorded for Friends of the Earth at www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/news/razorlight/download.html. Funeral Blues was recorded in the world's first solar-powered studio, London's Premises.

Before Richard Hawley's August comeback, it's worth investigating the similarly old-fashioned songcraft of Manchester's Cherry Ghost, tipped by many for an imminent breakthrough.

His emotional new single People Help the People is in download stores on Monday, and you can pick up the more upbeat Thirst for Romance for free at www.cherryghost.co.uk.

 

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