Stacks of wax give max value, track for track

A seriously odd thing has been happening at record stores: As CD sales have been declining in the face of digital downloading, vinyl has been enjoying a resurgence, with everyone from Animal Collective to P.O.S. to Lookbook dropping new releases on wax while labels re-issue now classic albums in vinyl format, often for the first time. 

It's never going to return to the heydays of the '60s and '70s, but the LP and the culture of the record bring something to music listening that iTunes just doesn't. It requires attention (you gotta flip that record every 15 to 20 minutes) and care (make sure you've got your 50/50 solution of isopropyl alcohol and filtered distilled water and a soft, clean washcloth) and, of course, the time-honored practice of crate-digging.

Devotees flock to the Electric Fetus, Cheapo, Hymie's, and other Twin Cities record stores on a weekly and sometimes daily basis to flip maniacally through the latest used buys, but true aficionados seek out record sales like the one happening March 12, 13, and 14 at the Carleton Artists Lofts on University Ave in St. Paul, affectionately known as the Jazz Dorms for the large population of musicians living there.

Sellers will include Let It Be Records (which has gone online since vacating its downtown Minneapolis space in 2005), GoJohnnyGo, and Riffs-Ahoy. There'll also be DJs spinning wax in a variety of genres from new wave to jangle pop to space age instrumentals to sleazy listening to soul to soft psych, with some specializing in local vinyl and 45s.

Regardless of your devotion to the format, there should be enough good music and crazy cover art to keep casual onlookers entertained for an afternoon.