It’s well known that only hours after Michael Jackson’s death his family brought trucks to his pad and started cleaning it out.  Now, it has surfaced that Jackson’s sister LaToya snagged hard drives containing the artist’s unreleased works, including songs he recorded with Ne-Yo, Akon, and will.i.am, plus many songs that were cut from his 1980s albums. Frank DiLeo, Michael’s manager, said that the estate lawyers will send out letters to recover the drives so that the contents can be logged and dealt with appropriately.  A spokeswoman for will.i.am said the singer did not have duplicates of his work with Jackson. Let’s hope that we get to hear these without too much drama.

Vinyl has become more and more popular each year, despite being proclaimed dead in the 80s with the advent of the Compact Disc.  One thing that CD can’t overcome however, is its 16 bit /44.1 khz sampling rate, whereas vinyl is the waveform as nature intended.  It sounds better, it comes with bigger and more amazing cover art, and frequently old albums can be had for a couple bucks in excellent condition.  Nielsen Soundscan reports that vinyl sales inflated almost 90% in 2008 and stores like Best Buy are testing out some stores with vinyl sections.  With these figures, it’s hard to ignore the trend.

We set out to local record stores Pure Pop, Downtown Discs, and Burlington Records to check out their vinyl selections.  Here are our favorites.

Adam:
Daniel Johnston - Yip/Jump Music, $15.97, Pure Pop
Maybe my favorite musician, Daniel Johnston has recorded dozens of albums over the last 25 years.  This is probably his most essential record, made only with a chord organ and a cassette recorder.  A decently priced, fantastic album—buy it!

Le Tigre - Le Tigre, $9.97, Pure Pop
A great indie album made by feminist punks.  $10 is definitely a good deal for this.

Devo - New Traditionalists, $8, Downtown Discs
Not the best Devo album, but not bad at all.  At a very good price, this is surely worth picking up.

The Stranglers - Black & White, $9, Burlington Records
A classic album by an essential 70’s organ/synth punk band.  The record itself is a grey/white marble swirl and fairly cheap.  If I was getting paid for this, I would’ve actually bought it.

Dead Boys - We’re Coming For Your Children, $8, Burlington Records
Well, I think that’s the price (I forgot to write it down).  It wasn’t more than $10, which would still be a great price for this 70’s punk album.

Jason:
Square Pusher - Just a Souvenier, $17.97, Pure Pop
This is a high energy vintage-style pumping electronic playground of an album.  It’s just the sort of music that you’d like groove to when playing Mario Bros. on NES.

John Coltrane - Giant Steps Limited RTI Edition, $54.97, Pure Pop
If you are a jazz fan you probably have this album already.  The problem is that your copy probably sounds pretty terrible.  This edition has notably improved sonics and is a limited edition pressing.  Yes, that’s a sky-high price, but your ears will thank you if you have a CD-remaster.

Phil Collins - No Jacket Required, $4.00, Downtown Discs
This album features Sussidio.  It’s also $4.00.  Buy it because it’s Patrick Bateman’s personal favorite.

Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, $4.00, Downtown Discs
Harry Belafonte is one of the finest vocalists/band leaders to ever stand in front of a microphone.  This album features decent sonics unlike most of his work, and captures his energy better than most studio albums do.

Ghostbusters II Soundtrack, $16.00, Burlington Records
This platter of awesomeness features Run DMC, Elton John, and that theme that you know and love all on one disc.  Buy it to improve every aspect of your life.