Vinyl Faces Its Final Curtain
Dance culture elder statesmen Paul Hartnoll from Orbital and S Express's Mark Moore
predicted vinyl is set to become obsolete in the new issue of Mixmag this week, in a
feature headlined Grumpy Old DJs.
"It's not got much of a f**king future has it, vinyl?" said Paul Hartnoll, "It'll
die like the wax cylinder."
Acid house pioneer Fabio also described being shocked when he stumbled across two
Technics turntables on a recent visit to London's Science Museum, in a display area
celebrating classic technology.
"They had this archive section with a pair of SL1200s in the window," the drum &
bass don declared, "and it (a placard that) said 'this is what DJs used in the 70s
and 80s'."
Next generation DJ Paulo Mojo told Skrufff he last played an all-vinyl set in 2000
and his last ever record in a club at the end of 2004 and said, though he still buys
vinyl regularly, he now always edits tracks with Ableton before burning them onto CD
for spinning.
"I was travelling with Lee Burridge a couple of weeks ago, who still plays
predominantly vinyl, and he said almost ruefully, he is waiting for the day he shows
up at a club to find no Technics installed. And he believes it will be sooner rather
than later." said Paulo. "Lee is an exception rather than a rule mind you. Danny
Howells still carries a big box of records too."
"For me the flexibility of using Abelton and CDs far outweighs any nostalgia I might
feel for a box of 12" records," he added.