Victorious Vinyl: What “New Vintage” Is Doing for Music

No one can deny that “vintage” is in. To achieve the ultimate in chic, nowadays, one need not even have access to the tokens of days long gone, as the mere appearance of oldness can pass as the height of style. You don’t have to look far to see evidence of the “new vintage” trend—so-called “hipsters” sport suspenders and waxed mustaches on street corners in every major Western city. Records stores have made an unexpected comeback, enjoying an economic leg up that no one predicted. Sepia-toned filters for pictures taken on smart phones grace every social media site, favored by those enjoying the relentless pursuit of all things “vintage”.

Cultural philosophers theorize that the very heart of what makes something trendy—the sense of being ahead of the curve—sparked the vintage revival. Consumer behavior strategists got, perhaps, just a bit too good at predicting trends and were able to produce hugely popular items on a too-frequent basis. This rapid and dramatic shift in what was considered chic and trendy prompted a stylistic exodus in the other direction—that which can be mass-manufactured and bought is no longer “ahead of the curve”, rather, it is considered by some within the vintage movement to be the height of tacky.

Few elements of culture have been as affected by the vintage trend as popular music has. What used to be pockets of resilient Old Folk aficionados and Swing enthusiasts have swelled into still-growing revivals of styles which have remained untouched by popular media for decades. The music industry, which may never be the same, has changed (and whether for better or worse is up to the aforementioned cultural philosophers) in the following ways.

Pop Exhaustion

While the trademark bass-and-bubblegum sounds of today’s typical pop singles have earned a loyal following, the genre has been forced to retreat somewhat and make way for folk-influenced alternative singles in the Top 40. The charts which were once dominated by Pop and Hip Hop now sport twangy vocals and grainy guitar solos—many of which are without so much as a hint of autotune or a bassline created with anything but an actual bass.

The Revenge of the Banjo

Thanks to renewed interest in older styles of music—notably, folk and rockabilly, mainstream music has seen a surge in the popularity of instruments otherwise relegated to the fringes of popular genres. Mumford and Sons, for one easy example, have produced several hit songs heavily featuring the banjo and mandolin. Once thought of—by most of the populace, at least—as “folksy” or “old-fashioned” instruments, these have become a staple of popular alternative music. Vampire Weekend’s hugely popular Unbelievers, which topped out at #7 on the Billboard US Alternative chart, incorporated pennywhistle in its bridge—which was arguably the first time the traditional Irish woodwind has enjoyed the spotlight in American pop music since 1997 in Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.

While the focus on “fringe” instruments brought about by the vintage trend could be a transient phenomenon, it could also mean the preservation of instruments which have fallen from grace in popular music. The Kongos’ Come With Me Now, for instance, brought an accordion-centric composition to the #1 spot on charts worldwide. The polkaesque melody throughout the alternative rock group’s unchallenging single is now recognized by people everywhere, giving hope for the instrument’s future use in popular music.

The Scene

The aforementioned hipsters are merely one symptom, if an obvious one, of the new vintage’s impact on the alternative music scene. Even outside of the boundaries of hipster culture, telltale signs of vintage stylings can be found. Everything from iPhone cases designed to look like rotary phones to wooden headphones are being sported by music lovers everywhere. The vintage scene has very little different from its contemporaries—notably, punk and emo—having demonstrated a popular appeal in just a few short years. Hipster fashion can be found on the shelves of big box stores and dominates popular style blogs. Hipsterism and new vintage have adopted something of a symbiotic mutualism, the popularity of one feeding the appeal of the other. With folksy music on popular radio stations comes lumberjack chic and burlap-centric barnyard weddings. With sepia-filtered photos on social media comes nostalgic fashion and makeup. If new vintage is to survive, it may just need the hipster subculture to survive alongside it.

Indie Recognition

Perhaps the most positive side effect of the new vintage is the mass exodus of listeners away from established artists and labels towards independent artists. The common joke about the hipster snubbing certain music and declaring it “too mainstream” holds some truth. The new vintage movement encourages a nostalgic worldview which has no room for what could be perceived as mass-manufactured, commercial art. Independent artists, as ideals of grassroots musical innovation and uniqueness, have found a solid fanbase among hipsters and other lovers of all things vintage. While the latter’s pursuit of “undiscovered” artists has become so common it’s now a cliché, the good it has done for those who typically struggle to find footing in the music industry is undeniable.

Whatever your opinion of the new vintage—its fashion, its dominance of social media, its music—the changes it has brought to the industry are undeniably important. The revival of older musical styles, the preservation of folk instruments, and the helping hand independent artists have received as a result of the new vintage movement are establishing a trend which many don’t see as temporary.

Comments

[Kevin]

Spot on with your assumptions.
This "Vintage" thing has been swelling for about 18 months now. The signs of it moving into the mainstream is evident with the number of listeners tuning into Rockabilly radio shows including my own online radio show. Rockabilly mixed with early country and bluegrass are also enjoying a surge in popularity..
It will be interesting to see how long the mainstream side of music, movies and music catch on. If past trends are used as a guide they will jump on the band wagon just as the "Hipsters" move onto something else. When that does happen stand by for an avalanche of vintage everything.
Best I get ahead of the crowd and dust off my old Al Jolson records and buy a straw hat and stripe blazer.

[Real J.O.B]

Well written. Thank you <3

[Emma Sturgis]

Thanks so much for the response, Kevin! It's awesome to know shows like yours are gathering new viewers to the "vintage" genres. And a Jazz/Swing revival, much like the vintage one we're seeing now, would be amazing!