Saturday was Record Store Day, and we’d like to take a moment to salute the lovers of vinyl, the collectors of unusual albums (and album art) and all the folks who appreciate the rich tones of a classic LP.
Ever wonder why records are black? Records are pressed from PVC, which is naturally a rather gray-ish and translucent material. During production, a pigmenting agent called carbon black is added to the PVC in order to reduce surface noise and minimize wear when the record is played. Interestingly, records were occasionally produced in colors other than black, but since the sound quality left much to be desired, those colorful records are generally better suited as collector’s items than as usable albums.
For the record (or for full collections of ’em), check out Musical Merchandise.