On an unseasonably warm Thursday evening, seven customers shuffle through the aisles of Vertigo Music, intently scanning the titles as they hunt for new finds. No one is touching the dusty CDs and tapes; instead everyone is concentrated on the vinyl.

Like jelly sandals and leggings, vinyl is back. More records were sold in 2009 than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan's existence (although it has only been tracking trends since 1991). More than 2.5 million records were sold in 2009 — a 33 percent increase from 2008. Although vinyl represents less than one percent of all albums sold, including CDs and digital downloads, the renewed interest is a bright spot in the often gloomy world of music sales.

"For us it happened about four years ago, when we used to have a small vinyl section," says Herm Baker, store manager at Vertigo Music on Division in Grand Rapids, referring to the recent vinyl boom. "Then it seemed like overnight, dozens of people bought turntables. Now vinyl makes up more than half of our sales."

The thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of the find are experiences that can't be replicated with an iTunes search bar. Music aficionados are returning to the medium that was all but abandoned with the mass adoption of CDs in the 1980s, relishing in the social camaraderie and nostalgia of the vinyl records.

The Nielsen report attributed much of the recent record resurgence to releases from popular powerhouses such as The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan, but also, newer, independent artists have helped to fuel the vinyl comeback. Vinyl by indie rock artists like The National, Bon Iver and Minus the Bear top the charts and fill the stores. The Nielsen report also noted that two out of three vinyl albums were purchased at an independent, brick-and-mortar music store rather than national chain stores or from online retailers. This bodes particularly well for stores like Vertigo Music, which is known for its large selection of indie vinyl.

From lovingly tattered standards to sparkling new local releases, Vertigo stocks records in all genres, with jazz, indie rock, metal and punk holding their own as the top sellers. Most LPs sell from $10 to $25, with the exception of the bargain finds, collectibles and double-LPs.

Jenny Carroll, a 29-year-old Grand Rapids resident, recently rediscovered the magic of records. She purchased records from Icelandic experimental band múm and indie darlings She & Him during Vertigo's Record Store Day celebration in April. Carroll wasn't the only one adding to her collection on the fourth annual Record Store Day — more vinyl records were sold during this year's holiday than any single day since Nielsen has been tracking sales.

Carroll was first introduced to vinyl as a teenager, when her uncle gave her a stack of about 150 classic rock albums. She recently rekindled her love of vinyl after her husband's band, Grand Rapids-based instrumental rockers Paucity, released its sophomore album on vinyl last September.

"It was the first time I'd seen a modern band come out with vinyl," says Carroll. "It's a detailed piece of art, and I was impressed with everything that went into creating the record."

Steve Williamson, owner of The Corner Record Shop in Grandville, has also noticed an uptick in vinyl interest, with record sales outpacing CDs three-to-one. While Williamson used to see five new titles on vinyl when he'd order new merchandise several years ago; now, he sees 20 to 40 new vinyl releases each week.

"We've seen a lot more first-time customers in the past two years," he says. "Vinyl has picked up, with more records produced by newer artists. Everyone is starting to play them again — people from age 16 to 70."

In response to greater demand, more local artists began producing their work in vinyl. In addition to Paucity's LP, Grand Rapids-based Friction Records has released vinyl records from Charles the Osprey, Chance Jones, and Victor! Fix the Sun, among others. Friction Records has been releasing albums on vinyl since the label was founded in 2001, with Bars of Gold and another by Charles the Osprey planned for release in 2010.

"It began as a collectors' thing, in reaction to the market shifting with all the digital stuff," says Jeff VandenBerg, owner of Friction Records. "Being able to buy single songs on iTunes ruined the concept of an album. The whole process of putting a needle down on a large album is more intimate than having your iPod on random."

VandenBerg pairs the old with the new by including mp3 download codes with his label's vinyl releases. Vertigo's Baker believes that some of the growth was spurred by the accessibility of also including the mp3 downloads.

"Some record company created a vinyl LP with an mp3 download code and that was the turning point," says Baker. "Once that happened, it opened it up to a whole new pool of people. Some people won't even buy a record if it doesn't have a download code."

Grand Rapids DJ Shannon Williams has amassed a collection of more than 6,000 vinyl records for his professional use and personal listening pleasure. He thinks that although packaging albums with digital downloads has been a gateway for a new generation of listeners, vinyl just sounds better than digital.

"When you compact a song into CD or mp3 format, it compresses that sound into a smaller format than it was designed for and you lose some of the dynamic range," Williams says. "Records have big grooves that allows for more breathing room, so you can hear more highs, more lows and the full range of a song."

Few audiophiles would disagree with the notion that vinyl just sounds better than mp3s and CDs. With advances in turntable technology, the hisses and pops have been virtually eliminated.

"Now if you listen to a record on a good sound system, it's much fuller and warmer and sounds really good," says Williams.

In professional music circles, Williams says DJs have found a renewed interest in vinyl due to the popularity of mashups, which blend and layer multiple music tracks to produce a new sound.

"Mashup DJs have been using vinyl for a while," he says. Though there are programs that can replicate the sound of spinning real vinyl disks, nothing compares to the original, Williams says. "Good DJs want to have the true, pure feeling of touching the music and touching the grooves, of just getting lost in the music while spinning vinyl."

Although vinyl sales may be a drop in the bucket compared to overall music sales, the vinyl niche keeps local shops like Vertigo Music and The Corner Record Shop, feeling groovy.

"It might be a small percentage when compared to people who download music," says Baker. "But it's enough to keep our business going strong."