The end of the CD seems nigh as sales fell again in 2007 continuing a trend that’s been unspooling for years. The reason behind the plunge in sales — according to most reasonable people — is the popularity of digital music.

Now, I would be a trifle despondent if the future of music seemed solely to be digital singles cherry picked from iTunes or peer-to-peer network, but there does seem to be a slim glimmer of hope for people like me who still enjoy going to the local brick-and-mortar store to thumb through the latest releases.

Last year, the sale of vinyl albums rose 15 percent while CD sales continued plummeting. The trend has been getting a lot of press because the incongruity of an analog, almost anachronistic format experiencing newfound popularity in the high-tech, digital age is intriguing. And it isn’t holdouts from the technophobic holdouts and ‘70s purists behind the sales bump. The reason for vinyl’s resurgence appears to be that the few people under 30 still willing to buy albums want a more substantial purchase for their money than the underwhelming compact disc.

In an article in Time magazine published last month after the release of the Nielsen Soundscan data for 2007, Kristina Dell wrote” “Many young listeners discovered LPs after they rifled through their parents’ collections looking for oldies and found that they liked the warmer sound quality of records, the more elaborate album covers and liner notes that come with them, and the experience of putting one on and sharing it with friends, as opposed to plugging in some earbuds and listening alone.”

The Soundscan data doesn’t even take into account old vinyl purchased in thrift shops or even some of the smaller indie mom-and-pop stores. So this could be a real, burgeoning market. In the same Time magazine article, the indie label Merge (Destroyer, Arcade Fire) said it was having trouble even keeping up with the demand.

I’ve recently been considering buying all my new releases on vinyl and give up the CD all together. Almost all new releases are available in both vinyl and CD now, and if you buy the vinyl, most of the time it comes with a free digital download of the album. The difference in sound quality between CD and high-fidelity 180 and 200 gram vinyl, as far as I can tell, is negligible. (Vinyl also sounds considerably better than digital downloads.)

The only thing really holding me back is that CDs are still cheaper, and my vinyl collection, already in the hundreds, takes up a lot of room and is difficult to move as it is. Still, when I really love an album, I would prefer either to the impersonality of my iPod.

Black Mountain: “In the Future”

If there is any new release this year perfect for spinning on an old turntable, it’s Black Mountain’s sophomore album, “In the Future.”

Continuing the experiment began in 2005 on its self-titled debut, which I own on vinyl, the Canadian band takes its surprisingly dexterous recreation of ‘70s stoner rock and begins pushing the boundaries. Dudes steeped in classic rock would probably be able to point out numerous references on “In the Future,” but the towering riffage the propels songs like opener “Stormy High” and “Evil Ways” doesn’t recall so much one band as a lost era.

“Stormy High” kicks the door in with the kind of fat, no-nonsense guitar riff and high-pitched, wordless moaning that — OK, there’s no way around it — recalls Robert Plant. The next song, “Angels,” is a trippy folk song, and its success relies somewhat on lead singer Stephen McBean’s vocal similarity to Neil Young.

The best song on the album is the indomitable and monolithic “Tyrants.” It begins aggressive and then slows to a drowsy pace as McBean muses, “You will die by the sword.” He harmonizes with Amber Weber, who sounds like Grace Slick. Weber contributes a floating-above-the-earth verse where violence continues to be the theme, and then we’re back to the hard stuff. The song is eight minutes long, second longest on the album.

So of course there’s Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin in the music. “Wild Wind” sounds a lot like early Bowie. The droning, rock-and-dirge hybrid of the 16-minutes “Bright Lights” recalls the 70s penchant for excess and progressive rock. So, of course, some of the appeal of Black Mountain is that the record sounds like a lost artifact from 1974, but this is not its only appeal. It’s not pure nostalgia or gimmick. The songs stand firm. McBean sounds like he’s making music he loves, and the band doesn’t seem content to be archeologists.

And when indie music is marketed as the precious stuff on the “Juno” soundtrack, a band like Black Mountain is a welcome reminder to everyone that we’re not all wimps — honest to blog.