More of a lament than a true bitch:
I don’t like buying/downloading music online. I miss the days of great record stores with huge selections, wicked music playing overhead, and aloof clerks who KNEW something about music.
These days, record stores suck and the only way to get new and great music is by stealing it online or using a lame e-store to buy it.
It just doesn’t compare to thumbing through racks of discs at the record store. Having that new CD in your hands and opening it to read the jacket. That first listen in your discman on the way home.
It must have been SUPER cool in the days of vinyl shops. Sadly, my entrance to the scene traversed the tape – CD transition. Regardless, CD stores are now DVD stores and the true indie record store is a dying breed.
Sigh. —iMusic resister
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2010.
it was cool 🙂
I miss Sam, where did he go?
come back…
obsolete, on agricola, is pretty rad.
Back in the early seventies I used to buy vinyl at a Winnipeg record store called Opus 69. It went out of business decades ago, but it had the racks and racks of LPs that you speak of and knowledgeable clerks as well. That’s the way record shops were. Of course that was all before the days of CDs. I still have a lot of my original vinyl albums but I no longer have a turntable and amp on which to play them. 🙁
yea Sam the Record Man on Yonge st. in Toronto was the place at one time 🙂
Remember when there was a record store in Scotia Square?
It WAS super cool in the days of vinyl. Miss it greatly. Not only Sam’s and Kelly’s on Barrington, where you could get less mainstream stuff, you could order imports. Then there was also all the used and import shops downtown. Could spend all day just going from store to store finding great music.
I hate downloading music, and refuse to do it until tangible formats totally disappear. I was dragged kicking and screaming into buying cd’s, but I prefer them to digital downloading, anyday. I want the whole experience of the music, the artwork, the lyric sheets, the tracks that aren’t “singles”.Downloading is killing the music experience.
Even better, remember when touring bands did instore performances and autograph sessions. I too miss Kelly’s on Barrington. It seems like a lifetime ago.
only problem there o.p., was that in order to get one good tune off an album, you had to buy it with 11 other crabby songs on it too. long live downloading. it’s the way of the future, today.
and add to that, after so many playings, the vynal will wear out, so you have to get another record again, and same old story.
I remember the day I discovered that Sam’s had more than one floor… I was so happy.
May I respectfully suggest that many of us – myself included – remember record stores (LPs and 45s etc) as cool mainly because we were a lot younger when we frequented those places? If I had to be honest about all of it not only would I echo what Life Sucks said, but I’d add in issues with dust, lending LPs only to get one back with a strategic scratch that caused a stick, trying to find places to store all the records, in reality not having much useful information on LP jackets at all (not compared to what is available on the ‘Net these days), generally speaking not having as good sound quality as today unless you invested in really high-end sound systems…
Remember all *that*? We used to invest lots of time and money in those excellent turntables and tuners and amps and speakers? Hell, I also had a reel-to-reel tape deck that I transcribed LPs onto for maximum lifespan of music. If I had to be brutally honest about all this I’d have to confess that I spent thousands of dollars on equipment (70’s dollars besides) to give me a sound experience that was inferior to what I get on my smartphone with downloaded music.
I’m as nostalgic as the next guy for things I used to do when I was young, and that are long gone, but in real life was that erstwhile music-researching and locating and purchasing and listening experience better than what we have now? Fuck no, not by a long shot.
If stores with LPs were intrinsically better, they’d still be around. People would demand it. Fact is, the remaining stores cater to nostalgia.
The days of vinyl have become hstory.
But unless the quality of downloaded music has improved greatly in the past year, I’ll stick with satellite and DVD/CD
I am scared of needles so I rejoiced when the CD’s came out. 😀
RiD
You make good points. I agree with you about the hassles of vinyl records. There are few albums in my vinyl collection that escaped the ravages of time ie. scratches and the wear and tear of being played repeatedly. I guess it is nostalgia.
I feel badly for music-loving kids today – you cannot compare the sweet, multilayered analog sound of vinyl to the digital shit that’s recorded today.
@Hugo’s avatar – so that’s what Katy Perry was doing before she kissed a girl…and liked it.
After years of paying 12-20 bucks (1980’s bucks, so a lot) for vinyl I don’t mind downloading one bit. Shit, I download stuff I don’t even like just for the sake of it. The prices being charged back then were fucking insane, especially when it came to non-current releases. Fuck those greedy bastards. My money goes to seeing live acts in small venues, in case you’re wondering.
limewire is no more. i had a nice 45 collection when i was young (not firearms)
My vinyl has survived relatively intact despite much play. Perhaps the lack of alcohol in my life has been a contributing factor to this. I guess having an aversion to alcohol is worth something after all:S
For me, it all boils down to: you can’t ask the artist to sign an mp3. I love to see my favorite artists live, and new ones I’m not familiar with too. Many times I have been lucky enough to have said artist sign the cd jacket. It adds an extra something to the music for me when I’ve met the artist, and seeing the autograph on the cover when I pull the CD out to listen to it reminds me of the awesome show I saw.
Long live physical recordings of music!!
p.g.,limewire is still up and running, just that they give you a warning message when you first open it up.
call me crazy, but the majority of my music was purchased…warning messages scare me suckulous^^
I’m with the Op’s bitch here when it comes to cd’s becoming the way of the dinasour. That’s why I got myself a record player and started listening to vinyl again. Taz is a great place, and vinyl is making a somewhat popular comeback so many artists are putting new things out on vinyl.
If we havent gotten rid of vinyl yet I don’t think CDs will be going anywhere soon. The blank ones will stick around at least.
i spent a lot of time at sam’s on yonge and the one on barrington til they closed. the third floor was awesome snoop. always a person up there, some with crossed arms, some without
But downloading is free! 🙂
Sam….well he’s long gone.
When I was growing up back in the UK in the early 60’s the small town I lived in had 1 record store. You could stand up and listen to a record inside this Darth Vader like enclosure, in mono of course. I had a transistor radio with 1 earpiece and listened to Radio Luxemburg and Radio Caroline, off-shore radio pirates, also in mono.
The LP’s agree; 1 track would be good, the rest shite, how else did keef pay for his smack?
I love downloading and all the gizmos that you can listen to great music on.
Taz Records is a great little shop. Haven’t been to Obsolete yet but from what I’ve heard it’s quite good too. There’s still plenty of vinyl out there and tons of musical acts even today release vinyl pressings (usually with MP3 codes thrown in as an incentive), I don’t think it’s ever really going to die out.
Problem is the cost more than anything else. 20-30 bucks for a CD or record adds up really, really quickly, and if it ends up not being good enough to justify the price you’re fucked.
taz rawks and obselete is trying hard. the one near the vault didn’t last long but the dog was sweet
Move to Victoria BC and check out Lyle’s Place, it’ll cure what ails ya…
I’ don’t mind downloading. My problem with downloading is not necessarily quality (only music snobs say that analog recordings have true “quality”, which is bullshit) but it’s the issue of ownership. When you buy from anyone, be it iTunes, RealPlayer’s store, or the post piracy Napster, you never own the song you’ve purchased. You can only share it with X number of people, and you’re restricted to the provider’s bitrate, as well as format, meaning they can give you shitty 128 or 192 kbps AAC files, and you can’t do anything about it. Also, the company is able to revoke your rights at any time.
Sigh… I miss simple music purchases. And I realize that going to HMV is simple, I just hate getting preached to by some douchebag hipster.
CD Heaven, Dartmouth, cool place check it out!
Dr. Fever, I’m pretty sure that iTunes got rid of DRM a while back. If not, I know that Amazon is DRM-free. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always frostwire and bittorrent. 🙂 (Cool avatar, BTW)
*cough* i knew you would like the doc’s avatar nerdy boy♥