by Carrie Brownstein

Rolling a joint...on a record? Oh Carrie, you've got your chocolate in my peanut butter!

Sent by nsf | 2:10 PM ET | 04-08-2008

There was a Rubato Records on 45th in Wallingford for a couple years. Now, I think it's another coffee shop (just what Seattle needs!)

It seems like the abundance of blogs run by music fans might be replacing some of that in-store discourse about the new and the forgotten. However, I really hope more artists put out vinyl with a voucher for downloading the album online. Tactile and convenient!

Sent by JJ Hellgate | 2:27 PM ET | 04-08-2008

great post! i'm atually wearing my record store day shirt right now (i work at a record store). it's seriously a job i've always wanted i've got nothing but love and mushy feelings for record stores and records.

Sent by esme | 2:42 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I haven't frequented an actual store since Tower shut down and even though I live a mere two miles from an independent store here in Atlanta I've finally made the full transition to MP3's.

Your post did bring back memories of riding my bike to Turtles with my half dollar sized, LP shaped, bronze gift coins to spend freely. And yes, yuck.

Sent by Brian A. | 3:50 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Here's where music buyers are going:
"Based on the latest data from the NPD Group???s Music Watch survey, the iTunes Store surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the US" .
We may miss record stores, but if POST-BANDS music kicks in the art revolution, you'll get a better replacement in all arts art centers and an all artists review service.
Also we have to rethink owning records. What if we all had access to a jukebox that had all the music?
That's the future. It may well be some computer process where most music is open to all to hear for percentage of pennies per listen, or a flat yearly fee for the customer, that pays artists according to number of plays. That way the planet saves all the cost and waste of the manufacturing of millions of recordings and all the packaging that goes with it.
It's gloomy now, but the future looks bright. I think we are the first generation that will have access to all the world's music past and present., and I think there will still be some mega indie record stores for as long as people want them.

Sent by Tom Hendricks | 3:58 PM ET | 04-08-2008

well said -- nothing wrong with a little sentimentality for the most sentimental medium there is!

Sent by sarah | 4:05 PM ET | 04-08-2008

House of Records in Eugene, OR is one of my favorite shops. They got me hooked back on tapes. Double Nickels on the Dime for $6.00!!!

Sent by Jake | 4:07 PM ET | 04-08-2008

My boyfriend and I recently hosted a vinyl party where everyone invited had to bring a record to share. This was quite a challenge for some, but it was worth the effort. It actually got some of my techie/mp3-loyal friends to the record store (Everyday Music even!), and they ended up enjoying the experience.

I love vinyls for the experience too--slipping it carefully out of the cover (which is sometimes a piece of art in its own right), placing it on the turntable...much more involved than hitting shuffle on my computer.

I'm sappy though...

Sent by Carmel | 4:12 PM ET | 04-08-2008

This is how I feel about used and/or independent bookstores versus amazon. Not to mention chains like Borders and B&N where there's no point browsing because you always know exactly what you're going to find.

Sent by Elizabeth | 4:13 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Although ridiculously overpriced,I usually find something descent in the new arrivals at the Everyday Music on Sandy.

Sent by Casey | 4:24 PM ET | 04-08-2008

For getting the "uncool" tag that we may receive here in the Cleve, we're very lucky to have 3 great record stores. Two on the west side:
Bent Crayon has been around since 1997-ish.
My Mind's Eye is about 6-7 years old
Music Saves next to the Beachland on the east side is I think 4 years old.

(Is three great stores a good number?)

(there is also Shattered Records on the westside where one can find the most obscure metal imaginable...but I haven't been there in years and I'm not sure if it's still around.)

I get to one of them at least once a month...end of March was the last time. With the recent advent of the free digital download, I'm back on the vinyl after an all too long hiatus; I felt a little empty leaving there with a cd all those years.

I go to a record store to see people of my "tribe". People who feel that going to the record store is a special event that can't be rushed and doesn't have a timeframe once you get there. People that are going to take the time to find something meaninful. Then talking with the owner, other customers, seeing show flyers is one of the few remaining ways to still have an adult human experiences.

Plus supporting an independent businesses is always something that I will go out of my way to do whenever possible.

Sent by Jason M. | 4:51 PM ET | 04-08-2008

My friend dragged me into Crooked Beat (D.C.) the other week because she saw my face on an album cover, yet we were never able to find it a day later. I am missing a face.

Every city I visit, I always seem to find the good record store. It's a natural magnet. I'll spend hours and forget I'm supposed to be playing tourist, buying near-mint Impulse LPs for that wonderful orange spine to line my record wall.

I dearly miss my favorite stores in Athens/Atlanta: Low Yo Yo and Wuxtry. The former has the greatest vinyl collection I have ever seen, the latter turned me onto all the crazy psychedelic shit I love (thanks, John!).

Sent by Lars | 4:51 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Couldn't agree more about the loss of the "tactile" experience of record buying. There's just something satisfying about flipping through CD racks (or crates of records, if you're of a certain vintage) that I don't get when "shopping" online.

As a high schooler in the pre-internet days of the early '90s (yes I realize the internet existed by then, but not for me) I had my musical horizons expanded by an excellent used record store in Toronto called the Vinyl Museum. Most of the records were priced under $3, so if you bought something and hated it, it wasn't a great loss. The owner was some kind of religious nut and all of the record sleeves had a bible verse rubber stamped somewhere on them. The first time I noticed it I felt like I'd been had, but afterwards I found it kind of endearing (The guy must have had a bit of a sense of humour about it... I have a copy of KISS' Love Gun with a verse about the tongue of the devil stamped on it).

Without that store I wouldn't have gotten into Zeppelin or Pink Floyd or ACDC (I was too punk rock to listen to classic rock unironically. I could always afford $3 worth of irony though), not to mention Fleetwood Mac, Petula Clark, and Herb Alpert... the list goes on and on.

The store was converted into a Karate-learning-place (is that a "dojo"? It's been a long time since I watched the Karate Kid) about 10 years ago and that still angers me up whenever I drive past it.

I think I might stop by a real live record store on my way home tonight and pick up the new Jicks album.

Sent by Mike M. | 4:52 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I still go to record stores. No matter how many clicks on the internet you spend at your house, you can't replicate the feeling of being in the store, smelling the antiquity in the air, and having some unknown bond with all the patrons shopping the same time you are ("yeah man, rock on with that vinyl").

If it wasn't that every indie record costs about 50% more in the store than on the interwebs, I would definitely shop more than I do presently...sigh*

Sent by bryant | 4:54 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I have to agree, great post today. Two summers back we lost one of the premiere Indy stores here in Philly, and while it was not only great for those unheard of recommendations, it had a huge announcement board for all the upcoming shows. It was such a great resource, and it???s sorely missed.

When you make a point to go out to pick up that album you want, you tend to be willing to sit with the music a little longer, because you have that effort and experience behind it. There???s nothing earned through an mp3.

Sent by gcn. | 4:57 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I am a proud employee of Plan 9 Music in Roanoke, Virginia. We have locations in Richmond, Harrisonburg, Williamsburg, and Charlottesville, although one of our two locations in Charlottesville is closing. As is the Satellite Ballroom, which is very sad. Star Hill closed last year, and now we're losing another stop for great acts in this neck of the woods. I love working at a record store, and I firmly believe that the death of the album is a myth created by the music industry to make more money off of mp3 players.

Sent by Nick L. | 5:08 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I try to make a point of record shopping in my local(ish) independent store at least once a month, or when my wallet allows.

Sent by Brian | 5:14 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I go to record stores at least once a week - in fact, its Tuesday and I'm going after work today....

Sent by WillV | 5:16 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Funny, Dave Wakeling of The English Beat made reference to rolling joints on records when I talked to him about re-buying albums on CD's....

Sent by E. | 5:23 PM ET | 04-08-2008

We have a great little record shop here in Vancouver Washington called Mermaid Music, formerly Recycled Sounds (I like the old name better) in Uptown Villiage. Tons of vinyl and CD's, and a lingering aroma of Patchouli and incense for no extra charge. The shop owner is a very delightful forty-something who has been a vinyl pedler for most of his life. My last purchase there was UFO's "Phenomenon" and "Lights Out" and Blondie's "Parallel Lines". Jay

Sent by Jay Pack | 5:26 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Piccadilly Records and Fat City Records in Manchester, UK are my shops of choice. More depth than 5,000 branches of HMV.

Sent by Jo | 5:26 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Last time I was in a record store was a couple days ago. I found a great L7 green 7" in the used LP section. I love good vinyl inserts. They make awesome posters. I love that the art on the record is bigger and B sides are the best.

Sent by a | 6:03 PM ET | 04-08-2008

i honestly can't remember the last time i bought a cd at a record store.. i usually buy them online from the band's website (i'm a sucker for free stickers- yet don't actually stick them on anything)or on amazon (cheap).

if i wasn't a poor student i would buy cds all the time. don't think i'll ever buy an album off itunes.

Sent by Lauren | 6:17 PM ET | 04-08-2008

My first record (Queen, The Game) was bought at a Peaches, I think. Most of my teen years were spent at the Record Exchange (right across the street from the Grog Shop) and Record Revolution. College, we had Used Kids. My Chicago days spent at Hard Boiled. Now in LA, we're pretty lucky to still have Amoeba. I was just there last week and picked up some great stuff. Haven't bought vinyl in a long time, but that does not take anything away from the experience of hitting the store.

Sent by Erik | 6:25 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I just went into a shop and bought 4 cds this evening, though admittedly it was HMV not an independent store. I don't get out much (!) so always appreciate the chance to handle 'real' music before buying or simply ordering everything speculatively online, even if it does usually end up costing a few pounds more.

My abiding love was Red Rhino Records in York, which to my horror closed down some time in the late 1980s/early 1990s but where I spent many happy hours during my teenage years tracking down things I'd heard John Peel playing on the radio the night before (after I'd saved up enough pocket money). I still vividly remember buying most of my Triffids albums there and drinking in every detail of the sleeve and savouring the anticipation of listening to them on the train back to my sleepy hometown. Or jumping for joy when I found they had the 7" of "See You in Havana" by The Hit Parade. I can't really express how much I miss all that.

Sent by Julia | 6:40 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Record stores are great, but where do you put all the music you've bought? As someone who regularly lives/works out of the country, it's not exactly convenient to carry around my 1,000+ CD's, 400+ tapes, and 250+ LP's to tropical rainforests. The "switch" to digital mp3's has been a godsend for me in terms of convenience and portability. Yes, I still love record stores (Other Music and Downtown Record Gallery in NYC being two faves). I also love the many discoveries you can make at record stores (and no place else), but my experience of finding music has shifted towards blogs at this point. When you are not in the US (or in a small town in the US), you don't exactly have access to a great little indie record store in your backyard. As much as I'll miss the many record stores that will likely keep going out of business, I think that the proliferation of blogs will not only replace record stores (in many, but not all respects), but make odd/unusual music available where it never was before (foreign countries, rural/lame suburban US). Maybe this is a good thing?

Sent by BTH | 6:49 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Lucky for me the best record store in Portland is right door to my job. Mississippi Records has the best selection of vinyl and only vinyl. On the flip side, I loved my college days in Tucson where I could kill hours at Zia (listening to Fred Mills explain why I needed every single Kinks album) or at PDQ with the secret back room full of hi-fi equipment. I also concur with the nod to Everyday Music. At least the used section usually has a few gems.

Sent by mb | 6:51 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Hard Boiled in Chicago is great! It's a tiny little store in an obscure neighborhood and Mark knows a lot about music. He can talk for hours if you can get him to open up.

Sent by curt | 7:21 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I'm fortunate in that I work near a great indie record shop (Crooked Beat in DC). I tend to get there at least once a week. In all honesty, it's probably my version of bellying up to the bar. I'd rather go there after work and listen to and talk about music than throw back a beer. The owner really, really, really knows his stuff and has a pretty extensive local music section. As much as I appreciate the convenience and breadth of music blogs, I relish the fact that a brick and mortar is still a major part of my discovery process. But in this day and age I consider myself lucky.

Sent by East Coast Terry | 7:28 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I used to go to Scooter's Records in Hermosa Beach CA for punk cds. It was literally the size of a walk-in closet and there was always a dog hanging out inside.

Sent by Simone | 8:01 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I will not miss the poor service, cramped conditions, chaotic shelves, insanely high prices and limited selection that any brick and mortar record store offers; and those are just the indie shops. I don't think I need to explain my glee when Tower Records died.

Sent by Ryan | 8:17 PM ET | 04-08-2008

The last time I went to a record store was about two weeks ago, where I bought "Real Emotional Trash" and the new Raconteurs album.

I'm 18, and I am one of the few people I know who still prefers record shopping in a store than perusing Itunes. During high school, when I loaned my soul to the McDonalds empire, every pay day I would run to A and B Sound [no indie record stores in the city that I was in] and order/pick up another CD. I bought albums that I had never heard of but that my new record store clerk friends adored, which is how I got into The Gossip and Le Tigre in my small minded, conservative city. This is why I have close to 300 CDs, including singles and not including bootlegs. Furthermore, when travelling, I continue purchasing. I have a UK edition of the Nirvana Greatest Hits disc, and when I went to Seattle about two years ago, I spent close to 200.00 Canadian [back when there was a difference] on CDs, singles, shirts and zines in less than 24 hours.

These days, I frequent Ditch Records in Victoria, which is small but amazing.

That's mostly why I adore indie record stores; the conversations that start up there that could never occur on an online music provider.

Sent by Kirie | 8:44 PM ET | 04-08-2008

we plan actual trips (because i live so far away now) to twist and shout records in denver. i love that place so much! i believe you had to grow up with vinyl to understand the record store experience. it was, and is, the coolest place in the world to be.

Sent by rick | 8:58 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I was at my local record store, Under the Mooch, last week to pick up 115 dollars worth of stuff. I shop there because I still love the album. Despite what some say, it hasn't gone away. People still write a whole mess of songs and want to release them all at once. I want to read the liner notes and find out who played on the album, the instruments used, who recorded it, etc. It's my toy store. I just love spending time looking through everything they have hoping to find something new, or find something that I should have purchased along time ago. My local store has free shows for local and out-of-town bands, they order stuff for me, they care about building a good scene in Tulsa, and they care about and support other local businesses. They are there to provide goods and services to a community, not to line their own pockets.

Sent by brian | 9:55 PM ET | 04-08-2008

Last time I stepped into a record store? Today. Shake It Records in Cincinnati is my biggest weakness - I go about once a week to talk to the owner, who is always there, and the guy in the vinyl basement, who never fails to sell me something or point me in the direction of some new, used, terrific thing.

Today's purchase was Italians Do It Better's After Dark compilation, but before that, it was a USB Turntable, Springsteen's Nebraska, SK's The Hot Rock, and The Sonics' Boom.

I love my local record store.

Sent by Paul Rodgers | 10:00 PM ET | 04-08-2008

when i was back home in norway, i traveled around the country looking for record stores, talking about music and (just as important) asking where was the closest pub! but as i travel so much, it is getting hard to store all my records, so i notice i am buying less and less records and i just skip to buying cds or i just download the music (legally of course if anyone from the RIAA is reading). but from every country i visit, i try and buy a couple of records from the country (especially of records that are native to that country, alas norway is also home to A-HA).

Sent by killabot | 10:02 PM ET | 04-08-2008

My last trip to a record store was on Saturday when I was at Jackpot on Hawthorne, it's in a new location and still smells like paint -- but I love it. I got a Tiny Vipers CD.

I often gauge a trip to any city by the trip to the independent record store (and, truth be told, book store). I remember going to one in Albuquerque in 96 and lingering for a long time over the selection. Usually I'm thinking -- What do locals listen to? Is it different than back where I'm from? Who's the best local band that I should listen to and bring back home with me?

I have great memories of perusing the bins in the east village of NYC, mostly new wave and punk. I would go on a buying spree, get on the train home and literally burst waiting to get them onto the turntable. Ah, vinyl!

Sent by setya | 10:39 PM ET | 04-08-2008

A few months ago, at a shop right across the street from my college called Hogwild Records. 180 Grams is another local favorite. Vinyls are pricer but you get worlds more than an MP3 could ever give you. Browsing through all the album art alone makes me want to sometimes just buy the album on that factor. I think they sell all there used LPs for a buck and since more people tend to take better care of used vinyl than used CDs, that's a good bargain.

Sent by Matt | 10:51 PM ET | 04-08-2008

When I first moved to NYC, I did research for a few days, compiled a map even, and then hit up every record store in the city with my resume (I must have visited at least 60). It was so disheartening to pass a couple weeks with no call-backs, and then ultimately surrender applications to Barnes and Noble and Borders for their music departments. I've been in the former for a few years now, and although I have my good days here and there, it's fundamentally a bland corporate experience. Get used to it.

Sent by Gorbert | 10:53 PM ET | 04-08-2008

The last time I went to a record store was last Thursday, when I went to the Last Record Store (nicely ironic name, isn't it?) on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa to buy the new Ladyhawk CD after hearing about them on this blog! I used to work at the raddest record store in San Diego County-Lou's Record's-in the nineties, and that was where I gained an initiates comprehensive musical education. It was there that first heard Tubeway Army, Young Marble Giants, Mississippi Fred MacDowall, the list goes on. If you live in San Diego, please go to Lou's, they're struggling right now and if they go, well, it would be a sad day for music indeed.

Sent by Leilani | 10:56 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I still visit my local record store about once a month. The last CD I bought was 'Icky Thump' from Wal-Mart. It was kind of impulse, I had owned a digital copy since it was out but I was in Wal-Mart with my mother and decided I wanted a physical copy.

Sent by Stuart | 11:11 PM ET | 04-08-2008

silver platters in Bellevue last november or december? LOL I cant believe Shelby Lynne said that. LOL. Well actually I can.

Sent by Marissa Dailey | 11:50 PM ET | 04-08-2008

I'll never forget going Ozone records on Burnside in downtown Portland. I got directions from some older kids at my school. It took me over an hour to get there on the bus and when I arrived I almost chickened out and went home. You couldn't see inside and the only way in was through a heavy, ominous black door. Once inside I never wanted to leave. When I asked the gutter punk behind the counter if they had any Hazel 7 inches they looked at me like I was retarded. Of course they had Hazel, but why wasn't I listening to Team Dresch? I was so happy. Today, I'm not sure if kids have it better or worse. On the one hand they have instant access to a ton of great music. On the other hand, there's nothing like whiling away the afternoon at the record store. Now that I live in Orange County, I buy all my music online, but when I'm visiting home I try to buy local artists' CDs from Millennium.

Sent by themadhapa | 12:58 AM ET | 04-09-2008

I always prefer a real physical recording over files on my computer. I love going to record stores to browse, which sometimes leads to impulse buys. The problem is that it is almost always cheaper to order a CD online and have it delivered to my house, shipping included, than it is to actually buy it in a store. Since I don't have very much expendable money, I usually opt for the cheaper option. So most of the time when I do end up in a store now I end up trying to resist the urge to buy anything on the spot and tell myself to just go home and order what I want online, although I sometimes fail at this and end up just buying something at the store anyway.

When I was younger and didn't have any real expenses to think about, I saved most of my money to buy CDs. It was almost like this high I would get from walking into a store and just buying a few CDs and going home all excited about all my new purchases. Getting CDs in the mail is still nice, but it's not quite the same. I kind of miss that. If prices at stores were lower I would definitely spend my money there.

In college I lived near a small store with relatively decent prices. They didn't always have what I was looking for, but they would order anything I asked them to. It's owned by a particularly eccentric guy, but I'm pretty sure that most of the time he had no idea what was going on with his store, and it was/is actually run by this other lady that works there and seems to be much more on top of things. But I don't live there anymore and I haven't found another store since with similar prices.

Sent by I | 1:57 AM ET | 04-09-2008

I am a frequent visitor of Homer's Records and Tapes here in Omaha, NE. I just picked up the new Raconteurs album, the new Witch album, and a vinyl copy of Stephen Malkmus' new album. I love record stores so much, I hope they don't go away. I know the prices are a little bit higher, but I love music so much that I really don't want them to shut down. They are vitally important to music.

Sent by Jack | 2:24 AM ET | 04-09-2008

When I lived in Seattle I always went to Easy Street Records or Sonic Boom. I loved going to Easy Street in West Seattle for breakfast and then buying a CD or two after my meal. I'm in LA now and I work a mile away from Amoeba Records which has an unbelievable selection. Needless to say, I have spent many a lunch hour there browsing and buying great used stuff (Plus, they have great in store performances/signings...Band of Horses, Mates of State, Paul McCartney, Neko Case etc.). I will always buy "hard" copies of my favorite albums...can't imagine having a digital only collection. It only takes one power surge or whatever and everything is gone.

Sent by David | 3:04 AM ET | 04-09-2008

Last time I stepped into an actual store was Polyester Records in Melbourne. I grew up there, spoiled for choice with loads of great independent stores (Au Go Go, Missing Link, Synaesthesia, etc.). I spent some time in Princeton, NJ, which, setting aside its many downsides, does at least feature the great Princeton Record Exchange. But where I live now (Oxford UK) we have nothing, and I really miss
them. I like making those chance discoveries that the predictable contents of chain stores just don't allow for, and that iTunes et al, by being totally unselective in range, makes all too dangerous (who would take a chance on a randomly selected download?).

Sent by Antony | 5:36 AM ET | 04-09-2008

I'm extremely fortunate to live mere minutes away from Shake It! Records in Cincinnati. It is quite possibly the greatest record store on earth that isn't named Amoeba. I'm there at least once a week and they are happy to take all my money in exchange for whatever CD, LP, book, mag, zine or toy I want. They'll take all your money too and you will love them for it. The owners/staff are super knowledgeable without beings snobs. They won't wince when you bring that Josh Groban CD to the counter. Actually, they would never carry a Josh Groban CD, so bad example. Anywho, thank you independent record stores and thank you Shake It!!

Sent by Mike | 9:06 AM ET | 04-09-2008

Whoa for the days of sifting through the bins and shelves of Streetside Records, Record Reunion, Sound Revolution, Vintage Vinyl, West End Wax in the St. Louis area or Co-Op Records in Peoria. Payday always meant tabbing $15 of mad money to take a chance on a CD I might have only heard one song of on college radio station KCFV.

Good memories.

It's tough to find a shop or the time now that a family/mortgage/full-time work have creeped in to take over life. Gambling $15 that I'll like a new CD from a shelf at Target when stopping to buy diapers just doesn't happen much.

The last new CD's I got were from Amazon.com, I think.

Rock'n'Roll.

Sent by Tim | 9:14 AM ET | 04-09-2008

hi
the record store in my area just closed on april 5th.
they opened their doors 30 years ago
vinyl oriented but great back catalogue of cd's too(I last purchased the spencer davis group original albums and Q and the mysterians which are records not easy to find)
they were trying to stay competitive with the prices of new releases but we all know the story,they were an independant record store so...Some guy with big money stopped by and offered the big check to the owner who was almost retired.Let's face it,good for him and his wife.
As I definitely don't wanna go to virgin M. or FNAC(big corporate fuck),I think I'll buy my next records on the net.Isn't that great ? I don't think so.
till I move out to another area ...
Oh!are you planning on reviewing mountain battles ?
love,
j

Sent by julien froggi green cap | 10:02 AM ET | 04-09-2008

ATOMIC records and LOTUSLAND records in Milwaukee.

Sent by lucy | 10:22 AM ET | 04-09-2008

Bill's Records and Tapes in Dallas, TX probably 6 years ago. I don't regret not going back frankly. The place stinks. The staff want to sell you drugs. And there are no prices on anything being sold in the store. If Bill likes you, you'll get a relatively decent price. If not, better luck on ebay.

I'll go with iTunes or Amazon any day over that kind of experience.

I do love and miss great record stores though.

Sent by James | 10:36 AM ET | 04-09-2008

There are five or six record stores in the Lancaster, PA area that still get my business, on maybe a biweekly basis. We also host a monthly record collectors' convention here that can be a real goldmine if you are patient.

Sent by diakron | 10:54 AM ET | 04-09-2008

Wow, I'm so conflicted on this subject. At times, it feels like I've spent half my life in record stores, and there will never be anything like needle hitting vinyl in a musty urban record store, hidden away below the overhead train tracks in Chicago.

On the other hand, having lost over 1000 pieces of vinyl to basement flooding, having so many cassettes go bad, and having never warmed up to browsing through theft proof CD packaging and all those infernal theft prevention stickers (even though I have 2000+ CDs) -- it's kind of sad how I don't really miss the record store experience more than I do. Losing so much music and seeing it re-released and re-compiled and re-purposed so much over the years has tended to weirdly detach me from my commitment to the form factor and place of acquisition. (yeesh, I sound old)

I always loved record stores more for the sense of discovery, and disappearing into another world, more than for the conversations (I'm a social person, but in record stores I tend to be anti-social)...though having my purchase validated by the record store clerks and getting into the occasional rambling conversation about a particular artist was very memorable. I stockpiled lots of punk and early hip hop (best memory: having everyone in a Cambridge record store go still when Public Enemy's just -released "Welcome to the Terrordome" came on, and seeing a mix of black schoolkids and a couple of old hippies rush the record counter to buy it immediately after).

Like others have said, the storage issues are a huge pain with physical media...but having all the music in one place on the computer tends to exacerbate a sense of ADD going through all the choices (and I'm *not* a shuffle person). Then I feel the need to get out...hmmm, maybe I'll go to a record store.

Sent by Max | 11:11 AM ET | 04-09-2008

i second the kudos to under the mooch in tulsa. they set up two shows for my band while we were passing through on tour, cooked us a pot roast, bought merch, gave us beer and a place to sleep. it was some of the best treatment we got on the whole tour.

maybe i'd buy more off itunes if steve jobs cooked me a pot roast.

Sent by s. rich | 11:12 AM ET | 04-09-2008

Totally, OT and I can't imagine reading this many comments:

First, where are those videoblogs? We're waiting with bated breath (some of us probably with baited breath, in fact).

Second, you have an interesting blog style. I used to study blogging as an academic and most bloggers that sustain their practice operate in a community of bloggers that point to each other. You very rarely point to other bloggers. Your blogging community seems to be us. That is, you write some stuff (and you can write well, yo) and ask us questions and we respond. That displays a true curiosity in who the hell out here cares about what you say. Anyway, would be interesting to see a reflective piece about how this is treating you.

Sent by joe | 11:54 AM ET | 04-09-2008

long live Twist & Shout Records in Denver, Colorado. For various reasons, and in differing ways, this record store literally changed my life when i first met it 16 years ago. I couldn't be more grateful to it, and my sentimentality and respect for the record store in general will never cease.

Sent by Georgina | 12:01 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I go at least once a week...I finally am getting an iPod this week...I never wanted one, but all the rest of the followers who are taking the CD down have just grown to large. Vinyl is the absolute in music to me. The seperation of sound, the cover art, the fact that you can buy stuff based on what the cover looks like or who had a vague association with the production, all good things! And of course, MP3 sounds like doo-doo!

Sent by A.R. | 12:17 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I go to the Princeton Record Exchange on a weekly basis. It's truly a mecca in its own class. They consistently receive new and used vinyl albums and their selection is enormous!

Sent by jmj | 12:18 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I appreciate the practice that some bands (and labels) are doing of including a bonus digital download coupon inside the vinyl packaging. Best of both worlds.

Sent by John Skelton | 12:25 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I now live within walking distance of about three Cleveland record stores (my mind's eye being one of them), and felt bad when I stopped in and didn't see anything I was looking for, though my friend picked up a Tortoise album used.

My other favorite on the same street is Hodad's, which is all vinyl, great selection, good prices, really nice guy. I've picked up lots of good stuff there over the past through years and I never know what I'm going to find...

Sent by beth | 12:28 PM ET | 04-09-2008

Oh, I should add...since I'm older and have to travel for work, the best way to find out what's going on in a town you are unfamiliar with is by finding the independent record store. Works every time!

Sent by A.R. | 12:35 PM ET | 04-09-2008

"I appreciate the practice that some bands (and labels) are doing of including a bonus digital download coupon inside the vinyl packaging. Best of both worlds."

DITTO! I love that!

Sent by esme | 1:00 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I love Plan 9 Music in Charlottesville, it saved my life in high school (got my Replacements fix there!). Kudos to the commenter who works there! Now I live in Boston, where Newbury Comics has outlasted the HMVs, Towers, and Virgin Megastores. Although even its name suggests that music isn't the main selling point (they haven't sold comics in some time), now the shops are filled with toys - hideous movie tie-ins and animation/videogame-related crap. But I make it a point to always buy from them, even if it means pretending I'm wearing blinders to get to the records, while muttering about "kids these days" under my breath. I wonder what percentage of their sales actually come from the music? I only download things I can't find in hard copy or singles.

Sent by Zoe | 1:33 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I always go to twist and shout when I'm up in Denver. I still shop at record stores because I still think vinyl sounds the best and i always find good new and used for good prices. viva la vinyl!

Sent by mikemzoso | 2:37 PM ET | 04-09-2008

R.I.P Record Convergence in Fairfax VA. Home of the Forever Sale, where they pressed a Robyn Hitchcock concert and years later still couldn't sell it for a buck. Must be 10 years gone now. It was just the right size so that every Saturday you could flip over every piece of inventory from A-Z, find the new piece of gold that wasn't there last week and go home with 3 or 10 newsed cd's or records. sigh.

Sent by k | 3:15 PM ET | 04-09-2008

Living in a small market town I thought it would be impossbile to build up the collection of old records my dad gave me, but a few months back I discovered a record stall set up and i have religiously visited it every Wednesday and Saturday - They were a dying breed but the lady who runs the stall said that her record sales have been going up by the masses recently because its become trendy again to have a record player - wayyy! (look at me saying 'again' like i was round the first time, im only 17! but have always have a record player placed around somewhere)
I think it's great and you actually feel like you've got something holding a record in your hand.

Sent by Shannon | 4:51 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I hit up the record stores usually once a month because vinyl is the best...the smell, the hugeness of the covers, the artwork. I also enjoy frequenting the thrift shops to see if there's any cheap gems in the piles of dusty vinyls. I don't have an iPod and I have yet to download a song online, simply hasn't come up. A lot of my friends have lost the appreciation for an album as a whole due to their iPods and online music lists, maybe that's why I haven't gone digital yet. It does get slightly annoying to carry 4 giant CD books to your car for a road trip, those are the times I wish I had an iPod. As others have pointed out, I sometimes find vinyl that has a downloadable version or CD of the album included- that's always good times.

**Does anybody else find themselves referring to this blog a lot in daily conversation? I often hear myself saying, "I was reading Carrie's blog today, and she was talking about..." or "Yeah, that came up on Carrie's blog..." Sometimes I have to explain who Carrie is, but I don't mind that at all.

Sent by Johanna | 7:31 PM ET | 04-09-2008

I grew up on Appletree Records in Normal, Illinois. Once I went there after school to look at the U2 drummer naked on the vinyl copy of Achtung Baby. I came out a year later! (There's a big X across his bits on the CD version.)

I like trying to support the local record shop here in New Haven, but sometimes they don't seem to have what should readily be in stock (i.e. Pitchforky type popular new releases, "classic punk," etc.) Frankly what keeps me away is the price more than anything. I also realize that the store may also be on the wrong end of the actions of a bad distributor, so once in awhile I order through them, even it means waiting a week or two.

I haven't switched to downloading though. I love reading the liner notes, singing along with the lyrics, looking at the photos and artwork, etc., and I don't think this can easily be digitally imitated, although since I've never downloaded music, maybe I'm wrong.

I do buy some discs from Amazon, but now I'm going to start buying directly from the label itself when I buy online. Online shopping is nothing like making a special walk to the store downtown, though, even if sometimes I end up being disapppointed.

Sent by Michael | 9:51 PM ET | 04-09-2008

aha, i actually referred to carrie's post on guitar hero in a a conversation about the game with my uncle.

as for record store shopping, i was just in a little store called Penguin Music here in Toronto yesterday. And even though i should be saving my money like a good starving student, i couldn't walk away from a vinyl copy of Bikini Kill's "Pussywhipped." I already have the album on cd but vinyl is just that much better.

Sent by marie | 10:45 PM ET | 04-09-2008

The last time I entered a indy record store was probably early last year when I brought the newly complied Elliot Smith album at Other Music.

Here in at New York we have Other Music but that place is super small and unless you know what you are looking for, there is now room for discoveries.

I used to work to work at an indy (Tower) bookstore (kind of, when you're not a B&N, you're independent), and we used to have a growing pot section, our best selling aisle.

But my best Indy store discovery was in Minneapolis at Electric Fetus. On the Saturday afternoon back in the Summer in 1998 a went to go buy a copy of Tom Waits' Beautiful Maladies on the record release day. Well I had some extra money in my pocket and looked around. And noticed this CD that had a kinda like Kinks cover that had a girl playing a Danelectro.

This was the same band that at x-mas time the year before when I was in NYC my friend said he could get my into this (hot)band that I never heard of, and of course he couldn't. So I forgot about this band for the next few months.

But somehow at that indy record store I picked up that CD. Placed it into my boombox, and how I feel about music has never been the same again. That band was Sleater-Kinney. True Story

-xavier

Sent by xavier | 1:15 AM ET | 04-10-2008

i second the comment on the princeton record exchange. it is the only place i can find obscure bands other than downloading/ordering from a label. they have thousands of used cds from $1.99-$4.99, which always makes it easy to try something new. there's a feature on the store in the new york times today, conveniently.

whenever i travel, i always like to find the local record shop-for some reason it makes me feel less like a tourist and more like a resident, for an hour or so.

Sent by jayme | 8:56 AM ET | 04-10-2008

Just in the last month I bought Black Flag's first four years and Jesus Lizard's LIAR both on wax. Long live the vinyl.

And I definitely know how marie feels about owning Pussywhipped on vinyl. It just SOUNDS better hearing HATE IS TWO, my pussy is THREE,3 through analog means. mp3s lack that raw power. Maybe it's the artist. Who knows.

Sent by Kevin McCallister | 11:02 AM ET | 04-10-2008

Rebound Records in Frostburg, MD was a joy and an edification to me. It wasn't just operated, it was CURATED by Rob Marker. You know how Amazon flashes up all the items you might want to buy, based on your previous purchases? Rob did that based on your soul. No pressure, but if you asked, or if just the right thing came in used, he would nod in that direction. "I think you might like that," he'd say. Almost always dead right. A choice that would both please and push me. It was also great for all of us local bands. No distribution at the mall, but who cared? Rebound was way cooler, and we were on the counter.

Sent by Jon Felton | 12:12 PM ET | 04-10-2008

"having lost over 1000 pieces of vinyl to basement flooding,"

omg, max!!! how horrible!

i love that you mention deep purple in this post about records. they were some of the first records that i ever owned. i had an uncle who was getting rid of his vinyl collection back in like 1991 and he gave me all his deep purple records. sometimes i look at them on my shelf and think maybe i should get rid of them but i can't for sentimental reasons.

if anybody's making a list of all these record stores people are mentioning, in memphis it's shangri la records on union and goner records on young ave.

Sent by lea | 1:09 PM ET | 04-10-2008

here in Central Oregon, the most recent record store to close was Bend's Boomtown. It was a pretty great record store but I think one thing (besides, obviously, the popularization of iTunes) that is a downfall for record stores is the high prices. $18-$20 for one cd? Who is going to pay that much when you can download it for $10. I would be very sad to see EM in Portland close (is that possible? I hate the thought) and Eugene's House of Records. Sigh.

Sent by Janet | 2:58 PM ET | 04-10-2008

i still hit up record stores, but Amoeba in LA has put most of the local record shops out of business. i did recently go to an awesome matinee show at a small record store called Rabid Records in the Valley.

Sent by jenn | 3:14 PM ET | 04-10-2008

Ukiah, CA has dig! music, which is sweet and tiny, crammed full of cds, tapes and some vinyl, but i haven't been in about a year because i've been in a listening dry spell...everything i used to love now sounds like it's been rerecorded in a foreign language, and i'm not drawn to any new thing in particular. it's a first for me, and i hope it passes...

Sent by heather | 3:20 PM ET | 04-10-2008

I was lucky enough to attend high school in Buffalo, NY next-door to 'Record Theatre', self-proclaimed as the 'world's largest record store'. Browsing it's aisles was a great place to escape our winter weather and/or that boring French class.

Record Theatre went out of business long ago but a classmate of mine went on to create the fabulous indy shop "New World Records" - absolutely worth a visit if you're ever in town.

Sent by ben | 3:56 PM ET | 04-10-2008

Toxic Ranch Records in Tucson Arizona.
come for the vinyl.
stay for the smell.

Sent by 2tone tyrone | 4:10 PM ET | 04-14-2008

Soundsations in Issaquah-- the place I spent my first paycheck, the place I held a job the longest (almost 5 years), and the last record store I went into (last week, and I bought a used copy of the first Poe album). In high school I spent all of my money either there or the Cellophane Square in Bellevue Square (now it's a McDonalds). While as a customer I never had any staff-reccomendation breakthroughs, I did learn that local stores are always better, and invariably will have more cool, wierd stuff than Tower/Sam Goody/wherever.

Occasionally I buy something off of iTunes, but only if I need to have it AT THAT MOMENT or am flat-out too embarrassed to buy it in person (see: Britney Spears' "Blackout"). iTunes is what I use to preview albums, record stores are where I go to buy them.

Sent by Jessica | 11:55 PM ET | 04-15-2008

Amoeba San Francisco. First saw the amazing Sleater-Kinney there, too. I'm guessing that was a favorite show for the band as a photo of that performance was on your next album-All Hands on the Bad One. I was standing in the country vinyl aisle when I figured out Corin was playing a baritone. Bought your Dig Me Out album there that day. How did I know about SK? A review on NPR. I live in SoCal Mojave Desert now. Thank god for Vista Music in Yucca Valley. VINYL!!!!

Sent by David Butterfield | 1:31 PM ET | 05-13-2008

I just discovered your blog, weird that you wrote about Rubato because I wrote about it on mine around the same time (http://pacific-standard.blogspot.com). I went to Bellevue High School in the late '80s and it was my only sanctuary, going to Rubato after school and listening to those guys talk about records. My man Joe Newton says it's in West Seattle now.

Loving the blog, thank you.

Sent by Strath | 9:26 PM ET | 06-14-2008

Being born and raised in Sacramento, I had a huge global chain as my "local" record shop, which caused a lot of sadness when Tower finally went bankrupt for good and got liquidated in 2006.

One of the locations put up on their marquee "All things must pass. Thanks for the memories, Sacramento." I almost cried when I saw that, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit.

Sent by Kyle L. | 11:46 PM ET | 08-17-2008