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How many SFers enjoy visiting the local record stores?

post #1 of 33
7/27/10 at 10:26pm
Thread Starter 
I'm curious because I still see lots of people at local record shops but many are going out of business around the country which is a tragedy imho. It's certainly understandable but I find it rewarding and peaceful to be out among my fellow music lovers buying good music.

To me a good record store is an equalizer of sorts. As I travel to record stores across the U.S., Japan, and Europe, I meet all sorts of people from all backgrounds, all political leanings, all races, all incomes, all nationalities. People seem to be enjoying their shopping. Rarely do I encounter rude behavior.

I'd hate to think of a world where we all stay at home and download music. It's fun to be out and about and enjoying the treasure hunt of finding a rare CD, rare LP, or simply a new exciting band or album title I don't have.
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post #2 of 33
7/27/10 at 10:32pm
Not sure if you are still in NYC... but Tower Records (village and union square) are gone. HMV and Virgin (Times Square) are gone. If I want a "pop" CD I gotta go to Barnes and Noble? There are two great local shops still in the village... one on either Thompson or Sullivan (near Chess shops) and the old one on Bleecker Street still survives (and shows up in this past year's intro for "Saturday Night Live" for about 3 seconds). BUT I rarely go in either of them. I don't have a record player, just a cd player. And iTunes is much easier to use than finding the CD out of the stacks of hundreds I have. So occasionally I'll sacrifice sound quality and listen using tiny speakers rather than crank up my system. So no... no record store visits for me. p.s. I quit going to HMV when they were charging $19.99 for a new CD. CD prices, which are technology based, should have come down. They never did at some places... they didn't get reasonable.
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post #3 of 33
7/28/10 at 10:31am
Thread Starter 
I usually hit J&R every time I am in town. I bought a rare Dark Side of the Moon at the Bleecker store for $10 back in the 90s. One of my favorite CDs.
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post #4 of 33
7/28/10 at 10:32am
I do go to them.
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post #5 of 33
7/28/10 at 10:43am
The last mom-n-pop record shop in my city closed this summer.

I am distressed. Used to visit them once a month or so.
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post #6 of 33
7/28/10 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredfred View Post
Not sure if you are still in NYC... but Tower Records (village and union square) are gone. HMV and Virgin (Times Square) are gone. If I want a "pop" CD I gotta go to Barnes and Noble?

There are two great local shops still in the village... one on either Thompson or Sullivan (near Chess shops) and the old one on Bleecker Street still survives (and shows up in this past year's intro for "Saturday Night Live" for about 3 seconds).

BUT I rarely go in either of them. I don't have a record player, just a cd player. And iTunes is much easier to use than finding the CD out of the stacks of hundreds I have. So occasionally I'll sacrifice sound quality and listen using tiny speakers rather than crank up my system.

So no... no record store visits for me.

p.s. I quit going to HMV when they were charging $19.99 for a new CD. CD prices, which are technology based, should have come down. They never did at some places... they didn't get reasonable.

Um... Kim's?
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post #7 of 33
7/28/10 at 11:04am
Rotate This in Toronto is a treasure if you are a fan of vinyl.
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post #8 of 33
7/28/10 at 11:13am
earwax records in Williamsburg NYC is great if you can tolerate the hipster scene (which it is not part of). i only have bought posters from there though.

i'll pop in really quick and check out stuff time to time.
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post #9 of 33
7/28/10 at 11:47am
Hey AF - I'd like to hear you espouse (sp?) about vinyl versus CDs, since you have high quality systems on which to play them. Maybe include the Beatle's "Love" CD (cirque du soleil) in the discussion if you have it - as that thing sounds awesome to me due to the mixing of sound and the mixing of tracks/edits.

"The Wall" was on the IFC channel a week or so ago. I'd forgotten how good it was. Sucks you in and won't let go. And then, any girl who liked "Dark side of the moon" back during my college days... those were the cool girls.
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post #10 of 33
7/28/10 at 11:59am
Thread Starter 
I prefer analog over digital. I find it more accurate on instrument timbre and just more natural. I have a flagship SACD player and I love the SACD format as well. I listen to a lot of $10K cd players like the Wadia and the dcs and Meitner gear and modern CD sounds really good. I just prefer vinyl pressings. My analog rig is pretty stellar these days. All in, it retails fror around $8K but I got a real deal on my phono stage and cartridge. There is enough good material on CD and SACD and DVD-Audio that I am glad I have I am format neutral in terms of playback capability. The Beatles Love DVD-Audio is sublime. You have to listen to the hirez disc to hear everything. The strings on Eleanor Rigby are very lifelike.
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post #11 of 33
7/28/10 at 12:05pm
Thread Starter 
I should add that I make money on the weekends recording classical musicians in hirez digital (AKG 414 BULS mics into both a 24/176khz on a SoundDevices 722 and DSD via a Korg MR1000). Hirez PCM and DSD do a great job on acoustical ensembles. Unfortunately there is very little pop and rock music released in this format. If you want to experiment try www.hdtracks.com
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post #12 of 33
7/28/10 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artisan Fan View Post
.... in hirez digital (AKG 414 BULS mics into both a 24/176khz on a SoundDevices 722 and DSD via a Korg MR1000).

This sentence frag is a beauty!

I love(d?) record stores but I fear they won't be around in a couple of years.

AF, check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Rare-New-I...0333832&sr=1-1

It's rather anglocentric, but still a nice read....
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post #13 of 33
7/28/10 at 1:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alter View Post
Rotate This in Toronto is a treasure if you are a fan of vinyl.


I hate the people who work at this store, super unfriendly.
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post #14 of 33
7/28/10 at 1:28pm
When I was done school one of my dreams was to buy a vintage jukebox and collect all my favorite's singles on vinyl. Never been too hardcore into the "analog vs digital" argument, but think a jukebox and classic punk/rock collection would be pretty ballin.

Sorry to derail the thread .. back on topic, not now as I am not really a person I'd consider a "music lover". I love my music, but buy most of it over the internetz and at shows. In the above scenario, I may find my way back to the stores once I'm done school tho.
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post #15 of 33
7/28/10 at 2:40pm
I used to go to a record store near me quite regularly but they closed up the location they had on my side of town a couple of years ago. Now I only make it to their other remaining location once or twice a year. I always enjoy going into an actual store because I always seem to have better luck finding random stuff there. When I am searching for something online, I usually go right to my normal sellers with something specific in mind and rarely stray from that.
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