Tomorrow is Record Store Day, that annual event reserved for the celebration of that seemingly dying breed of retail outlet. I’ve written plenty about the future of digital music (mostly my lack of interest in it), but Record Store Day transcends the fight over bits vs. objects. The cultural aspects of record stores — like-minded folks gathering to swap likes & dislikes, in-store musical events, that sense of connection — those kind of things can be approximated online but it will never feel the same to me.
What have I gained from hanging out in record stores? Friends. Great ones. The fact that we share that special bond of music obsession serves to cement our friendship. Oh, and then there’s the music. Just in the last handful of years I have been introduced to: Vetiver, The Low Anthem, Taylor Ho Bynum, Kayo Dot, Daniel Higgs, Carla Bozulich, MF Doom, Boris, Joanna Newsom, Forbes Graham, Sleep, Meredith Monk, Paul Flaherty (much to TheWife™’s dismay), Chris Corsano, Battles, and probably a bunch of others I can’t quite dredge up at the moment.
On a larger cultural scale, I see independent record stores as a buffer against our ever-growing monoculture. I find it kind of sad that people have become so comfortable with nearly all of their things coming from nondescript concrete & steel boxes. Note: Amazon and iTunes are virtual nondescript concrete & steel boxes.
It you read through the entries on the Record Store Day quotes page, you’ll notice notice many variations of “…when I was growing up…” This seems like the key to the future of record stores. You can read that as: no future. I have no doubt that at some point, all music will be consumed online. The same will be true of books and film. We will be living inside of that box. And who knows? Maybe we’ll be happy about that.
In the meantime, I like the advise given by Grinderman:
Do yourself a tremendous favour and go to a record store today. The relatively mild exertion of getting off your fat, computer-shackled ass and venturing out to find the object of your desire, the thrill of moving through actual space and time, through row upon row of records, and the tactile ecstasy of fondling the quested treasure — all this will augment and enrich the mental associations the music invokes in you for the rest of your life.
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- Why the Rolling Stones’ Harrowing ‘Gimme Shelter’ is Still Revealing New Depths - November 18, 2024
- How Talking Heads’ ‘Fear of Music’ Opened Up a World of Art and Sound - August 5, 2024
- How Deep Cuts Propelled Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ - June 4, 2024
Technology is awesome – but we can’t let go of what stores like these mean: a real sense of community.
I love trawling record stores (and fully support RDS,) but they’ve taken a lot of the fun out of the general record store experience by not stocking anything particularly interesting anymore, which drives me online for things. I still head out as often as time permits, but now it’s with absolutely no hopes of finding something in particular – it’s purely the chance finds, and that’s still fun. But they have failed in their primary mission of being the place I should go *first* to fine THAT album I wanted.
And a note on Record Store Day: I’m frustrated by it having become Vinyl Collector’s/Ebay Turnaround Day. Looking through the list of what’s going to be available, it’s almost all vinyl, a niche market at best, and most of it the kind of stuff to be hoarded and then later resold on Ebay. If they want more people to embrace this phenomenon, it needs to be more accessible – they’re only preaching to the choir with RDS as it is. (And please, nobody make any pedantic comments about how the “record” in RDS means “vinyl.” “Record” means “recording,” not a format.)
If it doesn’t warp when you leave it in the car during a hot summer’s day, it ain’t a record, dammit!
(just joking)
i agree tom, about the whole rarity/ebay thing. kind of disgusting. i will be purchasing at least the Springsteen 10″, but it will be for my turntable.
i guess since i’m such a vinyl guy, the focus on vinyl doesn’t bother me but including all forms really wouldn’t be a bad idea. isn’t Radiohead releasing two new songs? is that vinyl-only? can’t remember.
I saw something about that yesterday – Europe gets it for RDS but it’s not out in the US until mid-June (or July?) and it’s, again, vinyl-only. (Hey, what about us folks who paid $50 for that box? Maybe throw in a download for those two brand new tracks, at least?)
I’ll almost certainly pick up the Rush single. I missed out on the CD last year so I guess I’ll grab one of these while they last. And then it’ll go into the box of other weird Rush things I have and never be seen again. Oh well.
But my main point still stands: the whole idea of RDS was to get more people involved in record stores and this does not. It gets the same people who always go to record stores to come out at one time and buy stuff. (Or worse, the flippers.) Especially with the kinds of music that is being presented through RDS. If they want the larger public to respond, it has to be music they care about (ie, not weird little indie bands 90% have never heard of) on formats they can use (CD.)