Record shops closing? Who cares? new documentary

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1328392670' post='1526477']


See, that's why I still pop into Fopp: it's browsing, browsing to music on the in-house, music that I have often found I needed to hear again, so i've gone and bought it.
[/quote]

Fopp is awful now. They're more interested in shifting sh*tty dvds at £2 a pop than being an actual record store.

[steve-soar]

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1328397900' post='1526573']
Ah the hours spent in Phase One waiting for the bus home in Wrexham. Then there was Cobb Records (Sister shop to the one featured in the video for 'Rockferry' by Duffy). Then later Jamming with Edward in Harrow. Theres one in Glasto I pop into from time to time. They still have their place. They wont die. Just change with the times. Stock the stuff people want to buy and they will live. Just like pubs.

A
[/quote]I bought Pretzel Logic, from Cobb, many years ago.

[apa]

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1328398046' post='1526576']
Cob in Bangor is closing soon, it's been there since 1979 with the same owner - seems a shame.
[/quote]

Thats a shame. Real end of an era

A

[BigRedX]

[quote name='retrohelix' timestamp='1328396857' post='1526557']
Massive list, like a shopping list? I don't like that idea.

I enjoy the spontineity of record shops. If they don't have what I'm searching for, there are plenty of others to choose from. The last one I visited was Discobox in Weymouth - I hadn't listened to Miles Davis before (not properly, at least) but picked up 'Milestones' anyway. What an amazing listening experience. There's that and the long chat I had with the store owner about Pink Floyd. There is absolutely no excitement in going to a digital "checkout", knowing exactly what you're going to get, not for me at least.
[/quote]

When I first started buying records I would be looking for things I had heard on Alan Freeman or John Peel. I could happily spend several hours in my local record shop deciding which album to buy that month. The last time I tried to buy anything in a record shop they had nothing at all by half the bands I was interested in and only albums I already had by the other half.

[apa]

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1328398257' post='1526580']
I bought Pretzel Logic, from Cobb, many years ago.
[/quote]

Feelin the love for Cob

A

[BigRedX]

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1328397864' post='1526571']
What do you mean by "Progressive House"?
[/quote]
[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1328397884' post='1526572']
Sasha?
[/quote]

No nothing that mainstream. I'd be looking for 12" singles by people like Abfahrt, Death Before Disco, Miro, Robotman, and pretty much anything on Effective Records to name but a few.

[risingson]

Part of me wonders whether the way we consume music should be allowed to evolve without the need for nostalgia over the demise of the CD/tape/record. Times change, things move on. The vastness and accessibility of popular music nowadays has its merits, but its true that there was something truly special about wanting a new album from the shop waiting till a Friday afternoon and buying it for me. It was when I was the most excited about music - not that iI love it any less, but on some level it has become a very depersonalised form of entertainment.

[spencer.b]

what's with all this good old days stuff, when I was getting into music as a teenager all that was really available to me was a really limited selection of overpriced albums at the local our price. Now I can get near enough any album for 5 to 10 quid, it's brilliant.

[leftyhook]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1328390942' post='1526446']
IMO the ease at which music is available on the internet has completely devalued music and taken a lot of the passion out of it, a classic case of more is less
[/quote]

here here.

way back when, we saved our pocket money to buy a vinyl album. I remember a gang of us going to town to buy my very first album. It felt like a monumental event.

Now, kids click, download, listen to half a song then go searching for something else they don't really want..
'Spoiled for choice' spoiled the whole point of music collections.

[daz]

The demise of the small independant record shop is something that i mourn for more than the loss of the arrays of rare and colourfull vinyl and picture sleeves on show. My local record shop in chester was a place named Penny Lane records. For us it was a place to meet, hangout, catch up with old friends, meet new ones, etc. You could stand for hours flicking through the racks or squinting at every LP cover, and nobody bothered you to move on, or said to you "are you going to make that one Clash single last all day" It was small and intimate, and no matter how well informed the tatooed lip studded youth working at HMV might be, in all forms of death metal and speed thrash, it does not feel the same. I'm sure that many 'youth' meet up at the local HyperGlobalMegaPop store, but do that know the staff by name, and more importantly, do the staff know them by name and what new stuff to recomend for them ? I very much doubt it. When we went to London on our own for the first time at age 16 to see The Ramones and The Slits, what did we do in the daytime ? Visit Buck palace and Tower whatchimacallit ? Of course not. We spent the days travelling to record shops, that previously you had only seen in the back of the NME or on record labels of Punk/New wave singles. Such as [i]Small Wonder[/i], [i]Rough Trade [/i]and Camden Market in general PS: when you were going to spend £5 on an LP, and that was maybe your entire weeks spending money, you took a great deal of care to get exactly what you wanted. all avaiable options were weighed up and considered. We didnt have the internet of course. but after you had a few LP's you could start to go round to a mates and let him tape it while you looked through his music and asked him to tape you one in return. This and John Peel, were our only ways of hearing new sounds. I genuinely think that this made us more appreciative of the music. (I hope and belive its not just me saying "eeh when I were a lad... etc)

They all sort of looked like this

Edited February 5, 2012 by daz

[JimBobTTD]

I too mourn the loss of the record shop. Beano's in Croydon closed a couple of years ago, even though the owner did everything he could to remain open. I spent hours in there looking at rare and obscure records...glory days!

As a teacher, I am witness to the lives of numerous youngsters. They seem to lack the rabid passion I had for music; the dedication to a specific genre which helped me to identify with myself is absent in them. They seem to like all kinds of music but don't really [i]listen[/i] to music; rather, they hear it in the background while they simultaneously watch tv, play computer games or flick through a magazine.

However, I myself am not as passionate about music as I once was. Perhaps it is because I feel that good music is not made any more (likely because I am no longer the target audience). In the past decade, I have only felt excited about a couple of bands (Black Label Society and Animals As Leaders). Otherwise, I only seen to listen to stuff that came out pre 90s and by bands now defunct.

[Mylkinut]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1328415803' post='1526655']
It was small and intimate, and no matter how well informed the tatooed lip studded youth working at HMV might be, in all forms of death metal and speed thrash, it does not feel the same. I'm sure that many 'youth' meet up at the local HyperGlobalMegaPop store, but do that know the staff by name, and more importantly, do the staff know them by name and what new stuff to recomend for them ? I very much doubt it.

[/quote]

I am currently of this 'youth' and I can say that yes, I know the staff at my local HMV by name, yes they know mine, yes they recommend things to me, no we do not all listen to metal.

I use the internet to choose what I want in my music collection, which is physical and displayed very proudly in my room. For me the joy is [i]listening[/i] to the music, not the chase or the purchase. Maybe times have changed, but I don't feel like I enjoy music any less than the older generation nor do I feel like I'm less deserving or interested just because I use the internet rather than a record shop.

Nostalgia's a powerful thing. No doubt in 20 year's time I'll be reminiscing about how I used to check out bands on Youtube or Spotify before receiving a physical CD through the mail and listening to the rest of the tracks, whilst my kids are sitting around getting music beamed directly into their minds with lasers

Edited February 5, 2012 by Mylkinut

[EmmettC]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1328398155' post='1526578']


Fopp is awful now. They're more interested in shifting sh*tty dvds at £2 a pop than being an actual record store.
[/quote]

I agree, it is terrible. It's owned by HMV, and they use it to shift old stock for pennies, and mostly dvds.

I still get a kick out of browsing and shopping in the Oxfam record shop in Stockbridge (Edinburgh). I spent £30 there last week and bought 7 records, but they were all classics, nothing new to find on vinyl now.

Edited February 5, 2012 by EmmettC

[Mylkinut]

[quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1328427430' post='1526670']
As a teacher, I am witness to the lives of numerous youngsters. They seem to lack the rabid passion I had for music; the dedication to a specific genre which helped me to identify with myself is absent in them. They seem to like all kinds of music but don't really [i]listen[/i] to music; rather, they hear it in the background while they simultaneously watch tv, play computer games or flick through a magazine.
[/quote]

My band and I live and breath music. From age 12 to 16 I learned all I could possibly learn about late 60s-early 70s funk. I talked about all music, new and old, with my friends who had just as much to share. We are all musicians.

I think what's being forgotten here is that not every youngster is a musician whereas every BCer is. Naturally, a musician's dedication to music will be stronger than the average person's, the collective memory of BC can't speak for everyone. For instance, my Dad is not musical at all - accordingly, he doesn't lament the loss of the record store because he was never interested enough to miss it in the first place.

My generation will have the world's music at their fingertips throughout their lives. I can't understand how that's a bad thing.

[EmmettC]

My Dad had 3 kids when he was still quite young, and he didn't have alot of disposable income, so he used to copy all his music, he still has a huge collection of blank casettes with albums on them. So the internet is just a more practical way for him to get his hands on music, though he has been buying a lot of CDs since I moved out and stopped draining him of all his money.

[JimBobTTD]

A number of these youngsters are also musicians. I still do not see the rabid interest. It's odd, really. One would think that having collected all the Pokemon cards when they were younger, they would want to get into a music genre and collect everything there is and know everything there is to know.

A lot of my mates were really into music and never became musicians. I don't understand that either, to be honest. I heard music, liked it, wanted to play it myself. I liked playing and wanted to make instruments. It seems like a logical progression. I'll probably start growing trees soon.

I don't think anyone is bemoaning the accessibility of music nowadays; I think the sadness is due to the lack of passion and the lack of the thrill of the chase, both for older and younger people.

[Coilte]

[quote name='spencer.b' timestamp='1328405033' post='1526633']
what's with all this good old days stuff, when I was getting into music as a teenager all that was really available to me was a really limited selection of overpriced albums at the local our price. Now I can get near enough any album for 5 to 10 quid, it's brilliant.
[/quote]

I doubt if people are talking about price when they say "the good old days." Agreed, prices and choice have changed dramatically in the last twenty years or so. The fact that things were dearer back then, made people enjoy the hunt for a bargain. Plus, it was much more appreciated when you did come across a gem , not like now, when you can get your music at the click of a mouse. There are positives and negatives in both arguments.







[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1328392727' post='1526479']
Now that is some seriously impressive dedication! I'm guessing this was after the advent of cheap flights, but even so.
[/quote]


Yes, generally it was in the cheap flights era. However, prior to the advent of CD's, the flights were not so cheap, but the pilgrimage was still made, just not as frequently.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Coilte

[BigRedX]

A lot of nostalgia for record shops comes down to the fact that for us older record buyers, when we first started browsing the racks everything was shiny and new. We were still forming and developing our musical taste. These days we're older and more cynical and an awful lot of what we hear has been done before. There's still great new music out there, but you're going to have to look a bit harder for it because it's no longer going to be served up for us by the weekly music press or a couple of the more interesting radio shows.

I've also found that aimless browsing of those record shops that are left is deeply unsatisfying. When I started buying records the reason I was in the shop all Saturday afternoon, was because I was trying to decide which one out of 5 or so albums was going to be the one to buy and would it keep me entertained for next 3-4 weeks until I could afford to buy another album? Everything was still new so it didn't matter if one of the albums I was after was unavailable because there for plenty of others that I liked that were in stock.

Nowadays if a record shop is big enough to have a decent selection of stock random browsing could well take all afternoon, just to look at everything once. Also micro-categorisation seems to be the order of the day which doesn't make it any easier. The last time I visited the Rough Trade shop trying to work out which sub-sub genre the albums I wanted were in was so difficult that I gave up and presented the person behind the counter with a list and asked them if which of these albums they had in stock (none of them it turned out).

[OliverBlackman]

when i worked and was well paid i used to buy quite a few cds from a second hand record store. But i got bored with buying an album where most the songs are crap, so now i use spotify and if i really like the [b]whole[/b] album i will order it off amazon.

Theres a massive difference between pokemon cards and music. Pokemon cards wasnt down to taste, it was a social status thing. The better the cards you had the more respected you would be at school.

Too many people now dont give music a chance. If its not in the genre they subscribe to they usually wont even listen to a song

[apa]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1328415803' post='1526655']
The demise of the small independant record shop is something that i mourn for more than the loss of the arrays of rare and colourfull vinyl and picture sleeves on show. My local record shop in chester was a place named [b]P[b]enny [/b]Lane records.[/b] For us it was a place to meet, hangout, catch up with old freinds, meet new ones, etc. You could stand for hours flicking through the racks or squinting at every LP cover, and nobody bothered you to move on, or said to you "are you going to make that one Clash single last all day"


PS: when you were going to spend £5 on an LP, and that was maybe your entire weeks spending money, you took a great deal of care to get exactly what you wanted. all avaiable options were weighed up and considered. We didnt have the internet of course. but after you had a few LP's you could start to go round to a mates and let him tape it while you looked through his music and asked him to tape you one in return. This and John Peel, were our only ways of hearing new sounds. I genuinely think that this made us more appreciative of the music. (I hope and belive its not just me saying "eeh when I were a lad... etc)

[/quote]

All very true. I'd forgotten about Penny Lane. Had a particularly good Folk and Jazz section if I recall. Remember Tudor House? I think its still there but is more of a cafe now. It was a Goths fashion heaven out front then the records in the back. The slightly camp big guy who ran it had a rare Who EP which was rediculously priced because he didnt want to sell it!

A

Edited February 5, 2012 by apa

[mentalextra]

I think its all about the demise of vinyl. Buying a "record" was always an event. Being able to enjoy the cover artwork, Seeing what goodies where tucked inside, song sheets, posters, stickers. Nice poster inside the Black Sabbath - Technical ecstacy album! CDs seem to removed that pleasure. I remember watching 'Tomorrows World' when they showcased the new technology of [i]compact disc[/i]. They were supposed to be [i]mostly[/i] indestructable; you could scratch it, drop it and if I remember correctly, they even put some jam on one and it played. They were also quite thick in the early days. The promise of cheaper production costs was never passed on to the consumer. The album prices just transferred and then increased while the quality of the cds went down. Until we have the fussy items now that are no better than the vinyl they were supposed to replace.

Another aspect that is important is the mostly electronic music is more suited to this technology. Listening to artists and their instruments that are so heavily modified just for the sake of "dance". I used to love the search for sonic perfection with HiFi. My friends would compare listening to albums and trying to extract as much information and detail as possible. I remember playing the AC/DC track 'Hell aint a bad place to be' to a friend on my HiFi system. I walked him through how great it was hearing angus 'fingering the strings' 'palm muting' and even the click of the pickup switch. When he played the record on his stereo he could only hear half of it. Golden days. But, are there people like me who want to hear a real musician play a real instrument warts and all!

[leftyhook]

In the age of MP3's, cd's etc. My son has taken a keen interest in vinyl. He enjoys watching the Black Keys, Bowie and the Beatles rotating on his turntable as the thin sound comes from the speakers. ?? !

Yeah, Alice Cooper's Schools OUt with its fold-out cover (into a school desk with paper knickers inside sleeve) Zep 3' rotating wheel and Rolling Stone's actual zip on the cover..
Great presentation with the songs. Nothing nowadays, compares.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1328442369' post='1526873']
Yeah, Alice Cooper's Schools OUt with its fold-out cover (into a school desk with paper knickers inside sleeve) Zep 3' rotating wheel and Rolling Stone's actual zip on the cover..
Great presentation with the songs. Nothing nowadays, compares.
[/quote]

There's still plenty of interesting music being released in unconventional and innovative packaging - even on CD. However little of it is coming from mainstream artist like those you mention.

Edited February 5, 2012 by BigRedX

[flyfisher]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1328415803' post='1526655']
We didnt have the internet of course. but after you had a few LP's you could start to go round to a mates and let him tape it while you looked through his music and asked him to tape you one in return.
[/quote]

Ah, so it was you that ruined the music industry by copying records.

[daz]

[quote name='Mylkinut' timestamp='1328428868' post='1526677']
I am currently of this 'youth' and I can say that yes, I know the staff at my local HMV by name, yes they know mine, yes they recommend things to me, no we do not all listen to metal. [/quote]

I am glad to hear this, Maybe your local HGV is a shining beacon to the world

[quote name='Mylkinut' timestamp='1328428868' post='1526677']
Nostalgia's a powerful thing. [/quote]


Indeed it is yes I agree. But having lived in the 70s as a teenager, as well as in the second millnium. I know things were vastly different back then. A lot slower for a start. Which meant that patience may or may not have been a virtue, but it had to be bloody put up with whether you liked it or not. Things we take for granted today took a lot longer back then (ie: simply [i]contacting[/i] people), which meant we sat around waiting for things or people for longer. Im positive this affected the outlook on life that one had back then.

PS: I hope you see some humour in this cynical outlook. I try not to be a [i]boring old fart [/i]as Johnny Rotten would have snered at me, but its like railing against the tide, as one grows older.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1328443834' post='1526914']
Ah, so it was you that ruined the music industry by copying records.
[/quote]

I cannot tell a lie. It was my mate Ian

Edited February 5, 2012 by daz