OT: Record Store Day 2018!
Happy Record Store Day MGoBlog!
Make sure to support your local music stores today and enjoy the lost art of a full album!
Did anybody else pick up anything today?
As for me:
A: What are you guys all waiting in line for?
B: Record Store Day.
A: What are they selling?
B: Records.
A: Oh.
who rent cd's from the libray and rip them, they have a massive collection of 5,000 songs.
They say geniuses pick green?
"They" are stupid. The illiterates of the state of Michigan are the ones picking green.
#CantReadCantWrite amirite?
April 21st, 2018 at 11:24 PM ^
I keed I keed...
starting to twitch? vinyl has been surging since early 00s...i think last year was its weakest growth rate since the revival became mainstream, but sales have grown every year for the last 12 (and yes when places like Barnes & Noble are selling vinyl, you know its doing decently and is mainstream)...the vinyl revival would probably be doing better if there were enough plants to manufacture all of the demand
i thought this year's RSD releases were on the weaker side and sat it out...i heard the live Neil Young sounds phenomal from a buddy who picked it up and I'll be waiting for the earlier Tom Waits reissues to come out later in the year...although if i can find one online, ill likely buy the Van Morrison "Moondance" alternative version...if you like Van and listen to vinyl, both Moondance and Astral Weeks are two of the best sounding records I own...amazing what digital compression does to kill music
April 21st, 2018 at 10:12 PM ^
Far from it - business hasn't been this robust in years.
April 21st, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
Only wish the new record wasn't... not good. First Jack-related release I've sat out since the Raconteurs.
Pitchfork's ratings for JWIII's three solo records:
7.8
7.1
4.7
Guess which one is Boarding House Reach.
Most polarizing and easily the most inconsistent music he's ever released. To a person, every longtime Jack/Stripes fan I've talked to has reported this album does not measure up. YMMV, but it's been getting panned.
April 21st, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
but you literally DO seem to get it... "supply restricted" = "150% of normal retail". Normal supply = normal retail.
April 21st, 2018 at 10:17 PM ^
Oh man - you got some great stuff! Kudos for that passion. My store didn't have this year's RSD Ambassador pins so no RTJ pin for me. Bummer.
I've been downsizing my vinyl collection significantly this year so I really wasn't planning on getting anything (knowing already that somebody set aside the Krush Groove soundtrack for me) but I did get the Beastie Boys Rockabye Baby vinyl since my kid is 7 months old and this was his first RSD. I also got the Lady Antebellum 7".
I literally spent more on clothing at this store in the past month than I have on vinyl. Crazy.
And for those who don't know where their local record store is located, go to recordstoreday.com and put in your zip code to find the nearest store:
https://recordstoreday.com/Home
It's worth going even if you missed RSD today.
April 21st, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
Have a couple friends I go out with every year for RSD, been doing it for years. It's gotten out of hand, but we're more just in it for the hang/beers/tacos. Got some good stuff this year, only one RSD-related release, but the novelty is outweighed by the ritual. We're all folks who go to record stores multiple days a week, so the whole fiasco of watching people buy stupid picture discs and one-off releases they'll never listen to more than twice is sort of entertaining at this point.
I know it does a lot for independent stores, but the official RSD stuff is almost beyond parody. Nowadays I more appreciate the stores who don't even bother to front the thousands of dollars to buy the required RSD stock.
April 21st, 2018 at 10:15 PM ^
It's apparently very chic now. I let her play my Led Zeppelin IV album to test her turntable out but didn't go as far as playing the Spring Clean for the May Queen line backwards.
April 21st, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
April 21st, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^
April 21st, 2018 at 11:27 PM ^
On a side note, the Cracker Barrel is Benton Harbor has a collection of vinyl albums for sale (mostly newer stuff). Thought that was interesting.
April 21st, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
Vinyl is appealing due to it's collecting aspect, and the fact that it is the most intimate way to listen to music. It makes you appreciate every album more.
While it lacks effort and is quite robotic to scroll through your iTunes Library and select an album, there is nothing like taking an album off the shelf and opening it up, consuming all of the artwork and letting the artist fully speak to you.
I'm just not ready to re-take the plunge. I still have thousands of CD's and DVD's that I'd like to get rid of.
And the new vinyl is pretty expensive. I'm pretty sure I'd go nuts wanting everything.
prices have skyrocketed in last few years because there's not enough manufacturing plants to meet the demand because now the Taylor Swift's and Justin Beiber's of the world release on vinyl
i've cut back last couple years because of the prices and usually now only buy
1. a recent release from an artist i love
2. buy it at a club show from an indie artist (for a deep discount because all money goes straight to their pocket)
3. used records i kind of want to have, but are not must haves
4. a remasterd classic (done from the original tapes) which ill pay a premium for because some of them sound f'ing incredible
but yes, I kind of went nuts around 2003 when i took my old records out of my parent's house, bought a new system, and started buying vinyl again..it can be an expensive habit these days..not to mention the amount of space it can take up in a NYC apartment
Thank you!
Question to the OP (or anybody else that went out yesterday): what store did you hit for RSD?
Favorites in Michigan include: Dearborn Music, Vertigo (Grand Rapids) & Street Corner (Oak Park)
I really miss Record Time in Ferndale...
I once spent 5 hours in Record Time when I was a kid. I was into too many genres and spent a lot of time at the listening station that day. That place was the best!
I used to love Tower in Ann Arbor too - I would spend a lot of time at those listening stations - before I became a germaphobe and realized that nobody ever cleaned the headphones.
Since I live in Chicagoland, I hit up Vintage Vinyl in Evanston (Yes, THAT Vintage Vinyl mentioned in High Fidelity), and that place is always just THE BEST! Selection is great, the place is pretty big considering the city environment (They've got a $5 used room and a basement with their comedy, jazz, blues, 50s, and poster selection) There was some live music outside too! I highly reccomend.
The one thing though was that he has some shipping issues with his RSD orders, so I jogged over to Squeezebox Books and Music to get most of my Record Store Day exclusives.
One great day!
Here are their websites if you want to learn more. Keep supporting local music business guys!
Vintage: https://www.vvmo.com (They have mail order too, if you want to support them from Michigan or anywhere else, as I said I highly recommend. Great business.)
Squeezebox: http://www.squeezeboxbooks.com (Great book selection in there too and as I said, the guy's RSD exclusive list was plentiful)
April 23rd, 2018 at 12:44 AM ^
Go to Vintage Vinyl if you don't mind paying about three times as much for a record than even the most opportunistic store would charge. In an area full of amazing, world-class record stores that not only get in good stuff, but charge reasonable prices, I don't know why anyone would bother with VV.
But, hey, if buying $40 James Taylor records and never being able to look at the merchandise to check condition is your thing... Go with God.