Record Store Day

[vinteuil]

I expect everyone here has happy memories of the time spent in his/her favourite record shop. I do, and I hate to say this (it sounds terribly philistine) but are record shops such an irreplaceable cultural institution that we should not abandon them? Beyond the nostalgia, I don’t miss them/it.

.

... yes: I have happy memories - but I don't really miss them at all. Amazon and other on-line sources provide an incomparably better service. And the same goes for book shops - new books I get from amazon and similar; second-hand/rare books from abebooks and similar. And I can get a range of obscure/ 'unobtainable' titles unimaginable before the advent of the web.




.

[Nick Armstrong]

Agree with both dovers and vins; the browsing I did (with much enjoyment) in my 20s and 30s with money in the pocket and a small but burgeoning collection of recordings is a thing of the past - both for me, and for younger people today who will browse in a very different way.

[Nick Armstrong]

AMcG limbering up for some vinyl action in tomorrow's programme:





You won't catch me buying vinyl in a month of Sundays, but it might be interesting to hear what they have to say.

[Serial_Apologist]

My missing it is mitigated by a feeling that, with the exception of new recordings of jazz and associated musics by young up-and-coming musicians, I have now reached the happy state of having everything I'll ever want in the classical area - which in another sense is rather sad.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

AMcG limbering up for some vinyl action in tomorrow's programme:

This photo is obviously a fake! Andrew MacGregor playing a recording conducted by Karajan?!

(And somebody tell the man that you're not supposed to handle them like that!)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I made the effort and travelled the 10 miles to my nearest Record Store a couple of months back, when Tony & Pip's Mozza CD was released. It had been reviewed favourably on Seedy Review the previous Saturday, and the store proudly described itself as a "Classical Specialist". They didn't have it in stock. When I asked when they could get it for me, I was told "Ten days to a fortnight". I went online, and the CD arrived within three days.

Second-hand books and CD shops are my only "browsing" stores these days - for those serendipitous purchases. Otherwise, like others, I find t'Internet far more rewarding and reliable.

[richardfinegold]

This photo is obviously a fake! Andrew MacGregor playing a recording conducted by Karajan?!

(And somebody tell the man that you're not supposed to handle them like that!)

He is also apparently playing them on a Direct Drive tt, commonly known as a DJ table. Couldn't he at least have a nice British made belt drive--Linn, Rega, Nottingham, Roxsan, Funk Firm, etc--on hand?

[MickyD]

I'm like Vinteuil...happy memories of scouring the shelves in CD shops, living in the hope of finding long-deleted CDs, but now the internet has changed all that. I had been looking for years for one disc, and then found it in an instant thanks to one of the market seller sites - in Singapore! I am now happily catching up on grabbing other titles that I thought I would never get my hands on.

[Keraulophone]

Hooray, we've just heard that yellow label going round (which Richard Morrison found fascinating)!
AMG's right that much from the LP era has never been released in digital form. Then there's that warm, involiving and enveloping sound... if you like that sort of thing.

[pastoralguy]

I'm like Vinteuil...happy memories of scouring the shelves in CD shops, living in the hope of finding long-deleted CDs, but now the internet has changed all that. I had been looking for years for one disc, and then found it in an instant thanks to one of the market seller sites - in Singapore! I am now happily catching up on grabbing other titles that I thought I would never get my hands on.

When I first discovered the Internet, all those years ago, I had a list of books and CDs I wanted and searched everywhere for with no joy. I got 8 items in the first morning, armed only with a credit card! Amazing.

[cloughie]

I still like to visit record shops, charity shops, car boots - the lure of the search will not go away - but the net has set the norm for prices - zoverstocks has made £1.27 the price to beat, all your music the bottom line for new stuff - the pro merchant has cornered the market and many of us will never escape from their net. The big boxes at under £2 per disc have become the going rate making Naxos and Eloquence look expensive at £7. I was in fnac earlier this year - pleased to benefit from a 4 for €20 deal inc a couple of Helen Grimaud CDs, but aghast that their starting price was €22 per disc. The revival in interest in vinyl - I've always kept my turntable active but infrequently used - but I don't feel the need to dash out and buy the new ones at those prices.

[Nick Armstrong]

What are they talking about on CD Review?!? That Ansermet Petrushka performance is dire, a shambles! The LP did sound clear (not that we could compare with a CD) - but unfortunately so.

This record playing ritual / ceremony guff....

Nostalgia humbug and bunkum.

[Bert Coules]

To me, the "vinyl sound" is surface noise, clicks, pops, turntable rumble and other unwelcome intrusions. Any supposed sonic advantages simply fade into insignificance compared to the glorious background silence of a CD or a dowloaded audio file.

Having said which, I do sometimes miss the packaging splendour that the LP brought with it, especially some of the grander box sets. I still regret never managing to acquire the Decca Ring in its chunky, sculpted black and silver case.


Bert

[Nick Armstrong]

To me, the "vinyl sound" is surface noise, clicks, pops, turntable rumble and other unwelcome intrusions. Any supposed sonic advantages simply fade into insignificance compared to the glorious background silence of a CD or a dowloaded audio file.

100% agreed. I was DELIGHTED to see the back of bloody LPs (tho I was lucky - I started collecting after the LP era, only ever had a dozen or so while at school)


I can hear the clicks and pops on this £300 LP being played now. Somebody somewhere is having a right laugh.

[Nick Armstrong]

The hissing & clicking during this Abbado/Argerich Orchestra Mozart LP is ludicrous.

All this chatter is annoying me. Thank heavens they're on to Sheppard choral music. ON CD !!!