DrunkTimes Rants

Et tu Neko?
March 4, 2009

The local record store is all but dead in my neck of the woods and I am pretty sure there are many other places in the US that are the same way. This has nothing to do with the fact that the economy is circling the drain since the record store has been slowly phased out for quite some time now due to Itunes, Amazon, big box stores and of course the various ways to stea music online. Now I won't say that I am innocent but still it is sad.

I remember back not too long ago, I would spend one lunch hour a week at Kim's Underground, Other Music, Tower Records and some little shop right by my office that had bootlegs, music books and punk music playing all the time. The only place left of those 4 is Other Music. Tower is an unrented eyesore on Broadway, Kim's moved and I don't think their music came with them, and the little store by my office is now a Real estate office. Those are just the stores I would go to and doesn't include all of the other little shops that I would pass and go in only on rare occasions. 


For me it means less exposure to different music, High Fidelity may have made a joke with the scene about the Beta Band but stuff like that does happen on a lesser degress when you hear something good in a store. I bought the last Joe Strummer (loved the Clash has mixed feelings on everything he did since) based on listening to it in a shop. I got into Yo La Tengo because of a shop. Imperial Teen I heard in a store, fell instantly in love and bought it. Sure these bands may not be cutting edge but they are just examples of things I would not have bought if I had not heard them in a store and I doubt whatever main stream crap they play at big box chain of choice will get me to their CD racks and make a purchase.

Which brings me to where this all came from. Neko Case released her newest CD this week and it is pretty good, really I haven't had a complaint about anything she puts out so I am happy to report that this one is very good as well. The only real problem I have is her Myspace ad which is dripping in chain store lust with huge letters for it being available at Starbucks, Best Buy (cheap) and then in a little box listing other places it is available the very last thing listed is "cool indies". Even people who made their money from the "cool indies" seem to have given up on them.