My personal feeling on the topic is as follows: it's thrilling to go to record stores. I walk through the glass door, hear that little bell, which dovetails into the ambient, obscure 90s album the clerk doesn't mind listening to his entire shift. After 15 minutes of sidling through narrow aisles flanked by racks and racks of albums from bands I recognize, bands I didn't know existed, bands I wished that didn't exist, etc., I find a used copy of that one album from that one band that I heard of that one time. Price: $5.99. iTunes, in your face.
When I was in Provo, I frequented Graywhale, located on the east entrance of University Mall. They easily bank on the trendy music scene, with employees in their mid to late 20s and album organization by multiple genres (including the amorphous "indie"). Albuquerque is different. New Mexicans listen to country, rap, classic rock, and emo music. Cutting edge music is ignored if you can't mosh to it. As such, getting the jolt of looking through record stores is harder to find.
So today I looked up four record stores in my area and checked them out. Here's my report:
Charley's Records and Tapes: I enter to the sound of ( ), by Sigur Ros. Very, very good sign. They have a massive used rock/pop collection, with decent pricing (from $6-8). Unfortunately, the store would've been in style about 10 years ago, as the majority of CDs were big names from the 90s and back. Despite this, I scored some albums and feel alright about it.
Loot: They Might Be Giants - Flood ("Istanbul, not Constantinople") ................................... $5.99
Earthsuit - Kaleidoscope Superior (Mute Math BEFORE they were Mute Math) .... $6.99
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (That one album from that one band, remember?) ... $5.99
Record Roundup: They like music just a little less eclectic than imported music. I got an earful of the 80s. I bash the decade, but drum machines aren't that bad. The selection was virtually the same as Charley's, just condensed. Noteworthy was the first physical Battles CD I've ever seen (including Utah).
Loot: Moby - Play (My friend David's been looking everywhere for this CD) ........................ $7.99
Natural Sound: CLOSED! I actually went to this store once back in 2007. It catered very well to people like me (it makes sense, considering its proximity to UNM), with several used CDs from the last five years. However, today its sleek glass walls are shrouded in opaque plastic, and its once proud name has been scraped from its art deco storefront. RIP, Natural Sound.
Loot: Nostalgia ............................................................................................................................ priceless
Krazy Kat: ALSO CLOSED! I'm not nearly as sad about this one, since the website I browsed had few good things to say about this one.
Loot: Getting to come home sooner ......................................................................................... priceless
In summary, Albuquerque has a decent indie music selection. Well, it did, until I bought it all today.
Why can't I be bright / Like my lover's light
I miss record stores, too, although no record store owner in his right mind would stock the sort of obscure 60s stuff I like. And, being the "song" person I am, now I prefer not to buy entire albums if I have a choice. (When I was in high school, I remember wanting Free's "Fire and Water" album and, after looking all over, finding a copy at a record store in the Nob Hill shopping center on Central near UNM. I felt like I'd struck gold!)
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