shopping for music...

[TroyD]

I was in St. Louis last week for a couple of days....now, St Louis has a couple of the best record stores that I've ever seen. I get a woodrow just thinking about these places....

Well, I've got a guy with me and he has no choice but to tag along....and, well, I knew that different generations do things differently but it really hadn't been put to me so poignantly before.

To me, there is NOTHING better than flipping through LP bins....not like a thrift...but, like a record store, sorted. Checking out the covers, liner notes etc... I mean, if you like music, how cool is that...right? This guy, and he's mid-20's...you'd think he was on the frigging moon. Totally foreign concept.

Now, I'm not saying that iTunes and downloading is the end of the world.....but, it HAS ruined the music shopping experience. What a shame!

BDT

[Jstas]

More so in the fact that record stores often carry a limited selection anymore. Preferring not to waste shelf space on the more obscure and eccentric titles/artists and going for the high-volume, popular acts that get super-promoted and garner all the air time on the radio station.

There was a good store near me call "The Music Factory". They supported alot of local groups and carry a very eclectic assortment of albums. But, alas, they were an early victim of the Economic Apocalypse and closed just about 2 years ago.

[Disc Jockey]

I was in St. Louis last week for a couple of days....now, St Louis has a couple of the best record stores that I've ever seen. I get a woodrow just thinking about these places....

Well, I've got a guy with me and he has no choice but to tag along....and, well, I knew that different generations do things differently but it really hadn't been put to me so poignantly before.

To me, there is NOTHING better than flipping through LP bins....not like a thrift...but, like a record store, sorted. Checking out the covers, liner notes etc... I mean, if you like music, how cool is that...right? This guy, and he's mid-20's...you'd think he was on the frigging moon. Totally foreign concept.

Now, I'm not saying that iTunes and downloading is the end of the world.....but, it HAS ruined the music shopping experience. What a shame!

BDT


That's a shame for sure. You just don't get the tactile pleasure of flipping through LPs on iTunes. I spent many an hour in Vintage Vinyl as a kid and later in Euclid Records. Both were great places.

[F1nut]

iTunes.....taking full advantage of the ADD generation.

[dorokusai]

iTunes is awesome and from what I hear on XM/Sirius on a daily ride...I look it up on iTunes later and download it to my high fidelity rig for future listening, or just headphones to be casual. I've never gotten a thrill out of searching for vinyl or media in a store, flea market, Goodwill or otherwise. That's not my genre.

Eventually the dinosaurs will have nothing to do but complain so you might want to get your lossless media headsets on and accept it. You wouldn't know the difference between FLAC and a CD and you just don't want to admit it or haven't heard a good setup. Sorry but its the future, see you there.

[SolidSqual]

iTunes is awesome and from what I hear on XM/Sirius on a daily ride...I look it up on iTunes later and download it to my high fidelity rig for future listening, or just headphones to be casual. I've never gotten a thrill out of searching for vinyl or media in a store, flea market, Goodwill or otherwise. That's not my genre.

Eventually the dinosaurs will have nothing to do but complain so you might want to get your lossless media headsets on and accept it. You wouldn't know the difference between FLAC and a CD and you just don't want to admit it or haven't heard a good setup. Sorry but its the future, see you there.

Wow, I agree with you. And did not ever expect you to be on this side.

[dorokusai]

Among others I'm sure.

[F1nut]

Sorry but its the future, see you there.

Nothing personal, but no you won't.

[dorokusai]

I know, you have to wait for MOFI to make it.

[treitz3]

Eventually the dinosaurs will have nothing to do but complain so you might want to get your lossless media headsets on and accept it. Um......yeeeeeaaaaaaah......

F that!

I'll stick with the inconvenience of great sound. Guess I won't be going to the future. I praise the audio Gods for that. ;)

[treitz3]

I know, you have to wait for MOFI to make it.
Hehe...

[John30_30]

iTunes is awesome and from what I hear on XM/Sirius on a daily ride...I look it up on iTunes later and download it to my high fidelity rig for future listening, or just headphones to be casual. I've never gotten a thrill out of searching for vinyl or media in a store, flea market, Goodwill or otherwise. That's not my genre.

Eventually the dinosaurs will have nothing to do but complain so you might want to get your lossless media headsets on and accept it. You wouldn't know the difference between FLAC and a CD and you just don't want to admit it or haven't heard a good setup. Sorry but its the future, see you there.

I recommend you find (someone with) a Rio Karma and A/B it docked against your iPod.

[shack]

iTunes.....taking full advantage of the ADD generation.

Jessie....YOU are the ADD generation.

I bet most of your CDs are ADD...

Analog/Digital/Digital

[Jstas]

Eh, I'm not concerned about the quality of the programming. I just like having the actual album.

I have 127 gigbytes of music. MP3's and various lossless as well. The folders after folders of music is nice and easy at hand for when I want something to occupy my time during a train ride or to drown out the inane chatter at work. But there's just something solid, tangible, cool about having the actual album in your hands. Vinyl, LP, cassette, whatever. Digital files on a computer are boring and they don't have any pretty pictures.

[F1nut]

I know, you have to wait for MOFI to make it.

Yeah, MoFi and a few others. :)

[F1nut]

Jessie....YOU are the ADD generation.

I bet most of your CDs are ADD...

Analog/Digital/Digital

LOL.....actually, most Redbook CD's are AAD.

[dorokusai]

Amen.

[TroyD]

Oh, don't get me wrong....I love my iPod and I do buy a lot of music from iTunes....it is what it is. I can't cary a turntable with me and plugging my iPod into the car is MUCH easier than carrying a wad of CD's.....so, embracing the technology isn't really the issue (I mean, it is...but this isn't a 'shot' at the new technology)....more of just the cool factor of flipping through records (or tapes) at a music store, IMO, is just one of those things that everyone should enjoy.

That said, at the Record Exchange, there were about a dozen or so people flipping though the record bins.....there was one guy older than me, the rest were college kids.

Again, not a rant or complaint...just an observation.

BDT

[TroyD]

I was thinking more along the lines of, I dunno.....well, it's like shaving. A couple years ago, I got fed up with paying 10 bucks for 4 gillette razor cartridges for my Mach XXVIII razor. So, I dug up my old man's 1950's Gillette Fatboy safety razor.....so I did a little research and, viola, there is a whole wet-shaving niche thing. So, I bought a decent boars hair brush, some mug soap and, holy crap...then before you know it, a little nostalgia, a better shave, no more razor burn and it's a HELL of a lot cheaper.

BDT

[Huck344]

iTunes is awesome and from what I hear on XM/Sirius on a daily ride...I look it up on iTunes later and download it to my high fidelity rig for future listening, or just headphones to be casual. I've never gotten a thrill out of searching for vinyl or media in a store, flea market, Goodwill or otherwise. That's not my genre.

Eventually the dinosaurs will have nothing to do but complain so you might want to get your lossless media headsets on and accept it. You wouldn't know the difference between FLAC and a CD and you just don't want to admit it or haven't heard a good setup. Sorry but its the future, see you there.


I have to agree with a lot of what you said. I love the convenience of iTunes. But, I think what is lost in to the iPod Generation is the actual album concept itself. Off the top of my head, I can think of tons of great albums from the 60's, 70's, 80's and even early 90's, but I'd be hard pressed to come up with great albums from the past 10 years or so. I'm not talking about the art work, liner notes, etc. I could care less about that, but rather the actual compilations of songs that are on a particular album. That's the downside of iTunes and downloadable music. We cherry pick our favorites, but lose out on the whole product.

[TroyD]

Actually, I think that the concept of an album died with the CD......the moment we could conveniently skip tracks...the concept of an album went the way of the dinosaur.

That said, pop music really never really was about an entire album.....

BDT

[Norm Apter]

Actually, I think that the concept of an album died with the CD......the moment we could conveniently skip tracks...the concept of an album went the way of the dinosaur.

That said, pop music really never really was about an entire album.....

BDT

Good points. I've been really into Pink Floyd's Animals lately. But it just doesn't seem like an album like that -- or WYWH -- would work today. At least most artists aren't inclined to go that route.

[Polkersince85]

I think my first pinup was the girl in the gold bikini on the Ventures LP.

[treitz3]

Actually, I think that the concept of an album died...Allow me to stop you right there...I believe you are right. I haven't heard an entire album tied together in a while. The WHO "Tommy" comes to mind as does Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

Damn shame if you ask me...

[Keiko]

I can't cary a turntable with me and plugging my iPod into the car is MUCH easier than carrying a wad of CD's.....

Now you can. :D :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n33ACfZ45ys

[strider]

.... So, I dug up my old man's 1950's Gillette Fatboy safety razor.....so I did a little research and, viola, there is a whole wet-shaving niche thing. So, I bought a decent boars hair brush, some mug soap and, holy crap...then before you know it, a little nostalgia, a better shave, no more razor burn and it's a HELL of a lot cheaper.

BDT

Not to get too personal, but can you shave everywhere with that set up?

[treitz3]

Only if you stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

[reeltrouble1]

I could give a **** where anyone gets their downloads from, i GET my vinyl from
GG. i think itunes is quite a greedy company I would think there would be far better places to download music from than these folks, call me a dinosaur, but as usual folks who need to call other names have serious self efficacy problems.

RT1--peckerhead Ted

[comfortablycurt]

Not to get too personal, but can you shave everywhere with that set up?


Now that is the future. Not downloadable music. I think iPods are going to start gearing away from the music aspect, and focus more on becoming a portable electric razor...with music/video playback being more of an afterthought.




I've recently started collecting vinyl...and I can't get enough of it. I've got a fairly extensive music collection, and having it all on an ipod would NEVER be the same.


I've got an ipod touch, but it's exclusively for use in my car. It's never even gotten hooked up to my stereo.

[adam2434]

Shopping for and owning physical media (I’m talking CDs) and having your music collection accessible by PC/music server are not mutually exclusive.

I buy CDs because I want and enjoy the physical media, liner notes, whole album, etc.

However, the CDs get ripped to FLAC almost immediately for use with a Squeezebox and external DAC, which in my system is indistinguishable from the CD played through the same DAC. For me, it’s the best of both worlds, at least as far as 16/44 digital media goes.

My problem with the majority of downloads is the quality limitations of the files – typically lossy formats maxing out at 256 kbps. There a few sites that have wav or lossless downloads at 16/44 and even a few a 24/96 – but the titles are very limited at these sites. I believe iTunes is limited to 256 kbps AAC, but please correct me if I’m wrong and if lossless downloads are available from iTunes. IMO, the 256 kbps downloads are OK for portable/casual use, but I want the full/original CD bitrate for serious listening.

My local music stores don’t carry a good selection of the primary music I collect (Blues), so most of my CDs are bought on-line.

[concealer404]

Allow me to stop you right there...I believe you are right. I haven't heard an entire album tied together in a while. The WHO "Tommy" comes to mind as does Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

Damn shame if you ask me...

Ehhh... that's making a comeback, but it may not necessarily be groups or artists that you're interested in. I can think of a couple, but they tend to lean towards heavier rock of sorts.

But as for groups that are/were more mainstream, i agree with you completely.

[coolsax]

Allow me to stop you right there...I believe you are right. I haven't heard an entire album tied together in a while. The WHO "Tommy" comes to mind as does Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

Damn shame if you ask me...

I agree with you on this.. but there are a few exceptions.. If you like their music,, look at Greenday's last two albums, both are meant to be listened to as an album, especially American idiot.

[TroyD]

Not to get too personal, but can you shave everywhere with that set up?

I've done in Iraq, Korea and everyplace in between....

BDT

[wayne3burk]

I heard it through the grapevine that Records are making a comeback -- Time will tell

[treitz3]

I agree with you on this.. but there are a few exceptions.. If you like their music,, look at Greenday's last two albums, both are meant to be listened to as an album, especially American idiot.Interesting. I'll have to check that out. Thanks. ;)

[John30_30]

I've done in Iraq, Korea and everyplace in between....

BDT

Burma Shave

[TroyD]

HA....nope, I have a vulfix silver tip badger hair brush and Col Conks bay rum shaving soap. The brush is expensive, but will last a lifetime and is WELL worth it. I buy the blades at 10 cents each...and they last about a week.

For travel, it's really not any more cumbersome than a can of shaving cream....less, actually.

[John30_30]

HA....nope, I have a vulfix silver tip badger hair brush and Col Conks bay rum shaving soap. The brush is expensive, but will last a lifetime and is WELL worth it. I buy the blades at 10 cents each...and they last about a week.

For travel, it's really not any more cumbersome than a can of shaving cream....less, actually.

Naw, it was just the way you phrased this

"I've done in Iraq,
Korea and every
place in between...."

reminded me of these roadside signs Burma Shave used to have all over the country back in the day.

burma-shave jingles (http://burma-shave.org/jingles/)

To change that
Shaving job to joy
You have to use
The Real McCoy
Burma Shave