The Independent Record Shop

Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop

For those of us who grew up thumbing through endless peach crates of vinyl records, the thrill of the hunt for coveted slabs of licorice pizza is still alive and forever under the skin. We may not feed the turntable as often or stumble in and out of the long-lost record stores of an earlier era, but the hunger is there. Downloading a selection from iTunes isn't the same as examining a wall of import seven-inch singles, finding the new bass player for your band in the aisles, or hearing Miles Davis for the first time on a battered tube-amp stereo.

Alas, between 2003 and 2006, an estimated 900 record stores here in the U.S. flipped over the "closed" sign at the door for the last time. But geezers, vinyl addicts, and young whippersnappers can rejoice: The Black Dog Publishing house of London has just issued a 142-page love letter to that magical age in Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop. Told through essays and conversations with record junkies all over the planet and lavishly illustrated with album jackets, vintage labels, and photographs of walls of wax, the sense of community, discovery, and obsession is a heady feast of 78s, eight-track tapes, and gatefold albums. Highlights include reflections by Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Devendra Banhart, James Lavelle, and Byron Coley. If you miss the church of the indie record store, this is your new Bible. Further worship is encouraged with an appendix of indie shops both stateside and in the UK.

This is a fantastic look at the record shop that we all remember. In my day, they also had 8-track tapes, but I always bought vinyl. It was a place to meet friends, talk about new music, study album cover art and stare at blacklight posters. Ahh...the good old days.

This is a reminder to all, if you have a local record shop, buy your vinyl from that retailer, not online. Let's keep the doors open and the memories will live on.