The Blog

Who's Steve Albini?

Isn't he that wrestler, Stone Cold Steve Albini?

I only heard one line of my all-time favorite record store conversations, but instantly I knew the complete lives of both people involved in it. Rose Records, Broadway, circa 1995, I walk past the guy restocking classical talking to another clerk-- "Telarc isn't a label, it's a scheme for separating the unwary from their money."

Quaint read but Steve missed his mark here. It's also surprising to see him wax so unapologeticly nostalgic. It's a bad analogy. You chat with peeps at a farmer's market because they were usually involved with the production of the item at hand. Record store clerks are record store clerks usually because they've failed at some aspect of trying to be involved with the production of the item at hand. There are some exceptions. Jerry Wick comes to mind, but in general record store clerk = bad musician. It's been 10 years since a record store clerk turned me on to anything worthwhile. There s such a flood of choice out there on the intertubes which deems these guys irrelevant. They are the old gate keepers (at the bottom of the totem pole, as opposed to label heads the top) in a dying system. It's still the same dying system we keep reading about and they are still on the "selling it" side it. I'll keep my nostalgia for the guys on the "making it" side of the record/music industry. This hints at the problem I have with "Record Store Day". It's still commerce. These aren't volunteer operations. How about "Sports Equipment Store Day" or "Car Dealer Day" or, more appropriate "Cobbler Day". Those are all guys who exist soley to sell me shit, impart some half-assed wisdom about the product, and in the last example impart some quaint nostalgic for a bygone time when peeps actually talked to each other, face to face.

Best paid advertisement I have read all day.

that was great

Frank G., "Record store clerks are record store clerks usually because they've failed at some aspect of trying to be involved with the production of the item at hand." If you assume that everyone at a record store is a "failed" musician (I guess "succeeding" means selling enough music to get by, or... something) instead of a "not-yet-succeeded" musician or "someone for whom success means something different from you" or "someone who likes records," no wonder you hate going into them. You must hate a lot of things if you loathe that easily. I go to record stores because they sell records for cheap. I can buy a big old bag of them for the price of a CD. A lot of it's stuff I didn't know existed before, like an LP of the Appalachian historian/storyteller Gurney Norman or a Rounder compliation of women's coal mining songs (featuring "What Side Are You On?" by its author). What I don't do is wander in and immediately remind myself of how much better I am than the people that work there, just as I don't do that at restaurants or on the bus, because I make a daily effort not to be a dick.

I'm with whet on this. A lot of the people I know who work at or have worked at record stores are or have been highly successful "with the production of the item at hand" -- as musicians, engineers, label people, etc.

What a great day here in Chicago. Somehow I avoided Cubs traffic, I purchased a iced tea from Intelligentsia, hung out with a great friend I don't get to see enough of and spent an afternoon in Reckless. They recommended a record for me to check out and I could've skipped home if I wore different shoes. Then I read Frank G's 5am-sad-story. Lighten up guy. Lay off the depressants.

I'm with Steve on the tomatillos. commerce, yes.. I'll be looking for the Pavement LP and the Numero compilation on ebay since most stores were short in supply and quickly sold out. free food at Recod Breakers! that, friends, is a fine old-school RECORD STORE!!

WHET VS. FRANK G Thanks for the homebound chuckles! Frank. Very FRANK, but also very DICK. Whet. Very TRUE, but also very TRUE.

Re: Whet vs. Frank G. The cats at the Jazz Record mart are relatively successful jazz and hip-hop musicians who know their stuff and are really helpful. I went in there knowing I wanted to add another Bobby Hutcherson album to my collection and they not only gave me a recommendation on which one to get, but remembered that they had it used, therefore saving me a few bucks. Good experience. Plus they let me put up a poster for a gig I was playing.

Frank G., I'm really glad you made it and I don't have to deal with your bullshit when I go to a record store. Reader, You think Albini might be interested in writing more often? I'd read anything he has to say about produce.

Frank G., Don't believe everything you read. The generic chain stores may have gone but good independent record stores are flourishing these days. Why? Because the people who work in them love music. It may seem "nostalgic" to you, but people like me do actually enjoy talking to other human beings face to face, even now, especially about music.

Failed musicians? I dunno..I worked in probably a half-dozen well know independent and chain record stores before I had a notorious career in radio at WXRT and a 15 year run with various record labels. All I know is that everything I know about music I learned being a vinyl jockey and loved every minute of it except for the assholes like you who came in and had no fuckling clue what or who I was- you I would steer to the Debbie Boone records.

Hmm... Seems to me Frank's never been in a real record store. Or had one shitty experience and now uses that to justify his avoidance of all things "commerce." I work at a record store in Minneapolis. One of the oldest record stores in the country. I also shoot concert photography, and do very well. I have a law degree and passed the bar exam, but I choose to work at the record store. I'm not a failed musician or industry gal in any sense of those words because I've never tried to be one. I don't want to be one - but I do love music. I love music enough to want other people to love the music I love. So I talk about it, photograph it, suggest it, ask people to listen to it, and live it. That's what separates out the real record store from the Best Buy where a high school kid gets a summer job. "There s such a flood of choice out there on the intertubes which deems these guys irrelevant." Actually, this is exactly why we ARE relevant. The interlinks have so much music now that people have trouble navigating the waters. Who better than a real live record store clerk to help guide you? Someone who can compare Delta Spirit to Cold War Kids to White Rabbits; someone who can banter with you about why The Shins left Subpop; someone who can tell you that there's a new guy with a cello who floats somewhere between classical and rock, so their 13-year-old might really get into it (Ben Sollee); someone who works with the person who can't read to help them sift through the jazz section and find that one song they remember... these stores still exist and they deserve as much recognition as we can pile on them. I'm proud and happy to work where I work.

All ya'll got punked. That's 10 less of you I had to fight off for a Jesus Lizard box set... @Lucas Gillan: Exception granted for the Jazz Record Mart @Jerny: Was the Pavement LP worth it? I passed. I've got a lot of live Pavement already, but am still curious... @Staciaann: Good for you. One less lawyer on the streets. @whet: I think I was pretty clear when I said failed. Makes bad music. Please do not infer any financial judgements. Right up there with kids with music degrees. Restaurants or the bus? Neither do I. They have a talent, and provide me with a valuable service. "Who better than a real live record store clerk to help guide you? " How about my own two ears? Or your own two ears? No one needs that gate keeper anymore, unless they are too lazy to invest the time themselves. It's well documented Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons was based on a composite of all Reckless employees who ever lived. Quaker Goes Deaf, the Dummyroom, bring those back and I'll celebrate Record Store day... yeah I know, who's being nostalgic now... As an aside, please join me Saturday as I celebrate Phone Booth Day.

From the matador blog: "Bummed about record store day, I’m a lifelong Pavement fan and I went to support the local indie store. When I got there I watched the owner open up the box with all the exclusives and tell me that everything was already spoken for. I’m all for cool record stores, but shitty behaviour makes me not want to go back. I see stores turned around and posted ‘the exclusives’ on ebay for a shortsighted profit. Cheers. mission accomplished, fate sealed." "I understand that the point of RSD is to bring people out to the local shops; it’s a great coordinated marketing gig. Really good idea, pulls out the collectors and the fans. Sadly, the winners are the staff and shop owners who snag the exclusives and sell them on ebay for unbelievable prices."

Congratulations, Frank G! You've got everyone talking about you! YOU'RE no failed web commentor! You've got me all tingly over WHO the fuck or WHAT the fuck you are. If failed musicians populate our record shops, then great! I'd rather it's them than someone who could care less about music. That'd just be Amazon. Granted I might think I know more about music than most of the staff I've come across in recent few years but I'm a lot older & have invested many more years into my obsession. If they dig it like I do, they'll get there too & the cycle rolls on. So how does it feel, Frank G, maybe kinda crappy, or maybe you don't care, or maybe you haven't come back to this topic since your post. At any rate, nice goin. And can anyone tell me if there really IS an all Willie/Fall record shop? Because that new Fall lp comes out in June & I'd like to buy it in person rather than online.