One of America’s finest record stores, Neptune Records in Royal Oak, Michigan, has announced it is closing in late May. Why should you care? Because it signals the continuing trend of indie record shops folding in the wake of increased digital downloading (legal and otherwise), which has been eroding said shops’ bottom lines this decade. That, in addition to the Detroit area’s abysmal economy and other financial pressures, has forced Neptune owner Brett Marion to bow out of the precarious business of selling obscure music to a mostly indifferent public.

Neptune is the metro Detroit area’s equivalent of Wall of Sound, although it is bigger than that Seattle treasure: it carries a phenomenal selection of underground electronic music, psych rock, Kraut rock, dub, indie rock, out jazz, and select classic titles from the soul, funk, hiphop, African, reggae, tropicalia genres. Its extensive vinyl section catered well to DJs, and many of Ghostly International Records’ roster regularly scored their wax here.

Neptune’s staff—which includes my brother (and occasional Stranger illustrator) Michael—is one of the most passionate, knowledgeable, and funniest I’ve encountered (if you knew how much time I’ve spent in record stores, you’d understand the magnitude of this praise). In its nine-year history, Neptune had become a kind of informal gathering place for heads to check out the latest haul of great tunes and to exchange knowledge and banter.

Over its last four weeks of business, Neptune is having a clearance sale. There are plenty of amazing deals to be had, so have a look. I realize record shops are closing like crazy nowadays and a lot of people are all “whatevs” about it, but this phenomenon is disturbing to analog/vinyl aficionados like me who enjoy chewing the fat with record-mad geeks and rifling through LPs instead of scrolling down computer screens for musical treasures.

Anyway, enough maudlin reflecting. Have fun downloading.