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Monday, January 26, 2009
Shit Talk Note to PDX: Your record stores kinda suck.
Posted by Terry Miller on Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Yeah. You heard me.
I was completely disappointed by the lack of anything interesting in your used vinyl, and was totally turned off by how many re-pressings and re-issues fill the bins at your stores.
I realize that running vinyl shops is the new hip thing. I mean, while music sales in general have plummeted over the last couple of years, new vinyl sales have soared. That's awesome, really. But driving around the city and walking into store after store only to find the same expensive 180 gram vinyl re-issues and bootlegs is just depressing. Did no one in your town collect any vinyl of worth during the 70's and 80's? Does everyone horde their collections, never giving anything of value up?
Seriously PDX. I'm stymied by the lack of finds.
A particular disappointment was Millenium Music. The upstairs is dedicated to vinyl, but it seemed to be full of nothing of note except expensive re-issues. Thier soul sectioned had a large area devoted to James Brown, but that stuff I can find in dollar bins here. I want the real rare grooves not a costly imported 180 gram vinyl re-press. Boring.
And why do used vinyl places create Electronic music sections and fill them with the crap trance singles of some down-on-their-luck DJ from the 90's? Dollar bin it all and give me something useful. The odd rare Acid House bin buster might be nice, but nope, just crappy old trance and brand new IDM vinyl. Seriously. Do IDM fans buy that much vinyl?
I saw the same selection in store after store, as if the stores were in collusion with each other to force Portlanders to buy the same music. It was all such a disappointment.
Jackpot Records (both stores!) you were the worst offenders. I picked out a couple of albums I was interested in, and brought them to the front counter to listen to, only to be told, "We don't have a vinyl listening station."
WHAT?!?!?!
WTF kind of used record shop doesn't allow you to listen to the vinyl to judge what shape the record is in? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard come out of a record store clerks mouth. Ever. (And that's saying something as I used to go to Orpheum on Broadway all the time. Remember that doof?)
Even worse, when asked if he could put them on the system so I could hear them, he gave me this pained look, like, Wow! you want me to stop listening to this thrilling Iron and Wine album so you can put on some old 80's freestyle single?
"We don't do that," he said.
"Well," I said, "you can re-shelve these for me, 'cause I'm not buying them without hearing them first."
"Okay, I'll put them on," he grumbled as he sllllloooooowwwwwlllllyyyy turned down the record he was playing (yes, please! A decent fade out is needed when there's just 1 person in your store!) and put my track on.
It gave me great pleasure that both singles were crap and I decided not to buy them anyways.
Everyday Music: You were Portland's saving grace—barely. I know, I know, "They have everything!" Yeah, but it's beat to shit, not taken care of, priced oddly, and has big gaping holes. Yes I found a Nona Hendryx album I'd been looking for, but not even in the miles of Elvis LP's (mostly from the 70's) did I find a single Kid Creole soundtrack.
Even the much revered Mississippi Records was a let down. The only thing I found there were a couple of old 12" singles that were re-pressings, not originals. They had a great punk singles section, and maybe if I was more into that, I'd be able to give a better review of what they had, but otherwise, once again, I found some of the same new copies of old albums I saw at other vendors. (However the help was very nice and the listening station is right in the front window, where you sit on an over-stuffed chair and listen at an old janky turntable. Goofy, but charming.)
What's up PDX? As far as the vinyl selection goes Seattle has you poor mofo's schooled.
Could you work on that please?
Thanks,
Terry
Did you try 2nd Ave Records? If not, you missed out.
Until then, GO SUCK ON A DEAD DOG'S NOSE! :-)
I'm not being snarky. What's up with these inflated prices? Is there any valid reason why I should pay $33 for Serge Gainsbourg reissues—including 28-minute LPs like Histoire de Melody Nelson? I love Serge and I know these are imports, but shelling out more than a dollar per minute of music is painful.
The import distros bumps up their prices based on the exchange, but now we have lots of those imports sitting since they were imported say three years ago when the exchange sucked, but can't be marked down since the market rate was high when it was imported.
now things have completely flipped. cd has moved up to 18 and vinyl is 22+!
it could be that so many vinyl manufacturers have closed down over the past few years, making it a sellers market for vinyl. Especially considering that so many of these re-issues come with no extra packaging. No commentary from critics or contemporaries, no extra booklets or pictures, etc...
yes, it's like, how long can forced exposure gouge us all? or are they being gouged to begin with? where exactly does the vicious circle start?
Some should. But most probably should not. Their first and foremost job is to STAY IN BUSINESS by serving as many people as possible.
I mean, this is not a difficult concept, dude. I can't tell if you don't get it, or you're just kind of an insufferable snob.
Hardly a small niche #8. No, when you go to a good records store, you know it. I agree with Terry. Poor selection is the worst offense. You should never have old people who don't like all kinds of music buying used stuff at stores. They only buy what they like, or think is important, and it is often mundane and pedestrian.
As to the abundance or reissues, maybe it's because that's what's in print now. I'm sure Jackpot and Music Millenium aim for a specific balance of new and used product with the space they have available. Trying to accomodate the niche shopper who's looking for cheap, used and rare probably doesn't make as much financial sense as keeping those James Brown reissues in stock for the slightly less demanding vinyl shopper.
And I agree about Crossroads - It's as good as anything Seattle has to offer.
Which brings me to my next question for Terry. What shops in Seattle are so superior to the PDX shops?
But I do agree with the notion that shops shouldn't combine reissues with originals.
are we super spoiled to have bop street, jive time, everyday music, etcetc?
even half priced books is great, i've found more cheaper-than-they-should-be, rarer-than-average LPs there than anywhere else.
(lolz, thank you for the great article. Someone really needed to write this piece about 3 years ago.)
1. Sonic Boom, overpriced new imports and a bunch of used stuff I already have,.
2. Whatever that other place in Ballard is that is some guy's personal collection run amok with 45 copies of Genesis's "Trick of the Tail" but no Waits or Zappa or anything useful for less than $35.
3. Jive Time, occasionally adequate for the newbie collector.
Missing any? Clue me in. Because it'd be nice to come out of a Seattle record store for once in my life without sighing "I miss Amoeba."
It's not Amoeba, but their used cd section is really nice
Zion's Gate. ftw.
Also, I've come up with serious gems from Easy Street. Stuff that's probably worthless to others, but integral to me. Like Matt said above, the pricing is based on selling the record rather than what it's sold for to the highest bidder worldwide once on ebay like some other record stores in the area.
it's Bop Street you're thinking of
and I got an original pressing of Marty Robbins' Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs for 20 bucks there 2 weeks ago
so, like any used merchandise store, you just hit it on a bad day
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