I knew well before Christmas time that my grandfather was going to get me some kind of gift card. That's what he always does. He asked me what kind of gift card I'd like and I mentioned Amazon to him. I guess he couldn't figure out how to do that so he got me one of those cash cards instead. $50. Not too shabby. But anyway, I knew something like that was coming, so I've been trying to put together a list of what I'd like to spend it on. Of course, records were tip-top of the list. I also got from my Dad a $50 Best Buy gift card. I needed to get a USB 2.0 card for this old computer I'm scrapping together to use as a desktop, but after that it's all going to music. THEN, my mom gives me this birthday card from my brother from 4 months ago that I had left at her house and forgotten to get back. And somehow I never realized there was another Best Buy gift card in that! Another $20. So I am trying to maximize my music getting with these now, and I thought I had a good plan. I was going to get two Tribe Called Quest records, The Low-End Theory and Midnight Marauders with the Best Buy cards. It made sense because it adds up to about what I have left between those two cards and for some reason Low-End Theory is significantly cheaper through Best Buy than it is through Amazon. Then through Amazon I was going to get these two Jazmine Sullivan 12-inches, go and buy an LP copy of The Milk-Eyed Mender through a third-party seller on Amazon, but after that I've been confusing myself endlessly. How to make the most of it?! I kind of want to get the Janelle Monae Metropolis EP. A portion of it is kind of off-putting, but it also has some really gorgeous vocals on it. Like it a lot. Then there's Jazzanova. I've been putting off listening to that entire album because I really want to buy it before I hear it all, because what I've heard so far has absolutely blown me away. Blown away George! Blow-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoan! But I can only get it on CD! Do I really want to use precious Amazon free shipping to get a CD? AND there are ways I could get it on vinyl, but it would cost close to $30, and I think would be shipping from overseas. So torn! And another album that I'd really like to get before I listen to it all, Reel People's Seven Ways To Wonder. Also only available on CD, and LUDICROUSLY priced. $22.98 for a single CD?? A CD?!?? You must be kidding me! (Actually I think I can get it for far cheaper if I go through a third-party seller on Amazon, even when the shipping is added.) Same situation with Little Dragon's album. So all of that's been floating through my head since before Christmas. And today, add more! I'm reminded today that Platinum Pied Piper's Abundance and A.C. Newman's Get Guilty are both coming out on LP next Tuesday. I don't think I can pass those up! Not only because they're pretty sure to be excellent albums, but as far as I can remember it would be my first experience getting brand new albums on brand new records. Also, apparently there's going to be a release in the next month or so of Van Morrison's recent live performance of the entirety of Astral Weeks. ON RECORD. Something else I don't have money for. How can I possibly choose?
Also, a guy at work showed me these two websites the other day: Global Electronic Music Marketplace and MusicStack. Oh geeeeeeeez.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Questions: Answered
I needed to make myself take a break from watching The Shield so I decided to take the opportunity to answer some of the questions Adam posed a little while back.
Favorite Finds of 2008: One would have to be finding INXS's X at Crossroads in Staunton. That's as a pure find, because first of all it was a complete shock, I wasn't even completely sure it existed. And also, here's the way it went down. I was over there in October when I first saw it, but it was 8 dollars. For some reason I decided I thought I could get it for less, so I went back and started looking on eBay to get an idea. And eBay wasn't showing me much at all, aside from Argentinian imports, I wasn't seeing it show up very often, which made me think, “This is not an album that is going to be found very often. Very stupid to leave it sitting there.” So I was pretty upset about that for the next month, until I went back over there for Thanksgiving, stopped back in, and luckily it was still there. But aside from it being a good find, it's basically a nostalgia trip for me in that it was my second favorite album from my favorite band in the 80s, so musically it wasn't going to blow me away.
But then there's find in terms of ratio of surprise to price to music contained therein. I'll have to pick two of those, and those two would both come from thrift stores this year. First one was from the latest Goodwill to hit the area, which the first time we looked through was extremely disappointing. There was basically nothing there but empty sleeves of thrift store standards. Next time I went back to check it out, I guess a DJ had gotten rid of his records, because there were a lot of promos and 12” singles in generic sleeves. BUT, one of those was Erykah Badu's Worldwide Underground, which I was bowled over to find, as I was just getting into her at the time and had my mind opened up a little to think her stuff was being released on LP. And of course it was the Goodwill standard $1. Then I would have to give second place to the Jr. Walker record I got yesterday. It was kind of sitting there, amongst a bunch of dissimilar records, in beautiful shape, and it's an outstanding album. And it was 50 cents. Hard to beat.
Best deals of 2008: I'd have to give that award to the Salvation Army on Lafayette this year. Most days I will go in there and find absolutely nothing but the same old shit that nobody else wants to buy either. But when they get new stuff in, can't touch 'em. A standard price of 50 cents per record, and very often running specials at 10 cents a record. So that's one way of looking at a deal. Another is that I just bought Astral Weeks, a record I've been after for close to a decade, for one third of ten dollars. If there's a love to price ratio on a deal, that would win hands down.
To address the plastic outer sleeving controversy, personally I love them. In fact I almost bought 50 more when I was at Plan 9, but decided against it because I need to investigate pricing a little more. Ever since I've been buying records, I've been using them to both protect against cuts and tears in the seams and point out to me quickly where a record is in the shelves. Generally I only put them on my favorite records, or records I find in especially good condition that are worth a little extra protection. So, if I need to go find a particular record, I'll know whether I'm looking for a plastic sleeve or a naked outer. But mainly keeping my favorites in the outer sleeves is tradition with me, because the first records I bought came with those sleeves and I always considered it prudent to keep them. But, having said that, the only reason I have so many of those sleeves is because my friend Tom who I used to roll to all the record stores with didn't like keeping his records in them either and would give them all to me. I don't really remember his reason for it, probably just a personal preference. I've never really paid much attention to it, but I would kind of wonder how many people make much use of the plastic sleeves. I think it would take a really obsessive person to put every single one of their records in a plastic sleeve and then I also think most people would take an all or nothing view of it and avoid the sleeves for all. Or maybe they'd just keep the sleeves on the ones that came with sleeves like it's part of the package. I'm not sure, I might do some asking around about that.
how do you feel about Promo copies with promo stamps or holes or other various shapes to denote the promotional qualities of them. Do you wait to find a real deal copy? What if the promo copy is special on its own?
I've never had any problem with cut-out, cornered, or punched cover records. I've known some record buyers that avoid them like plague, will not buy a cut-out record no matter how much they want the album. I've never understood it. From what I've read, cut-outs, at least in terms of older records, were often records that couldn't be sold by a retailer so they were sent back to the distributor. Then when they got sent back out by the distributor, they were marked in that way with the intention of selling at a discounted price. So, basically the only difference between a cut-out and any other record is some deliberate damage done to the cover. Actually, when it's put in those terms, it kind of sounds undesirable, but then again, every record has a hole in it. I'll buy a record with split seams, ringwear, old glue, I've even bought some records without their covers. So a little cut-out or punching, I'm not going to let it bother me.
Now, records that are promo copies or DJ copies that may come in plain white sleeves and are otherwise packaged in a completely different way than the actual album, those I have had to come to grips with. Knowing that somewhere out there is a copy of this record with legit artwork makes me pause before buying the record. But I've gotten over that too, at least when the price is right. The record itself is what really matters to me and as long as that's in good shape I can get over just about anything else. Plus I would be willing to bet that some of those DJ copies get albums put onto vinyl that otherwise would not have been. So basically, I would much rather have a record with all the packaging that's supposed to come with it, but no, it wouldn't stop me from buying the record. It would just make me buy the record a second time later.
How many versions of a record are enough? Do you like to collect multiple pressings? Colors? Etc.
I have a few different answers for this, so let's get started.
Generally, my answer is one. One record in decent shape that will play through without an obscene amount of skipping per album is basically all I need. But, it depends on the album, and it depends on pricing, and it depends on exactly how different the package is. I can't think of an album I'm really into that has come out in multiple colors or with multiple covers or something else that is a slight repackaging of the exact same album. I want to say that I wouldn't buy into that kind of marketing and that I would be more than content with just a standard copy, but who knows. If Drag City decided to re-release Ys in a version where Joanna's hands moved on the cover and another version where the background was a hologram, I can't say I wouldn't be moved to find copies of those. But it would definitely have to be an album I'm bat-shit insane over rather than a “have 'em just to have 'em” kind of thing, because special vinyl is something they love to jack up the prices on.
That said, there are some albums that I have several copies of, for varying reasons. There are some albums that I simply cannot leave in a store if I come across them at a decent price. Elvis Country is one example. From Elvis In Memphis is another. Those are the two that immediately come to mind that I have more than one copy of, exact same record and packaging, that I was well aware I was buying a second copy of for no reason other than I simply could not leave it sitting in the store when it could be coming home with me. That's more obsessive behavior than collecting though. I get the feeling that if I considered it sought after once, and I found it, then it should be leaving with me, no matter how many times I've bought it before. But I'd probably put a 5 dollar limit on that. If it's going to cost me more than 5 dollars, I could probably convince myself to let someone else have it this time.
Then I also have three copies of Pet Sounds that are all a little bit different. The first one I got was a reissue, which I would probably have been fine with for the rest of my life. But at a library booksale I found what I think is an original, or at least has nothing on it to tell me otherwise. That's not the reason I bought it though. I bought it because it was a dollar and I couldn't leave it there under those circumstances. Then I have a third copy, but that one came as part of a two-fer package with Carl and The Passions-So Tough, which at the time and in that package was the record I was really after. But again, none of that is really being concerned with what issue of a record I have, if I'm getting a reissue or an original, or if it's a special package. A Beach Boys fan could really get wrapped up in that stuff and go crazy over it. Especially the pre-Pet Sounds records, they'd been repackaged through the 70's as two-fers, under different names, with different tracklistings, completely different cover art, it's a little bit horrendous. I had to give up on being exclusive to original packages and just be happy with the record as it was, and I expanded that beyond the Beach Boys to all the record kingdom.
Anyway, long and the short of it, I'd say one is enough, and the rest is indulgence. I'd much rather spend my money on an armful of different records than a few versions of the same record. The multiple copies would just seem like something to look at, and that can't be what records are for. That's for collectors.
What is your favorite pre-record hunting routine?
I don't really have one. Usually when I go out hunting for records it is with a search in mind and that's all that's on my mind. But, if I go to a thrift store or a record store that also has CDs or whatever other merchandise I might be interested in, I'll probably take a look at that stuff first. I'm not really sure why. Maybe just being practical, so I don't have to be carrying armloads of records while I look at other stuff if I were to do the records first.
Favorite Finds of 2008: One would have to be finding INXS's X at Crossroads in Staunton. That's as a pure find, because first of all it was a complete shock, I wasn't even completely sure it existed. And also, here's the way it went down. I was over there in October when I first saw it, but it was 8 dollars. For some reason I decided I thought I could get it for less, so I went back and started looking on eBay to get an idea. And eBay wasn't showing me much at all, aside from Argentinian imports, I wasn't seeing it show up very often, which made me think, “This is not an album that is going to be found very often. Very stupid to leave it sitting there.” So I was pretty upset about that for the next month, until I went back over there for Thanksgiving, stopped back in, and luckily it was still there. But aside from it being a good find, it's basically a nostalgia trip for me in that it was my second favorite album from my favorite band in the 80s, so musically it wasn't going to blow me away.
But then there's find in terms of ratio of surprise to price to music contained therein. I'll have to pick two of those, and those two would both come from thrift stores this year. First one was from the latest Goodwill to hit the area, which the first time we looked through was extremely disappointing. There was basically nothing there but empty sleeves of thrift store standards. Next time I went back to check it out, I guess a DJ had gotten rid of his records, because there were a lot of promos and 12” singles in generic sleeves. BUT, one of those was Erykah Badu's Worldwide Underground, which I was bowled over to find, as I was just getting into her at the time and had my mind opened up a little to think her stuff was being released on LP. And of course it was the Goodwill standard $1. Then I would have to give second place to the Jr. Walker record I got yesterday. It was kind of sitting there, amongst a bunch of dissimilar records, in beautiful shape, and it's an outstanding album. And it was 50 cents. Hard to beat.
Best deals of 2008: I'd have to give that award to the Salvation Army on Lafayette this year. Most days I will go in there and find absolutely nothing but the same old shit that nobody else wants to buy either. But when they get new stuff in, can't touch 'em. A standard price of 50 cents per record, and very often running specials at 10 cents a record. So that's one way of looking at a deal. Another is that I just bought Astral Weeks, a record I've been after for close to a decade, for one third of ten dollars. If there's a love to price ratio on a deal, that would win hands down.
To address the plastic outer sleeving controversy, personally I love them. In fact I almost bought 50 more when I was at Plan 9, but decided against it because I need to investigate pricing a little more. Ever since I've been buying records, I've been using them to both protect against cuts and tears in the seams and point out to me quickly where a record is in the shelves. Generally I only put them on my favorite records, or records I find in especially good condition that are worth a little extra protection. So, if I need to go find a particular record, I'll know whether I'm looking for a plastic sleeve or a naked outer. But mainly keeping my favorites in the outer sleeves is tradition with me, because the first records I bought came with those sleeves and I always considered it prudent to keep them. But, having said that, the only reason I have so many of those sleeves is because my friend Tom who I used to roll to all the record stores with didn't like keeping his records in them either and would give them all to me. I don't really remember his reason for it, probably just a personal preference. I've never really paid much attention to it, but I would kind of wonder how many people make much use of the plastic sleeves. I think it would take a really obsessive person to put every single one of their records in a plastic sleeve and then I also think most people would take an all or nothing view of it and avoid the sleeves for all. Or maybe they'd just keep the sleeves on the ones that came with sleeves like it's part of the package. I'm not sure, I might do some asking around about that.
Proof: It never ends
I made a trip to Plan 9 Richmond yesterday in what was supposed to be absolutely my last hoo-rah for the year. I couldn't in good conscience end the year with that sad outing to Plan 9 Harrisonburg. And, give me the time off work, what else am I really going to do? I'd say it was pretty successful, I walked out with 28 records. Nothing mind-blowing, though I did pick up a couple Elvis records that I don't already have. Most of the rest of it was out of the R&B/Soul dollar bins. Like I say, nothing life-altering, but definitely a lot that I'm excited to listen to. Already I've listened to Minnie Riperton's Perfect Angel and it is a thousand times better than I expected, and I expected pretty good things from it. Amazing album. (I think later tonight or tomorrow I'll put up a post with some reasoning as to why Plan 9 Richmond must surely be the greatest record store in the universe. I can think of very few ways to improve on it.) So, add those 28 to the 6 or 7 I got between Christmas and while I was away (and It's Too Late To Stop Now came in the mail today) and I had some listening to do, certainly enough to keep me busy until, say, January 2nd. Right?
Apparently wrong. Earlier today I went to the Salvation Army looking for some shelves. I've got a little bit of a desperate shelving situation going on and records are extending out onto the floor right now. Anyway, no shelves. But I was impressed they were open on New Year's Eve regular hours, so I thought I'd do some looking around, and walked out with 8 more records. 50 cents each, no chance I was leaving them behind, including a copy of Jr. Walker and the All Stars Play Shotgun that is in unbelievable shape, and which I am playing right now and it is ear-sexingly good. It never ends! But now I seriously need to take a break from buying records, because it is not only going to deplete my monies but it's taking up way too much of my time lately. Not that I'm abandoning the records completely, not at all. Because I still need to solve this shelving problem. And since I can't seem to find what I really want anywhere, I think I'm going to have a go at making them myself.
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