Martin Kettle mourns the passing of US chain Tower Records: Going off the record . There is definitely something to this, to the idea that record shops, and in particular big record shops with a wide range of stock, are an important part of the music purchasing mosaic. I do not think online sellers can throw stuff at people in quite the same way, nor even can small, specialised shops.
I am lucky to live in a city where the local Tower Records cut loose from the global chain some time ago. It still gives the impression of being a shop for people who like music, whereas HMV has become a discount DVD hell hole.
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In the past I have sometimes found a good big record store can be fun and enlightening (though not recently). On the whole though I have learned more by going to small specialized places. For a while maybe we’ll use the internet to buy that obscure disc that we already know about, and the small stores to get pleasantly surprised. Of course wanting to actually buy a physical object marks us as dinosaurs.
I recall that San Francisco is good for small-ish record shops which are still notable for their range. I am thinking of the one in Noe Valley, the one on Divisidero, etc., and that's before you even get into the monster places like ehm, whatever it's called in Haight-Ashbury-land. So maybe they will go on providing happy browsing experiences.
You're thinking of Amoeba, Ian? Have you also been to Mod Lang, previously in Berkeley, now in some further SF suburb? That's my favorite shop.
Amoeba in LA was mind-blowing, if ever I own a chain of large record stores, they'll look like Ameoba
Yes, Amoeba in Haight-Ashbury (and also Berkeley) is probably the model of a good large shop. The one in Noe valley that you mention is probably Aquarius which is now in the Mission. This is indeed the model of the small record shop, although they are so far out ahead of the crowd that they sometimes disappear from view (more Wire than Mojo). This is pretty much the only place I go now. I’ve never been to Mod Lang, guess I should go.
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