Record Store Day – April 19

i went to amoeba records in hollywood yesterday and they were going all out with hourly raffles for amoeba gift certificates, in store music (DJ’s) and it was packed!

i found the joni mitchell dvd Painting with Words and Music for $4.99, i was happy! and some tish hinojosa too…
they rock and i hope they never close…browsing online will never be the same as the people watching at amoeba hollywood, san fran or bezerkley!

one guy’s blog
http://mog.com/Eric5776/blog_post/156641

National Record Store Day – One Important Plea (4/19/08)

We all know that iTunes in the #1 retailer out there now. They’re crushing the competition by outshining over Wal-mart, Circuit City, Best Buy, Target and FYE (I know, some of you are probably saying – What’s FYE stand for???). More importantly, iTunes is slowly chipping away at what I know still for many of us hold dear – the physical album. For those unsure what I mean when I say “album”, it could very well be vinyl record in a 12″ x 12″ sleeve or it could be a collection of songs on a CD by one artist presented in some sort of creative CD case, digipac or other form. An album is R.E.M. “Green” on cassette tape. An album is occasionally thrown in gratis by a record label like Matador or Merge Records when you purchase the downloaded version of the entire release.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here to let you know about a very important date for anyone who still cares about records, cassettes or CDs (not ripped or burned CDs, ones w/ artwork that you paid for). National Record Store is what I see as a last ditch effort, not to save the music industry or the record labels, but to save the dying breed of the record store, primarily the independent record store which is still clinging by a thread. There is still to my knowledge at least one independent record store in every state (with the possible exception of Alaska and Hawaii) and they’re banding together to flip off iTunes and Best Buy and Wal-mart and Target. They’re getting bands from as huge as Metallica and as indie as Nada Surf to nobodies like Jackie Greene to play in their record store. They’re doing this to prove a point – that people still care about the album, and shopping in record stores, and buying independent, and spending $10 – $13 on a decent CD.

With that being said, I urge any and all fans of music who are over the age of 23(anyone younger probably has never shopped in a record store outside of their local mall) to patronize their local record stores this Saturday, April 19, 2008. If you can’t because there isn’t one within a stones throw, at least purchase a physical record, 7″, single, or CD from a local indie’s website. Yeah, it might be a little more than the more convenient iTunes or it may take a few extra days to ship from the Record and Tape Traders warehouse, but dammit if you care about how music was 10, 15, 20 years ago, you’ll do it.

Here’s a list of great independent records store along with the official website of National Record Store Day if you’d like to peruse. I’d recommend Vintage Vinyl if you’re shopping online, their store is the best.

www.nationalrecordstoreday.com
www.cims.com
www.musicmonitornetwork.com
www.vintagevinyl.com
www.recordandtapetraders.com

Thanks for listening,

i’ve done some fun things in amoeba including having a beer with dave prinz and anita kleinow celebrating that flying burrito release in the hollywood store……
but if i were browsing, and saw someone next to me with snakes entwining her arm (as i’ve seen a few times before at molly malones or the mint) that would’ve been most memorable (like browsing at a different store on franklin next to henry diltz one time…he’s perty kewl)
soooo…………what did she buy? i bought two tish hinojoa and two joni mitchell dvd’s

on another note…..another time i was admiring a particularly unusual person on the other side of a rack while browsing at amoeba, then turned to my left to see someone anonomously taking this person’s picture…
i wondered what kind of website it ended up on! ha………..

thanks I.J.
lisa