Music Store

Last weekend I went over to Indiana for a music fest. On the way, a friend wanted me to check out a music store he discovered. I thought "what the hell", but wasn’t expecting too much. I guess I am just used to today’s CD stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and even Wal-Mart to some extent. But let me tell you that walking in to this place was an awesome experience and it made me realize how much I miss a true record store.

Immediately as you walk in your senses are awash in the atmosphere. Simple things such as real music flowing through the real stereo system. Not the manufactured and formulated crap that the music industry has created that you always hear playing over the P.A. at Best Buy. The walls were covered wall to wall with posters of not just well known music acts, but also more obscure and underground bands as well. Even the small details were great such as the pungent smell of incense and the "20 something" dude behind the counter. But more than all of that was the shelves and shelves (not racks) of CDs. It was a veritable music paradise. The shelving setup made it very easy to flip through the thousands of CDs they had. They were all organized by genre and then each section had bands listed out by name for each letter of the alphabet. For each letter there was also a "Misc" section - this is where the treasure hunting was at. I could have spent hours and hours crawling through all of the CDs. I went in not expecting to spend a dime and came out of the store 50 bucks poorer. Give me another day where I actually have more time and I will spend about 5 times that.

The coolest thing about the place was their support of independent labels and bands. This is where Best Buy and the other corporate giants fall off of the map. There were so many titles that I have been looking for that the giants do not carry. And the used section was almost as large as their new section - yet again, Best Buy and the ilk can not compete here. I will never again spend money on CDs at Best Buy - I am just going to save up and go every couple of months to this place in Indianapolis and give them my money. In the mean time I will be scouring the area that I live for somewhere similar. There are a couple, but they are not as big or well maintained.

Check them out. It is worth it. Vibes Music