There used to be a boutique in South Chicago that - for some odd reason - sold records. So there's that. Mainly sealed, unsold stock.
I remember buying pristine copies of Badfinger's Magic Christian Music and Ripple's self-titled elpee on GRC, both of which were out-of-print at the time (1992). No longer around, and the last time I went there (it was '95 by then), the records looked water damaged.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I buy all my records from authentic funk providers who can also tell me the name of the girl 'round the way
Isn't there an element of mushroom procurement involved in this approach? Or am I mixing up my digging modi operandi?
I usually get my records from this dude down the block. He's usually pushing a shopping card full of vinyl. He receives alien transmissions in his fillings and use bologna to plug up the holes in his British Knights but he's kool peeps!
I don't get the boutique digger bit. So I guess if I'm not in some ones basement, knee deep in mold and cat piss diggin through dust and dirt I'm not a true digger?!! F**K that! I go where ever has records. I've been in my share of basements and record stores alike...and some times the basement of record stores. Dudes are just splitting hairs.
Yeah. At this point in my life, I'm a record buyer. If I have the time and the means, and there are records I want, I'll buy them. But real world moves have been trumping record buying for me for the most part for a while now, never mind the grind of putting in the time and effort to properly "dig."
Srsly. By nature of the one-foot-in-the-grave physical-product music industry, 95 percent of record stores would be considered boutiques. For me, records are a hobby not a way of life. And spending half my weekend at flea markets, junk stores, thrifts and garage sales is a waste of time and money. I don't feel bad about dropping perhaps a little extra dough on a record that's in good condition and of good quality musically. I know for a fact the record-store proprietor doesn't mind either.
Boutique Digging = Having someone chew your food for you before you swallow it.
The same thing has happened with vintage clothing. One used to have to wade through racks and/or piles of clothes, shoes and purses to find one or two amazing things...everywhere from dusty, messy hole-in-the-wall shops to by-the-pound warehouses at Goodwill, etc. Now, stores have minimum wage minions who do the wading for them, the items get 500% mark-up and the shopper never has to get her/his hands dirty. After doing all the dirty work for years and years, I am OK with paying for someone who I think has pretty good taste to do the front line work for me. But I also don't have much choice. All the by-the-pounds have closed up, stores have relationships with the warehouses for first picks and small crappy second-hand stores have become.....vintage clothing boutiques!
One thing I should mention - whereas I am more than happy to still do the dirty work for records, the rise in bedbugs in urban centres has me scared shitless when it comes to buying second-hand/vintage clothing.
i fondly remember going into the old TSL after playing ball for two hours. being sweaty and grimy and sitting at the listening station for hours. trading two MOP records for store credit to buy one of their $30 joints. then going across the street to Mozzarella and getting a slice of pizza for the same amount i spent on the aforementioned MOP records.
I went into a 2nd hand store today and found a copy of Sojourner on Strata East for 6,50?. The store didn't have any wooden floor, but wooden racks. It smelled somehow sterile in there. I mean, the store is new still....they don't sell any clothes but their (theyre there) world music CD section is divided in many countries...
I went to one in Berlin last month, needless to say I left w/o anything and the Boutiques Cashier Lady (thats the correct term for record clerk in boutiques, right?) was so incredibly stupid and snobby.
I went to one in Berlin last month, needless to say I left w/o anything and the Boutiques Cashier Lady (thats the correct term for record clerk in boutiques, right?) was so incredibly stupid and snobby.
cant remember the name, its just down the street from rosenthaler platz.
after rereading my post I figured this is probably just how most boutiques are, but in Germany you find all these weird ethno worldly stores or hoerspiel kinda shops that sometimes carry decent stuff in the bins.
Prob like the one where you found your strata piece
I went into a 2nd hand store today and found a copy of Sojourner on Strata East for 6,50?. The store didn't have any wooden floor, but wooden racks. It smelled somehow sterile in there. I mean, the store is new still....they don't sell any clothes but their (theyre there) world music CD section is divided in many countries...
and where was that? i have yet to find ANY strata release in germany for cheap.
I went into a 2nd hand store today and found a copy of Sojourner on Strata East for 6,50?. The store didn't have any wooden floor, but wooden racks. It smelled somehow sterile in there. I mean, the store is new still....they don't sell any clothes but their (theyre there) world music CD section is divided in many countries...
and where was that? i have yet to find ANY strata release in germany for cheap.
in my hometown, and I would not call this a boutique, it rather looks like a body shop filled with CD's. Oh, they also had Melvin Sparks S/T on Westbound in mint for 5?. But these things happen once every 5-10 years over here. No, no records at the Dutch border...
For me, records are a hobby not a way of life. And spending half my weekend at flea markets, junk stores, thrifts and garage sales is a waste of time and money. I don't feel bad about dropping perhaps a little extra dough on a record that's in good condition and of good quality musically. I know for a fact the record-store proprietor doesn't mind either.
I agree with this and have no problems paying "market value" for records I want at stores or online, but the obvious appeal of shopping for records at thrifts, flea markets, garage sales, etc, is that all the records are, whatever, $1 ... and if you find a record that would be $100 at a "boutique," it will still be $1.
Comments
I remember buying pristine copies of Badfinger's Magic Christian Music and Ripple's self-titled elpee on GRC, both of which were out-of-print at the time (1992). No longer around, and the last time I went there (it was '95 by then), the records looked water damaged.
yeah, something about a psychedelic mushroom patch & a BBQ joint
can't really remember the whole thing
last time i brought mushrooms it was from a boutique.
I'm saying, there are both in this photo taken from my balcony...
Srsly. By nature of the one-foot-in-the-grave physical-product music industry, 95 percent of record stores would be considered boutiques. For me, records are a hobby not a way of life. And spending half my weekend at flea markets, junk stores, thrifts and garage sales is a waste of time and money. I don't feel bad about dropping perhaps a little extra dough on a record that's in good condition and of good quality musically. I know for a fact the record-store proprietor doesn't mind either.
boutique diggin all day son!
search party
magic
use of force
tricky lures
going underground
traditional digging
trades!
the force can be used for good or evil.
private dealer
boutique:
The same thing has happened with vintage clothing.
One used to have to wade through racks and/or piles of clothes, shoes and purses to find one or two amazing things...everywhere from dusty, messy hole-in-the-wall shops to by-the-pound warehouses at Goodwill, etc.
Now, stores have minimum wage minions who do the wading for them, the items get 500% mark-up and the shopper never has to get her/his hands dirty.
After doing all the dirty work for years and years, I am OK with paying for someone who I think has pretty good taste to do the front line work for me. But I also don't have much choice. All the by-the-pounds have closed up, stores have relationships with the warehouses for first picks and small crappy second-hand stores have become.....vintage clothing boutiques!
One thing I should mention - whereas I am more than happy to still do the dirty work for records, the rise in bedbugs in urban centres has me scared shitless when it comes to buying second-hand/vintage clothing.
I went to one in Berlin last month, needless to say I left w/o anything and the Boutiques Cashier Lady (thats the correct term for record clerk in boutiques, right?) was so incredibly stupid and snobby.
Thank god I have my regulars in Mitte
which was it?
after rereading my post I figured this is probably just how most boutiques are, but in Germany you find all these weird ethno worldly stores or hoerspiel kinda shops that sometimes carry decent stuff in the bins.
Prob like the one where you found your strata piece
and where was that? i have yet to find ANY strata release in germany for cheap.
in my hometown, and I would not call this a boutique, it rather looks like a body shop filled with CD's. Oh, they also had Melvin Sparks S/T on Westbound in mint for 5?. But these things happen once every 5-10 years over here. No, no records at the Dutch border...
I agree with this and have no problems paying "market value" for records I want
at stores or online, but the obvious appeal of shopping for records at thrifts,
flea markets, garage sales, etc, is that all the records are, whatever, $1 ...
and if you find a record that would be $100 at a "boutique," it will still be $1.