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Saturday April 18th is National Record Store Day.



What does this mean for me? Well I'll tell you. One of my earliest pre-teen memories was going to a record store that was the Wazoo Annex which was on State Street in Ann Arbor across from Lane Hall (above what is now BW3 but was once In Flight and the Cat's Meow and a bunch of other crazy shit) with my dad.

We were looking for Black Sabbath's Paranoid on vinyl (not 8-Track which was the other option at the time). It had a pink circular sticker on it that said "3-" and I remember taking it home, pulling the LP out of the sleeve, and queuing up Iron Man for the first time.

This was the first Record Store experience that my mental database remembers and I never want that possibility to be denied to other grumpy white kids.

If you are looking for a good spot, I recommend Underground Sounds in Ann Arbor right next to Afternoon Delight...Liberty and whatever that is...across from the Post Office. I worked for the owner, Matt Bradish, (christ) 16 years ago at That Total Age records in Ypsilanti. He's still going and his store is better than ever.

I'm likely going to pick up:
The new Silversun Pickups
That Pearl Jam "Ten" reissue
Some Dntel recordings that I didn't know existed
some My Morning Jacket stuff I don't have ("Tennessee Fire" maybe?)
Maybe some Rilo Kiley or the second Jenny Lewis CD (I've been way into this tune which I stole from the interwebs and enjoyed, so I should attone somehow)
The Diana Krall Bossa Nova album if it is there
Maybe some Steinski (because I should)

and then whatever else catches my eye.

I get a whole lot of music that streams into my face free of charge due to the career choices I've made, the availability of the internets and the friends I have. When I drop $40, $80, $100 at a real honest-to-golly record store once every 6 months, I never have buyer's remorse. I always feel like I am supporting the machine that I still want to pay into.

I'm not lining the coffers of the fat-cats at the record labels or the glitzy A&R men, I feel like I'm supporting a community service...the old-school record store that we remember running off to after school with our allowance money.

whatever I can do to make it so my son has the same opportunity (to buy MP3s or plug the input directly into the medulla oblongata...I don't fucking care)...to go down to Matt's store and buy some hip-hop/AvantGrime/BlackDeathMetal record that I'll hate. That's what I want.

More from Detour:

Underground Sounds (Ann Arbor)

255 E Liberty St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 327-9239
www.myspace.com/undergroundsoundsmi

Underground Sounds is fairly new to the scene – owner Matt Bradish has a serious love of music and a seriously cute black lab pup who will ask you to toss her rope bone while you’re pouring through his smartly stocked indie vinyl selection. She’ll drool over the toy, you drool over that new Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy 10” you haven’t seen anywhere else. He’s got some cool and rare stuff for you come this Saturday that will certainly be worth dipping into your weekend whiskey dollars for…

Detour: Any cool, collectible stuff that will be available on Record Store Day?
Matt Bradish: I’m getting lots of stuff specific for the occasion actually - Pavement Live in Germany LP, Akron/Family, Silversun Pickups, a comp of Domino artists including Franz Ferdinand and Junior Boys, Tom Waits live tracks on 7”, Bad Religion 7”, Cursive 7”, Gaslight Anthem 10”, Flight of the Conchords 7”, Soft Bulletin by Flaming Lips on vinyl (one of my favorite records!), also Jane’s Addiction, Walk Among Us by Misfits, Begin To Hope by Regina Spektor, ‘77 by Talking Heads…

DT: Why do you think vinyl is important?
MB: People who buy vinyl care more about the music, the artwork, knowing about it.
They generally have a longer attention span, and they more interested in listening to the entire record. It’s more participatory. The artwork is just much more fitting. You can engross yourself in it, and it’s more engaging.

::

Thanks Matt

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