I Need That Record: The Death (Or Possible Survival) Of The Independent Record Store

“No one at WalMart will recomment Hawkwind’s Space Ritual Live album. I will.”

- Crusty Olde Record Store Clerk -

“How’s it feel to have no taste?”

- Wacky Old Record Store Clerk -

P’s Take: Obviously, we here at the FSS love record stores. I think it would be fair to say that Pier Platters, a record shop that used to be in Hoboken, New Jersey had a massive impact on the Sound System and it’s partner organization, Bolshevix Industries Inc. We went there to investigate, to hang out, to learn and to flirt with the hot punk girl who worked downstairs in hopeless, awkward and creepy ways. Yas.

“I Need That Record!” was made by and features people who share the same emotional attachments to shops like Pier Platters. Glenn Branca talks about how he used to love going to record shops, you know, when they existed, but now he just Amazons cause he ain’t made of money, goddamnit. Thurston Moore says how, even though he has been a in a popular and prolific band for nearly 89 years, his real dream is to open a record store of his very own. Cough, bullshit, cough. Even Noam Chomsky talks about the death of record shops paralleling the demise of neighborhood culture and small-business. Also his grandkids listen to hip-hop. How funny is that shit?

Sadly, much of “I Need That Record!” is about death. The death of shops, the death of scenes, the death of youth, the death dreams. I am also into hip-hop, Mr. Chomsky. I’m nice.

See, your local cool-cat record shop was evidently just as dependent on Capital Radio and Recordings as it was endless Sebadoh material. Now that the radio plays the same 3 songs on a loop and you can get what you need off the intertubes, music sales, no matter the format, are suffering. Walmart has the lion’s share of the market, I guess cuz people find it convenient to pick up shitty music while they are getting new Nascar-sponsored oil-filters. Places where the painfully hip and borderline autistic can meet are few and far between now, cuz, frankly it just don’t pay. Ask Mr. Yoo-Hoo, the former record store shop owner in the movie who now works at Trader Joe’s, his ironic soft-drink shirt getting dingy with dismay and maudlin. Awww.

But it’s not all bad news. Vinyl has been experiencing a resurgence. Mostly because MP3’s suck ass and everyone is beginning to realize it. Labels now routinely stick download codes in the LP sleeves so you can have your convenience but your quality too. Plus you ain’t gotta have Johnny Vinyl look down his nose at your juvenile record choice.

“I Need That Record!” was a well researched but at times kind of boring doc. In that way it mirrors a lot if not most record collectors. Check it out if you have memories of creeping up and down the aisles of LP’s back in the day and miss it. And take heart, vinyl, like punk, ain’t dead. It is just a pain in the ass to find.

T’s Take: One word more than any other pops up in this movie…“community”. The idea that an indie record shop is more than just another place to buy things is key to the spirit of this documentary. Record Stores (the few good ones that are actually left anyway) are a gathering place for music nerds. Some of these people wouldn’t and more importantly SHOULDN’T leave their houses otherwise if it weren’t for record stores.

Aside from interviewing people like Watt, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Noam Chomsky (ummm…politics), Mike Watt (Minutemen) and Patterson Hood (Drive By Truckers) looking like Joe LoTruglio (The State), “I Need That Record!” also interviews many of the men and women from behind the counter of your local shop. The documentary follows the closing of two Connecticut shops, Record Express and Trash American Style. The first is now a tanning salon and the second is now a Minuteman Press. And as for the owners of the shops, one lugs the contents of his old shop around to college campuses as a traveling record store and the other works at a Trader Joes. The director also chose to use one of the Record Store clerks’ Yoo-Hoo shirt to show the progression of time as it gets more fucked up with each interview. Bravo director dude. That’s some film school science dropped right there I tell ya.

“I Need That Record!” throws a lot of statistics and percentages around. Basically all of these stats and %s are grim. And the bottom line message is thus…the music industry as a whole is ruled by corporate greed. But you already knew that.  Major labels want bands to deliver hits now. There’s no room for artistic growth. The people that cared about music have been fired and replaced by accountants and people with MBAs. Labels used to define culture, now they move product. CD prices have gone up to the point where $18.98 is a reality. Radio is in similar shape. Freeform radio is all but dead. 73% of stations play the same damn songs. And whereas prior to the 1996 Telecom Act some corporations owned as few as 65 radio stations, now some own as many as1200. Then there’s Mtv, a music station that stopped playing music in favor of reality television and advertiser revenue. So where do bands have to go? Not major labels. Where do the kids turn to hear the next Black Flag? Not Walmart (even though 1 in every 5 records are sold there). Does such a magic place exist that can satisfy both these needs?

Ahhh the intertubes, where you can download both legally and illegally or both. Where you can piss off Lars Ulrich and the RIAA. Where you can post your music for free or sell it for 99cents a song. Where from the comfort of your home you can type in the name of anything your little heart desires and find it with a mouse click all while not having to put on pants or a shirt. (Well almost anything, iTunes has about 1% of all music ever recorded). And after you’re done you can load your iPod up with 20,000 songs and go out and do whatever mundane bullshit your normal day entails. The fact that technology makes this so is a great thing. Really it is. But at the end of the day there’s something lacking in the internet. From sonic quality of the music to the enjoyment of actually holding a record in your hands, ogling the artwork, and dropping the needle. A few years ago I would’ve thought I was in the minority in regards to thinking that record stores and physical records beat out iTunes any day of the week. I guess I still do… but I think it’s a growing minority with a chance at turning the tide. Take for example Record Store Day. Two years ago I was surprised at the turnout. It wasn’t huge but it was more than I expected at my local shop. This year there had to be at least twice as many people by my estimate. Is this enough to fight the WalMarts of the world? No. But is it enough to at least keep a couple local shops open for those of us that care? I hope so.

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