The excitement of buying albums...

Raconteuse

Remember it?

I used to pore over music magazines, save up for an upcoming album, experience such excitement when heading to HMV or Virgin Megastore or Golden Discs to buy it. I was totally obsessed with music - even getting part-time jobs in both HMV and Virgin at college (not at the same time obviously). I studied music at Cork School of Music and UCC too, and worked on music shows on community radio.

It wasn't just the buying an album for its musical content - it was the artwork, the sleeve notes... it was kinda magical. Something you'd remember specifically (and it takes a lot to remember just going into a shop and buying something).

Then of course that all changed - and I've no problem with it. YouTube and Spotify are the absolute biz. But I do find I'm not investing in albums at all anymore - not even for free. Just a song I like here, a song I like there... I haven't bought an album in years and years.

Anyway, I got a €100 voucher for Golden Discs for Christmas and I'm so damn excited - I've got that "excitement about buying an album" feeling again and it takes me right back!

ILoveYourVibes

Raconteuse wrote: »

Anyway, I got a €100 voucher for Golden Discs for Christmas and I'm so damn excited - I've got that "excitement about buying an album" feeling again and it takes me right back!

What are you looking forward to buying !?? Any recommendations? I am looking for new bands in particular!

milehip

Get in,Golden discs have some nice offers on classic vinyl, free delivery over 50 Euro and arrive in no time,enjoy.

Raconteuse

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

What are you looking forward to buying !?? Any recommendations? I am looking for new bands in particular!

I'd say I'll just get albums I had on CD which got lost or stolen!

Sardonicat

Raconteuse wrote: »

Remember it?

I used to pore over music magazines, save up for an upcoming album, experience such excitement when heading to HMV or Virgin Megastore or Golden Discs to buy it. I was totally obsessed with music - even getting part-time jobs in both HMV and Virgin at college (not at the same time obviously). I studied music at Cork School of Music and UCC too.

It wasn't just the buying an album for its musical content - it was the artwork, the sleeve notes... it was kinda magical. Something you'd remember specifically (and it takes a lot to remember just going into a shop and buying something).

Then of course that all changed - and I've no problem with it. YouTube and Spotify are the absolute biz. But I do find I'm not investing in albums at all anymore - not even for free. Just a song I like here, a song I like there... I haven't bought an album in years and years.

Anyway, I got a €100 voucher for Golden Discs for Christmas and I'm so damn excited - I've got that "excitement about buying an album" feeling again and it takes me right back!

How many LPs would €100 get you these days?

Would get a token for Christmas / Birthday each year in my teens - I must have been the easiest kid to please.

Raconteuse

milehip wrote: »

Get in,Golden discs have some nice offers on classic vinyl, free delivery over 50 Euro and arrive in no time,enjoy.

Oh I'm gonna rock down to the nearest GD shop - keeping it old skool!

Raconteuse

Sardonicat wrote: »

How many LPs would €100 get you these days.

On vinyl about four!

Sardonicat

Raconteuse wrote: »

Oh I'm gonna rock down to the nearest GD shop - keeping it old skool!

Don't forget to flaunt your LP shaped carrier bag (please say they still have those! ) .

ILoveYourVibes

Raconteuse wrote: »

On vinyl about four!

That's still pretty good.

Kind of nice to know the vouchers i give people are possibly useful for something before i resort to handing out cash!:o

Sardonicat

Raconteuse wrote: »

On vinyl about four!

Happy Days!

Strumms

Raconteuse wrote: »

Remember it?

I used to pore over music magazines, save up for an upcoming album, experience such excitement when heading to HMV or Virgin Megastore or Golden Discs to buy it. I was totally obsessed with music - even getting part-time jobs in both HMV and Virgin at college (not at the same time obviously). I studied music at Cork School of Music and UCC too.

It wasn't just the buying an album for its musical content - it was the artwork, the sleeve notes... it was kinda magical. Something you'd remember specifically (and it takes a lot to remember just going into a shop and buying something).

Then of course that all changed - and I've no problem with it. YouTube and Spotify are the absolute biz. But I do find I'm not investing in albums at all anymore - not even for free. Just a song I like here, a song I like there... I haven't bought an album in years and years.!

Every month I’d buy Uncut, Mojo, Q and The Word... pouring over articles and reviews in particular... I’d buy about minimum about 3-4 new albums a week, the odd time double that... I could be in Tower records on Wicklow St for 45 minutes...

Now instead of just relying on somebody’s opinion your own one can be formed at the click of a mouse, Spotify... your entire collection at the tip of a screen. Handy, amazing but it takes a little of the fun away...

Raconteuse

Aw yes, Tower Records. Spent many afternoons there when living in Dublin briefly.

EmmetSpiceland

Golden Discs has always been a terrible music shop.

A2LUE42

EmmetSpiceland wrote:

Golden Discs has always been a terrible music shop.

Have a look at their online effort.. It's like they are trying to not sell records.

Raconteuse

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Golden Discs has always been a terrible music shop.

Oh no, much more variety now with HMV and Virgin gone.

Kansas City

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Golden Discs has always been a terrible music shop.

Depends which one you go to. Some aren't great but the one in Newbridge has a great selection of vinyl. I've picked up the likes of Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, Velvet Underground, Rodriguez,, A Tribe Called Quest, Stiff Little Fingers and DJ Shadow over there. Always a good chance of picking up something decent there. I buy vinyl online but I do love having a browse through the records just like back in the day.

JohnnyFlash

There’s a lot of Creedence records being sold these days. Nothing wrong with that. They sound great on vinyl.

Dothebartman

Whats the big obsession with Vinyl in recent years does anyone know?

SEPT 23 1989

We could never have dreamed of a YouTube back then but give me album covers sleeve notes and magazines any day

You put a hell of lot into following bands back then

Instant gratification now

And onto the next thing

It’s dead

satguy

I remember Freebird Music, and downstairs in eassons,,, and if money was tight you had the Basement for some really good second had stuff.

Raconteuse

What was the one on the quay around the corner from O'Connell Street? Was that Freebird? Used to love browsing there when visiting Dublin.

Raconteuse

Dothebartman wrote: »

Whats the big obsession with Vinyl in recent years does anyone know?

Probably the whole "retro" thing. No harm imo though.

Strumms

Dothebartman wrote: »

Whats the big obsession with Vinyl in recent years does anyone know?

I think it spiked with the whole retro thing... people were/are buying tonnes of the stuff... it sounds a bit better than Spotify but the whole labor intensiveness is just a ball ache...

I’m here now, typing on iPad, match of the day on without sound and Spotify from iPad to wireless speaker... no fûcking way can I be arsed getting up and pissing around with vinyl... better sound or not :eek:

Jurgen The German

I'm 40 now and havnt bought a physical release of an album that I didnt already own in around 10 years. As a metal fan in the mid 90s in rural Ireland, the access to new music was finite so every single album I bought was a grail. The new tape and then CD was listened to ad nauseam with the lyrics read and learned by osmosis on every one without fail. The first one with vivid recollection is Far Beyond Driven by Pantera. That was released 25 years ago and when the songs come on spotify I'm in the car and belting along with Phil Anselmo. If I only put as much effort into studying I'd probably be a fcuking brain surgeon earning over a million a year by now.

:rolleyes:

coolshannagh28

The OP refers to it ,there is something tangible about vinyl and it reveals more of the music when played back unlike the more compressed formats more popular at the moment .

Arghus

Feel you OP.

I'd say I bought an album a week for nearly fifteen years. Back in the day one of the thrills of visiting Dublin from the sticks was being able to scour Tower Records for the hard to find treasures.

I think from a consumer perspective Spotify and the likes are fantastic. Basically more music than you could ever want for less than the price of an album per month. It is ridiculous.

But, I can't help feel that something has been lost. I can listen to just about everything, but I feel like I own absolutely nothing. It all feels ephemeral and weightless and no matter how many times I stream an album the connection won't be there like there was with some of them that existed in living breathing plastic form in my life.

I think it's lessened the centrality of music in people's lives. Do youngsters still form subcultures where what music they listen to was the central thing that brought them all together?

Raconteuse

coolshannagh28 wrote: »

The OP refers to it ,there is something tangible about vinyl and it reveals more of the music when played back unlike the more compressed formats more popular at the moment .

Well vinyl was actually before my time and it was CDs that I used to buy, which had all the artwork and sleeve notes etc. A record is lovely though.

Church on Tuesday

Yup, can identify with this.

Back in the day I could spend hours browsing in record shops with friends, it was almost like a pilgrimage.

Music was much harder to come by then, which isn't all that long ago, so I think you appreciated it more when you got it.

I still buy physical music. I have to have the artwork, the liner notes, lyrics, esp now with Vinyl which I have started collecting over the last few years. I have to listen to the "album" by itself if that makes any sense?

I can still remember where I bought all my albums from and some of them have very great memories attached to them.

Dothebartman

The good old days of downloading music from Limewire, Imesh and Kaaza.

So many viruses, oh so many.

Kansas City

Dothebartman wrote: »

Whats the big obsession with Vinyl in recent years does anyone know?

For me, it's about taking time to appreciate music. There's almost a ritual involved in sliding the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the record player and placing the needle down on the outer groove. If I'm sticking on a record, in listening to it right through as the artist intended and not bouncing about tracks based on a whim as I'm prone to with Spotify. I love album artwork as well and looking over the lyrics or notes that are on the sleeve. It all enriches the experience.

Jurgen The German

Dothebartman wrote: »

The good old days of downloading music from Limewire, Imesh and Kaaza.

So many viruses, oh so many.

Man this thread is about the days when computer viruses were something your dublin cousins ssummer American foreign exchange student spoke about.

Cuttlefish

Totally agree I have started purchasing albums again after my daughter rekindled my interest in vinyl. I had resigned my albums to the attic and even sold/ given away albums but a number of years ago I got back into purchasing vinyl again and yes there is a buzz as you flick through the stacks of albums available and picking out one, or two, albums to purchase

And yes I do get a buzz with walking down Pana with a vinyl shaped bag 🀗

I do purchase mainly second hand and in Cork the *Vinyl bunker" on Camden Quay is well worth a visit

Dothebartman

Jurgen The German wrote: »

Man this thread is about the days when computer viruses were something your dublin cousins ssummer American foreign exchange student spoke about.

Not really. Back when i started using the internet is was on a 56K modem and every record shop was constantly packed selling tapes and CD's. Waiitng an hour to download 5MB song was fun. I would say its plenty relevant. Probably the beginning of the end though!

adox

The sound cellar on Nassau street was my place to go to for albums, being a metal head in the 80s.


Searching through albums looking at the covers etc was a thrill. Plenty of advice in the shop too.

Bought Kill Em All on vinyl in there on a whim.


They were things of beauty. Listen to the music while looking at and reading the album sleeve. The artwork cover so a big part of the experience too.

When CDs came out a lot of the magic was lost. They just weren’t the same experience.

SEPT 23 1989

For me it was the photography in the magazines the stage shots back stage the gear they had on while I listened to the album

Better in black and white of course

I had the price of a record/cd and the 1.10 punt bus fare return back out of town (Jump off if you saw the inspector) and I was happy for a few weeks

Diemos

adox wrote: »

The sound cellar on Nassau street was my place to go to for albums, being a metal head in the 80s.


Searching through albums looking at the covers etc was a thrill. Plenty of advice in the shop too.

Bought Kill Em All on vinyl in there on a whim.


They were things of beauty. Listen to the music while looking at and reading the album sleeve. The artwork cover so a big part of the experience too.

When CDs came out a lot of the magic was lost. They just weren’t the same experience.

Interesting....your generation seems to have lost interest when the medium shifted
Same as this generation.

Me, I think I'm just getting older, don't have the time or interest to pour into new albums.
Back in college, I could pick up multiple albums weekly. I do remember them hitting 17€ each around 05, which I thought was ludicrous.

andekwarhola

It's really sad but only to people like me and others of my age. My kids just don't know what that's like: no more than I understand stuff that was central to my parents' lives. Times move on, I guess.

Jurgen The German

adox wrote: »

The sound cellar on Nassau street was my place to go to for albums, being a metal head in the 80s.


Searching through albums looking at the covers etc was a thrill. Plenty of advice in the shop too.

Bought Kill Em All on vinyl in there on a whim.


They were things of beauty. Listen to the music while looking at and reading the album sleeve. The artwork cover so a big part of the experience too.

When CDs came out a lot of the magic was lost. They just weren’t the same experience.

Legend has it that You were in a band once, when I say band I mean a couple of lads with a washboard and a 5 gallon ceramic jug as they were the only available instruments at that point. Heady days I'm sure, a couple of flaggons of mead and ye would play anywhere.

Raconteuse

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

We could never have dreamed of a YouTube back then but give me album covers sleeve notes and magazines any day

You put a hell of lot into following bands back then

Instant gratification now

And onto the next thing

It’s dead

You can still embrace all that though.

SEPT 23 1989

Raconteuse wrote: »

You can still embrace all that though.

What can I embrace?

Dothebartman

Dothebartman wrote: »

Whats the big obsession with Vinyl in recent years does anyone know?

It's the only way to get people to spend money on music anymore..

Tell them they're being vintage and analogue and the hipsters will lap it up.. and pay well for it.. shower of dopes..

Terrible for the environment too..

simongurnick

The access to music now on youtube and spotify etc is amazing but the beautiful art of listening to an entire album is going by the wayside

simongurnick

The access to music now on youtube and spotify etc is amazing but the beautiful art of listening to an entire album is going by the wayside

dreamers75

simongurnick wrote: »

The access to music now on youtube and spotify etc is amazing but the beautiful art of listening to an entire album is going by the wayside

This 10000x

The 1st album I bought was Stone Roses in 1989, later in life me and a flatmate would trawl through HMV to find more.

Best album Stone Roses
Worst Album Oasis 3rd cant even remember its name

Good times, now its videos and spotify and most importantly going to see them live. We may miss the album buying problem but we get to see bands play live more due to the financial rewards for them, ****e ticket prices tho.

Best actual album ever is David Grays, 9 singles from and an 11 track album..... thats absurd but pound for pound......

andekwarhola

Dothebartman wrote: »

Whats the big obsession with Vinyl in recent years does anyone know?

There is a big nostalgia market for vinyl amongst late 30s-50s that are typically the demographic with maximum purchasing power.

I was in Golden Discs Dundrum recently and there is a big vinyl section with all the albums being flogged for between 20-30 quid.

Do the mathematics.

LeBash

I remember going to markets in the Phoenix Park and knew a guy who had all the new CDs for a 10er.

When I got my first job, every 3 or 4 weeks I'd head into HMV in Blanch because it was cheaper, then Virgin, better alternative selection. I'd head out to the car with 7 or 8 CDs and spend 10 mins picking what went on first, then flick through all the books, pick a second album and drive home.

I'd say from entering Blanch to leaving was 3-4 hours total.

Music now is way better but none of it is in a chart. Back in the 90s early 00s, there was some really great non pop stuff in the charts.

beauf

Kansas City wrote: »

For me, it's about taking time to appreciate music. There's almost a ritual involved in sliding the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the record player and placing the needle down on the outer groove. If I'm sticking on a record, in listening to it right through as the artist intended and not bouncing about tracks based on a whim as I'm prone to with Spotify. I love album artwork as well and looking over the lyrics or notes that are on the sleeve. It all enriches the experience.

There is that. No argument. But a lot of music when digitized to CD originally was butchered.

Many artists went back and remastered their own CD's later when this became known. Releasing much better and closer to the original masters. Its these versions the audiophiles seek out.

beauf

I had stopped listening to new music, pretty much stuck in my CD/MP3 collection. Since I switched to a streaming service, I'm listening to a lot more stuff.

Montage of Feck

Golden discs is a fairly depressing place these days, ripoff vinyl, DVD's and 3 for 2 greatest hits cd's.

emo72

4 vinyl for 100 euro? When I was there back in the day it was the end of vinyl and we couldn't give them away for 1 pound. Oh how the (vinyl turn) tables have turned.

NewbridgeIR

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Golden Discs has always been a terrible music shop.

Not true.

Have a look at this Golden Discs chart from 1981 - based on sales from its Liffey Street outlet.