other music hyperbole? or are they all that

Nothing to do with the band "mohair" that i saw one time in london by any chance?

just wanted to post this somewhere because eww the writing

NAOMI SHELTON AND THE GOSPEL QUEENS
What Have You Done, My Brother?
(Daptone)

Gospel, more than anything else (once you really stack it up), is the most vital source of rock & roll. The sound may even have been at its purest and peak power when it was still referred to as rockin' & reelin', fit to fight the Devil rather than lubricate one's decadence -- but over 50 years of bricolage and bulls**t since it left the Church, it's kinda hard to tell. Hell, I come from a Southern Baptist family from Southwest Georgia, wherein preaching is the biniss, but even I forget...and have fallen short of the Glory. Luckily, Naomi Shelton and 'nem's new What Have You Done, My Brother? is a timely reminder of all that has been. From storefront pulpits where Alabama-bred Shelton has often gathered folks in the Spirit to behemoth arenas where those trickster Tennesseans in Kings of Leon now hold sway, slavery-forged spirit shouts and electric guitar evangelism has been the core of what revolutionized American music since the early 20th century leap of sacred technology and distinguished our sound around the globe (even when inferior acolytes like Eric Clapton still manage to f**k it up). Set up in shrouds of authenticity, this disc frankly comes across like 'hood exotica for non-southern white folks too skurred to ever venture Uptown, but Mr. Driver's organ and all cannot be denied. And the Gospel Queens certainly make it seem like alla Gods chillun got S-O-U-L -- even when yer an apostate. Can we stand another interpretation of "A Change Is Gonna Come?" Yes, we can! (holla, Brotha 'Bama). All Shelton and her Circle need is a stellar concert film segment to put them across the way Dorothy Morrison was in Celebration at Big Sur, and their everlasting viral presence as sistahs ex machina will be assured. Since it is its key root, 'bout time gospel gets recouped and capitalized like The Metal. Rockers: Sunday mornin's callin' y'all. KCH

uh, yeah... fuck that.

somewhere on ILM, from ages ago, there's a thread on dusty groove (chicago) where several of us complain about their seeming lack of judgement -- they would (and still will) endorse almost anything as some variant of "funky," "cool," etc. actually looking back at it, my annoyance seems quaint, since dusty groove seems pretty corporate now and i wonder if they ever were really that concerned with curatorship [sic?].

re. that other music blurb: OM is the store that had (still has?) an "american primitive" section where they stuck (stick?) all their "roots music". this is around the time that john fahey was all over the place, seemingly, and revenant put out a comp of the same name. but still, offensive much?

A lot of stores do this. What would Aquarius be if they didn't rep for every home-made black metal release from Outer Mongolia or describe anything slow and down-tuned as being doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom? I don't mind the AQ blurbs at all though because they're in on the joke and seem to have a lot of fun with it.

Sadly...

https://www.facebook.com/othermusicnyc/photos/a.10150137848829766.328238.329518529765/10154185526504766/?type=3

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/10/arts/music/other-music-record-store-closing.html?_r=0

LAME

:'-(

if you like music but do not frequently spend time & money in actual brick & mortar record stores, i would like to set you on fucking fire

by which i mean you, personally

jk ;)

Rent, on the other hand, has more than doubled from the $6,000 a month the store paid in 1995

was gonna say, how much of OM's revenue had to go to paying ridiculous manhattan rent

sorry to see it go, but my record purchasing* more or less stopped 6-7 years ago, and i probably haven't bought anything in OM in at least 3.

*and listening to new music

Yeah me too. I have no place to put any new physical media anymore and don't pass conveniently by OM on a daily basis anymore. My brick and mortar dollar now goes to supporting live music, especially at local venues that are doomed to close soon. Still, wondering if I will be mentally thrown back to 1997-2003, my heyday of OM transactions, the way I was thrown back in a funky time loop to 1984-1985 a few weeks ago, from which I finally slowly emerged from this weekend.

Also, who gets custody of the dog, Django?

figured OM was the kind of place that had carved out enough of a niche over the years to keep on keepin on. i guess not, though 21 years is a good run for a record store. always loved going there when i was in NYC, and apropos of this thread, loved contributing blurbs the last couple years. actually found a lot of the writers extremely insightful, and liked getting the weekly newsletter ...

figured OM was the kind of place that had carved out enough of a niche over the years to keep on keepin on.

yea me too

And I just got the email. Ned always has the scoop.

it was a neat place but tbh i never really felt like they were friendly there

People always say that, but I never felt it. Perhaps my shell had already been hardened at Bleecker Bob's and Kim's Video but they didn't give us nearly the 'tude that you could find at other places. I mean God forbid you ask the guys at J&R for help.

And I just got the email. Ned always has the scoop.

Raise your hand if you ever owned the OM coin purse.

*raises hand*

time to file other music in the "then" section

i don't really get to NYC anymore but i used to always make a point of going there

the other place i used to hit (rock in your head) is also gone

RIP NYC

I even saw Momus play at OM.

bitterly hilarious what will probably go in the OM space ... and be profitable! some shitty cupcake place with lines wrapping around the corner most likely.

the other place i used to hit (rock in your head) is also gone

bitterly hilarious what will probably go in the OM space ... and be profitable! some shitty cupcake place with lines wrapping around the corner most likely.

― tylerw, Monday, May 9, 2016 12:52 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Other Frozen Yogurt

How many people remember when Rocks In Your Head also had a yogurt shop- inside the record store?

Fond memory of consigning my early aughts solo noise disc there and the buyer running outside to flag down N1ck from YYYs to tell him that they'd sold out of the 10 copies of the ep he'd consigned earlier that week. He looked so happy and surprised. Nice moment...
Fast forward 13 years and I just bought my own disc off discogs cause I never kept one. It arrived with an Other Music price sticker on it.

really sad to hear this. i think i've managed to visit once a year, every year since it opened and always picked up great stuff. i will get one more chance to visit and say goodbye before it closes.

I go all the time. What's most sad to me is that it's not just rent, that they don't seem interested in taking the brand to a more affordable location and keep it going.

yeah i'm sure they considered it, but who knows, maybe the owners are just burnt out ... 21 years is a long time. kind of surprised they aren't keeping the mail order thing going, seems like they must've made some cash off of that. at least they made some cash off of me with that ...

They were my fourth stop when I was regularly buying music in NYC:

1) Mondo Kim's (the city's best used CD section)
2) Tower on 4th & Broadway (incredible jazz section)
3) Downtown Music Gallery (out jazz shit that neither of the other two had)
4) Other Music (if I couldn't find what I wanted anywhere else - also, they sold tickets for shows at Tonic)

You never went to Rockit Scientist and let him try to sell you an overpriced Zeppelin boot?

sorry to hear about another record store biting the dust. Have to say I hadn't been there in years (Kim's going was a bigger thing to me). In Manhattan, now I guess it's just Academy Records, Generation (for metal esp), and like, Best Buy? Guess I should visit DMG before it goes too!

Bleecker St is still open, right?

There's still Good Records, and Academy in Manhattan has two locations, Turntable Lab, various others... this isn't counting Brooklyn

Bleecker St and some of the other(s?) in that area have inflated prices. Other Music had realistic market value based prices.

yeah i'm sure they considered it, but who knows, maybe the owners are just burnt out ... 21 years is a long time. kind of surprised they aren't keeping the mail order thing going, seems like they must've made some cash off of that. at least they made some cash off of me with that ...

― tylerw, Monday, May 9, 2016 1:40 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm just saying that's the biggest part of the shock for me, as I'm used to many of the stronger NYC stores just moving to new locations rather than calling it quits.

i never shopped there. i always went to Tower.

you know, in the 90's, when i found myself in that vicinity.

Tower was awesome.

also discount Tower store. awesome.

i miss tower... and virgin in union square

assuming this means the other music label is shutting down too, which is too bad -- they put out some great stuff, especially the xylouris white and 75 dollar bill records ...

No, thing I read said they are keeping the label going.

Remember the prior label that they were involved in, Omplatten?

Bought so much from them over the years. Made friends with many of the folks there and was honored when they gave my music its own little section a couple years ago. Fuck NYC mach 2016.

wait, what section was that, if you can tell us?

In the Electronica (or whatever the section with Techno vinyl is called now) "J Velez/Professor Genius"

This news is lame. Yeah there are other remaining stores in mhat/bklyn but can I actually reliably buy new CDs of weird shit there? Academy rules but it's used so catch as catch can. The rest of em are p much vinyl focused. Bleh.

Fond memory: day of release for bish bosch, with 17 dollars left in my bank account, hurrying to OM on my lunch break to spend 16 of that on it

Haven't been to NYC in about 15 years, but Other Music was great, sad news

Just remembered an awkward moment buying the s/t Panda Bear record from Panda Bear back in 99/00.

RIP OM.

Whenever I went to OM I was always blown away by how many used Tzadik/Avant CDs I could find, plus cheap indie imports. RIP, Other Music. Hang in there, Dusty Groove.

i recently watched the (frankly horrible and transparently hagiographic) tower records documentary "all things must pass" and the moment of truth comes when one of the now retired execs talks at length about how great record stores are - so much to see, so many people to talk to, look at all that fabulous product - but sheepishly ends by saying he can't remember the last time he went into one and that is the epitaph on the stone.

Ughhh. I still remember the first time I went there, when I was 15, on a class trip 12 years ago. I bought a Casino vs. Japan CD. Of the 8 times I've been to New York since, I always made a point of going. Definitely got a lot of significant albums there - especially a lot of great, hard to find used cds for cheap. On an emotional basis I assumed it would just exist until the end of time; on a more rational basis, I admire their endurance of both record industry fluctuations and NOHO rent.

Bad news :(

Also, re: "it was a neat place but tbh i never really felt like they were friendly there"

To whatever extent they had a reputation for hiring the mythical "record store jerk" types, I never noticed it. More importantly, who cares???

i mean, i think i could feel intimidated at OM, just because it was clearly staffed by connoisseurs, but anytime i interacted w/ anyone they were always nice.

it's hard to judge for me because I'd have to correct for the moderate intimidation I feel in basically any record store, plus the low-level intimidation of having my taste out in public in general

i found them to have the most interesting and best curated and most expensive selection in the city

definitely wasn't a place to bargain hunt

in 2005 or so, getting three discs with a c-note wouldn't have been out of character

i got a good deal on a nina nastasia album there

i don't have a huge problem w/ unfriendly record store clerks, it doesn't bother me that much, but i've been to enough places w/ cool welcoming friendly people and i'd rather shop at those places other things being equal

if you like music but do not frequently spend time & money in actual brick & mortar record stores, i would like to set you on fucking fire

― da vinci beaver testicles (contenderizer)

awesome, i am sick to death of this fucking planet and i've been looking for someone to light me on fire lately. do you provide your own gasoline?

no

to the extent they ever had them, they'd sell punk/rock records for cheap. presumably not out enough.

agree w/ tyler abt the staff. they mostly seemed pretty nice, once past the initial "and who the fuck are you?" moment.

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0000/104/MI0000104240.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

The only guy who I ever got even a mild "who are you?" moment from was one of the owners, so I just refrained from using him as one of my go to guys for any questions I might have had or chit chat I might indulge in and I was fine from then on in.

damn first music store i shopped at in NY back in 2002 rip

no

― da vinci beaver testicles (contenderizer)

that's ok, i can provide my own gasoline. it's pretty cheap these days.

The co-owner Chris in particular was always extremely nice and helpful. He always seemed like recommending and talking about music made him happy.

Also regarding prices... everything seemed very reasonably priced, and as a former buyer and pricer at a store myself I have some experience in that department.

i'm sure there were PLENTY of people who lived in new york and bought from OM online and never went to the store in recent years. because they were too stoned to leave their apartments.

i have no problem with rudeness in record stores. this usually just means that the people working there leave me alone. which is ideal really.

I never encountered rudeness there. Maybe intense indifference on their faces at worst but they'll still help you find something.

Rent, on the other hand, has more than doubled from the $6,000 a month the store paid in 1995

if your new york city rent has only doubled in 21 years, you are incredibly lucky. which is to say, if that's true, you can blame lots of things for OM's demise, but not their landlord.

just to clarify my position, i still see the value of music stores in places where the rents aren't as insane as in NYC

If rent was the main culprit, again, they'd have just relocated like all the other stores that have done so in NYC.

well sure; there's not really demand. But in a smaller city, the social qualities may prove a lot more necessary.

They attempted a Cambridge, MA branch in the early '00s, literally around the corner from Twisted Village. It didn't last long (a year or two at most, iirc), and it was largely due to the loyalty many locals felt towards Twisted (which was better curated, lower-priced, and had in-store performances).

Never liked this place, and amazed they held on this long. Kim's were assholes too, but that store had its heart in the right place (especially Mondo Kims). I saw a good OM in-store by Richard Davies and another by Junior Boys, and that's about all the good things I can say. I liked Rockit Scientist: he was like the 20-something who lived in his parents' basement in the suburbs of NJ and turned everyone on to Floyd and Zep and weed. Other Music was like the 20-something guy who lived with roommates in Williamsburg and tried to turn everyone on to...oh god, what was that horrible OM related band that was trying to be the Residents. It's gone completely out of my mind now.

I think the point of the Cambridge, MA store was that it was also across the street from a Tower Records.

Pre-mp3s/ILM/youtube/streaming, OM gave me access to a lot of underground stuff I would only read about but never find. I am grateful to them for that. I definitely owe my early Kompakt records obsession to them.

i owe my Kompakt love to ILM! thanks again, guys. i owe you one.

although you can have the junior boys back. and also that avalanches CD you made me buy. you did fool me there, ILM!

Mink Lungs! Jesus, I thought I was going to have to go through my entire CD collection.

I saw Junior Boys before I read about them on ILM. The difference between some perfectly nice young people singing some nice songs in front of a tiny audience, vs. the ILM thread, was fairly illuminating. I love Richard Davies to death, his show was generally ok, but the high points were amazing. Mink Lungs, Jesus...

Was it Josh Madell who was the sex symbol sales dude at OM, or do I have that wrong? It's been a long time...

The memories are coming back. My favorite OM moment: David Peel walking in an bugging the crap out of everyone there (none of whom had any idea who he was). Is he still alive/doing that?

he bugs the crap out of people in heaven now.

i don't actually know if he's alive or dead to be honest...

You'd think he'd be dead, but Wikipedia says differently (possibly in error). I like to think that he's out there tracking down various former Other Music workers and annoying them.

I think for a lot of us this is like grandma dies and on the one hand you're rightfully sad and on the other hand feel pretty guilty that you barely visited her in the home over the last ten years.

Josh is one of the co-owners and indeed he is very handsome. He has played the drooms with antietam for many years as well.

I always felt like he was going to steal my armoire.

I mean, I feel guilty that I barely visited but neither feeling guilty nor not visiting places is really out of character

Anyone remember the extremely short-lived Boston Other Music? I think it lasted six months or something back in the early aughts? Funny how the NYC place held on so long but Boston could not support one for a hot minute.

Yep, mentioned it upthread. It was less that Boston couldn't support an OM than that Boston already supported Twisted Village (which outlasted the Cambridge OM by years).

man, some serious hand-wringing on facebook, am i right, tarfumes? about the state of "esoterica" in the face of a homogenized something or other. was this the only place to get weird CDs in NYC?

No but this is happening right on the heels of apple deleting people's rare mp3s, replacing them with more mainstream tracks of the same name

to be fair, i do live in in a la la land of experimental avant garde music and every weekend i can go buy some of thurston and byron's record collection if i want, so i do feel for the deprived denizens of a backwoods new york city.

also, all you impoverished new yorkers can now take a train DIRECTLY to greenfield, ma and visit my wall of wonder. happy to have you.

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13139341_10154752754147137_874679473244737154_n.jpg?oh=92b2f03be66073c20a835a9b00d86af7&oe=57DA2436

I think it's like you mentioned on the Things I Don't Care About thread: lots of nostalgia, probably many people bought their first "weird" records/CDs at OM, even if they haven't gone there in years. There's also nostalgia for the circuit of stores one could just about walk to: Kim's, OM, Downtown Music Gallery, and Tower, and now DMG is the last one left in Manhattan.

New Yorks hella mainstream

In Living Stereo is only 1 street south, Good Music is only 1.5 blocks away, the downtown Academy is east of that, uptown Academy is north of Union Square, Generation below Washington Sq park. There's still stores in Manhattan but Other Music was always the most notable for new releases of new/indie stuff.

maria has rented the second floor of the building my store is in because she was sick of working at home. 2000 square feet...700 dollars a month.

(perfect for shows too. i'm thinking an evening of tarfumes/rambutan/parashi would sound sweet up there...)

but the pizza here sucks.

(perfect for shows too. i'm thinking an evening of tarfumes/rambutan/parashi would sound sweet up there...)

I'M IN.

Yeah, WMass pizza leaves a lot to be desired...but coming from Chicago, pretty much all east-coast pizza tastes like cardboard to me.

Remember the prior label that they were involved in, Omplatten?

YES! Mutantes reissues and Bjorn Olsson records are amazing.

And The Monks too, Five Something Americans.

Upstart

Yeah, WMass pizza leaves a lot to be desired...but coming from Chicago, pretty much all east-coast pizza tastes like cardboard to me.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 10:16 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd be happy to recommend some NYC spots, but I like fancy pizzas in particular.

the most humble of new york street pizza is better than anything here.

always meaning to take a trip back down to new haven. still dream about modern a pizza there.....mmmmmmmmmmm............

(did find a nice spot in middletown, ct that has opened up and i think i might do the next wesleyan record show just to go there again...)

hey tarfumes you should just drive down to new haven to get pizza

other music are one of the few stores that stocks new release weird CDs. i hate paying absurd lifestyle accessory prices for new vinyl but i like physical media and also purchasing shit in a store. so other music is great. sorry to interrupt the faux naif fuck new york party.

new york can take it. we all heart new york.

scott, do you have used CDs?

yup.

i got rid of most of my used books and filled the shelves with CDs. i do better that way. books grow on trees around here.

I sell a lot of CDs to people who don't drive. They have nowhere else to go since the FYE chain store closed. They have to go to Newbury Comics in Northampton or Barnes & Noble in Hadley for new CDs. or a Walmart somewhere. feel kinda bad about that even though i didn't love the FYE store. it was pit that sold a lot of video games. but even i bought DVDs there.

i went to other a lot, but didn't buy that much there in the past few years. recently i've been buying more used CDs, but at other they charged $8 for a lot of them, which seems like a lot.

As many of you know, I was a part of Other Music's team for nearly ten years, both behind the scenes and quite prominently at the front of it-- I still see my face and voice pop up when OM is mentioned or referenced in articles and the media, which is both surreal and bittersweet.

As a willfully stubborn and strongly idealistic personality, I often found (and honestly still do find) myself at odds with the seismic shift in how we as a society consume and digest culture and media. Other Music was a lifeline for me as a ravenous youth in the mid-90s, helping to expose me to new sounds and to both feed and encourage my unceasing appetite for the undiscovered. I befriended a number of staffers there as I grew older-- some of whom remain close with me today-- and those friendships in turn helped bridge connections that led me on a great number of (mis)adventures both socially and creatively, opening many doors for me in regards to career and artistic expression... for which I'll forever be grateful.

As a teen, I had countless conversations with T** C******** about the kaleidoscopic eclectica emerging from Tokyo's underground, and spent many visits as a young adult dissecting the rhythmic weight of funk, soul, and psychedelic classics with D**** H*******. G***** H****** helped feed my hunger for post-punk and French pop, while D***** M******** Givens and M****** K******* assisted in my desire to more greatly explore the worlds of free jazz and the avant garde. During a fledgling lifetime of independent research and development (occurring concurrently with the birth of the internet as we now know it- before Wikipedia, the AllMusic guide, Amazon, and blog culture existed to "help" us all), these people were invaluable sources of inspiration and encouragement, helping to signpost new tributaries as my obsessions and passions continued to expand.

I began writing for the weekly OM Update while simultaneously running the mail order department of Downtown Music Gallery, another central hub of more niche-oriented avant garde musical esoterica (whose staff were also equally helpful and encouraging), and in time I ended up working in OM's physical storefront, hanging on with a white-knuckled grip to that same fevered passion for helping to educate and inspire listeners much in the way the shop's halcyon days so greatly helped me. During those years, I befriended more wonderful people and was able to provide support to a wonderful coterie of individuals who were creators and curators, some of whom have become my most beloved friends and peers. But the shift was already in place; OM had begun around the rise of the CD boom, a period when record companies still had money to invest in quite risky endeavors and signings-- it wouldn't be long before the digital "revolution" severely shifted our views on both the disposability and literal worth of music as a recorded entity and a tangible, physical product.

Price points began to radically shift for the worse, and the concept of taking chances as a consumer seemed to diminish greatly; seldom would we see clientele take a chance on an album or single simply because it seemed interesting, was dressed in an intriguing sleeve, or was released by a label with a respected pedigree and reliable track record. Consumers instead want facts and hard evidence, to try before they buy, and this shift into a post-iTunes "preview mentality" meant that more listeners seemed to stop learning how to live with an album. Why grow and evolve with a complete piece of art when you could now dissect it and only take the parts which appealed to your personal needs and wants?

That same stubbornness and immovable belief in the ideology of what made Other Music such an important and respected cornerstone in both NYC's and my own personal music worlds led me in time to begin to unfortunately and ungracefully clash with those who surrounded me. Rather than attempt to roll with the punches, I still believe more strongly that we as a collective entity beyond Other Music need to stand up and fight, to vocally encourage that same unceasing curiosity and openness to explore the unknown that led me, along with countless others, down our own respective journeys.

One cannot forcefeed esoterica, however user-friendly it might be at a surface level, to unwanting minds-- it has to be presented in a context that is easily relatable to the everyman. No one's tastes, however "basic" they might be, are invalid; it is simply a matter of establishing trust and care between corporation and consumer in order to further educate and enlighten a mind toward the unknown. If you know that someone is a rabid fan of a band, find the contextual and experiential strands that bridge their knowledge with your own or that of a peer group. One has to casually slip the esoterica and the wildly "new" in through the backdoor subtly so as not to incite rejection. This was what I so often encouraged at OM, and it's a skill which I take some pride in possessing, but that skill is born from deep knowledge and a borderline obsession with details... things which increasingly seem to be fading in importance with each year in the new millennium. We are increasingly becoming a society of dilettantes, our arrogance tricking us into believing that we only need enough knowledge to get us by, and that once we possess said knowledge, we ourselves may consider ourselves experts worthy of dispensing information with authority.

This is why the record industry is failing us, and on a greater scale, why New York City and the world's metropolitan hubs at large as living, breathing urban ecosystems are also becoming pale facsimiles: we as a culture have lost our grasp and understanding of the powers of context and how it operates as a powerful educational tool. The nation's culture capitals are withering into faceless, indistinguishable clones of one another, and Other Music's closing is a lesson in what we are doing wrong as a culture. While it's unrealistic to assume that OM would last forever, or even for another ten years, it is disappointing to witness such an entity exit with a whisper rather than a scream.

We MUST emphasize the necessity to more greatly understand and experience culture beyond our comfort zones. No piece of technology, however convenient, is ever going to replace or replicate the invaluable experience of sharing a moment with a mind unlike your own. Other Music, like many record and book shops across the world, was a central hub for such meetings. Even a prickly and headstrong outlier like myself recognizes this indispensable need, so I humbly entreat:

Please do not let such concourses go extinct.

from an ex-OM staffer on facebook. i stole it and put it here. this is where i differ with this esoterica lover:

"One cannot forcefeed esoterica, however user-friendly it might be at a surface level, to unwanting minds-- it has to be presented in a context that is easily relatable to the everyman."

fuck everyman.

Ha, I just missed my chance to ask "was that Maria logged on as Skot?"

One has to casually slip the esoterica and the wildly "new" in through the backdoor subtly so as not to incite rejection.

sounds so condescending but i do this to my friends constantly.

speaking of esoterica, did you guys know that Focus made a record with P.J. Proby? what a weird world we live in.

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13102781_10154768458532137_4653451238411083435_n.jpg?oh=5f00512a44e0dcd92dcdef547b3117f4&oe=57E3F187

Yeah, WMass pizza leaves a lot to be desired...but coming from Chicago, pretty much all east-coast pizza tastes like cardboard to me.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 10:16 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd be happy to recommend some NYC spots, but I like fancy pizzas in particular.

― Evan, Tuesday, May 10, 2016 9:28 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hate to drag this thread into the banal, but there is a lot of bad street pizza in NYC today -- I can see someone going into a typical place or even a Ray's and wondering what the fuss is about. You need to hit up a place like Joe's in the West Village for a genuinely good slice, and then there are also lots of great fancy/margherita pizza sit-down type places. The average level of pizza though is pretty bad. Still better than a lot of the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1mKiQbi4g

man alive, I recommend place in Flushing on Roosevelt, right off the 7 train exit at its most Eastern.

i haven't lived somewhere with good pizza since i was a kid in connecticut. i was lucky enough to live in a town with a big Italian population and all the pizza places were run by people who had escaped new york and moved to the country and they all made great pizza. the same was true of Danbury back then too. the last time i went to Modern in New Haven it brought those memories back. so good. not fancy, just awesome. i spent years in bad pizza places. but what the hell there are always trade-offs. it looks like this here!

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/l/t1.0-9/13179029_10154764589327137_7586087492182133175_n.jpg?oh=85db4911f1f261d9ee5aad171e01fd92&oe=57A531E9

good clam chowder anyway. and good local kielbasa if that's your thing. lots of old Polish people!

western MA is rad and really the pizza is not abysmal. mimmo's in northampton is better than pretty much any place where i ate growing up in ohio

i lived in wilkes-barre pennsylvania for a year...oof.

magik markers and supreme dicks tomorrow in northampton.

that facebook post seemed like it was getting close to making a point about encroaching monoculture in recorded music (or something)... but in the end all i'm getting out of it is shitty gatekeeperism... not sure i buy the argument that "preview mentality" leads necessarily to dilettantism or less thoughtful/open-minded/rigorous music consumption. needs some words about declining attention spans in this modern age, listicle culture, etc. all the vague consumptive patterns the poster laments as being endangered are still very much alive and in fact more accessible to people who don't live in new york or whatever thanks to the internet.

yes, fuck "preview mentality," god forbid consumers spend their money (which they no doubt have unlimited amounts of) on things they enjoy

what's wrong with dilettantism

like, I read things like "the concept of taking chances as a consumer seemed to diminish greatly" and think "hmm, whatever could have caused this shift in consumer spending behavior? I know, SHEEPLE!"

also, it's entirely possible to discover new sounds, bands and artists via previews, or streaming, or whatever. if the curiosity wasn't there before that's the underlying problem, not the fact that iTunes exists

also talking about an audience for sub-sub-sub-genres that will pretty much always be miniscule...

that facebook post seemed like it was getting close to making a point about encroaching monoculture in recorded music (or something)... but in the end all i'm getting out of it is shitty gatekeeperism... not sure i buy the argument that "preview mentality" leads necessarily to dilettantism or less thoughtful/open-minded/rigorous music consumption. needs some words about declining attention spans in this modern age, listicle culture, etc. all the vague consumptive patterns the poster laments as being endangered are still very much alive and in fact more accessible to people who don't live in new york or whatever thanks to the internet.

― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 1:56 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otmmmmmmmm

there is nothing wrong with dilettantism

at any rate, well done on a polemic about actually talking to other people about music instead of the insular uncreative internet that ensures that I never, ever want to talk to you, about music or otherwise

(if I actually know this guy then sorry, but this is really not a good look)

No but this is happening right on the heels of apple deleting people's rare mp3s, replacing them with more mainstream tracks of the same name

― Treeship, Tuesday, May 10, 2016 6:27 AM (5 hours ago)

underappreciated treeship posts

ILX response to that fb post is p much 2016 in a nutshell

including the digression into pizza talk

(swallows suicide pill)

Nothing wrong with pizza talk.

i lived in wilkes-barre pennsylvania for a year...oof

I once drove way out of my way to go to old forge, pa (which is more or less in Greater Scranton-Wilkes-Barre) which has its own super special Old Forge style of pizza found there and only there. But it wasn't that good, to be honest.

Other Pizza

maybe an esoteric pizza shop will open where Other Music was.

other pizza x-post!

pizza kinda beats john zorn.

i have no idea what they sold there....

CDs are great for slicing pizza, after all.

No but this is happening right on the heels of apple deleting people's rare mp3s, replacing them with more mainstream tracks of the same name

― Treeship, Tuesday, May 10, 2016 6:27 AM (5 hours ago)

underappreciated treeship posts

― da vinci beaver testicles (contenderizer), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 1:47 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbh i like the black key's carnival of light a lot better

as far as the viewpoints of the FB post and brimstead and katherine's reaction, i guess i don't think it's binary...people always want it to be one or the other....but technological and sociological revolutions don't really work like that, there are both good and bad consequences, new opportunities can be great but they can also result in things of value being lost

if 2016 were characterized by "maybe try not to be a dick and think through the implications of your polemic" it'd be a much better year

esoterica of a used bin-ia

...i'll work on it

show tonight at Replay across the street. I'll be open until 8 in case you need records.

Details
Doors at 7pm Music at 8pm sharp!
Bucket T - Thurston Moore / Conrad Capistran / Willie Lane
Matt Krefting - Matt Krefting
Rump Roast - Adam Langellotti / Shannon Ketch / Ted Lee + Special Guest

Not sure if I can make it, thanks

https://blogthehum.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/not-to-speak-ill-of-the-dead-but-on-the-demise-of-other-music/

which of their top all-time sellers surprise you?

http://www.othermusic.com/blogs/top-sellers

right this second I have no idea who Kruder and Dorfmeister are.

I've never heard K&D, BUT I specifically remember them being huge there. They had the one record that looked like a Simon & Garfunkel album and I remember seeing it there and it being a big thing. Hard to remember Other Music opened during that late 90s illbient electronica era. Not sure I get how something like Nite Jewel could sell more than some of Stereolab's biggest albums though!

Any ideas as to why LCD Soundsystem doesn't show up on that list?

i don't know why i think of other music as being more avant weird or whatever. that list is pretty pitchfork-y. you can totally listen to all that stuff on spotify, no need for a brick & mortar shopping spree.

just a guess, but wouldn't most of that stuff from the 90's have been cheaper at Tower across the street?

My memory is that it wasn't (or I would have been shopping at Tower more, as I was poor and bought a lot of CDs in the 90s, and did go to Tower) but I'm open to correction. OM (and Kim's) had all sorts of strange stuff show up in their used sections: basically people buying something odd, not liking it, returning it, so were a really reliable source of cheap new weird CDs. OM never seemed to have any sort of distinctive aesthetic. They did French pop when everyone else did, etc. In NYC, the 90s stores that actually seemed to have a personality were Downtown Music Gallery and Rockit Scientist, as I recall.

sure they sold plenty of weird stuff, but the broadly popular will always be on the best seller list

deffo on the used sections

I'm surprised that Eureka is on there but not Insignificance or Bad Timing. also, Cobra and Phases but no ETK???

i imagine a lot of the best sellers were things they were able to sell at competitive prices -- i can remember getting matador stuff for pretty cheap there, for example ...

Pitchforkiness wasn't quite a thing yet when a lot of those records were big!

(and Spotify CERTAINLY wasn't)

It was more like Chickfactorness at the time...

i think the only time i was really kinda sad that a record store closed was when 3rd street jazz closed in philly. i loved that place. this article makes me nostalgic cuz they mention jonathan demme. he would come into the corner store i worked at every day when he was filming beloved. i would talk to him about how awesome he was. http://articles.philly.com/1997-12-19/news/25555198_1_stores-jim-donio-vast-musical-knowledge

Also was Tower records stocking labels like Thrill Jockey and Drag City and Touch & Go in the late 90s? I honestly don't remember, but my vague sense is that I would buy major label stuff (except for small label straight-ahead jazz like Blue Note and Riverside) at Tower, and indie stuff at OM, at least in the late 90s/early 00s. I do also remember that later on I copped an attitude that buying the new Bonnie Prince Billy or something was a waste of an OM trip and uncool.

"Pitchforkiness wasn't quite a thing yet when a lot of those records were big!"

there were plenty of proto-pitchfork pioneers in the 90's. believe me.

"Also was Tower records stocking labels like Thrill Jockey and Drag City and Touch & Go in the late 90s?"

most definitely.

Tower was great in the 90's. then it got progressively less great.

xp yeah but proto-Pitchfork is not Pitchfork, like you did not have the phenomenon of mass-indie tastemaking. There weren't a thousand different festivals, a band having their song in a commercial was still novel and a topic of spirited debate.

Yeah but a lot of those records on the list were broken by p4k: yankee hotel foxtrot, funeral, sung tongs & feels, bright lights, clap your hands...

Tower was really random, especially in that weird little import section downstairs in the back. I know I got Millions Now Living Will Never Die from them on release.

xp sufjan, joanna newsom... and if not broken, heavily hyped...

Tower always stocked the bigger indie labels like KRS, Matador, Thrill Jockey, Drag City etc...

the import room at that tower in nyc in the 80's was like my church. i wanted it all. i bought as much as i could. most of my Felt records and singles i bought there.

Tower in the 90's - this was true in philly where i mostly shopped anyway - would go deep with reissue titles on CD. all of a sudden you had 20 nurse with wound albums to choose from. it was nuts. this is when people thought nothing of spending a grand on CDs at tower. the go go 90's. i would totally spend 300 bucks on krautrock CDs and i had no money to speak of.

One thing to remember about 90s record shopping is that really random stuff would show up in strange places. I bought both "Confusion is Sex" and "Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis" at generic NJ mall record shops.

^otm, even past the 90s. i bought the entire At the Drive-In discography at two separate Barnes & Noble stores in 2005.

lol belle and sebastian dominance

pretty sure i bought a fugazi album at circuit city. the 90s were a weird-ass time.

SST and Touch & Go had great distro. their stuff was at a lot of chain stores. from the 80's on.

i bought most of my 80s stuff on those labels at the Record World in my town.

when HMV opened in Philly in the 90's somehow they ended up with tons of Caroline dead stock on vinyl. just boxes and boxes of it. nobody cared. i went back every day for a week and i was the only one looking at it. 80's metal and indie rock by the box. $1.99. the CD era could be a good thing in many weird ways.

Tower was the only place I could find a copy of Foetus's Sink CD.

Talvin Singh!

Yeah but a lot of those records on the list were broken by p4k: yankee hotel foxtrot, funeral, sung tongs & feels, bright lights, clap your hands...

― flappy bird

were p4k pushing yhf before its release? the thing i remember being a big deal was the label killing the record and then the internet leak, back in summer 2001.

Animal Collective were already big sellers at Other Music before pitchfork broke anything, I'd assume.

didn't most of them work there?

3 out of 4, yeah. the pre-p4k hype records aren't on there though. i'm sure they sold every copy of Spirit They're Gone and Danse Manatee and Here Comes the Indian they had, but Sung Tongs & Feels are the breakthrough records

so what you guys are saying is that Other Music created Pitchfork. and Animal Collective.

i dunno, kinda makes me pine for the days of emaciated 7 foot tall gothbilly clerks with heroin cheekbones at Tower.

No one answered my question. :-/

No.

Seem to recall buying a few of those in my time.

i don't know why i think of other music as being more avant weird or whatever. that list is pretty pitchfork-y. you can totally listen to all that stuff on spotify, no need for a brick & mortar shopping spree.

― scott seward, Wednesday, June 22, 2016 9:56 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

right, it's their BEST SELLING music. not the stuff that the employees are most enthusiastic about, or the stuff they carried that few other places did. you'd expect the top sellers to be predictable and somewhat bland almost anywhere, that's how it works.

just a guess, but wouldn't most of that stuff from the 90's have been cheaper at Tower across the street?

― scott seward, Wednesday, June 22, 2016 9:59 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

except for a few loss-leaders, tower records was INFAMOUSLY expensive. that's one reason they went out of business. i also seem to remember the HMV in NYC having an even deeper selection than the downtown tower records. i picked up some unexpected stuff at that HMV.

but yeah i agree that other music really was never particularly cutting edge by NY standards. they helped consolidate trends, though, for better or worse. i remember that in the wake of the hipster love for pre-WWII american roots music (subsequent to the successful reissue of the Harry Smith Anthology) they set up the embarrassingly-named "american primitive" section.

also it isn't surprising that the best sellers are almost all from mid 1990s through early 2000s, because after that people stopped buying records :(

I don't know if I agree. I think Other Music was cutting edge enough!

i guess it depends on how sharp you take your edge. i bought some great albums there that i could't find elsewhere, so they were fine for my purposes.

Ultimately it just wasn't that big a store. Mondo Kim's had like a gazillion times the floor space, so it's sort of inevitable that OM (which sprang from the forehead of Kim's) wouldn't be able to compete on depth. And Downtown Music Gallery had a pretty firm control on all the weird jazz/experimental stuff. OM was fine. When Serge Gainsbourg was in, I bought some 10" eps from them. When The Enclave version of If You're Feeling Sinister hit, I got it at OM. They had a decent 7" section. They got Chickfactor on release. I quickly figured out not to buy Mink Lungs albums from them. Nobody on staff ever stuck out as particularly mean/smart/interesting. Kim's vs. Other Music is like old Strand vs. New Strand. OM had some nice in-store performances. I don't miss them at all. Holy Cow (Brooklyn) is a completely different story.

I killed at Holy Cow when I lived in park slope in 98. Grabbed like 20 2 dollar dance/disco/italo 12"s. Owner was like "yeah I don't really know much about that stuff!"

I bumped into Steve (owner) at the doctor's office a few years ago, saw Kenny (aka cranky injured old guy doing crosswords) a few years ago near his home which is close to the butcher shop I frequent, and ran into Amanda (beautiful clueless young cashier) at a coffee shop a year or so ago. That store was one of the best things to ever happen in NYC. Some journalist type needs to do a retrospective at some point. I probably own half of James McNew's discarded record collection thanks to Holy Cow.

OM was the best at merchandising, therefore the browsing atmosphere was the least intimidating. Think of it vs. the basment-y claustrophobic competitors... lots of light, airy, limited floor space, plenty of current releases and used highlights on display.

^this

OM had depth, it was just selective depth. You couldn't just walk in and find *anything* but you could always find some awesome rare shit.

As far as the bestsellers, I imagine you'd find the same in any kind of business -- even a really good cheese shop probably makes a lot of its money from something like Humboldt Fog that you see everywhere.

This morning happened to pull a book off the shelf only to a receipt inside indicating I had bought it from Tower Books on Tuesday, July 4, 1995 and I felt a little pang.

happy that on my last trip to OM back in January, i got Mummer and The Big Express by XTC both for $7

i think i just had a different impression of the store and didn't realize they were as indie-centric as they were. in the stories about them closing they mentioned how they were early champions of animal collective and vampire weekend and i guess i just associated them with weirder stuff. but i don't know why i thought that. maybe from some online catalog blurbs i'd read over the years.

when i first heard about the store i somehow got the impression it was all moondog and zorn CDs.

It was so funny when we moved to Marthas Vineyard and I went to the one record store there thinking it was gonna be beat up james taylor records and jack johnson CDs and instead they were filled with Kompakt and Time-Lag and Southern Lord stuff. i was shocked to say the least. All my friend chris's doing. Forced Exposure in the hinterlands. Which seemed to be more common in the early 21st century. The sad thing is you can make more money buying from FE and selling it on Discogs than you can in a store now. I would buy the limited Bo'Weavil releases that sat in that store month after month and put them on Ebay for a nice profit.

when i first heard about the store i somehow got the impression it was all moondog and zorn CDs.

that would be downtown music gallery

OTM. Are they still around?

I mean, that was the store to go to if you wanted to get the one-sided vinyl of Alan Licht duetting with Annette Peacock in Thurston Moore's bathtub. OM was...a nice store with a basically good selection.

one-sided vinyl of Alan Licht duetting with Annette Peacock in Thurston Moore's bathtub
ysi?

Answering my own question, I guess they do still exist? In a basement. In Chinatown. Anyway, OM was easily replaced by Tidal/Spotify/YouTube/Whatever. This place, not so much.

http://www.downtownmusicgallery.com/index.php

Only went to OM once and bought a bunch of AMT, NNCK, SCG and Tower Recordings stuff

i would definitely shop at downtown music gallery if i lived...in Chinatown. that's my kinda spot. i wouldn't buy from them online though. there are cheaper online resources for a lot of that stuff. easier/cheaper to get a lot of it from a place like squidco.

can someone list all the record stores that were in that area on or a few blocks from st. mark's ca. 1995–2000? b/c i shopped around there probably once a month in that era but couldn't recall the names of all of the stores. there were like 25 stores in a mile radius, with kim's at the center.

i guess i should just find a ca. 1998 manhattan phonebook....

there was one place (about a block from the mouth of st. mark's), near a jewelry store, that just stocked tons and tons of new CDs at steep discounts. they had videos downstairs IIRC. they had just about everything piled into store that was like 1/10th the size of the tower records in that neighborhood. the tower was always a little depressing to me since it didn't have the atmosphere of the other places nearby. and basically i'd end up there after a long afternoon of shopping in other stores, and i'd just see the same stuff but priced like 40% higher. except for the discount section, where i'd get, like 20 remaindered CD reissues of fela kuti albums for $6 each.

Some info here: http://www.nysonglines.com/8st.htm#3av

i know the place you're talking about amateurist; that place was impossible to explore. too much shit everywhere!

can someone list all the record stores that were in that area on or a few blocks from st. mark's ca. 1995–2000? b/c i shopped around there probably once a month in that era but couldn't recall the names of all of the stores. there were like 25 stores in a mile radius, with kim's at the center

I bought a lot of records in that area around 1999-2000.

How about these:

A-1
Academy
Dance Trax
DJ Lenny's Music World
Final Vinyl
Footlight
Gimme Gimme
Norman's Sound and Vision
Rainbow Music
Satellite
Smash
The Sound Library
Sounds
Stooz
Throb
Venus
Wowsville

Also.. the painfully expensive Second Hand Rose

I noticed the other day that one record store further west that I almost never went into, Rebel Rebel, is still in business and I actually wondered why.

And then in the West Village you had

Bleecker Bob's
Generation
Rebel Rebel
Revolver
Rockit Scientist
Strider
Vinyl Mania

and on Prince St., Rocks in Your Head

Rebel Rebel just closed, I think

Norman's Sound and Vision

oh yeah, this was the place i was referring to above.

there was one small place i liked, on st. mark's, it was on the 2nd floor of what had been a stone two-flat, i think. and there was another down in the street in a basement, it was (predictably, i guess) very dark in there.

second hand rose and bleecker bob's were always the most expensive places. i never bought anything at BB's, although i overheard some very amusing conversations in there.

bleeker bob's must have been something else in some other era, right? i only knew it in the early 2000s, and it was terrible, just the worst. overpriced, nothing interesting, vermin underfoot.

temple and shrine a bit later

second coming, it's only rock-n-roll a bit earlier

Rebel Rebel just closed, I think

I didn't realize they'd hung around this long. I always wondered what their relationship (if any) was to Record Runner as they were so similar in name, stock, and physical layout/decor. Just decided to Google it and see that it was opened by a former Record Runner employee -- also surprised to see that Record Runner is still open. I never bought much at either store, just a couple of Sisters of Mercy 12"s if I remember correctly.

Somehow missed this article about Rebel Rebel in the Times a couple of weeks ago -- apologies if posted already:

Vinyl Mania Can’t Save the Greenwich Village Record Stores

Anyone remember a record store that I believe was on E 6th right off Taras Shevchenko Place? What was that one called?

Ah, Record Runner is the one on Jones Street, was having trouble remembering the name. Second Coming was on Sullivan, maybe? What was place decades ago on 6th Ave in the low 20s, Pyramid Records?

Don't forget Golden Disc on Bleecker, as immortalized in that one song by The Records.

Bleecker Bob's was never not problematic in my short happy lifetime of record buying, it's golden age has "always been gone," as the saying goes.

I bought bad brains Quickness from Bleecker Bob's in 89, the first week I lived here. and then 10cc Original soundtrack in 2010. That's it… it was unappealing in every way and should not be lamented, frankly…like CBGB's and many shitty Bleecker st. clubs like the Bitter end or Kenny's castaways, it coasted for 20 years on its reputation and mgmt never made any effort to remain seriously competitive. Yet the professional lamenters like EV grieve seem to want the EV and Manhattan to never ever change in any way, and so shake their fists at the sky when any formerly meaningful "institution" closes.

St mark's Sounds has not been mentioned…that was more or less where EVERYONE sold promo CDs. Maybe that the two flat wizz mentions…and venus had a basement. Rebel Rebel had Qs and Mojos before everyone else, and so I spent probly thousands of $$$ there as such over the years. Midnight was the one on 23rd and 8th and was run by this french guy who was WAY into garage and 70s punk.

Subterrenean on Cornelia and Finyl Vinyl (that was the one on Taras S. in the '90s, although it was on 2nd avenue for much longer) were my favorites in the 90s. there was also Etherea, which was on Ave A and then 10th or 11th. Mark Ibold worked there, but it eventually could not compete with Other.

Happy that Downtown is still kicking, although I cannot imagine that Bruce, a great guy, has not been operating at a deficit for years.

(I was just about to post this when I saw the above) I forgot about Etherea (slightly farther away on Avenue A). As I recall, they focused more on electronic stuff, but also did indie rock etc. a bit. It was a cute, no-attitude store in my experience.

Apparently their old owner Richard Kim works for Beats. Slightly odd as 1) Kim's Video started out on Avenue A (Kim is a common name, so no idea if there's a relationship) and 2) Luke Wood (of Sammy, whose other member is part of the Two Boots pizza dynasty on Avenue A) is president of Beats. Basically, record store Avenue A ended up selling expensive headphones.

Etherea seems to have moved a few times. I remember them a bit farther down Avenue A, around 4th Street. I thought Ibold was a waiter.

Let us not forget the tiny but excellent Throb on 14th (rlectronic/techno/house et al) and Temple

Both long gone as well. Satellite, Sonic Groove...

Oops sorry Josefa already mentioned them.

Sounds was so awesome in the 80's. lots of unplayed promos in their dollar bins back then. though their stupid stickers were impossible to get of a record cover.

Bleeker Bob's was okay in the 80's too. though i mostly bought t-shirts there and bootleg tapes.

man, The Sound Library. that was right by my sister-in-law's apartment and they were too rich for my blood. everything i wanted was like 20 dollars more than i wanted to spend.

when i did the EMP conference at NYU i was REALLY impressed by Generation. that's my kinda store. i got all kinds of good stuff for cheap. i was kinda shocked by how good the prices were. got really cool old cherry red records for like 7 bucks apiece.

Sounds/St.Mark's Bookshop/St.Marks comics was all a degenerate kid from Connecticut like me really needed in the 80's.

i liked Second Coming for classic rock in the 80's though.

Etherea replaced Adult Crash, which was my favorite Kim's competitor in the pre-Other Music days. Now it's Mast Books.

people always talk about bleeker bob attitude but they were always nice to me there. the only store that used to intimidate me when i was a kid was Colony. at night it would be bustling and it seemed like there was always some old man employee running around with huge stacks of records in his arms and customers jostling every which way. the fulton fish market of record stores. i was out of my league. my dad always had to stop there for jazz.

there was also free being on 2nd ave off st marks. i got my ramones leave home signed there.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChOgG1BW4AAWYbn.jpg

this will be a useful document in the decades to come

when i did the EMP conference at NYU i was REALLY impressed by Generation.

during the brief time i lived in nyc, generation was one of the most day-to-day useful record stores i knew of. ugly, horrible vibe, careless employees, but lots of reasonably-priced metal & punk vinyl downstairs.

Now that OM is gone, Generation is the only record store in that area worth going to anymore. Bleecker St. used to be great for bootlegs but it's useless now.

Alex in NYC blogpost: http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2007/03/dont_bother_loo.html
Related thread: Bleecker Bobs is closing.
Alex in NYC thread: NYC'ers: Favorite Long Gone Record Shops

NYT Times roundup from 3 decades ago: http://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/21/arts/music-to-go-a-guide-to-disk-and-tape-shops.html?pagewanted=all

Extensive Ben Sisario list: http://charmicarmicat.blogspot.com/2008/04/death-and-life-of-great-manhattan.html
which links at the top to this article by him: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/arts/music/18reco.html

Amusing memorials and obits for the owner of Discophile, a legendary classical music store that also carried other imports:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/arts/music/franz-jolowicz-86-dies-owned-a-noted-record-store.html
http://thevillager.com/villager_135/franzjolowicz86.html
http://neveryetmelted.com/2005/12/05/franz-of-discophile-dies-at-86/

Still trying to remember the store across the street from Discophile on the northern side 8th Street in the 80s that was below street level and had a very generic name- Record Exchange? Music Exchange? that never seems to show up on these lists, but they had a lot of imports, although all I can clearly remember buying is Seventeen Seconds and Faith.

Ah, must have been the Record Factory, 17 W 8th.

Guy who has been the ringer singer in The Monks/Left Banke/Moby Grape reunions posted about Discophile on Alex's blog.

Tiny bit of very old school West 8th Street nostalgia: http://www.nysun.com/new-york/once-bustling-west-8th-street-slows-down/32670/

8th Street was the spot for Prince boots, latest Melody Maker/Nme and UK mags, imports when I was a teen lad.

last in-store performance today at 5:30: 75 Dollar Bill

And then we take our music to the streets! After the in-store, 75 Dollar Bill and the incredible Matana Roberts will lead us on a march from Other Music, across 4th Street, down the Bowery, to the Bowery Ballroom on Delancey. We want to celebrate 20 years of New York City music and arts culture with all of you, and we hope that whether or not you have tickets to the Bowery show, you will join us for this free event -- let’s show NYC that music still matters! We will start gathering at Other Music at 5:30, and the parade will begin moving at 6:30, with Matana’s crew taking the lead, and 75 Dollar Bill bringing up the rear guard after their in-store performance.

great way to go out, 75 dollar bill are dope.

75 Dollar Bill = the best band

shameless plug, 75 dollar bill are also playing thursday with C Joynes and Metal Mountains (my wife's band) in Brooklyn.

ian, can you get that bill to come out to colorado, klausman and i will pay everyone in beer and records.

thank u in advance

i'll be sure to tell rick & che.

Watched the doc over the long weekend. *sigh*

Any ideas as to why LCD Soundsystem doesn't show up on that list?

I liked Other Music a lot, and bought plenty of albums that were important to me, and even though I didn't live in NY was sad to hear they were going. But I think the doc hit hard as just a story among so many re: loss of shops/community in music. And that was before Covid...

Rewatching the final crawl just noticed that ILX0r Capitaine Jay Vee got a credit under the Archival Materials Courtesy Of rubric.

There were a couple (few?) OM employees posting here at one point, don't want to dox anyone though...

I'm in the credits too. I retouched a few old polaroids (cleaned up dust and scratches) as a favor to Rob.