I miss music stores. It just struck me listening to St. Vincent’s new album (loving the song Broken Man from it). It shook loose a memory, how I first heard of St. Vincent. For me, it was walking through a music store, this one being the top floor of Eason’s on O’Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland. Browsing the latest releases, but my ear was hooked by an album playing on the store’s sound system. I bought my first St. Vincent album that day. I would discover Fiona Apple the same way, as well as Katzenjammer, Caro Emerald and a dozen others. Four Tet caught me being played in a store in Manchester, The Baby Namboos while in a store in Montreal, Canada around the millennium. The song ‘Provoked’ from their album Ancoats2Zambia is still an all-time favourite of mine.  My lord, the amazing Mr. Scruff, again discovered while browsing CDs.

Then what has struck me equally hard is I cannot remember the last time I had that experience. 10 years ago? At least. There are no music shops to browse where I live now. It involves a trek across the country to find one. And what do you find? Usually, the same stuff you have been assaulted with while flicking radio stations on the drive over. 

I spent time working in a Virgin Megastore during the last 90s/early 00s in Cork, Ireland. I spent most of my time in transfer’s and recalls between stores. When I was on the floor I remember looking at the boxes coming down to the floor, and the albums that made me the most curious would go onto the store sound system. Completely random, but the experiences I discovered were often sometimes amazing, often maybe just one or two tracks would make you pause per album. But you could not buy a single from these groups, never mind stream, so the album was often bought. One of the best albums I discovered at this time was “When Love Speaks”, by William Shakespeare, but was a collection of his sonnets read by famous actors and singers. Some put to music, some read, but an experience worth taking. Find it, check it out.

What we hear now in most of the stores that have survived are heavily curated, usually by the franchise, with specially selected playlists to enhance your retail experience, or to maintain the vibe of the brand. It is their space, you are in it, so who are we to complain? I think I am much less challenged, and also much less pleased. As I said, I discovered no more diamonds.

I do try the ‘we think you like’ playlists on the streaming services, but it is frequently just variations of the same. The algorithms will push best guesses, at the risk of loosing your attention, cannot risk us closing the app out of boredom or distaste, can they?

A line from the amazing Blue Eye Samurai (on Netflix) keeps coming to my mind.

“I have no interest in being happy. Only satisfied.” ~Mizu

Be excellent to each other.