Tower Records
Oct. 22nd, 2006 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twirlgrrlI went to Tower Records with my amazon wishlist the other day. I spent a good chunk of money by saving money by buying stuff on sale. I hadn't been to Tower in what felt like a million years. The air conditioning was broken, and it was sweltering. Nice farewell to the employees sweating behind the register. And the merchandise was so overpriced to begin with, even with the discount I saved maybe a few percent off of amazon's low low prices with free shipping included... so... I'm glad I went. I was feeling sad and nostalgic about Tower closing for good, and now I'm not so bummed about it. I won't really miss it after all.
I'm still attached to buying actual CDs, though, and I'll only buy AAC files through itunes for single songs I just can't find anywhere else--or only on a compilation that's not worth buying. I'm attached to paper in general, so the CD booklets are important to me. And having the original hardcopy to make backups from is comforting to me as well. With the copyright "protections" in itunes, you can only do so much with a song before your "privileges" run out. What if you lose the song somehow, or can't put in on a CD anymore, and itunes no longer has it for sale? Besides, they're in AAC. They don't sound as good. I *HATE* compressed music files. I rip everything into .wav files on itunes, even though it takes up beaucoup space and I have purchased a couple of huge external hard drives to back it all up.
Anyway. About the B-52's. I have a confession to make. I hate "Love Shack" and "Roam." In public, I smile and bounce my head when they come on, because everyone else seems to love them (ETA: Not in a "I'm cool too because I like these songs" kind of way--more in a "I don't want to bum your trip even though I'm inwardly gritting my teeth" kind of way), but I truly dislike them. They're just too plain, too straightforward, and not quirky enough. Comparing those songs to songs like Rock Lobster, Quiche Lorraine, or Private Idaho (or even Butterbean or Song for a Future Generation) is like comparing Female Trouble to Hairspray. Except that I kindof liked Hairspray.
So yeah, some of what I bought is 80's stuff. Naturally. I finally picked up a DVD of Cure videos, and it was SO MUCH FUN to watch. Shockingly, Robert Smith was completely barefaced in A Forest. I didn't even know it was him--kept saying to Evan, "Who's that guy pretending to sing in Robert Smith's voice?" Then over the next few videos I watched him go from a bit of lipstick to the full-on Tim Burton Raggedy Andy ghost he is now. I got all squee about it. I am such a Fan. The Cure is a brilliant band, always too clever and experimental for the labels people have tried to box them in with. Their love songs are exquisite. Their sound has gone from spare to lush while keeping that same induplicable quality that makes them instantly recognizable. And that voice! Squeaky snakecharmer, squealing and growling and careening all over the place like a rollercoaster in a haunted house.
I'm still attached to buying actual CDs, though, and I'll only buy AAC files through itunes for single songs I just can't find anywhere else--or only on a compilation that's not worth buying. I'm attached to paper in general, so the CD booklets are important to me. And having the original hardcopy to make backups from is comforting to me as well. With the copyright "protections" in itunes, you can only do so much with a song before your "privileges" run out. What if you lose the song somehow, or can't put in on a CD anymore, and itunes no longer has it for sale? Besides, they're in AAC. They don't sound as good. I *HATE* compressed music files. I rip everything into .wav files on itunes, even though it takes up beaucoup space and I have purchased a couple of huge external hard drives to back it all up.
Anyway. About the B-52's. I have a confession to make. I hate "Love Shack" and "Roam." In public, I smile and bounce my head when they come on, because everyone else seems to love them (ETA: Not in a "I'm cool too because I like these songs" kind of way--more in a "I don't want to bum your trip even though I'm inwardly gritting my teeth" kind of way), but I truly dislike them. They're just too plain, too straightforward, and not quirky enough. Comparing those songs to songs like Rock Lobster, Quiche Lorraine, or Private Idaho (or even Butterbean or Song for a Future Generation) is like comparing Female Trouble to Hairspray. Except that I kindof liked Hairspray.
So yeah, some of what I bought is 80's stuff. Naturally. I finally picked up a DVD of Cure videos, and it was SO MUCH FUN to watch. Shockingly, Robert Smith was completely barefaced in A Forest. I didn't even know it was him--kept saying to Evan, "Who's that guy pretending to sing in Robert Smith's voice?" Then over the next few videos I watched him go from a bit of lipstick to the full-on Tim Burton Raggedy Andy ghost he is now. I got all squee about it. I am such a Fan. The Cure is a brilliant band, always too clever and experimental for the labels people have tried to box them in with. Their love songs are exquisite. Their sound has gone from spare to lush while keeping that same induplicable quality that makes them instantly recognizable. And that voice! Squeaky snakecharmer, squealing and growling and careening all over the place like a rollercoaster in a haunted house.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 08:04 pm (UTC)and ya, I have NEVER liked the B52s...and people look at me funny when I say that?!! I went to see them once, only for the opening band, The Pretenders, and left when the headliner came on.
I worked at Tower as a teenager!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 08:51 pm (UTC)That is too funny! I did the exact same thing. I always feel weird walking around with a printed list of items I'm looking for, but it's the only way I can remember everything.
And the merchandise was so overpriced to begin with, even with the discount I saved maybe a few percent off of amazon's low low prices
That's why I didn't end up buying much. When CDs are $18.99 with 20% off, they're still overpriced.
I won't really miss it after all.
I'll only miss it because it was the last birck & mortar store that actually carried imports and singles. Now I'll be forced to shop exclusively online.
the CD booklets are important to me.
We are so much alike it's scary. I still like the feeling of a CD -- the cover art, the liner notes, etc. I think I've only purchased 2 songs online and I ended up tracking them down on CD eventually.
I *HATE* compressed music files.
Seriously -- are you my doppelganger? I have goosebumps. I agree 100%. I rip everything into FLAC (losless) format.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 11:53 am (UTC)Why couldn't you handle a Cure concert? 'Twould be fun! Though full of mopy teenagers... brings to mind the Simpsons episode where Homer and Bart went to a Lollapalooza sort of concert/festival, and there was a Cure-like band playing onstage (perhaps the real Cure?), and lots of mopy teenagers dressed in black, and Bart, observing, says, "Eh, making teenagers depressed is like shooting fish in a barrel."
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 12:42 pm (UTC)I *have* to shop for music with lists--otherwise I buy stuff I already have, or my mind just goes blank, or both. I mostly shop online these days, with my trusty DVD and CD list files open for comparison. I'm especially prone to buying compilations just to get that one hard-to-find song (see "tracking down on CD" above) only to find that I already had another compilation for the same song.
How hard is FLAC to deal with--I mean, what do you use to rip, and what jukebox software do you use for listening?
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-28 04:45 am (UTC)