In Defense of Digging

by Doctor B in Opinion Posts

Online shopping has its uses. With it, I have built and repaired computers for myself and others. I’ve located a new tweeter for a friend’s 1970’s-vintage loudspeaker. And at long last, I’ve finally found a source for sneakers which fit my feet properly.

But in my humble opinion, for finding music, online shopping misses the point.

Lately it seems, going down to the local record shop has at least partially given way to downloading, usually from sites like Itunes, or other, ahem, less conventional download sites. These offer convenience, immediacy and predictability.

Now, where’s the fun in that?

Unlike shopping for blankets or carburetor parts, shopping for music is about exploring. It’s about finding not just what you want but something you didn’t know you wanted until you found it. In other words, I think that music shopping is best when it’s a game of chance. Yeah, I do sometimes go out looking for a specific artist or title, but mostly when I’m pawing through a bin of used records or looking at a shelf of new and used CDs, I’m looking to find something I didn’t know about previously. Like say, the vinyl of a lesser-known Isaac Hayes movie soundtrack (so that’s what the “acid jazz” people were listening to!). The CD of electrical-interference sounds put together by composers who collected them by walking around major cities wearing specially-designed headphones (who was it that said “everything we do is music”?). The 3-CD compilation of electronic dance music on the DFA label. Another CD of lost recordings by theremin player and electronic music pioneer Clara Rockmore. The collection of early-80’s Japanese pop. The early-1960’s Elektra LP of uncensored air force songs performed by folk singer Oscar Brand. You get the picture. My methods probably aren’t too different from those used by professional DJ’s who are constantly on the lookout for new beats which will set their sets apart from those of fellow jocks.

Predictability has its place. It’s good to know where to find thumb drives and leather cleaners. But as far as finding music goes, I prefer to let the fates direct me to new and unexpected finds. That’s what makes shopping at a record shop fun, a lot more so in my humble opinion than squinting at a list of song titles on a computer screen.

Doctor B. is a DJ at free-form WHRW-FM in Binghamton, NY. Find his playlists at http://bartlemania.com .