Did you know that vinyl outsold digital downloads last year in Britain? Yup. It's true. And look, we get it—you can download songs in, like, two seconds, and there's no pesky physical product cluttering up your life; no having to leave your home; no having to deal with an entire album when you really just wanted that one song.
But ask yourself: Don't you miss liner notes? And photos? Don't you miss the ritual of placing physical media into its player? At the very least, don't you miss the idea of an album representing a body of work as an artist saw it, transcending the meaning of a solitary song and becoming a concept or a statement or even just a cohesive experience that was forged in the fires of their own creative minds?!
Y'all is killin' music by stealing it, not supporting actual records and by acting like the world owes you some kind of music collection. It doesn't, you're wrong and we're going to help you kick off an actual physical music collection with three locations in Santa Fe.
The Good Stuff
401 W San Francisco St., 795-1939, thegoodstuffsantafe.com
Row after row of used records means The Good Stuff is a great place to sashay your way into the world of vinyl and, to sweeten the deal, they've got just about all genres one can think of. Punk fan? You got it. Rock? No prob. Simon and effing Garfunkel? It's there! And they'll buy your used stuff for cash or trade—not too shabby if you're looking to find an affordable way to rekindle the hissing, scratching, popping love affair of record ownership or just strengthen what you've already got.
Big Star Books and Music
329 Garfield St., 820-7827, bigstarbooks.com
Though technically more of a bookstore, Big Star also has scads of awesome CDs. Yeah, yeah—CDs, but here's the thing: Cars have CD players, and it's better than fooling around with your dumb phone. The curation is tight, too, with a few genres like opera and world music surrounding an impressive array of pop and rock releases. Just a cursory glance yielded works from Brian Eno, the Traveling Wilburys, Leonard Cohen and lots more. Your hipster cred won't increase the way it would with vinyl, but you'll still have some killer jams for the car and the satisfaction of shopping local.
The Guy in the Groove
502 Cerrillos Road (inside A Sound Look), 699-3332, guyinthegroove.com
This small (and sort of tricky-to-find) vinyl emporium may not be gigantic, but that only adds to the feeling that you're part of some super-cool clandestine club of music lovers. Carrying both new and used items, The Guy in the Groove doesn't just help you collect, either. Turns out owner Dick Rosemont is a serious music fan from way back, totally ready to talk the talk with you and help guide you through the labyrinth of confusing vinyl options. What do you know about first pressings? Banned album art? What's rare versus what isn't? If you're not sure how to proceed, this is the place to go.
