#yycvinyl

Mrs: Which would you like to listen to next? Mr: You pick. One is dancey-dancey-dance, and one is chilly-chill-chill. Mrs: Are those technical terms?

Record Shopping In Edmonton

Last week we road tripped up to Edmonton where the Mrs. had a work function. The Mr. tagged along so that when not working they could hit up the local vinyl scene. Had a lot of fun, checked out some great shops, and returned home with eight new records and five old cassettes.

We’re big fans of antiquing in Edmonton but hadn’t ever toured the record stores, so this was particularly exciting. Here’s a brief rundown of some of our favourite moments. (BTW, we visited the following: Blackbyrd, Freecloud Records, Listen Records, and a huge selection at the Rocky Mountain Antique Mall just outside Old Strathcona).

First impressions

Him: highly established and well-curated, with lots of variation between the shops we visited - the inventories at Blackbyrd, Listen, and Free Cloud had much to offer sometimes very diverse audiences: Listen had a huge selection of MONDO titles and indie voices I hadn’ heard before; Free Cloud was bursting with new and classic rock, lots of great music crammed in a tiny space (so much awesome used cassettes!), and a fantastic used collection; while Blackbyrd was pretty similar to the location in Calgary - decent selection of popular music, great location.

Her: not as big as I was expecting, given vinyl is so well established in Edmonton. Very well-established for sure - walking into Freecloud was like entering another world. Loved it.

Favorite Store

Him: Listen - customer service was exceptional. It was great everywhere, but I especially enjoyed the conversations I had with the Listen owner - his suggestions and insights were a particular highlight. The selection was great - lots of indie and rare artists, and tonnes of experimental titles I’d never seen in other stores. The only thing they could add is a coffee bar, because I could spend an entire afternoon there.

Her: Listen - so many titles and artists I’d never heard of before, and I found some great things that are really new to me. I love tracking down quirky new sounds, and Listen made it fun and easy - the owner was a wealth of knowledge and had tagged many albums with a small info sheet that outlined details of the band and the music. It was like having a book jacket to read.

Most unexpected find

Him: Reality Check by Wojciech Golczewski (Listen). A MONDO album I wanted that was sold out on Bandcamp. 

<a href="http://wojciechgolczewski.bandcamp.com/album/reality-check-data048">Reality Check (DATA048) by Wojciech Golczewski</a>

Her: Hymns Of The 49th Parallel by KD Lang (Blackbyrd). I love her and I’ve been looking for this album forever.

Most interesting find

Him: Kung Fu/Music and dialogue from the Warner Bros. TV Series (starring David Carradine) (Rocky Mountain Antique Mall). I’ve been very into soundtracks lately and this one was a complete surprise. I don’t necessarily want to listen to it… (lots of dialogue) but it’s intriguing and I’m glad I have it.

Her: Fahrenheit Fair Enough by Telefon Tel Aviv (Listen). Totally foreign and new to me. Found it on the shelf, checked it out online, loved it. It’s the kind of album I never would have bought a year ar ago - maybe not even six months ago. My tastes continue to evolve and I’m more open to new, obscure sound. Something my younger self seldom was.

<a href="http://telefon-tel-aviv.bandcamp.com/album/fahrenheit-fair-enough">Fahrenheit Fair Enough by Telefon Tel Aviv</a>

Favorite find

Him: Les Concerts en Chine by Jean-Michel Jarre (Listen). I’ve always love Jarre’s music and had never heard of this album before. It combines this French artist with Chinese culture with an injection of traditional Chinese music, and it’s visually stunning - the gatefold and record sleeves are beautifully decorated. 

Her: Dirty Dancing soundtrack on cassette (Freecloud). I spent an entire summer listening to exclusively this cassette on my walkman over and over and over one year. Nice to have it back.

Biggest regret

Him: not having more cash to burn; I could easily fill a crate up there!

Her: me too. But also, after months of searching I finally found The Lion’s Roar by First Aid Kit at Blackbyrd but - due to the aforementioned cash matter - bought only KD Lang, because between the two I’ve wanted it longer. If I had it to do all over again, I would have just bought both, budget be damned.

Final thoughts

Him: it’s so much fun to go to another city, to be outside your familiar surroundings, to shop for records. So much of buying a record has to do with the timing, the location and the situation around buying it. I could flip through my collection and tell you pretty much everywhere I found each one and why I bought it. So to have a few albums from even such a brief, nearby trip as Edmonton, adds something more to the experience.