players are a bit of a hassle . Quite a few boutique records don ’ t come with the digital , which is kind of a drag , but it also makes listening to them e ven more of a special experience .
Of course “ DJ ” is a popular term when y ou think of r ecords , and tha t is a par t of it : techno beats , beat matching , scratching , keeping a dance floor going ( living room ?), but nowadays all genres of music are being released on vinyl , broadening up the field , and good for just dropping tracks .
Okay , now the question is : where can you get some ? Of course this depends on where you live . Many a Smithers DJ has been known to bring a stack of records home on every trip south . In Vancouver , you can take the sky train straight fr om the airport to two record shops that are within a block of each other : Beatstreet Records and Vinyl Records . Both have a great selection of new and used , and each has a unique vibe . Calgary boasts Canada ’ s largest used record store down in Inglewood . It ’ s called Recordland , a great shop with pr etty much anything you can think of . There ’ s also Sloth Records downtown on 17th tha t has the best selection of r eggae and dub , probably in Canada , along with all those new hits the cool kids like so much .
If you live in Smither s or other small towns , you ’ re pretty much limited to the thr ift stores , and to your Dad ’ s old collection , both of which surprisingly have some gems . Then of course there ’ s the Internet . I like to buy most of my online purchases right from the record labels instead of the Inter net version of big bo x stores , but there are also a lot of online r ecord stores with reasonable shipping and great selections .
But by far the best place to get a record is from the artist at a local show , or through their website . This way all the money goes right to them , and helps put gas in the van to get them to the next gig .
There you have it . Now you know records are not just a f ad ( they outsell CDs ), you know some pros and cons about them , you found out a little bit on ho w they work , and you ’ re on track to pick some up to start your own collection . ( FYI , most record stores also sell used and ne w turntables .) So get out ther e and start digging through some crates , find a few old favorites and some new gems , and take them home for an e vening of listening one side at a time ... the way music was meant to be heard . [ sic ]
10