Any good record stores in ABQ? (Albuquerque, Hope: to buy, university, live)

[DCTalk]

Are there any good record stores in ABQ? By good I mean with a healthy variety of titles, not just top 40 junk, but indie and electronica and small label stuff, along with some imports, and with a depth of stock. Something like Twist and Shout in Denver or Waterloo's in Austin. A couple of years ago I stopped by a record shop on Central near the University. While It had a fair selection of different titles, it didn't have much stock. Frankly, I own more CDs than this store had available. Are there any better stores than this in ABQ? Where do you go to buy your music (when you're not online)?

Also, is Hyperactive magazine still being published? And is Hyperfest still active?

[AndyJ]

Natural Sound, 3500 Central Ave SE, is the favorite of the indie crowd here, although it's possible that was the store you went to. I've always found their stock to be lacking. Charley's Records & Tapes on Menaul is OK; they used to have a ton of vinyl, not sure if that's still the case. Other than those two, Hastings is just about your only option, and imports and hard to find music is nonexistent there. There's just nothing here like Amoeba Records or the stores in Denver and Austin you mentioned.

Not sure what Hyperactive mag/Hyperfest were/are - you'd have to fill me in on those ones.

[DOUBLE H]

Andy beat me to it! The store you described sounds like We Buy Music. The last time I was in there was a couple years ago. (I live out of state but have lots of friends in the Albuquerque area). There is one other store on east Central east of Wyoming I believe called Krazy Kat. Two good long standing stores sadly had to close their doors; Merlins(Albuq's first used vinyl shop and Bow Wow Wow Records closed two years before that). Good vinyl stores. Charlie's is on east Menaul near Pennsylvania and has been there since the late 80's. Also there is / was a store called Mecca in the lower downtown area. Not sure if they are still there. Albuquerque has, however one of the best, if not the best record and CD shows in the West. I'll PM you on that subject as the moderator might edit me for advertising. It's really not; I just care about the hobby as big box retailors have hurt mom and pop record shops for some time. For more on that, go to the Hobbies and Recreation section category (I believe page 2 or 3). I'll PM you soon. SIX FOOT 3!! Any new CD/LP shops open up in the Duke city in the last several months??

[SunsetRally]

The answer is NO. I have had this problem since moving here as well. "Natural Sound" is I guess the best but it SO SMALL and lacking in variety. Hastings and Warehouse Music are laughable...both stores are large but full of nothing....Charleys seems to have no GOOD selections past 1990....sooooo.....
I'd stick to online if your looking for rare good indie/electronic bands and acts.

[DCTalk]

It is disappointing to hear that ABQ is lacking at least one decent record store. You would think that with a large university that there would be a big enough market for a decent eclectic, independent store. a shame.

At least Hyperfest seems to be back again this year in May. Hope the music scene grows in ABQ. I do notice those "Fliers on the Wall" in Alibi's online site all the time. If these are actually printed, I hope someone is saving preserving them all. The artwork is fantastic. Simply the best series of concert posters I've seen since the Fillmore/Family Dog days in San Francisco in the 60s.

[ABQConvict]

It seems like most university students these days download their music from the internet. A young aquaintance of mine described selling off the last of his CDs because he wants to get into LPs (for DJing) and everything else he downloads. Go figure.

ABQConvict

[ApartmentNomad]

Do people still buy from record stores?

[DCTalk]

Yes they do! While I use iTunes and order CDs online like many, I still prefer to buy disks in a store if available. Why? The act of discovery. If I go into a store and start browsing through physical product, I always see something that I didn't know was out or find something new that looks interesting. The problem today is most of the remaining stores don't have much depth of stock. Remember in the 70s when Peaches opened? They carried everything. You found each artists' complete catalog in stock. Remember Tower a decade ago? Same thing. You could find everything you wanted: imports, obscure titles, back catalog, etc. And you would always meet fellow music lovers at your regular store to talk music with. Yes, it's more convenient to sit at your desk and download to your iPod, (my iPod is loaded with CDs I already own, not downloads), but I think you miss out on what made discovering new music so special.

[ApartmentNomad]

It was not meant as a serious dig at all.

I understand some of the appeal of shopping in an actual store, but I was never one to make many discoveries in record stores, and more often than not, when I did gamble on something that I looked interesting, I got burned. In fact, when I spent so much time in record stores, I was too often lured by cool graphic design and packaging, generally not a reliable predictor of whether I'd like the music or not. My musical discoveries have tended to come from the radio (Philadelphia's WXPN was extremely adventurous and ecclectic back in the 80s, when I used to listen to it), from friends and acquaintances, and from involvement in dancing. More recently, the internet has been an increasingly good source. It's very handy to jump between discussion forums and myspace or youtube, and then there are all the music blogs that put up mp3s, not to mention more nefarious aspects of online music hunting.

I do remember Tower having much more of a deep catalog approach ten or fifteen years ago. Also, I remember that a little further back, in the days when vinyl ruled the land, there were stores (sometimes independents) that had similarly extensive selections.

What finally mostly killed often my patronizing record stores was rarely being able to find specific things I was looking for (unless they were particularly mainstream) and the typically higher prices for CDs in brick and mortar stores, as opposed to online distributors.

(This is kind of OT, but at least not controversial, so I hope it's okay.)

[DCTalk]

You're absolutely right. There was a time when there were good independent record stores with interesting selections. And radio stations such as WXPN did help expose people to new music. Personally, I just don't have the time to go searching the Net through blogs, YouTube, MySpace or other sites to try to find new stuff. While I consider myself reasonably tech-savvy, I'm a bit of a Luddite in my music info-gathering methods. I do listen to some free Net radio stations, but my main info source remains music magazines (yes, another Net-threatened medium).