Austin Record Show

I spent this past weekend at the Austin Record Show. It's held twice a year and is reportedly the largest show of recorded music in the world. While that statement might very likely be true, it could give you the impression that the show is larger than it is. In reality, it is feels much like a flea market, albeit one that has tons of vinyl albums, CDs and other music related ephemera.

It is also one of the highlights of my year.

Some people go fishing. Some go camping or skiing. Hell, some people even go on vacations. My family, however, goes "Nerd Shopping." This most often involves spending the day at a comic book convention or perhaps trudging through countless Half Price Books, looking for items that no one else seems to want, but we view as treasures.

I've blogged before about the appeal of vinyl. Nearly three decades ago I discovered CDs and couldn't wait to get rid of all my vinyl. But as time passed, I began to miss the larger album covers and all the processes that went with playing a vinyl album. Plus, there were all sorts of great albums that I loved that had not made the conversion to the digital age. So a number of years ago, I purchased a turntable and started haunting places where discarded albums generally turned up.

Then, much to my disappointment, vinyl became hip. Suddenly there were people much trendier than I scouring through those same bargain bins. Record labels started releasing some new albums in vinyl editions. I find all of this a bit ironic, as downloading and digital storage of music is doing its best to make physical media a thing of the past, and yet many fans are returning to a format that was declared dead before most of them were born.

There's no denying the convenience of the internet and fast availability of music downloads. No that genie is out of the bottle, it's never going away. But there are also peripheral pleasures associated with our passions; things like ripping open a pack of baseball cards and finding that elusive favorite player.

Finally locating the clear vinyl first British pressing of Force Majure is one of those. Time too mark another goal off of my list.