Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop

Just finished reading Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop... absolutely great read. I highly recommend it. Edited by Emma Pettit, it's a collection of essays and interviews on the Vinyl record format, the state (and possible fate) of the independent record store, and most importantly I think, the love of music that's wrapped up in both.

The book focuses on primarily the U.S. and U.K. and contains a wide range of voices, including an absolutely (and, I think, unintentionally) hilarious essay by Byron Coley that would make Comic Book Guy of the Simpsons blush with the depth of its snootiness. However, the overriding sentiment is that of the music lover, as opposed to the object fetishist. It's worth noting that these two can co-exist quite nicely in the same collector!

The book also contains a fabulous collection of images of the independent shop in all its glory, a great thing as I wonder how many will be "RIP" in a few years. A fair number of these images are from Chicago's own Jazz Record Mart (Chi Town Represent!)