Topic E, Part 1: The Lost Art

I like the idea that almost anything I might want to hear is at the tips of my fingers. I like that I can carry a thousand songs in my pocket. I like finding new music while at the office. But I still love the act of record shopping. I went last week, moving my way up Bank Street, from Planet of Sound, to Birdman, to Sounds Unlikely (housed in the old 5 Arlington building, which was weird - much smaller than I remember). It was like revisiting a lost friend. Flipping through the CDs, talking to the clerks. I think I'll always have a use for it. I just hope there'll always be record stores to go to.

(What'd I find? A Studio 1 compilation, some Ken Vandermark, an out-of-print Matthew Shipp Quartet album, and Charles Mingus' Complete Town Hall Concert.)

You guys? Are you all-digital now? Or is there room for dusty shelves, crate digging, and sale bins?