Thrift Store Find - No. 210

Thrift Store Find

Every now and then I check local thrift stores (called Brockenhaus around here) to see, what their latest in LPs/7"s and the like is. Most of the times, I leave empty handed, but over the years, there were a few surprises in store for me (so to speak). Normally the LPs go for around CHF 1.00 (ca. EUR 0.80) per item with some thrift stores even selling you five for four, that is, you select five and buy only four. Or you get a discount from the word go.

A few thrift stores have begun to price the better stuff, albeit on a low level. Which is mostly a joke, because they don't factor condition into their pricing and seem to think every Bob Dylan record is worth a lot of cash. Hello, it's not, and especially not considering that the sleeve is falling apart and there are more scratches on the record than a drunken hedgehog would leave behind, checking out a local record store.

The last major surprise was the above shown LP (German release from 1964 or 1965) in a very desirable condition. The record itself is in a nice VG+, bordering on M- condition and the sleeve is VG. This is flimsy paperstock and there's a 2 cms split in the fold at the lower right hand corner plus, as you can see, some damage on the right hand side from handling the item.

Although not a M/M item, this would be a record that would sit very well in anyone's collection. The thing actually was, when I took the record out of the sleeve (in the shop), there was a hazy mist on the run-out area. For a split second, I thought that this was due to an akward PVC-sleeve used as an inner (and you can't remove those prints - folks, never ever use PVC sleeves - no inners - no outers - if you value your records - PE is fine). 2 seconds later, I did realize, that it wasn't a case of PVC gone wild, but should easily be removable (which was quite the truth when I cleaned it at home). Fantastic item and all for CHF 8.00 (EUR 7.00), which is quite below the true market value.

Since I have a lot of time on my hands these days, I tend to frequent thrift stores more often now and it's really hard to believe what one can find. I got my hands on four or five 1950's Blue Note Deep Groove 10"s within the last couple of months. And all of them in at least VG+ condition. Of course, I've seen my share of James Lasts in the racks, but as long as I'm rewarded with something like the above, all is good. No complaints from me.

Cheers

Devon

A Strange Behaviour - No. 209

A Strange Behaviour

Sometime towards the end of 2018/beginning of 2019, I realized, I didn't listen to music as often as I used to. Very little LPs, CDs or even live gigs. Every now and then, the stereo on the desk was blaring out some oldie station. Every now and then really means, every three or four days for 15 minutes. And up to the beginning of 2019, LPs were piling up and still standing were I put them when I brought them home. Meaning, there are around 500 brandnew albums waiting to be heard at least once.

Oh well, there's very little in the way of CDs, as I almost stopped buying these. For quite some time, I used to buy vinyl only and if that meant, waiting for months on end. Just in case I was pretty sure (and sometimes wrong) an album wouldn't turn up on LP, I'd spent my hard earned cash on the small discs. It's come so far, that I actually decided, not to go to this year's record fair in Utrecht. I've been there, saw that, did it, the whole lot. Funny thing, I've not been to a record store (any record store) within the last 4 months. How about that? And the worst thing, I don't miss it a bit. Nada, zero, niente!

What I did, however, was trying to weed out some of my collection, because the CDs and LPs crept ever closer. All together, about 600 LPs and 400 CDs went to a landfill (if there's still such a thing, which I doubt), meaning, they're gone for good, if not landfill than at least for long distance heating. The better stuff I'm flogging on Discogs and one day I'll have my collection reduced to 2000 LPs and 1000 CDs. And then I can walk through the flat without almost tripping over my stuff.  I'm dreaming but I'm also trying.

Recently I was sorting through a bunch of CDs I had bought about a year ago. It was supposed to be all Metal and stuff, forget it. About half of the more than 300 CDs, went to the bin. Jesus Christ, it's not so hard to pinpoint the genre, is it? The condition of the items was generally beautiful though, everything in M- or M condition. About 100 CDs have been marked for sale on Discogs and what you see above is the rest. Too good to be thrown away, not valuable enough to put up for sale. Now I'm trying to seperate the chaff from the rest. And then it's goodbye for some more discs.

Well, it's Kiss time now and I guess they're here to stay. Not really my band, but I had a discussion a while ago and the other guy mentioned, that, to his big regret, he missed out on Kiss. And I thought, bloody hell, I wish I had been to one of their gigs as well. But, if I go through the stack at the current rate, I'm not finishing this by the end of the year. Let me see, where this leads me to. And for Utrecht November 2019, I believe, the desire to make the trip again, might bounce back.

Cheers

Devon