Wall of Sound

I stopped in at Wall of Sound today to pick up the new Keith Fullerton Whitman CD (I also splurged on Optimo's How to Kill the DJ, Pt. II). I'd been to Easy Street earlier in the week, assuming they'd have it since in general it seems like they have EVERYTHING, but they were so nonchalant about not having it in stock that I didn't feel inclined to bus down to Queen Anne to buy it, so I stayed on Capitol Hill, within walking distance. Side note: I was trying to spend the rest of a gift card from Christmas, but that didn't work.

Part of the reason I chose not to head back to Easy Street is that I started to ponder the necessity of their store as opposed to Wall of Sound. Simply by virtue of even attempting to have everything, I feel like Easy Street negates its own existence in this the age of the internet, as no physical store can hope to compete with warehouse-based inventory. Although they have as broad a selection of, oh, "electronica" as Wall of Sound, any given employee I ask will probably have no idea who Keith Fullerton Whitman is, or perhaps even whether they have the new Kompakt compilation in. The person who selects the records they stock and who clips the little quotes and reviews to post by the records is probably not the person I will talk to in the store. It's not that they're impersonal, simply that by virtue of being much more than a one-man operation, they've eliminated some aspect of the relationship that keeps record shoppers in the store rather than online.

There's one guy who runs Wall of Sound. He knew they didn't have the KFW record when I stopped by on my walk home Wednesday, but could tell me that it'd be in with the next order on Thursday or Friday. He also stopped me on my way out to remind me that it was an EP. Were I perhaps less secure in my identity as the kind of guy who probably frequents boutique avant-electronic record stores such as Wall of Sound, I might have taken this as some sort of bizarre putdown, but it struck me that the dude was probably looking out for me and would rather I wasn't disappointed when I returned looking for a full-length.

Comparing prices, you'll spend notably less on new releases at Easy Street, but Wall of Sound offers imports and traditionally understocked items at what amounts to full new music prices at Sam Goody or wherever people go for Top 40 hits. If all I worried about was price, though, I'd probably stick to the internet. As long as you don't go buying one at a time, you can overcome shipping costs pretty much anywhere and perhaps even tax.

Today when I went in he plucked the CD off the shelf for me in seconds at my request after I'd missed it during my initial reconnaissance. He also praised that Optimo CD I bought (it's a double disc, actually) and I have to consider that he probably researched that thing or heard it somewhere, ordered it, stocked it, and glances at it every day since he can pretty easily see everything from behind the counter.

Not that I don't like going to Easy Street. They've got an unbelievable selection of magazines and they do have some pretty good free in-stores, as well as some real gems in the used section. But, do I care if there's an Easy Street (or a Sonic Boom) in my neighborhood? Not really. I am really happy, though, that some guy cares enough about more or less the same electronic/experimental/ambient stuff I do that he's in there every day, putting his sandwich-board out on the sidewalk and patiently keeping the doors open to what amounts to an ongoing, carefully curated, dynamic museum exhibit and gift shop rolled into one.