It’s easy to forget in this age of BitTorrents, mp3s, and iPods that there was once a time when people congregated at the local record store to swap musical opinions and wait for the newest releases. Those days may be forever behind us, but Paul’s CDs in Bloomfield is determined to at least remind us all of what we are missing.
Located at 4526 Liberty Avenue, the store is somewhat difficult to get to from campus if you don’t have a car on hand. Still, it’s worth going to at least once, especially if your musical tastes tend towards the obscure. To compete in an era when music is widely available on the Internet, Paul’s offers a large selection of hard-to-find music at very affordable prices. CDs retail for around $14 or less, and you can find even better values in the various box sets for sale. I saw many four-disk sets being sold for under $30. Paul’s also offers a large selection of concert DVDs that would either be difficult to find on the Internet or impractically large to download. For those into music magazines (like, for example, you), Paul’s has a large selection. They even receive Mojo several weeks before it arrives in many other stores.
The staff at Paul’s is knowledgeable and eager to give musical suggestions. I went to pick up a copy of American Gangster by Jay-Z and was treated to a lively debate on the relative merits of The Blueprint versus Reasonable Doubt.
I admit that I myself have been corrupted by the Internet Age of Music. However, it is still fun to unplug once in awhile and go to an old-style music store like Paul’s CDs. At the very least, their wide-ranging musical tastes can give you some ideas for what to download next.
For more information:
Tour blog