A few tables, a wall of exposed concrete on one side, a white wall on the opposite end. A large window with lots of sunlight and the smell of freshly brewed coffee (although I rarely drink these days). Not a lot of friends show up (we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic, after all), but just enough to fill the room with the sound of light chatter. I make sure I don’t feel pressure by playing something familiar to everyone (and loved by most), as the first record.

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The not-so-skinny
Welcome, welcome! This is my (aka Claudine’s) fantasy online record shop. Over the pandemic, I’ve found myself looking through catalogs of different record shops, as they started selling online more actively. Found a bit of thrill doing that as it felt like my turntable-less self was doing some digging. In a way, it’s my approach to balance the (potentially) accurate but extremely convenient recommendations given by AI in this day and age. I miss asking people what they like listening to now and what they think I should listen to, and I miss thinking and verbalizing why I enjoy the things I love. Nowadays, we see an overwhelming amount of ‘likes’ shared online, but does anybody talk about their whys anymore?

(Also see Robin Sloan’s Fish essay and thoughts on ‘liking’ vs ‘loving’ things on the internet.)

I have this interest in cataloging things, as seen in the amount of lists I’ve created over the years, including playlists, movie lists, etc., so this basically sparked the idea of putting together a list of records I love in a more visual form