Today I want to talk about the youtube fad that seems to be going around of what some call, “record store find videos”. These are basically what they sound like, they usually just have some guy in his room showing off records that he bought recently. I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of these videos. I’m not even really sure why I’m not, if this was done through writing and given more of a review styled format or even simply done in person, I think I would be far more interested.
Having said that, there is one form of these videos that I find to be highly watchable and fascinating, and they’re from a video series put on by Amoeba Records’ own youtube channel called “What’s in My Bag?”.
Now I’m unsure why I prefer these videos to the countless others that exist online, but it might have something to do with the fact that a) the people featured usually have some stories or insight to what they buy (and why) and I find myself jotting down names and releases that sound worth looking into b) they’re usually filmed within the store and therefore giving a glimpse of the world the purchases were made and came from c) they’re typically kind of funny at certain parts d) the people they feature are always interesting figures in the music and arts world.
Now I don’t want to sound like I just prefer these due to the celebrities, but they often bring an insightful look to those people that you just know a portion of due to their public persona. For instance, one video features members of Acid Mothers Temple and I expected them to be buying nothing but mind-melting acid metal albums or something like that, and they only bought celtic cassettes and vintage field recordings of ethnic folk music. Who would have thought?!
That’s what I like about these, they take people everyone knows and shows this side of them you’d probably never get to see (unless you were a record store dwelling paparazzi).
Here’s just a few of my favorites.
The aforementioned Acid Mothers Temple video:
Jason Schwartzman buying records for his baby:
The Slits (this video just shows how eclectic The Slits really are):
Justin Townes Earle: The Vivian Girls:
Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer:
Lenny Kaye:
Record Crates United 
I never knew about these..