The Song Is Ended

“When Other Music, the scrappy East Village record store, opened in 1995, it existed in the shadow of Tower Records, which ran the entire city block across East Fourth Street. By 1998, Virgin Megastore was a short walk away in Union Square…. As sales of physical music continue to plummet, a no-frills independent record store makes increasingly less sense as a business: Other Music will shut its doors and mail-order service on June 25, more than 20 years after its debut in this once artistically vibrant neighborhood.”
 — Ugh, I still think of Other Music as the new record store. That says more about me (mostly: I am old) than anything else, but also, you know, everything ends. That’s how it goes. I don’t remember the last time I stepped inside Other Music, and I pass it at least three times a week, so I guess I can’t really whine about it too much. I mean, basically I’m part of what’s wrong with New York now if I’m honest about it. Me, Alex Balk. Anyway, what the fuck, 1995? How is that even possible?