In 2003, a man named Tommy Wiseau created the worst movie anyone on this planet has ever seen. The Room was a Frankenstein's monster of god-awful acting, nonsensical dialogue, embarrassing sex scenes, and a plot that literally made no fucking sense.
The first time I watched it, I had no idea what I was getting into. I laughed, I cried, but most of all, I suffered. I'm not the same person I was before I watched that movie... in a bad way. The Room blessed me with some gnarly cinematic PTSD which I doubt I'll ever get over.
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| The writer/director/producer/lead actor of The Room Tommy Wiseau, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons |
So... what does The Record Exchange in Boise, Idaho have to do with The Room? Well, this place used to (still does? not sure as I haven't lived in society for a year) sell the movie at their checkout counter, which is literally the most horrifying thing a business could ever do. I'm sure I snickered every time I saw it, but I also died just a little bit more inside.
If you're reading this, there's a good chance you don't collect vinyls, or maybe you're thinking "Well, I used to, but then my record player's needle broke." Why would someone like you go to a record store in the year 2021, when we have cool gizmos like Sony Walkmans now?
The Record Exchange has you covered for all your non-record kind-of-would-like-but-don't-need needs. Half(ish) of the store is a congested floor of thrift shop display cases with all sorts of booze-related, cat-related, and generally funny stuffs. This is a great addition for people that no longer enjoy music anymore. There are also a ton of band t-shirts for people that like loitering at businesses for hours on end sorting those circular shirt racks alphabetically.
There's a barista for your coffee/cafe needs, which should please your average Boise hipster. Just remember, if you're offended by the term "hipster", you most definitely are one. If you aren't offended by it, you still probably are one... why are you reading blogs about Boise, anyway?
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| Image by Rulo Luna, Creative Commons |
I've so far skipped over the whole "record" part of this record store, but it has... records. Check it out, and surely you'll find something cool. Learn about sounds. Listen to voices.
A few years ago, I met a recent transplant from Philadelphia who made it a point to bemoan how horrendous the Boise music scene was. "There are too many metal and reggae bands!" he proclaimed. Here's the thing: any decent-sized city is going to have a five thousand metal bands, and every stoner's wet dream is to play reggae on a stage fried out of his mind. The music scene here has its share of its genericism, for sure, but there's a strong underground indie thing going on here which is pretty fantastic, perhaps a symptom of many years of repressed punks raging against the Idaho Mormonchine.
The short version is that in Boise, I've seen a man in a banana suit shred Les Claypool-esque riffs on a bass to 808 presets, Sun Blood Stories is literally composed of aliens that coincidentally brought their space melodies to Earth with them, and RadioBoise is a 24/7 feat of eclectic community radio-based insanity. It's very much a scene for those that love loud and weird.
The Record Exchange epitomizes the expressiveness of the city and its music scene in so many ways, and because of this, it's a must-visit for natives and visitors alike.
